Re: "RV Death Spiral" July 18, 2016, 12:44:53 pm This link is to a post-publication interview with Greg Gerber, whose multi-part "RV Death Spiral" articles on his website, rvdailyreport.com, have received some press, both negative and positive. Whether one agrees with his views or not, the issues raised in the series apply to RVers in general, and the articles are worth reading (IMO). The BUZZ: What’s with Gerber’s ‘Death Spiral?’ | RV Business
Re: "RV Death Spiral" Reply #1 – July 18, 2016, 01:10:39 pm Quote from: JCT - July 18, 2016, 12:44:53 pmThis link is to a post-publication interview with Greg Gerber, whose multi-part "RV Death Spiral" articles on his website, rvdailyreport.com, have received some press, both negative and positive. Whether one agrees with his views or not, the issues raised in the series apply to RVers in general, and the articles are worth reading (IMO). The BUZZ: What’s with Gerber’s ‘Death Spiral?’ | RV BusinessThanks for posting this, Joan. We Lazy Daze owners often take quality for granted and live our Lazy Daze lifestyles in relatively safe harbor. It will be interesting to watch the RV industry to see if it is impacted by this lack-of-quality firestorm. The US auto industry had to meet the challenge of Japanese quality in the 80s after the shoddy-quality 70s. It rose to the challenge. I wonder if the RV industry will cure itself considering there is no real competition to force it to do so.Chris
Re: Re: "RV Death Spiral" Reply #2 – July 18, 2016, 02:44:27 pm Greg's series is being discussed on another RV forum I follow. I had posted the following there and hope y'all don't mind my sharing here, too. This is specifically in response to Part 5, his commentary on campgrounds.While I think the first 4 "episodes" were pretty spot-on, after 16 years of RVing under our belts (well, if we wore them), I would respectfully disagree with some of the analysis in the Campground one, it comes across more as a one-sided personal rant than a thoughtfully-researched article, which is disappointing. We have been on the other side (workampers who saw the operational and business side of privately-owned campgrounds).WRT to parks with lots of seasonals, most of those are ones either in destination locations or off the Interstate a ways where they rely heavily on somewhat-locals to fill sites. They are long-established parks with a lot of repeat clientele; the very thing that helps a park stay in business. Seasonal rates are significantly lower per night than daily rates, so a park owner isn't selfishly loading his coffers with these practices but rather ensuring he'll have some level of working capital to maintain the park. This is especially critical in areas with a limited season, such as those in the north. A good bit of responsibility lies with the RVer to research parks for themselves, not the commercial directories like TL or Woodall's, who rate campgrounds based on how much the park spends on their listing and advertising, but independent reviews like RV Park Reviews - Trusted Reviews of Campgrounds & RV Parks Sure, there are some questionable entries there (as with any website, including FF ) but there's enough info there to make an informed decision (and a plug here - please contribute reviews to that site). BTW, most public parks have a 2 week limit, no monthlies or seasonals.Similarly, you can use sites like that to research parks for potential stays. At $85 for a W/E site in Maine, I suspect Greg is trying to stay near Acadia or OOB. You can stay just a bit away from those areas and drive to them with your toad for a whole lot less. FHU monthly for $540 in Maine. Doing it now; you just have to put a little effort into doing the research. WiFi is another area that is not as simple as Greg makes it out to be (but which many RVers seem to feel entitled to). Providing WiFi to a campground, with the backhaul required especially on weekends when the park is full), is VERY expensive and not so readily available off the beaten path. The cable company wanted $5K up front just to survey one campground we worked at to determine what a wifi system at that park would involve, not including the actual system if they could provide one. Most campgrounds also don't have the tech personnel to manage wifi equipment and bandwidth (just stay in a park when folks are streaming Netflix and you'll see what I mean). Good resources on this subject are Jack Mayer (who does, or did, this professionally for campgrounds). He is a frequent poster on Escapees' forum and his site is Jack and Danielle Mayer and for self-provided options Chris and Cherie Technomadia | Adventures in Nomadic Serendipity and especially RV Mobile Internet Resource Center"Children tax"... one only needs to see the condition of the bath house and rest rooms in a park with lots of youngsters to understand that additional people, particularly young, energetic, and unsupervised, tax the facilities, cleaning supplies, and follicles of those responsible for keeping the facilities clean (and functioning) for everyone. A clarification on the additional headcount charge as well. The additional fees are for ANY additional individuals on a site, not just children. More people simply put additional cost burden on the facilities, particularly things like water and sewer usage. 4 Likes
Re: "RV Death Spiral" Reply #3 – July 18, 2016, 04:37:30 pm Many years ago, I dreamed of getting a Bounder...big and roomy and they looked so cool driving down the road. I thought of getting a Tioga because it looked so sturdy and compact. Oh to dream.Years later, what did I get? A Lazy Daze...thank my lucky stars. During its build, I watched YouTube videos of Thor Class A assembly lines. I was horrified. I watched as wall panels were dropped into place enclosing the cabinetry that had already been installed . The roof came down from above and some screws were driven to slap the rig together. It scared me to death.When Thor aquired Airstream and I saw how it was slapped together, I shivered and cringed. "How could they do this", I wondered? "And to a beautuful Airstream".I vow to this day to maintain my LD to the highest degree. To keep it running strong and proud and to leave it as a legacy of what a Great Manufacturer can produce.Long live Lazy Daze.Kent 3 Likes
Re: "RV Death Spiral" Reply #4 – July 18, 2016, 05:42:40 pm Worth reading indeed. On another thread here the question of Lazy Daze unit longevity is posed. can't help but think of the relationship between these two topics. While LD and other manufacturers like them don't show up in the big market figures like Thor and Forest River, they adress the need within the market for quality RVs. Sometimes at a higher price than many RV buyers want or can spend. It may not be a very big market segment though. The number of RVs that seem to be disappearing is staggering, if accurate. While the "Death Spiral" headline may be a bit of click-bait, and a calling a 20 year industry collapse may be sensational, I read a lot of familiar complaints in this series. But of course, it is easy to complain. I have even tried it myself from time to time. I wonder what the economics of the business are that prevent, or reward improvement?
Re: Re: "RV Death Spiral" Reply #5 – July 18, 2016, 07:06:48 pm Thanks for the link Joan. I went right to his indictment of the campground industry, curious what fault he would find. Our experience has been very positive and couldn't differ more from the author's. Between all the private campgrounds, national parks, state parks county parks, etc etc we feel overwhelmed by the choices and never have trouble finding a place to park/camp. We belong to PPA and KOA and AAA. Finding a nice place to camp at an affordable price is not on our list of problems. And we've camped from Pomona to Bar Harbor!
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