Trailmanor update

[ArkyDoodle]

I dropped my unit off at the factory in Nebraska about a month ago to do some warranty work (replace the front lift bars and rework the silver siding where it had become de-laminated).....I was told it was a "fairly major repair" and it'd take "about two weeks". I responded with "take as long as you need to do it right....how 'bout we call it a month?"....They agreed that a month should be plenty of time and we settled on a date of this Saturday, April 16th......Since then, I've tried not to bug them, but at this point, I've not heard a thing about the status of these repairs.....and when I have called, it's either rung off the wall (no one answers the phone) or a promise to pass my message on to the "right" person (I now have been passed to 4 different people, none of whom will return my call), so yesterday when I got the same treatment, i simply asked to speak with BOB. I was told that he was out of the office and that he'd be calling me first thing this morning....It's almost lunchtime and I haven't heard anything......How difficult is it to make the call and then tell the truth. I'm so concerned that they'll tell me it's all done, no problems, come pick it up......and when I get there after driving 800 miles I find no one at the factory, or worse yet, it disassembled in the parking lot......

[TrailManorMan]

That is unfortunate,hoping for the best.

[TM Pilot]

Originally Posted by aslag54

I'm pretty sure Bob owns the building and I do recall reading he received some grant money from the local government for relocating in Hartington...Having worked for a failing company all these sound like they are having money problems.

Bob owns the building under the company name of CORAE, INC (Children of Robert A. Eickhoff). He bought the building in 2007 - years before he bought Trailmanor in 2011. He originally bought the building to flip it (after installing a white picket fence and planting a few trees) for 1 million (later reduced to $800K in 2012; now appraised at 375K), but when that didn't work out he tried to rent it. When that didn't work out he finally relocated Trailmanor there in 2015 because it still wouldn't sell. But Bob states, "To serve our customers better and maximize production we have moved all production to our facility in Hartington, Nebraska. The Nebraska facility is larger and better suited to handle the production of present and future TrailManor products." Was that the real reason? How did the relocation work out? There was a reason why Leprino Foods shut down, auctioned off, and sold its cheese plant in Hartington, NE in 2003. And it was the same reason why nobody wanted to buy the facility from Bob the flipper and start a new business in it. And then with an unproductive building Bob couldn't rent or sell, he made another decision - a decision which could end Trailmanor.

Yes, Bob did receive a significant amount of money from the local government and several other sources to relocate Trailmanor to NE (mostly loans along with a relatively small grant). And some in the government are not too happy with the way Bob has managed that money and Trailmanor's slow move into the facility and lack of operations. In 2010/11, Bob was loaned a lot of money because his proposed plan was to use the building in Hartington for Trailmanor and create 20 jobs. Yet, the building was advertised for sale in 2012/13! And when Trailmanor hadn't moved in and had operations in the building by 2012, questions were being asked and threats were made of calling some loans. I posted links to all this public information in this very thread (without commentary BTW so that the reader could connect the dots), but it was deleted by our moderator.

Bob is having money problems. A private letter written by Bob to the Trailblazers last summer admitting that he was out of cash and requesting financial help was posted here. But that letter was deleted by our moderator.

I have a TM that's 9 years old now. I love it! I would like to upgrade to a newer model one day. Obviously, if Trailmanor goes out of business then that won't happen. Therefore, I want nothing more than for Trailmanor to succeed. But with the condition Bob has put Trailmanor in today, I would never give him a penny of my money for a new TM or a loan unless I saw major changes in his decision making, business management, customer service, and product quality. And it seems I'm not the only one. No major investor has come forward to save Trailmanor. Gotta ask, why not? Considering Bob's past performance and Trailmanor's current business location, one has to ask why should they invest their present money for Trailmanor's future.

Sorry about your frustrating experience, aslag54. I took the time to post links to factual information so people here could make a more informed decision about purchasing a new TM or loaning Bob cash money or having a general knowledge about how Trailmanor is doing, but it wasn't considered PC by our moderator. According to him, none of us has any information or any expertise in the business aspects of the new company and therefore shouldn't engage in speculation, Monday morning quarterbacking, and rumor mongering. I find that comment insulting. If I'm going to spend 35K for a Travel Trailer, I absolutely am willing and able to research a company before I give them my hard earned money and absolutely will make no apology for doing so. All the links I posted were knowledge and facts and not speculation, Monday morning quarterbacking, and rumor mongering. It's time consuming to find public information on a private company. But what public information there is doesn't paint a very good picture of Trailmanor's business decisions of late. Deleting that public, factual information because it paints a picture we don't personally like and then labeling it slander, speculation, rumors, etc. doesn't help or inform anyone, Bill. It's censorship (and I'm not too happy that you didn't even discuss the post with me first before deleting it). And we have forum members here who have already suffered needlessly because of a lack of factual information. And having Bob give the silent treatment or excuses to his customers and dealers isn't helping the situation either. Trailmanor's last newsletter was Fall 2014. There is nothing from Trailmanor in the latest edition of The Tidings. And Trailmanor's active Facebook page tells a story because of the content that isn't posted there - Trailmanors being build and purchased by customers and displayed at RV shows. Since Bob and Cleo won't talk - people have to look at the available public information, see the picture it paints, and make their decisions. There is nothing wrong with that.

If anyone finds anything in this post that is not factual, then prove it and I'll edit it. I'm not interested in emotionally fueled, irrational reactions. If you decide to delete this post, Bill, then you can also delete my membership while your at it because I'm also not interested in subjective censorship that harms the very people I'm trying to help. I joined this forum to give and receive ideas and information about Trailmanor travel trailers, not to be apart of a travel trailer cult that censors reality that it can't handle. Trailmanor is not my idol and Bob Eickhoff is not Jesus Christ.

[TM Pilot]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

I dropped my unit off at the factory in Nebraska about a month ago to do some warranty work (replace the front lift bars and rework the silver siding where it had become de-laminated).....I was told it was a "fairly major repair" and it'd take "about two weeks". I responded with "take as long as you need to do it right....how 'bout we call it a month?"....They agreed that a month should be plenty of time and we settled on a date of this Saturday, April 16th......Since then, I've tried not to bug them, but at this point, I've not heard a thing about the status of these repairs.....and when I have called, it's either rung off the wall (no one answers the phone) or a promise to pass my message on to the "right" person (I now have been passed to 4 different people, none of whom will return my call), so yesterday when I got the same treatment, i simply asked to speak with BOB. I was told that he was out of the office and that he'd be calling me first thing this morning....It's almost lunchtime and I haven't heard anything......How difficult is it to make the call and then tell the truth. I'm so concerned that they'll tell me it's all done, no problems, come pick it up......and when I get there after driving 800 miles I find no one at the factory, or worse yet, it disassembled in the parking lot......

That the service manager (John) met you in the parking lot and didn't offer you a tour of the new facility so that you could observe for yourself just how TM is finally getting its act together so as to pass that positive information on to your TM friends here on the forums is a BIG RED FLAG! Keep us posted on what happens. When you go back to get your TM, ask for the guided tour of the INSIDE of the facility and let us know the quality of the repair work on your 2014 TM. It will be much appreciated. Hope you have good news.

[stormpeakco]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

I dropped my unit off at the factory in Nebraska about a month ago to do some warranty work (replace the front lift bars and rework the silver siding where it had become de-laminated).....I was told it was a "fairly major repair" and it'd take "about two weeks". I responded with "take as long as you need to do it right....how 'bout we call it a month?"....They agreed that a month should be plenty of time and we settled on a date of this Saturday, April 16th......Since then, I've tried not to bug them, but at this point, I've not heard a thing about the status of these repairs.....and when I have called, it's either rung off the wall (no one answers the phone) or a promise to pass my message on to the "right" person (I now have been passed to 4 different people, none of whom will return my call), so yesterday when I got the same treatment, i simply asked to speak with BOB. I was told that he was out of the office and that he'd be calling me first thing this morning....It's almost lunchtime and I haven't heard anything......How difficult is it to make the call and then tell the truth. I'm so concerned that they'll tell me it's all done, no problems, come pick it up......and when I get there after driving 800 miles I find no one at the factory, or worse yet, it disassembled in the parking lot......

Hope your TM issues and anxiety are resolved soon.
Can you (and others) please expand on the delamination of your silver trail?
thanks.

[br2_wdc]

Originally Posted by TM Pilot

But what public information there is doesn't paint a very good picture of Trailmanor's business decisions of late. Deleting that public, factual information because it paints a picture we don't personally like and then labeling it slander, speculation, rumors, etc. doesn't help or inform anyone, Bill. It's censorship (and I'm not too happy that you didn't even discuss the post with me first before deleting it). And we have forum members here who have already suffered needlessly because of a lack of factual information. And having Bob give the silent treatment or excuses to his customers and dealers isn't helping the situation either. Trailmanor's last newsletter was Fall 2014. There is nothing from Trailmanor in the latest edition of The Tidings. And Trailmanor's active Facebook page tells a story because of the content that isn't posted there - Trailmanors being build and purchased by customers and displayed at RV shows. Since Bob and Cleo won't talk - people have to look at the available public information and make their decisions. There is nothing wrong with that.

If anyone finds anything in this post that is not factual, then prove it and I'll edit it. I'm not interested in emotionally fueled, irrational reactions. If you decide to delete this post, Bill, then you can also delete my membership while your at it because I'm also not interested in subjective censorship that harms the very people I'm trying to help. I joined this forum to give and receive ideas and information about Trailmanor travel trailers, not to be apart of a travel trailer cult that censors reality that it can't handle. Trailmanor is not my idol and Bob Eickhoff is not Jesus Christ.

While I believe some of your wording is strong and over the top, I cannot disagree with your basic premise: the truth should not be deleted or hidden about the current status of Trailmanor.

It's clearly Bill's decision, but I would hope there is room or a place on this forum for facts or fact based opinions about TM's current situation. For example, perhaps there is a way to have a separate section, or even have the ability to mark certain posts as "opinion" so folks know upfront and make a decision on the information for themselves.

Independence is one of the big advantages of this forum, and the ability to say what's wrong with TM and provides fixes and ideas to improve the product are why many of us purchased a TM and are here contributing; the same logic and standard should apply to TM's current situation, no matter how bleak the news may be.

-- Ben

[davlin]

I wish you the very best for a positive outcome, arkydoodle. The lack of communication is frightening.

[Shane826]

I just called the factory looking for fender skirts for my 3326. They answered the phone immediately. The skirts are on backorder and it sounds like they have been for a long time... Maybe that's part of the holdup?

[ArkyDoodle]

I spoke with Sonya (my latest customer rep) and she said, "it should be done on Saturday." I told her that wasn't good enough, I'll be driving over 800 miles to get there (and 800 miles home) so a "should" wasn't acceptable. She quickly changed her response to "it WILL be done to your satisfaction and Bob will meet you at the factory this Saturday"................so that's better.......I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping the repairs will be completed on time and in a satisfactory manner.

The Silver Trail delam situation (they tell me) stems from the fact that early models were not properly prepared and primed before the siding went on. The street side where there's quite a few "cut outs" is where is situation is most likely to occur. If you get the lighting just right, the surface appears to have slight, vertical groove-like indentations 6"-8" long....I'll see if I can find any old pics....

[Padgett]

Just talked to David at JD Sanders and apparently Bob is coming to Florida on a sales trip. They are still pushing the Rise and not a powered version of the original trailers. Wonder who is running the factory when he is gone.