Camping World greed

[jjrbus]

 Its not apples to apples, I can choose not to pay over $1 for a cup of coffee. Craig is a captive customer of Ohno and thier dealers.

[Cary and Don]

Another story of true greed.

When we first got the bus, we wanted the suspension bushings changed.  We were having trouble finding anyone that wanted to work on the bus.  So I stopped by Dan Gamble RV one day.  They have a huge repair facility in our area.

Yes, they could do the work.  Great.  We would need to leave the bus in four weeks as they were really busy.  They would have to take all the bushings out and to make sure they got the right new parts.  Then when the parts arrived, they would install them.  How long would this take?  No telling.  How much would the cost?  $110.00 per hour plus parts.  How many hours?  No telling.  How long would they have the bus?  No telling.

Thank you and Good Bye.

Don and Cary
GMC4107
Neoplan AN340

[Stan]

Craig: I completely agree with you on the issue of stocked parts. A few years ago I was rebuilding my ride type lawnmower and went to the local dealer who had sold it, with a list of parts. Only a small part of the list was in stock and the rest took about three weeks to arrive. I paid for the ones he had in stock but complained about the high price for some of the ones ordered in. His explanation was that his price list had varying markups depending on annual sales volume. Since some of the parts I ordered were expected to sell only once a year they had a high markup to cover the shelf cost. I agreed with him in principle and pointed out that he had no shelf cost because he didn't stock them and he had his money thirty days before he had to pay for them. Net result, I stopped doing business with him and he lost the parts business for about six small engines that I had in use.

BTW. Every Cummins dealer is also an Onan dealer. Same high prices and lousy service but another source. I am currently doing the necessary machining to adapt a Kohler engine to replace an Onan engine in a welder. Cummins wanted $3800.00 for a short block (20 HP) and Kohler's price was $1400.00 for a complete engine.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

I was at a Napa Store waiting for the sales person to find my part.  There was another sales person on the phone to a shop and giving them the prices for the parts they needed for a customer.  The "retail price" was as least 100% higher than the shops price on every part.

Our furnace needed a new control board.  The HVAC people wanted $760.00 to install the new one.  I found one at a wholesale house for $240.00 and one on the internet, not the Estore, and it was $119.00.  It took four screws and two plugs to install it. 

They are in the business of making a profit, but sometimes, it's a matter of what the traffic will bear.  I know what it's like to be self employed, but really.

Don and Cary
GMC4107
Neoplan AN340

Hi Don,

I don't think I have ever writen a bill over $375.00 including labor for any control board.

That's real steep! Maybe just greed... Glad you shopped around on that one!

Nick-

[luvrbus]

I don't buy from CW but you guys have to take in consideration these people probably spend 2 to 3 mil on the building and land ,have inventory that some states charge tax on like it was cash on hand, the payroll taxes workers comp, health insurance is going to cost them about 45% with out a 401 plan and then there is overhead for building lights,water,sewer,insurance and maintenance on the building plus a big liability policy for the lawyers to try to collect on all in all I bet the profit margin is less than 20% before taxes   my thoughts

[rv_safetyman]

As was mentioned earlier, Cummins now owns Onan.

This Wed., our local SAE chapter is touring the Cummins facility in Denver.  Craig, if you give me a part number(s), I will see what they want for the same parts.  Might be an interesting "study"

As to BK's recommendation, be careful, as that sort of approach my doom you to filing quarterly reports etc.  I am not an expert, but I am not sure you can get an EIN number without filing for an LLC type organization.  Sure not worth it, as that causes you to file lots of papers each year.  Someone more business oriented can give you a better reading.  I know that my LLC requires Quarterly filing of things like unemployment taxes, etc.

Jim

[HighTechRedneck]

And if you declared the bus a part of the business, it would probably have to be registered as a commerial vehicle with all the headaches that involves.

BTW, you can get an EIN for a sole proprietorship, but it does result in quarterly reports that need to be filed.  It can also put you under the IRS microscope if you go that route and never submit any payroll taxes.  Nothing that can't be cleared up with proof during an audit, but who needs the increased risk of audits?  Just not worth it just for getting discounts, in my opinion.

[PP]

Amortize the bus??? Now why didn't I think of that one? LOL

[belfert]

Someone mentioned time is money and sometimes searching for the lowest price can cost money.

I personally work a salaried job.  Nothing has ever been brought up about expected hours worked, but there seems to be a understanding that I will work about 40 hours a week.  I am on-call every other week except vacations so I cannot take a second job.  I am basically working for free over 40 hours per work since no overtime or anything like that.

The point is if I can reaserch pricing for an hour and I end up saving $25 I just basically made $25.  I didn't lose money because I wouldn't have been working anyhow.

Back on topic, some Onan parts are outrageously priced.  A standalone air filter assembly for an Onan that has a hose to attach to the air intake was well over $100 from Cummins NPower.  I did some research and a Donaldson air filter assembly that was almost identical was under $50 and would work just as well.

[gus]

It doesn't sound to me as if CW took advantage of your good nature very much, especially since the parts were so low priced and you didn't order the right parts the first time. They even gave you a break on the shipping!! I was surprised that the parts weren't much more expensive from what I've read on the boards.

Now if those parts had cost a few hundred or thousand bucks then I would have made some noise about it!!

From what I've read on the boards these same Onan parts from Cummins dealers are really expensive, the main reason I bought a Honda gen to replace my Onan.

In all my dealings with CW they have been more than willing to do the right thing and their prices are the best I have found anywhere, especially when they have those good sales.

Retail markups are what they are and businesses don't vary all that much because of competition. They are in business to make money and CW is one of the best in my experience.

[jjrbus]

Like Gus I have a Honda generator I dealt with Ohno once, never again. Shaft me once shame on you, twice shame on me. Very frustrating I would love to point at my generator and say with pride it is a Ford, GM, American motors etc built in Snowshoe Wisconson USA.