Go Fast Campers ripoff

[Louisd75]

Is there a specific delivery date? No.

We don't know that unless you're working for GFC or seen OP's contract. OP hasn't mentioned either way. Your agreement may have not had a date but that doesn't necessarily mean that OP's didn't. As for the delivery date getting pushed back, how long is too long before you consider the company not upholding their end? You seem to be ok with 4 months. What about 6 months? 12? 72? At some point if the company can't deliver on time then it's on them.

 

[rajacat]

If there is no delivery date, then their should be no contract. No contract then, how can there be a reasion to still hold on to the OP's money? Just asking!



Do I see a similarity to CodyY's posts. Always got to get in the last word.

Didn't the agreement state that the deposit was non-refundable?

 

[roving1]

Do I see a similarity to CodyY's posts. Always got to get in the last word.

?

 

[s.e.charles]

Didn't the agreement state that the deposit was non-refundable?

a couple treble of thoughts in no particular order.

there's the letter of the law and the intent of the law. also a lot of boilerplate to protect frivolous actions on both sides of a deal. but for a paltry sum of 200$,would i want my company's name dragged through a forum with negative/ disparaging attitudes directed towards it? advertising is expensive. 200$ buys months' membership in match.com or some such. but it also buys good will.

the local bike shop owner told me "sometimes the quickest was to get rid of the pain in the butt customer is to just give him the tire". the guy isn't going to come back with the same whine twice and you go on running your business.

and the covid-card is being used way too much. seriously. every butt-head i run into has problems, you know, from covid.

i dunno .. .. . we're doomed . . . . .

 

[Superduty]

Didn't the agreement state that the deposit was non-refundable?

It may have said "non-refundable", but that is dependent on GFC delivering their product / meeting their scheduled delivery date.

All the people in this thread that keep talking about "non refundable" simply don't understand the concept of a contract. Maybe this hypothetical will help them out.

Hypothetical: This afternoon the guys at GFC decide they need a break. They want to go on a long overland trip. Visit 49 states then go through South America. As a result, all the people who currently have deposits will have to wait an extra 18 months for delivery of their order. They are gonna get back to work when they return from their trip. But don't worry, you will get your camper, it'll just be an additional 18 months delayed. All the people who have placed deposits are angry and want their deposit back. Should every customer get their deposit back?

If your answer to the above hypothetical is NO, then you can't be helped. If you are one of the "non refundable" people in this thread and your answer is YES a refund is in order, why is a refund appropriate?

 

[highwest]

Does anyone know what’s in the agreement?

Just flame anyone that slightly agrees with GFC... it’s the way of the internet.

 

[vintageracer]

I have a lake home that we rent on VRBO.

2020 has been a banner year. Best ever!

We have had cancellations where the guest says COVID has hit their family. Some of those cancellations have been within days of the rental. Our rental agreement states cancellation 30days or longer full refund. 15 days 1/2 refund. 14 days or less no refund. By that time VRBO has collected their full rental amount of money.

I have FULLY REFUNDED any cancellation this year with any mention of COVID by the renter no matter when the cancellation occurred.

WHY?

Because that's the RIGHT THING TO DO!

I also have benefited greatly from this business decision as with few exceptions somebody else picked up the open dates or the renter who cancelled asked to move their rental to a later date AND their now open date was picked up by another guest.

WE BOTH WON if anyone cares!

I had a COVID rental cancellation just this week 3 days ago on Tuesday by a family of 10 one day before they were set to arrive on Wednesday. VRBO already had all their money for the rental ($1800) so it was up to ME to decide what to do. As I have done all year I offered a full refund or to move the date to later next year. They chose to move their date of stay rather than cancel their stay altogether. The renter LOST NO MONEY however I did lose a nice paying rental for business year 2020. That's OK as they have a new date in 2021! The renter was happy and appreciative of my offer to refund or move their stay as they really had no other options and they knew it!

Not the best situation for ME losing the rental income in business year 2020 however it IS the right thing to do!

Refunding $200 does not kill GFC's business or not getting the extra $200 refund does not kill OP's family budget!

The real question is how many future potential customers will GFC lose over $200 and all the bad press in this thread and what those reading this thread might say about GFC when asked their opinion of the company and their product?

Time will tell!

 

[Knickter]

You can’t restock something that isn’t in stock to begin with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well said!

 

[rajacat]

It may have said "non-refundable", but that is dependent on GFC delivering their product / meeting their scheduled delivery date.

All the people in this thread that keep talking about "non refundable" simply don't understand the concept of a contract. Maybe this hypothetical will help them out.

Hypothetical: This afternoon the guys at GFC decide they need a break. They want to go on a long overland trip. Visit 49 states then go through South America. As a result, all the people who currently have deposits will have to wait an extra 18 months for delivery of their order. They are gonna get back to work when they return from their trip. But don't worry, you will get your camper, it'll just be an additional 18 months delayed. All the people who have placed deposits are angry and want their deposit back. Should every customer get their deposit back?

If your answer to the above hypothetical is NO, then you can't be helped. If you are one of the "non refundable" people in this thread and your answer is YES a refund is in order, why is a refund appropriate?

You're engaging in the fallacy of reductio ad absurdum.
The OP gave GFC the deposit with full knowledge the it was non refundable. There was no specific delivery date. He's lucky to get the $200 back. If he has a problem with that then he should go to small claims court and be prepared to be laughed out of court.

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Please keep it friendly folks!

 

[ttengineer]

You're engaging in the fallacy of reductio ad absurdum.
The OP gave GFC the deposit with full knowledge the it was non refundable. There was no specific delivery date. He's lucky to get the $200 back. If he has a problem with that then he should go to small claims court and be prepared to be laughed out of court.

The OP implied there was not one, but 3 separate delivery dates.

Hence the delayed twice comment.

I haven’t seen the contract, if one was even signed, but either way if GFC cannot deliver in a timely fashion or meet their own stated lead times, the justification for charging a fee, by any name, is absurd.

This is a prime example of why one should not do business with a new company that does not have the cash flow to operate without taking deposits.

An established manufacturer or custom manufacturer is a little different and may garner the need for a deposit or upfront charge. But me, personally, I don’t do business with new companies asking for deposits because of situations just like this.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SVTFordRaptor]

This is a prime example of why one should not do business with a new company that does not have the cash flow to operate without taking deposits.

Some of you need to seriously stop speaking on things that you have no clue what your talking about. GFC carries no debt as a company and has plenty of cash on hand. Every camper is paid in full before it goes into production, which covers all their costs for that camper: materials, labor, and so on. They are not hurting for cash. Given their long wait time, they take a small percentage of the total cost of the item to insure the customer is serious. Without any type of deposit, the production list would get severely screwed up if the customer didn’t have any skin in the game because they could just back out—no big deal if just one person does such, but it becomes a big problem when you have dozens of people doing such.

You're engaging in the fallacy of reductio ad absurdum.
The OP gave GFC the deposit with full knowledge the it was non refundable. There was no specific delivery date. He's lucky to get the $200 back. If he has a problem with that then he should go to small claims court and be prepared to be laughed out of court.

It is refreshing to see someone employ some philosophy terms But I don’t see his argument being fallacious. It is a perfect example of a reductio ad absurdum because at some point an excess period of time that greatly misses the companies original deadline for a product warrants customers to demand their money back. It would be absurd to state otherwise. If GFC said from the get go that it would take 18 months, then that’s one thing. But everyone was under impression that it would ship this year—now it is beginning of next year (hopefully). Regardless of what contract you signed, if the company has changed the date multiple times on you, then they should refund your money. Just because you signed a contract, does not give the company justification to change the date on you multiple times. No just judge in America would side with a company in a court case if they have missed their deadline 3 times over an interval of many months.

I will say that threads like this don’t tend to be useful. For one, GFC is not on here to defend themselves. Whether you like GFC or not, any party accused of something should have an opportunity to defend themselves. So we have to take what the OP said is completely accurate—maybe it is or maybe it isn’t. Moreover, you get other people pilling on this thread because they despise GFC and their prosperity and/or just don’t know what they are talking about. I am not discounting the constructive feedback given by other business owners—I agree with you all. Just because you sign a contract does not mean that you just tell the customer to kick rocks (especially when the deadline changes are the business’s fault)—that’s what separates good from great companies.

 

[rajacat]

Some of you need to seriously stop speaking on things that you have no clue what your talking about. GFC carries no debt as a company and has plenty of cash on hand. Every camper is paid in full before it goes into production, which covers all their costs for that camper: materials, labor, and so on. They are not hurting for cash. Given their long wait time, they take a small percentage of the total cost of the item to insure the customer is serious. Without any type of deposit, the production list would get severely screwed up if the customer didn’t have any skin in the game because they could just back out—no big deal if just one person does such, but it becomes a big problem when you have dozens of people doing such.




It is refreshing to see someone employ some philosophy terms But I don’t see his argument being fallacious. It is a perfect example of a reductio ad absurdum because at some point an excess period of time that greatly misses the companies original deadline for a product warrants customers to demand their money back. It would be absurd to state otherwise. If GFC said from the get go that it would take 18 months, then that’s one thing. But everyone was under impression that it would ship this year—now it is beginning of next year (hopefully). Regardless of what contract you signed, if the company has changed the date multiple times on you, then they should refund your money. Just because you signed a contract, does not give the company justification to change the date on you multiple times. No just judge in America would side with a company in a court case if they have missed their deadline 3 times over an interval of many months.

I will say that threads like this don’t tend to be useful. For one, GFC is not on here to defend themselves. Whether you like GFC or not, any party accused of something should have an opportunity to defend themselves. So we have to take what the OP said is completely accurate—maybe it is or maybe it isn’t. Moreover, you get other people pilling on this thread because they despise GFC and their prosperity and/or just don’t know what they are not talking about. I am not discounting the constructive feedback given by other business owners—I agree with you all. Just because you sign a contract does not mean that you just tell the customer to kick rocks (especially when the deadline changes are the business’s fault)—that’s what separates good from great companies.

We're just relying on the OP's information and POV. Most of those who've followed GFC for years (I have unit #48) know of the myriad production problems they've had to cope with. You'd have to have your head in the sand or failed to the due diligence to not realize the situation. Presently, their production is humming along trying to keep pace with the demand.
If you go on the GFC forum you'll see that people are begging for an earlier production date. There are those who even offer as much 1K to trade up for a better position.

GFC must be doing something right because they've far out produced any of their relevant competitors. Surely you know about the hinge issue? Well.... that was a problem but they've solved it and are retrofitting hundreds of earlier units that have the old hinges free of charge. They even have a traveling road repair unit that's gone all over the US doing the retrofits.
This is really beyond what I've ever known of in the way of product support from a small startup company.

Sorry, I still see your argument as reductio ad absurdum

 

[Louisianarunner]

I think everyone has lost sight of the fact that the main complaint is that a company failed to ship something, covid or not, in a timely fashion. They then charged a 200.00 restocking fee for an item that is NOT ALREADY IN STOCK!!!!. I agree with the stupidity of charging that fee ( like a convenience fee for using a card when no one wants to touch cash during covid wth). Hopefully GFC has seen this debate and has righted the wrong. If they have I hope the original author posts that info here. If they don't then that is their choice to charge the fee and it is our right to post a negative experience all over the internet.

 

[MNmtb]

I wonder why the OP decided a "drive by hit job" was the correct approach here on EP?

Eight pages of comment, supposition, arguments and opinions by everybody except the OP.

I can see both sides of the argument. Extended delivery dates several times, a non-custom product that does not require custom deposit needs, and agreement that the deposit is non-refundable, GFC refunds 60% of the non-refundable deposit. My head is spinning.

I guess my biggest issue at this point is why wont the OP come back and provide a little more detail, or did they simply want to slap GFC publicly and then leave.

It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth when folks do that.