FYI Newmar just doesn’t seem to get it!

[TJ&LadyDi]

@TJ&LadyDi it's unfortunate your step up into the Luxury line has been far from it. It makes me wonder what I will purchase next, Newmar or something else. Is there better, is there different? Newmar is what we know, sadly what we've learned is concerning and this behavior seems to have gone downhill for many. I personally have had great experiences with them with my 2017 and the years that followed, but I keep hearing stories in more recent years that is sad to hear for whatever the reason. When I was doing my mid 1st year warranty and repair, I think it was Nov 2017'ish I met a guy that got a King Aire. Adam I think was his name, he has been over on the other forum sharing his experiences which has been far far from what a "King Aire" owner would expect. I think he despises his purchase and it didn't live up to the price back then. I know someone posted a few videos of that couple that bought the Kountry Star which I've refrained from commenting on as I have my opinions on that saga. Attitude is important, and how you treat people, none of which are in your situation, but in some cases that makes the experience far worse than it needs to be.

We know Newmar is reading this forum and I hope someone can take the feedback offered by the members here to heart and make improvements. The after hours help line has proven time and again to be a failure in at least the last year, I read another story of it today on the Newmar Facebook group where someone reached a support gal at Newmar who was not trained or knowledgeable to handle the call. There are a few standouts such as Erica Miller who is outstanding from my experience on the Ventana side, the e-mail point of contacts for parts, estimates, and scheduling are all outstanding (Kudos to Joe, Phil, Devon, Ryan, etc.).

I hope those of you that are affected by this problem or have to be worried about your super expensive awnings on high line coaches can work to push Newmar to get resolution. Yes, as stated by someone else my lowly Ventana has an awning on/off rocker switch in my overhead control center. All coaches should have this, it's a super simple disconnect. Carefree awnings such as on my coach also have remotes, I've never seen an unintended deployment but I also keep my system powered off with the above mentioned rocker switch when under way and typically it remains off until intended use.

Hang in there but again, I'm sorry to hear yet again of major issue with your Mountain Aire and on top of that failed customer service from Newmar such as your step issue, etc.

I think there is a bit of a misperception here; our overall experience with our Mountain Aire has been good. We have had a couple of issues with the coach that have been (or, are being) ironed out one way or another, but overall we like the coach. And, our relationship with Newmar has been generally good as well. Our primary issue with Newmar is not with getting issues resolved (with the possible exception of a failed Kwikee step...); it is the path that sometimes has to be taken (endured?) to get there. And, to be clear, Erica Miller did a great job of fielding our call for help to get the awning electronics disabled. Over the years, Mike Biancini has also been great in helping us deal with issues.

I have no idea who handled our e-mailed report on the incident and request for some action items, but that’s where things fell through the cracks. Part of the problem is that having spent a lot of years communicating with various public’s over the years, I probably have a more acute focus on the components that make up a successful, productive and efficient communication. Good customer communication is money in the bank and poor customer communication is a money-making opportunity wasted. And, the sad part is that it really doesn’t cost more to do it the right way! Usually, it costs less in the long run.

And, let me just say here that Girard has been stellar in their response to us on the awning issue. Simply stellar! And, the Girard response came directly from the corporate level; impressive.

In summary, we still think the Mountain Aire is a good coach and we like it. We think Newmar generally produces good coaches, at least in our experience. And, we do think the emergency help aspect of Newmar’s customer communication has generally been good...sometimes great, sometimes not so great...over the years. It is the next level of communication that fails, in our estimation; the ability to reach the management/corporate level with a problem that is more than just an emergency call to find out which plug to pull (or trying to get a failing step replaced...).

TJ

 

[sheridany]

Newmar used to have a post service survey after a dealer visit through either a mailed form or phone call. I was always candid in responding about my personal experience. I can also tell you my visit data was not accurate as I would get phone calls for visits I never made. I can also tell you from personal experience in working in Corporate America that the information presented at the top is not always entirely accurate of the truth at the bottom. No one wants to present bad news so much is smoothed over or minimized so the good news always rises to the top. Been there and done it myself shamefully.

My opinion only, nothing is going to change until competition comes into the industry that shakes things up or people stop running to dealerships with pocketfuls of hard earned cash ready to jump into this lifestyle. Newmar is the probably the best of the class A manufacturers out there and they have their challenges as we all write about daily.

Balancing corporate earnings growth against customer satisfaction is a very slippery slope and being family owned at one time has entirely different objectives than a publicly traded corporation. I hate to say it but earnings and profit wins every time. There has to be a profound event(s) that will make senior executives stop and say "uh houston we have a problem". Until then, business as usual.

 

[sheridany]

93% of WGO shares are held by 367 institutions. I don't want to minimize @TJ&LadyDi original post and he is 100% correct in his statement, but sadly I think his voice and others are being "drowned" out by the need to keep those institutional shareholders happy. Onward and upwards as they say.

Major Holders​

Currency in USD

Breakdown​

3.77%	% of Shares Held by All Insider
93.84%	% of Shares Held by Institutions
97.52%	% of Float Held by Institutions
367	Number of Institutions Holding Shares

Top Institutional Holders​

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
Blackrock Inc.	5,610,592	Mar 30, 2021	16.70%	430,388,512
Vanguard Group, Inc. (The)	2,416,832	Mar 30, 2021	7.19%	185,395,182
Fisher Asset Management, LLC	1,709,260	Mar 30, 2021	5.09%	131,117,334
JP Morgan Chase & Company	1,701,784	Mar 30, 2021	5.06%	130,543,850
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP	1,578,977	Mar 30, 2021	4.70%	121,123,325
Cooke & Bieler, Inc	1,553,793	Mar 30, 2021	4.62%	119,191,461
Punch Card Capital, L.P.	1,022,953	Mar 30, 2021	3.04%	78,470,724
State Street Corporation	1,009,540	Mar 30, 2021	3.00%	77,441,813
Citadel Advisors LLC	780,716	Mar 30, 2021	2.32%	59,888,724
Candlestick Capital Management LP	569,936	Mar 30, 2021	1.70%	43,719,790

Top Mutual Fund Holders​

Holder	Shares	Date Reported	% Out	Value
iShares Core S&P Smallcap ETF	2,249,884	Mar 30, 2021	6.70%	172,588,601
JP Morgan Small Cap Growth Fund	1,077,739	Jan 30, 2021	3.21%	74,428,655
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund	911,896	Dec 30, 2020	2.71%	54,659,046
iShares Russell 2000 ETF	760,748	Mar 30, 2021	2.26%	58,356,979
Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund	467,689	Dec 30, 2020	1.39%	28,033,278
Vanguard Tax Managed Fund-Small Cap Fund	309,022	Dec 30, 2020	0.92%	18,522,778
Royce Special Equity Fund	305,000	Mar 30, 2021	0.91%	23,396,550
American Beacon Small Cap Value Fd	295,577	Jan 30, 2021	0.88%	20,412,547
DFA U.S. Small Cap Series	287,174	Jan 30, 2021	0.85%	19,832,236
JNL Series Trust-JNL/Multi Manager Small Cap Value Fund	275,400	Dec 30, 2020	0.82%	16,507,476

 

[lostinfla]

Personally, I have given up on Newmar customer service. In response to the OP's awning problem, when I first heard of it, I started simply unplugging the two awning leads when traveling. Oh, and Neal, considering a new coach? Maybe the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

 

[Neal]

Just tell me when the "considering new coach" stops.

 

[Chargerman]

I think Neal’s point summarizes Newmar’s current issues regarding customer service most accurately. I really don’t think the sale of the business has much to do with their current challenges. The over the top amount of sales has more than challenged them and bringing on and training qualified personnel only adds to the pain. With no near term downtown likely one shouldn’t expect a significant improvement soon.
To add to the pain the supply chain issues will likely not be behind us all until the end of the year at best and the shortage of skilled labor and the high demand will surely see a continued lack of quality in an industry where production units certainly lack

 

[svoshop]

Recently, we posted a thread about our Girard awning extending on its own while we were underway. We had talked with a Newmar customer service representative immediately after the unexpected awning deployment and they ably assisted us in deactivating the awning controller so this would not happen again as we completed our trip.. So far, so good.

Do you just remove the control panel and unplug it, or is there more to it? I am not having the best luck with my new coach, and I could do without the awning coming out while I am driving.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Do you just remove the control panel and unplug it, or is there more to it? I am not having the best luck with my new coach, and I could do without the awning coming out while I am driving.

On our coach (a 2018 MADP), there is a white cord from the white controller box that is plugged into a standard 120V receptacle inboard of the controller. See photo below.

That’s what Girard advised me to unplug. There is a red LED on the controller box (upper left) that goes out after the unit is unplugged.

TJ

 

[svoshop]

On our coach (a 2018 MADP), there is a white cord from the white controller box that is plugged into a standard 120V receptacle inboard of the controller. See photo below.

THANK YOU

 

[J&JD]

On our DS there are actually two white cords plugged into 120v outlets, one for each awning.