More bad news for the RV industry. Yesterday it was announced that Monaco Coach Corporation had given termination notices to the remaining members of their workforce. Most of those employees had been on furlough since Mid-December, 2008.
In an article on www.cnnmoney.com, the company says it is still hopeful of some way to resolve their financial issues. But when you consider that their stock opened at 46 cents a share yesterday and closed at 6 cents by the end of the day, it doesn’t look good.
You may recall a blog I wrote on February 5 on my predictions for the RV industry, in which I said that the companies that ignore their customers’ needs would go by the wayside.
I said in that blog that Monaco was a company I could not recommend to new RVers, based upon the problems owners of their coaches have shared with me over the years.
You have to figure that when people are sticking things like this on their coaches, they’re pretty ticked off!
With so many companies closing up, and even more in trouble, you have to wonder who’s next.
But there is also good news on the horizon. A while back I reported that Walter Cannon from Recreational Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) is holding an RV Lifestyle, Safety and Education Clinic at the Wildwood Conference Center at Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania September 13 – 16, 2009.
For people who wanted to attend Life on Wheels, which closed recently following the death of its founder, Gaylord Maxwell, this is a great opportunity to attend an excellent lineup of classes on all aspects of the RV lifestyle. Walter has asked me to present several of my seminars at this new event, and I know that some of the other Life on Wheels instructors will be there too. We’re looking forward to seeing a lot of you there. Contact RVSEF at the link above for an e-mail announcement about the new program.
When our latest mail delivery caught up with us, a couple of people who ordered books or subscriptions asked that we not share their mailing addresses with anyone else. Never worry about that. As fulltimers RVers, we know what an expense and hassle junk mail is. We respect your privacy, and we never sell or share our mailing list with anyone.
It ticks me off enough getting spam in my e-mail. Having to pay to get junk mail forwarded to me, or paying a mail service extra to sort my mail and throw it away, really makes me mad.
We did business with a commercial mail house called Lake Michigan Mailers in Grand Rapids, Michigan one time last year, ever since then, I have been getting solicitations from them, as well as a ton of e-mail. I have asked them repeatedly not to send me their junk mail, and they just ignore me. How quick do you think I’ll be to ever spend another nickel with this outfit?
One reason we don’t belong to the Good Sam Club is the mountain of junk mail they bury their members in. Within a week of joining, ten years ago, we started getting junk mail from them. I requested that they take me off their junk mail list, and was ignored. Finally I wrote a nasty piece about them in the Gypsy Journal and sent a copy to the president of the club. Miraculously we were off the mailing list! But we never renewed our membership because I don’t like an outfit that ignores my needs so they can try to sell me something.
I learned a long time ago that when any company or organization mistreats me, voting with my pocketbook is the best response.
Thought For The Day – We have to learn to be our own best friends, because we fall too easily into the trap of being our worst enemies.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
This will be a real hardship to Lane County, Oregon. Also, Monaco owned several other well known brands which will die with them.
COBURG, Ore. — Last July, Monaco Coach Corporation was Lane County’s fourth largest employer and the manufacturer with the county’s largest workforce, estimated at 2,400.
“Your employment will terminate and you will be permanently discharged on March 2,” according to the letters, received Monday.
Wanichek said 145 people will still work at Monaco, but he didn’t specify for how long.
Headquartered in Coburg, Oregon, with manufacturing facilities in Oregon and Indiana, the Company offers a variety of RVs, from entry-level priced towables to custom-made luxury models under the Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Safari, Beaver, McKenzie, and R-Vision brand names. The Company maintains RV service centers in Harrisburg, Oregon and Wildwood, Florida and operates motorhome-only resorts in California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan.
Good Sam Club is a real P.I.T.A. Essentially I made the mistake of giving them money so that they could send me more junk mail from a single source than I have ever experienced. And their magazine is a joke. Escapees knows what makes a good publication. IMHO!!!
Right on about Good Sam. About 10 years ago, before I retired, I bought a lifetime membership. One of my bigger mistakes. I did finally get off their mailing lists, after repeated requests. On the other hand, our lifetime membership in Escapees, also boight about 10 myears ago, is one of our biggest bargins, so it all balances out.
Yep, You are mighty right about Good Sams. I tolerate them because I have their towing insurance for the coach. If not for that I would drop my subscription. I did drop out of AARP for this very reason.
Dan