Oliver Service

[HDRider]

Will Oliver start deemphasizing service from Hohenwald to push owners to use dealers?

[ScubaRx]

No, everything about sales and service in Hohenwald will remain the same. 

[HDRider]

10 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

No, everything about sales and service in Hohenwald will remain the same. 

That seems to contradict the signal we get by disallowing sales of used Oliver's on the forum.

[SeaDawg]

See my post in another thread.

My trust level over 16 seasons with the family is very strong.

Please take a deep breath, and continue to have confidence in the Oliver family. 

They care about not only their customers,  but their employees as well. 

I don't see that changing, no matter what, honestly.  
 

    Back during the 2008 downturn, and the hiatus, Oliver continued to not only give gainful employment to all their employees, albeit often in other jobs, but continued to support our "orphan" trailers. And, they paid the fees to keep our then very tiny membership forum going. Som of us, like mountainborn and I,  with more computer background,  kept it afloat with our expertise, and no admins. (I do appreciate our admins.)
 

    Was I upset/angered by the decision to drop the classifieds?. Yes, of course I was. Absolutely. I was quite angry. But, if they feel that need, we'll figure out other paths.
 

    Will we continue to be the best possible group to join, for access to experienced Oliver owners, who actually have factual answers, based on experience? Yes. We will. 
 

    It's not my job as a volunteer moderator to offer marketing suggestions.  Oliver has  a paid team for that.
 

    The benefits of having Oliver trained and  certified service centers dotted about the four corners could significantly outweigh the loss of classifieds for many folks farflung from Hohenwald.  We'll see.
 

    I'd encourage all of you to do as I will. Take a deep breath, and see how this works out.
 

    I know, personally,  from my solid experience with the Oliver family, that the commitment to contiinued  exemplary customer, and technical, service will not change. 
 

    Its in their DNA. 
 

    Sherry
 

    Oliver mod since February,  2008.
 

     
 

     
 
https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/9710-classifieds-change/?do=findComment&comment=98284

[mossemi]

12 hours ago, HDRider said:

That seems to contradict the signal we get by disallowing sales of used Oliver's on the forum.

Just a little back story!  

I purchased Hull 193 in January 2018.  Used Oliver's were hard to find in those days and I wasn’t really looking for a used Ollie, I wanted to order one just the way I had been planning to for over 2 years while waiting for retirement.  When I found #193 on the Fiberglass RV forums in November 2017, it was by accident, my retirement had come 5 months earlier than planned and I was surfing the net and just stumbled onto it.  So I ignored the ad for about a month because I wanted to order my own.  So finally thought I’ll just go look at it, it might be too good to pass up, and it was.  When we attended the 2018 OTTO's Rally, everyone welcomed us enthusiastically and we then went to Hohenwald after the rally and the Oliver Service Department fixed the fresh water tank pickup tube issue that a few LE2's of the vintage suffered from as a warranty issue.  We dropped the trailer off in Hohenwald in August of 2018 and the service department converted our full size bed to a twin bed model.  And we haven’t needed to go back since.  I don’t know if OTTO's that buy directly from the factory get treated any better than we have been but I can’t imagine they do.

Now I’ll give my thoughts on the death of the Classified Forum.

1.  I appreciate the fact that OTT's has provided the general public and OTTO's a forum for us to talk about, seek advice and help from other OTTO's in a friendly and non judgmental setting.

2. OTT's has never asked for my opinion on how to run their business, and they don’t offer any advice on how I should run mine.

3.  I am happy that they are receptive to new methods of running their business and hope they remain a viable company for many years to come.

4.  They recently announced that they are moving to a dealer sales and service business model  to supplement their present in house model.  This should please owners that do not live in the southeast.
 

 I hope this new approach supports the sales and service for present and future OTTO's all around the United States.  And if that comes at the sacrifice of the Classified Forum, that’s a decision that OTT's should make, it’s their money in the pot.  And I support that decision.  After all, my Ollie isn’t for sale!

Mossey

 

[rich.dev]

8 hours ago, mossemi said:

I hope this new approach supports the sales and service for present and future OTTO's all around the United States

….and Canada!

[mossemi]

3 hours ago, rich.dev said:

….and Canada

I apologize for my shortcomings and I am sorry I forgot about you in Canada!

Mossey

[ScubaRx]

3 hours ago, rich.dev said:

….and Canada!

I assure you Rich, Mike meant no disrespect to the great expanse of land to the North of the USA call Canada. I'm reminded of the time in the immediate post Hurricane Katrina days when a national news team was describing the damage done to our Gulf Coast. They went on and on about the loss of life and the great amount or property damage done to "...Louisiana, Alabama and to the land mass in between them..." Hello, it's got a name, we call it Mississippi.

[ScubaRx]

On 10/27/2023 at 11:05 AM, HDRider said:

That seems to contradict the signal we get by disallowing sales of used Oliver's on the forum.

How so?

[rich.dev]

5 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I assure you Rich, Mike meant no disrespect to the great expanse of land to the North of the USA call Canada

Oh I 100% know there was no disrespect, just thought I’d chip in from the far north!😊

[topgun2]

16 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

just thought I’d chip in from the far north!

Chip in!

 

[rich.dev]

7 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

Chip in!

Lol…yup wave the flag for the handful Ollies up here!😜

[SeaDawg]

We've loved all our  (6? 7?) Canadian trips. First, with the Ollie, was to revisit Lake Sharbot, where my husband spent many summers with friends and families, then in to an around Erie,,Ontario, Michigan and Superior, top of the lakes trip.

It was. so. Darned. cold. in July, we had to find warmer clothes. Unexpected. But refreshing . 🤣 I still have a too big pair of sweatpants from that trip. I should just give them away.

We love our Canadian neighbors, your beautiful parks, your welcome, and especially our travels through the Yukon, and our camping friends there.

(My husband is from Buffalo, and I'm from Minnesota,  so "almost" Canadian, in our original  climates.)

 

[SeaDawg]

Btw, @rich.dev, any snow yet?

 

[rich.dev]

No snow yet @SeaDawg where we live, about an hr SW of Toronto. But according to the experts (The Weather Network) that will all change next week! 

[SeaDawg]

35 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

No snow yet @SeaDawg where we live, about an hr SW of Toronto. But according to the experts (The Weather Network) that will all change next week! 

Yeah, my brother in Minnesota should get snow this weekend.  

First snow is so  pretty. Quiet beauty.

The effects wear off after awhile....as I recall. I have not been north in winter for some four or five years .

 

[HDRider]

19 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

How so?

First, we know Oliver intends to push new trailer sales through a dealer network.  

Now we find out Oliver is now trying to push sales of used trailers off the forum and into their upcoming dealer network.

The logical next step to me is that Oliver would want to also push service to the dealer network.

 

 

 

[mossemi]

11 hours ago, HDRider said:

First, we know Oliver intends to push new trailer sales through a dealer network.  

Now we find out Oliver is now trying to push sales of used trailers off the forum and into their upcoming dealer network.

The logical next step to me is that Oliver would want to also push service to the dealer network.

 

 

 

I believe it is a matter of perception.  This new dealer network business model may or may not be a success for the Oliver Travel Trailer company.  Only time will tell, but I am hoping that it is successful! 

First, we know Oliver is going to offer new trailer sales and service through a dealer network, which will provide additional buying, selling and service locations, which should give the Oliver Travel Trailer company a national footprint.  

Now we know that Oliver has closed the Classified sub-forum completely.  This will remove one option for those that are interested in buying or selling an Oliver Travel Trailer.  The new dealer network will provide additional oppportunities for buyers and sellers of Oliver Travel Trailers which may be at a more advantageous geographic location.  The buying and selling of an Oliver Travel Trailer is still a decision that owners are in charge of. 

Whether or not an Oliver Travel Trailer owner chooses to have service performed at a dealer that may or may not sell new or used Olivers is their choice, as it always has been. 

Thank you for listening to my perception,

Mossey

 

[SeaDawg]

15 minutes ago, mossemi said:

I believe it is a matter of perception.  This new dealer network business model may or may not be a success for the Oliver Travel Trailer company.  Only time will tell, but I am hoping that it is successful! 

It appears to have been successful for two other respected fiberglass manufacturers,  Bigfoot and Northern Lite, that I know of. We'll just have to wait and see how it works for Oliver. I too, wish them the best.

2 hours ago, HDRider said:

The logical next step to me is that Oliver would want to also push service to the dealer network.

 

I don't see that as a negative, if the chosen dealers are Oliver- specific trained, and dotted around the country (and who knows, maybe Canada?), it could afford many of us a much closer access to Oliver service. We are about a 12 hour drive-time trip to Hohenwald. I can only see that as a positive.

[Mike and Carol]

3 hours ago, HDRider said:

The logical next step to me is that Oliver would want to also push service to the dealer network.

I bet they are going to the Airstream model.  Any Airstream owner can go back to the factory and camp in the factory campground to have service done.  Or, they can have service done at their nearest Airstream dealer.  Mike

[SeaDawg]

3 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I bet they are going to the Airstream model.  Any Airstream owner can go back to the factory and camp in the factory campground to have service done.  Or, they can have service done at their nearest Airstream dealer.  Mike

It would certainly make sense that they've carefully studied successful business models. This is a big step for them, and certainly not undertaken, without study and thought.

[HDRider]

Why would an Oliver owner use a dealer to sell their trailer? 

Use of the forum made sense.  RV Trader and other sales tools makes sense, but I don't see using a dealer except to trade it in. 

[mossemi]

11 hours ago, HDRider said:

Now we find out Oliver is now trying to push sales of used trailers off the forum and into their upcoming dealer network.

I’m sorry, I must have misunderstood your statement above.

3 hours ago, HDRider said:

Why would an Oliver owner use a dealer to sell their trailer? 

Use of the forum made sense.  RV Trader and other sales tools makes sense, but I don't see using a dealer except to trade it in. 

Mossey

[John Welte]

9 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

It appears to have been successful for two other respected fiberglass manufacturers,  Bigfoot and Northern Lite, that I know of. We'll just have to wait and see how it works for Oliver. I too, wish them the best.

I don't see that as a negative, if the chosen dealers are Oliver- specific trained, and dotted around the country (and who knows, maybe Canada?), it could afford many of us a much closer access to Oliver service. We are about a 12 hour drive-time trip to Hohenwald. I can only see that as a positive.

I am for it.  We are in Oregon.  That's much further than a 12 hour drive!

John

[Wandering Sagebrush]

15 hours ago, HDRider said:

Why would an Oliver owner use a dealer to sell their trailer? 

Use of the forum made sense.  RV Trader and other sales tools makes sense, but I don't see using a dealer except to trade it in. 

Other than “convenience”,  why would anyone trade anything in?