Joe Hogan
RVF Supporter
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2019
- Messages
- 2,819
- Location
- Florida
- RV Year
- 2024
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Dutch Star 4311
- RV Length
- 43
- Chassis
- Spartan
- Engine
- Cummins
- TOW/TOAD
- 2018 Ford Flex
- Fulltimer
- No
This is an interesting post that explains many of the questions about Rettroband policy and the thinking behind the policy. Also some insight into Brett. Brett's sayings are classic, "I'd rather sleep well than eat well" and "Solve a problem and profits will follow"
Post From another Forum:
”
Gary, once again you are correct my friend!
We do inspect all tires over 3 years old, and won’t install RettroBands on any tires older than 4 years. And, this isn’t because the age of the tire impacts RettroBand’s performance in any way.
Gary, please allow me to explain the reasoning behind our policy. The concept of Rettroband started almost seven years ago with a sincere desire to solve the problem of front end blowouts on coaches. It’s always been my experience in business, that if you can solve a problem the profits will follow, and not the other way around. After years of numerous designs, endless engineering, ongoing fabrication, and testing, I’ve honestly lost track of how many iterations we’ve gone through. I do know we have been to the test track 5 different times, with each of those test days costing us $50,000 plus.
Then, Hallelujah! We finally came to market with Rettroband Version 1.0 only to discover a year later we had an issue where installers weren’t following our installation instructions. As I’ve mention on this Forum before, “I’d rather sleep well than eat well.” So, after 6 installation failures we redesigned the product in an attempt to “idiot proof” the installation. And then, with over 1,100 RettroBands in the field, WE genuinely wanted to replace every Version 1.0 RettroBand in the field free of charge, because we had absolutely no way to insure whether the next installer would follow our installation instructions or not. This was a very expensive price to pay in order to “sleep well,” but worth every penny of it to me.
Then, when we could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, our shipping costs and raw materials skyrocketed! However, we maintained our prices, because we felt our profit margins would return once we moved production to the United States. Which, we expect to be doing before the end of this year.
So, all that brings me to why we won’t put Rettrobands on tires older than 4 years. It’s just this simple. In more cases than not the bead has become too brittle, and we have grown tired of replacing 4 year old tires (which realistically have a 5 year life) for free because the bead tore. For me the customer’s perception is my reality. We’ll never convince them it wasn’t our fault the bead on their tore due to its age, so we grin and bear it, and replace their 4 year old tires for free. Remember, not everyone stores, inflates, drives, or maintains their tires the same way. Will Rogers famously said “it’s not the return on my money as much as it is the return of my money.” And, that’s where we are today. At this point Rob and I would like to start seeing the return of some of our money. We’re confident profits will eventually come, because we feel we’ve now solved a very serious problem. But, tearing beads on old tires, and then replacing them with new ones for free, way more than takes all our profit margin out of the transaction, and pushes the return of our capital even farther down the road. I’m not looking for any sympathy here, I’m merely stating the facts which led to our policy.
Now to a very controversial issue, and everyone has their own opinions, so let the debate begin. Even though Michelin warrants their tires for 7 years, we (NIRVC) have always advised replacing tires at 5 years. And, for 37 years I have always replaced the tires on my coaches every 5 years.
This Michelin tire which blew last week at 70mph was 4 years old. Luckily, they had RettroBand.
Blowout with Rettrobands installed
Blowout with Rettrobands installed - iRV2 Forums
The inside sidewall blowout in this post was on a 4 year old Michelin tire. Luckily, they had RettroBands because the King Aire is a very heavy coach. I should also point out his passenger side front tire had just blown a few months earlier.
Rettroband Saved the Day
Rettroband Saved the Day - iRV2 Forums
Bottom line, we’ve seen countless blowouts on steer tires well before their 7 year warranty. Lest anyone thinks I’m trying to sell tires… we don’t sell tires! I’ve never wanted our customers feeling like we were telling them to replace their tires just so we could sell them some new tires. We advise our customers to replace their tires, because we believe their tires have become unsafe.
Lastly, I don’t want anyone thinking RettroBands are merely a safeguard against old tires. Alligators, road debris of all manner, or a piece of angle iron like Larry experienced, can cause a blowout on a brand new tire just as quickly as it will on a 7 year old tire, and that’s the problem, and the risk RettroBand solved.
Gary, you and Dee are dear friends, and my post is intended solely to address the reasoning behind our policy, for all those who are reading, but don’t know National Indoor RV Centers, Rettroband, or myself as well as you do. However, I’m going to give you a call, and make you eat the words of the last sentence of your post, and I promise I will never, ever, tell a soul my friend.
Onward,
Brett
Post From another Forum:
”
Gary, once again you are correct my friend!
We do inspect all tires over 3 years old, and won’t install RettroBands on any tires older than 4 years. And, this isn’t because the age of the tire impacts RettroBand’s performance in any way.
Gary, please allow me to explain the reasoning behind our policy. The concept of Rettroband started almost seven years ago with a sincere desire to solve the problem of front end blowouts on coaches. It’s always been my experience in business, that if you can solve a problem the profits will follow, and not the other way around. After years of numerous designs, endless engineering, ongoing fabrication, and testing, I’ve honestly lost track of how many iterations we’ve gone through. I do know we have been to the test track 5 different times, with each of those test days costing us $50,000 plus.
Then, Hallelujah! We finally came to market with Rettroband Version 1.0 only to discover a year later we had an issue where installers weren’t following our installation instructions. As I’ve mention on this Forum before, “I’d rather sleep well than eat well.” So, after 6 installation failures we redesigned the product in an attempt to “idiot proof” the installation. And then, with over 1,100 RettroBands in the field, WE genuinely wanted to replace every Version 1.0 RettroBand in the field free of charge, because we had absolutely no way to insure whether the next installer would follow our installation instructions or not. This was a very expensive price to pay in order to “sleep well,” but worth every penny of it to me.
Then, when we could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, our shipping costs and raw materials skyrocketed! However, we maintained our prices, because we felt our profit margins would return once we moved production to the United States. Which, we expect to be doing before the end of this year.
So, all that brings me to why we won’t put Rettrobands on tires older than 4 years. It’s just this simple. In more cases than not the bead has become too brittle, and we have grown tired of replacing 4 year old tires (which realistically have a 5 year life) for free because the bead tore. For me the customer’s perception is my reality. We’ll never convince them it wasn’t our fault the bead on their tore due to its age, so we grin and bear it, and replace their 4 year old tires for free. Remember, not everyone stores, inflates, drives, or maintains their tires the same way. Will Rogers famously said “it’s not the return on my money as much as it is the return of my money.” And, that’s where we are today. At this point Rob and I would like to start seeing the return of some of our money. We’re confident profits will eventually come, because we feel we’ve now solved a very serious problem. But, tearing beads on old tires, and then replacing them with new ones for free, way more than takes all our profit margin out of the transaction, and pushes the return of our capital even farther down the road. I’m not looking for any sympathy here, I’m merely stating the facts which led to our policy.
Now to a very controversial issue, and everyone has their own opinions, so let the debate begin. Even though Michelin warrants their tires for 7 years, we (NIRVC) have always advised replacing tires at 5 years. And, for 37 years I have always replaced the tires on my coaches every 5 years.
This Michelin tire which blew last week at 70mph was 4 years old. Luckily, they had RettroBand.
Blowout with Rettrobands installed
Blowout with Rettrobands installed - iRV2 Forums
The inside sidewall blowout in this post was on a 4 year old Michelin tire. Luckily, they had RettroBands because the King Aire is a very heavy coach. I should also point out his passenger side front tire had just blown a few months earlier.
Rettroband Saved the Day
Rettroband Saved the Day - iRV2 Forums
Bottom line, we’ve seen countless blowouts on steer tires well before their 7 year warranty. Lest anyone thinks I’m trying to sell tires… we don’t sell tires! I’ve never wanted our customers feeling like we were telling them to replace their tires just so we could sell them some new tires. We advise our customers to replace their tires, because we believe their tires have become unsafe.
Lastly, I don’t want anyone thinking RettroBands are merely a safeguard against old tires. Alligators, road debris of all manner, or a piece of angle iron like Larry experienced, can cause a blowout on a brand new tire just as quickly as it will on a 7 year old tire, and that’s the problem, and the risk RettroBand solved.
Gary, you and Dee are dear friends, and my post is intended solely to address the reasoning behind our policy, for all those who are reading, but don’t know National Indoor RV Centers, Rettroband, or myself as well as you do. However, I’m going to give you a call, and make you eat the words of the last sentence of your post, and I promise I will never, ever, tell a soul my friend.
Onward,
Brett
Last edited:
