A/S Plant NO LONGER going to WBCCI Rallies!

[Pearl54FC]

Larry Huttle announced at the Bozeman International that the Airstream Plant employees would no longer be present at the Sarasota or International Rallies. This means no more A/S store, on-site work done by service personnel or direct contact with the plant. His rational was that the local A/S dealers would attend with some merchandise and workers.

If you have attended either of these rallies in the past you may have depended on parts at the A/S store or service work done on your rig. In my experience, most of the A/S dealerships are NOT A/S only and the service people are not as knowledgeable with the product.

If you'd like to see Airstream BACK at these rallies I urge you to email both Larry Huttle and Bob Wheeler and ask them to change their minds!!!!

Patti

[henw]

Boy, times must be tough at AS. Their presence at rallies has been a real positive for the brand in the past.
Tom

[TwinkytheKid]

Another nail in the coffin of the WBCCI when the company that started the club will no longer support it.

[yakman]

Originally Posted by TwinkytheKid

Another nail in the coffin of the WBCCI when the company that started the club will no longer support it.

Bummer!

Sounds like an opportunity for a motivated entrepreneur to step up to the plate and offer their services?

It would be a risky endeavor though. I haven't been around A/S all that long, but seems to be that inside of our thick aluminum shell, nothing is too AS specific. It's a step up in quality from most SOB's, but from fixtures to light bulbs, most stuff can be found at any RV dealer. The downside- you can't usually find everything you need at just one dealer. Thank goodness for the internet!

-yakman

[lewster]

That's very surprising.

I work at a lot of brand-specific motor home rallies that are sponsored by the factories, and the OEMs ALWAYS have a large staff of factory techs on site to do service work. I'm there as a factory rep for one of the more complex component manufacturers, products that the factory would rather have specialists present to do the service work. They also send large contingents of techs to open rallies like Good Sam and FMCA.

I think that Jackson Center is dreaming if they think that the dealers will fill the void!

[wheel interested]

My neighbor asked for waranty work at the Airstream store and they obliged but within 5 minutes there was a new sign up about no new or warranty work or some such thing that she was certain that her request prompted. Do you think there are too many Airstreamers wanting too many fixes with their new Airstreams these days????? Or is it just another cut-back from sending employees on site. Geesch even some unit delegates couoldn't afford to travel that far these days. The Airstream store has always been one of my favorite vendors at Internationals and I also thought it was very cool that people could get work done right at the rally.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

Do you think there are too many Airstreamers wanting too many fixes with their new Airstreams these days?????

Or in other words, are there more new Airstreams needing too may fixes there days?

[Silvertwinkie]

I think that is a mistake. Not that I'm a WBCCI fan, but it is still the main Airstream group. For the factory not to intertwine with the customer base is not good.

I was talking with a Bigfoot owner at the midwest rally this past June. Their factory reps take every opportunity to get in front and put a face to their operations.

[Al - K4GLU]

The way things are going at the moment Airstream might go belly up before the next WBCCI International!

[2airishuman]

not entirely surprising...

if the o.p. is accurate.

i too took advantage of this opportunity factory service option in salem at the international...

it is one of the reasons i went, it was easier to get the service scheduled in salem rather than in j/c.

but the fantastic fan service guys were the BEST and QUICKEST, so maybe some vendors can do this...

oh yeah, the wb' CHARGES vendors for a space and access to the attendees...duh!

still it has got to be costly for a/s to do this AND i suspect DEALERS close to the yearly big show...

don't entirely like it, and especially IF they have a good service department.

i see that for next years event the wisconsin dealer is raffling a new trailer AND new ford f250...

i hope both companies can afford it.

it's hard to know why this change would be made AND announced so early...

and there have been (likely more) layoffs at the factory.

but a club primarily of old used trailers and discontinued mohos, itsn't very relevant to the new 'stream buyer...

will the last one to leave PLEASE turn off the water and 30 amp breaker...

cheers
2air'

[wingfoot321]

I suspect that Airstream is being very rational. We are at the beginning of a very major change to the RV industry. It is going to take years to see the end result of changes that will be wrought on this industry.

I was planning to start looking to upgrade to a newer trailer but, with trailer prices, fuel prices, campground prices, etc. it doesn't make sense.

My truck isn't a turbo diesel but, I had a lower cost per mile on operating expenses this year than my diesel friends. They were acutely aware of same.

And don't tell me it is only money. I know when I am getting ripped off whether it is $4.00 gas or $38 campgrounds and corrective action is called for.

I will really miss the airstream folks at intl. They are a good source of parts, service, & free knowledge.

[Lothlorian]

Wingfoot:

I have to totally agree with you. I am new to the RV ownership and took my airstream on its first trip to our future retirement home (950 miles round trip). I spent some serious money on gas. I pulled an estimated total weight of about 6200 lbs and never went over 53 miles per hour. Fuel really took a chunk of my vacation money.

Thank God my kids are grown and on their own. I could not afford to be a soccer parent going to all those tournaments anymore.

It is getting very worrisome these days.
SIU Bound

Brian

[purman]

I don't know How old the A/S were that needed warranty work, But our friend has a 2004 Safari, that prompted us to by our 68 ambassador... well to get to my point.. My 68 is build a lot better than my friends 2004... Better craftsmanship and better parts.. Really wood not plastic...
Maybe this is why there is so much warranty work requested???

[vinstream]

Where is there heads? Let me know!

[Forrest]

There's another thread speculating on Airstream wanting to form its own club. They've tried it before. I don't think they've given up on the idea and continuing to support the WBCCI would be counter-productive to that goal.

[2airishuman]

altering how the company is involved in 2 rallies...

doesn't EQUAL no support for the wb'...

much of the company support isn't obvious or visible, but it's STILL there...

Originally Posted by Forrest

...thread speculating on Airstream wanting to form its own club...

and i've not seen ANY recent thread here on a new company driven club (we speculated about this 2 year past here)...

there is a new thread asking about the need/potential for a new club,

but it makes no mention of being company driven.

are u privy to some info that suggests otherwise?

cheers
2air'

[LuminumTraila]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

and i've not seen ANY recent thread here on a new company driven club (we speculated about this 2 year past here)...

2Air - I remember a thread that got started based on a question that was in a survey done by Airstream Co. last year. But it was at the SaveWally forum. Here's the link.

[53flyingcloud]

If you read the reports in the latest RV Dealers Report, the RV industry as a whole is in pretty rough times. Sales are down, across the board, over 30% for this year and, Thor Industries of Jackson Center, Ohio, is down almost 20%.
Lay off? More like hemorrhaging~!
Is there a turn around, NOT for this year. In fact, it's fairly much said that this year is totally written off. They are looking to 2009 and beyond as the recovery period.
The sharp thinkers are say the money is in "USED PRODUCTS" market~!!
The bright side to all of this down turn?
The "camp grounds"~!! In fact, a few of the Class A manufacture are either buying into campgrounds or setting the camp ground networks up. What that tell you?
People are still camping, just staying closer to home~
ciao
53FC

[Silvertwinkie]

It doesn't take a PHD to know that the RV industry is in bad shape. I would sumbit that in part it is their own fault, though clearly this has been vastly amplified by the fact of high energy prices and the overall economic issues, including the financing issues.

What I mean by the RV industry is partly at fault (and I mean the whole industry, not just Airstream), is that for decades they have had extremely lackluster quality and we as consumers have simply accepted this fact and continue to buy.

The RV industry, like the domestic auto industry is going to find that foreign RV builders are more than willing to step up and put top quality products out. Take the Canadian company that makes Bigfoot RVs. These units have thermopane windows and most of the things that are incorporated into the mid to low high range RVs. Factory support from what I heard is second to none and they are at any Bigfoot gathering out there.

Add to the fact the US Dollar is weak, it's just money in the bank for the foreign RV companies as recovery starts to happen. Folks who are paying, in the best of hopes, $2.50/gallon for gas (post recovery) are not going to want to haul their RV to the dealer for a laundry list that is 3 pages long, as was the case with my 2004 Safari. Sure most of the issues were addressed, but I had to haul the Safari to JC and back on my dime because the dealer network was at best inconsistent in terms of exp, and skill sets.

These next few years are going to be very interesting. Thor isn't going anywhere, they have a somewhat diverse product line, but as we have already seen, many others are just closing their doors.

IMHO, it's going to get far worse around here before it gets any better and the Cadillac of RVs, Airstream, I would think may take a bit bigger hit as folks are being pretty tight fisted with any disposable income (let alone financing drying up for a percentage of the customer base that can't pay cash), making these RVs a niche market in these kinds of times....... I think we are just now seeing and hearing the beginning of a leaning out of the factory. If you read the corrosion thread, you'll find they are also following the written warranty to the letter and walking from any warranty claims in regard to corrosion. This last announcement of lack of participation at the Airstream rallies, is, IMHO, just another item in a growing list of what appears to be cost cutting measures to reduce the bleeding.

[Mike Leary]

If everything we have was not paid for, I'd be thinking hard about not traveling. As it is,no worries & we'll head out in the fall, wintering in Arizona again. It will be interesting to see how many of you are able to get out, too.