Autoweek's review of an Eddie Bauer 27'

[Denis4x4]

Airstream Eddie Bauer Trailer Review - Autoweek

[ddruker]

Kind of a bummer the dealership didn't take them through a full how-to checkout.

The tone of the article would have been a lot better if the author left the lot knowing how to use the awnings, made sure all the appliances worked, practiced hooking up to his TV, etc.

Sounds like the dealer just focused on getting the TV hooked up and let the author head off into the sunset.

This is really a failure from the Airstream PR department - they should have made extra sure the author got the full hand holding at local dealer in LA. The cost is just too high for a journalist to not have the best possible experience - and experienced PR people should know this - they have to have seen this before.

[Denis4x4]

A long time friend in the automotive magazine business started a company twenty years ago that preps new cars for the automotive press and does all of the orientation stuff on features, etc. AS would do well to use a company like his for their press pool trailers.

[mutcth]

Even beyond the prep shortcomings, there are disappointing errors in that article. Do mice really chew through the walls of SOBs parked in storage? (Probably not.) Water tanks aren't steel. Load-levelling doesn't really do much - weight-distribution does.

Maybe more information from AS would have helped. Car reviews usually involve both a day-long press event (with lots of slides) from the manufacturer as well as a later visit from a press car. Doesn't quite compare to grabbing a trailer from a dealer.

It's a bit of a shame, because I wonder if the article would likely had been more positive if they got the Interstate that was originally planned.

Tom

[DKB_SATX]

Really it seems like the most negative things they had to say were about the price and the awning and the general issues of towing a trailer. Having an old Carefree awning, I think the ZipDees are a bit fiddly, I can see how someone who'd never touched one and had no instruction in its use could have a problem with it.

I'm guessing if they'd gotten the Interstate they would have focused on the price and the tight quarters. Everyone's a critic! I definitely think it would have been a better experience for the writer (and likely a nicer review) if someone had given them a good walk-through.

[Greg@AirLA]

The customer was given the same walkthru that all our customers are given, all the systems were explained. A 1000# weight distributing hitch and sway control were installed, Prodigy brake controller. A brief driving instruction was given on the paved lot west of the dealership, explaining braking, turning, and backing principles with a trailer in tow. The refrigerator operation was explained, when the unit was returned the refrigerator was checked and found to be functioning correctly, to date no trouble has been found with that system.

Greg

[richg]

Originally Posted by Greg@AirLA

The customer was given the same walkthru that all our customers are given, all the systems were explained. A 1000# weight distributing hitch and sway control were installed, Prodigy brake controller. A brief driving instruction was given on the paved lot west of the dealership, explaining braking, turning, and backing principles with a trailer in tow. The refrigerator operation was explained, when the unit was returned the refrigerator was checked and found to be functioning correctly, to date no trouble has been found with that system.

Greg

It is a shame that more thought and preparation had gone into to this. It surely did not improve the dealership's image in my mind or potential buyers.
It sounds like the typical dealership walk thru, get them in and out. It sounds like more time should of taken place on running appliances on electric and gas, and why air has to be bled out of the system for gas to start etc. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the dealership a 2!!
As far as the price was concerned, it should of been explained at the beginning this is not a trailer this just thrown together to last for three years and you get what you pay for!!
Myself I started out with pop-up campers and than to other fiberglas trailers and by the time I was serious about purchasing a trailer that would hold it resale value I purchased an Airstream and never looked back!!
Rich Gallagher

[Ridgerunner3]

An Airstream review by a writer with no knowledge, experience, or point of reference with travel trailers is of negative value to everyone including Autoweek. What a waste.

[mojo]

Doesn't sound like it's the dealers fault.

Just a sarcastic writer/critic who feels his job is to be critical.

[ddruker]

Greg - appreciate the posting and glad you took the reporter through a thorough checkout.

I'm a chief marketing officer in my not-airstream life - so I know a bit about the media and product demos. So let me be super clear - whatever happened, it's not your fault. I would never ever ever blame one of my people in the field for a less than 100% positive story that comes out from a media person that they interacted with. Because dealing with the media is not your day job - you are just helping out the corporate team.

When this kind of stuff happens, and it does, who I do hold accountable is my media team. Journalists are notorious for not listening, not paying attention, and being in a hurry - they've got deadlines and tons of competing pressures. I would never ever give a complex product to a reviewer without a product marketing person or local rep shadowing them the whole time, being instantly on call, going onsite to show him how to operate his awning / refrigerator, answer questions, etc.

Of course it's possible that this was in place, and the journalist went out of his way to call factory tech support instead of a local person assigned to coddle him, but I kind of doubt it from what he wrote.

The lesson to corporate PR is that the cost is relatively low if you have a customer that comes in for training and they miss something - but if this happens with a journalist it can be a much bigger problem.

Now how do we go about getting more of those models like you have in the brochures into our local KOAs - I do think he was on the right track there...

[noreen&sal]

I agree with MoJo. Sounds like bad journalism to me. Sal.

[mutcth]

I recall when Dan Neil (then of the LA Times, now at WSJ) borrowed an Airstream in 2008. He was more resourceful, calling to get a charging problem solved when the Expedition tow vehicle lacked the proper relay. (Why Ford doesn't install those at the factory...)

Tom

[MarkE]

From the first paragraph one could tell that this journalist was going to take a negative, sarcastic approach to this review. I'm sure the writer thought this to be entertaining, in a "cutesy" way.
I think this person #1 knows nothing of RVs, and #2 would have battered anything he/she doesn't understand (including the handsoap dispensers in a Hilton suite.)
When a journalist takes this negative attitude it really becomes a waste of the writer's time, the publication's money, the manufacturer's effort, and reader's time.
I would think Autoweek's editors would be able to find more positive, objective people to evaluate products. This writer certainly does the publlication no favors with such an obviously sarcastic bent.
I guess he/she misunderstands the term "critic" when it comes to objective journalism.
I was hoping for a useable evaluation of the unit's strenghts and weaknesses. What I read was an attempt by a whinner who thinks his/her writing is 'cute' and 'entertaining'.
SAD

[noreen&sal]

I'm sure when the refrigerator didn't make any noise he assumed it wasn't working. Too bad he didn't have a cell phone to call the dealer with his questions about the awning. Sal.

[mefly2]

The write up didn't sound too bad ...

[bredlo]

I didn't get further than, "it was a welcome surprise when the party before us wrecked [the Interstate]".

That peek into the author's mentality all I need to hear.

[BAB]

Does anyone really take what you read or hear or see from today's media at face value? After reading this article it was obvious to me that the author wanted to show how "smart" he was and did a snarky commentary. Fact is, this was a "piece" for him and an "assignment" rather than a fair treatment of subject matter. As Oscar Wilde said, "cynics know the price of everything and the value of NOTHING." How can you discuss "value" if you don't have basic skills on a product you've never ever encountered? You don't. He didn't.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from AZ. . . thanks for posting the article Denis4x4, and now that we have had our response here, maybe a nice, polite, informative, brief letter to the editor of Autoweek might be in order. I've always thought that kind of direct feedback is our best recourse. And I appreciate the civil response from Greg at AirLA. I plan to mention how disappointed I was in the Autoweek article,how much misinformation, etc., all as a long time reader of Autoweek. Negativity is easier than the alternative, don't fall prey to it. Thanks & regards, Craig