Motorcade Premium Membership

Topic: Motorcade Premium Membership (Read 5946 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #125 – January 05, 2015, 10:46:59 am

Quote from: Brad & Christine Slaughter – January 01, 2015, 08:15:46 pm

To me, this forum's value far exceeds any other Foretravel resource to me, including Foretravel itself. Ever since I bought my first Foretravel (1999?) and found the old Yahoo group, this group of fine folks online have shared much BETTER information than I have ever obtained from the factory, and in a much faster and responsive way. I have gotten wrong information from the factory (expensive) in the past, seen and experienced poor workmanship in repairs, and had other issues with FOT in the past.
But to nickel and dime current members for $25 more, while also dividing their customers into a total of three groups and three "levels of service", well, that just does not seem sound to me.

(I agree with virtually all of Brad's comments, but quoted only a few to conserve space.)

I personally cannot understand "who" Foretravel is--or "who" they want to be. This was really "driven home" by two recent events.

First, we were in New Orleans during Christmas, and saw a large number of coaches coming through the French Quarter RV Resort. Several of those were Entegra coaches, but none of them were Foretravels. Since I knew nothing about Entegras, I went to their Website and was well impressed; they do an excellent jobs of showing why one should buy their product. Then, I went to Foretravel's Website and was reminded that they appear to be way "behind the times" when it comes to Website design and marketing.

The second event occurred when our son told us that we are now closer to 2030 than we are to 2000. That really made me stop and think.

It's clear (at least to me) that Foretravel's thinking (and marketing and parts and service availability--especially ease of technical information and parts ordering) is still much closer to 2000, and that they will be lucky to make it to 2030. This is really sad, and I hope they can decide to really build products that people want and can afford and then will properly market them--and make a profit, rather than the "nickel-and-dime" approach they seem to now want to employ to get a little more money out of current owners.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #126 – January 05, 2015, 10:53:14 am

"The complaints I am reading have absolutely nothing to do with a dues increase because there isn't one. It has everything to do with creating different "classes" of members while telling longtime customers any past support of the business is now meaningless."

I have to say that I find this business of of an "elevated" Membership level rather insulting on several levels. First, it implies that the folks in the Service Department have been instructed to give different attention to customers who call and need assistance or an appointment. I have never been turned away when we had an urgent need with an issue and my calls for technical support were almost always returned in a very timely manner. If we had an issue that needed to be negotiated with the Service, Parts or Billing Department we were always able to reach an acceptable compromise. If I needed an appointment because of an urgent issue and I could get to the Factory, they always tried to work us in promptly. THAT is why we return to the Factory for service and THAT is why we retain our membership.
Second, I cannot understand the thinking that an "elevated" membership level would be considered more attractive when we are given the list of "bonuses" that are attached to that new level. What I see is that is you pay some extra money, the already polite employees at Foretravel will be EXTRA polite, the appointment schedule may magically have an opening when you want it (even if you have no emergency), or James Triana may return your call while he is trying to eat his lunch instead of waiting to return to his desk.

This whole issue has been bungled by people who are just VERY bad at marketing and communication. If there had been a letter from the Motorcade group that "due to the state of the universe, dues would be an additional $25 per year", I would not have blinked. What a huge load of nonsense. It just makes me irritated with those people who sit behind the closed doors in the main building and have no clue.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #127 – January 05, 2015, 10:59:41 am

quote "I have to say that I find this business of of an "elevated" Membership level rather insulting on several levels" unquote.

Oops, think I should have told Carol I already wrote the check... my bad

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #128 – January 05, 2015, 11:08:19 am

Quote from: Jeff Savournin – January 05, 2015, 10:59:41 am

quote "I have to say that I find this business of of an "elevated" Membership level rather insulting on several levels" unquote.

Oops, think I should have told Carol I already wrote the check... my bad

If I see a bump on your head in Q, I'll know she whacked you with a brontosaurus bone.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #129 – January 05, 2015, 11:38:16 am

Carol. You just repeated exactly what I said a few days ago and received a few derogatery (sp?) replies. One thing (before the like button) I also did get some nice comments PM'd and emailed so I knew at least I was not too far off in my comments.
JohH

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #130 – January 05, 2015, 12:14:07 pm

I'll say this: I've read some of the most impassioned posts on this thread - more so than any other threads I can remember in my short time here. (I see that some comments (i.e. from LTG) have even disappeared, which is odd.)

That all tells me that Foretravel is lucky to have such an involved group of owners and fans (here on the Foreforums), and ought to take advantage of our loyalty in any way possible. I don't believe a $25 premium membership is the best way to do that, however.

I'm one of those "non-Motorcade members", so maybe I shouldn't weigh in here at all. I've been thinking that maybe we should join just to support the brand (we would never be able, at this point in our lives, to take advantage of any of the social aspects - which seemed to me to be the most prevalent part of the Club) - this would have been a prime opportunity for Foretravel to bring folks like us into the fold. Instead, it feels a bit more exclusionary than I'd like. We'll probably join anyway, as a show of support; and we'll probably do the "Premium", just to avoid being labeled a second-class owner when/if we ever do need to call the factory.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #131 – January 05, 2015, 12:17:49 pm

Quote from: bogeygolfer – January 05, 2015, 12:14:07 pm

I'll say this: I've read some of the most impassioned posts on this thread - more so than any other threads I can remember in my short time here. (I see that some comments (i.e. from LTG) have even disappeared, which is odd.)

I checked the logs and no posts were shown as deleted by moderators or admins. For a small window of time, the system does allow posters to edit or delete their own posts (which doesn't show up in the logs), so that is likely what happened.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #132 – January 05, 2015, 12:28:40 pm

Hmmm, interesting....when I scroll up through all the comments, anything from ltg is blank, with the exception of one random character (a "?", a "-", etc.). Maybe it's something with my browser? I've seen it that way both on my iPad and now on my PC. Kinda irrelevant I guess, but it's just weird.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #133 – January 05, 2015, 01:14:49 pm

Quote from: bogeygolfer – January 05, 2015, 12:28:40 pm

Hmmm, interesting....when I scroll up through all the comments, anything from ltg is blank, with the exception of one random character (a "?", a "-", etc.). Maybe it's something with my browser? I've seen it that way both on my iPad and now on my PC. Kinda irrelevant I guess, but it's just weird.

I believe, as my being the object of his original message, that perhaps he thought better of his comments to me and edited them out by replacing them with the "."

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #134 – January 05, 2015, 02:04:42 pm

Quote from: bogeygolfer – January 05, 2015, 12:28:40 pm

Hmmm, interesting....when I scroll up through all the comments, anything from ltg is blank, with the exception of one random character (a "?", a "-", etc.). Maybe it's something with my browser?

Steve just "flipped the bit" so any edited posts now show who last edited them and when.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #135 – January 05, 2015, 02:09:52 pm

Michelle, now that's just scary flip a bit and wallah! Just goes to show you how easy it is to crack the code lol :-)

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #136 – January 05, 2015, 02:23:37 pm

Well, I can tell you that Foretravel does pay attention to its owners and is trying to meet our needs the most cost effective way for both us and them. I just had an email exchange with FT and here is the update.
They indicated that tech support offered in the Club Plus option was NEVER a Club benefit. In the past the Tech support was always offered to all owners. It didn't matter if they were Club members or not. It has always been a very costly privilege. This was something that they needed to get under control. There are owners/members and members of this forum and of the club who do not want or need this option of tech support so FT decided to offer it as a choice. I think this is an outcome that is not hard to see why it was implemented. I applaud them for doing it and allowing us as owners, access to Tech Support that we have grown happy to have. Some have mentioned that they got all they needed from the forum but many of us who have had that issue got the answer from James in the first place.

I am happy they kept the abilty to have some way to call in to get an answer and did not just do away with it altogether. I know this might raise another firestorm but we have to remember that FT is competing in a tough market and is making the best decisions they can for the company and for its owners.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #137 – January 05, 2015, 03:33:05 pm

I also am much happier saying that we have a plus option then reporting that it cost too much to have telephone tech support and have James on the phone for 2 hours free, so there is no more. I guess it is just how you look at it. I do not think there are classes of members or owners but people who have different needs and FT is trying to meet them all.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #138 – January 05, 2015, 03:45:25 pm

Too bad they couldn't have simply said it the way John just did. Unlimited tech support on products sold 30+ years in the past is unheard of in profitable business. I liked having it for free, but will gladly pay for it now.

Too bad I already renewed on time, before the plus membership was offered (but I only heard of it here). Do I have to go a year without?

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #139 – January 05, 2015, 03:47:32 pm

The odd part of this and some of you can correct me but I spoke to a Country Coach and a Newell owner and they both have tech support via phone for their coaches anytime, day or night. DAN

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #140 – January 05, 2015, 03:50:32 pm

I don't know how similar or dissimilar this will appear to folks here, but social media (including this very forum) has really changed how folks can obtain help and information. For example, I belong to four Facebook groups that pertain to vintage sewing machines, particularly Singer Featherweights. There are at least three business/selling entities who co-exist there, me being one, and we all sell items for the machines. It isn't like Foretravel doesn't know MOT and Extreme exist, and it would sure seem to me they could coexist here peacefully, for mutual benefit.

We always provide knowledgeable answers to questions and problems for free, whenever we have a chance to be online. Many folks will even start their questions addressing it to one or more particular persons that they know frequent the page and have the answers. As a result, a lot of folks appreciate our presence and problem-solving for them. In return, they show their appreciation by purchasing items from us that we have for sale (that are mentioned from time to time, but the readers are generally not bombarded with sales offers). With the advent of social media, this is a new kind of service that seems to be worthwhile. I don't spend that many hours in those groups, but still I quickly became well-known and developed a huge customer-base for the product I sell there. I sell a tiny product as a hobby for less than $10, but have had gross sales of over $8000 in just 3 months.

Many people "follow" posts there so that they can learn how to solve a particular problem that they think might come up for them. One of the sales entities has even created some you-tube videos to show how to do various procedures. As a result, they don't get phone calls all day long for the same questions...because the answers are shared within the group. Very similar to the Foretravel issue here of Hydraulic cylinder replacement for the 2002 train system. No one needs to call Joe Portelli at HWH about it, nor do they need to call James Triana and take his time away from other issues to address something already done and documented here by Scott and Carol.

It would seem to me that this forum could present a huge income source for Foretravel, especially if they came to an arrangement with Steve & Michelle (who don't even seem to be looking for money) to actually be here on a regular basis, and both assist folks with issues (saying it once, for hundreds of people to "hear") as well as telling us of items we may not know they have for sale or not think about needing. I could think of items such as cabinet struts (I need some), light bulbs, slide-wiper strips, windshield wiper blades, Dometic door handles, and all sorts of things like that that would bring Foretravel more income.

Just my 2 cents for an alternate way to increase income without trifurcating its customer group and causing unhappiness.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #141 – January 05, 2015, 04:15:06 pm

Quote from: Tom Lang – January 05, 2015, 03:45:25 pm

Too bad they couldn't have simply said it the way John just did. Unlimited tech support on products sold 30+ years in the past is unheard of in profitable business. I liked having it for free, but will gladly pay for it now.

Too bad I already renewed on time, before the plus membership was offered (but I only heard of it here). Do I have to go a year without?

Tom, just make a copy of the page in the MC magazine with the form for upgrading the membership & send it into Beverly with your $25 check.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #142 – January 05, 2015, 04:18:52 pm

John S, your last additional comment about the new fee for those that want it goes back to many points brought up. What they said in essence is that FT put a Pittance of a fee to seperate the "classes" of membership. They should have reaped the benefits (so to say) and upped the cost of Motorcade to all and thereby given equal service/call backs etc to ALL. This would not have created the present situation we have now.
JohnH

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #143 – January 05, 2015, 05:18:42 pm

Has any one considered the possibly there were too many call to James for him to handle as well as his other duties? Maybe this small fee is just to cut down those calls a bit. How many calls can one man take in a day? Please do say they should train others because as you would have to agree, only years of experience can really make a person like James.

Bob

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #144 – January 05, 2015, 05:26:25 pm

Well, they decided that they did not want people to pay who did not use the service. There are many people in TX who just go to Nac as they live close by and have no need for telephone service. I think if you look at it from their point of view, they provide information and service on 30 year old coaches and they have not charged for it. They used to give out schematics and paperwork for free and now that has a cost so it was just a matter of time till it hit Tech service. I do not think it is a class of owners rather allowing owners to make the best decision for their needs. It is not really a cost issue for most of us but the perception of classes is wrong. They did not want that to be the case but wanted people to have the choice of whether they wanted to pay for it or not. I will say if they used this forum more and bounced ideas off us, then they might not have this issue right now. I do not think this change was predicated on creating classes of ownership, rather it is to allow those who want to pay for a service and find value in it to keep receiving it. I think it is the right thing that they did but they also presented it poorly. I know you can not please all the people and many people say they see no value in contacting FT or in the MC club and that is fine. In this case they are adding value to the members of the MC club and dealing with a high cost issue they have at Corporate and still allowing us to have access if we want it instead of stopping it altogether. I think if the comment in the MC mag was we are stopping all call in for tech service on coaches older then 2008 then they would be dropping support for the older coaches but they did not. They approached this another manner and allowed the older installed base to have the access they want or need.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #145 – January 05, 2015, 05:30:12 pm

John, I think that's a reasonable position for Foretravel to take and I appreciate your explanation.

Effective communication....still a challenge after the thousands of years we've all been doing it.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #146 – January 05, 2015, 05:32:43 pm

Quote from: Brad & Christine Slaughter – January 05, 2015, 03:50:32 pm

It would seem to me that this forum could present a huge income source for Foretravel

The forum never has and our intent is that it never will be used for commercial gain. There is not and will not be commercial sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation.

The intent is and always has been that the forum is owned by the members since they (you) are the ones sharing your knowledge and helping each other.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #147 – January 05, 2015, 05:42:46 pm

I agree with your principles and they are good ones. What I, as just one of many people want is that the 2 of you that spend most of the time making this Forum work at least have some recognition for these hours etc and are compensated, however small it is for your work. The amount of this "recognition" has to be left open for us to decide.
JohnH

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #148 – January 05, 2015, 05:45:20 pm

It seems like a tempest in a teapot over some perceived slight, and I don't think it was Foretravel's intent to insult anyone. Look at it this way, what if they had just said "OK everyone, cough up another twenty five bucks whether you use the services or not." There are members who don't use the call in tech service, why should they be penalized to finance the ones who do? I suspect there would have been a measure of outrage over this also. They did not divide owners up into "classes," owners have done this on their own because they use different levels of service.

I have never called Foretravel for tech help unless I intended to follow it up with a service visit. Too many years in business for me, and never felt right asking for help with something I intended to fix myself. As others have said, the Foreforums brain trust is the resource, and I try to repay help by responding when others ask. Now, however, I'll gladly renew my expired motorcade membership and next time not hesitate to call for tech help if needed.

As Brad, Christine and Mugsy note, along with many others, FT could really do with a competent online knowledge base type presence. While it may seem trivial to those who look at hundreds of informative web pages a day, this would be a huge undertaking for them.

Re: Motorcade Premium Membership

Reply #149 – January 05, 2015, 06:17:08 pm

John S. if I understand you right, FT is stating tech service was never a part of the Motor Club. But now you will have to pay the MC dues plus the $25. to get tech support. So what it comes down to is the fact if you don't have a use for the MC services, for you to get tech support on your 10 to 30 year old coach its going to cost you $115.00 a year to access tech support. I have been a member of the MC since 2000 and have always thought tech service was a part of the MC dues. My error.

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