I’ll start by saying this post is not for the GFC fan boys or girls, please go troll elsewhere.
The review of my 13mo saga with GFC is as follows.
I thought I’d share my personal experience with future potential GFC customers, so that they can make the best decision about doing business with this company. This isn’t about where something is made but rather how customers should be treated.
I can honestly say this was the WORST expensive purchase process of my adult life. Not in that the final product delivered wasn’t as advertised but the part where GFC expects their customers to follow up with them constantly to learn about another blown deadline. I once joked with my wife about applying for the CS position they had on offer, thinking… maybe if I get the job I can call myself back and provide some useful info about my build.
Things to know
you’re giving this company nearly $8,000 US, American dollars before they give you boo
this gives them a blank calendar to blow through any perviously provided competition date… as many times, as they’d like
when I pointed this out to them, I was treated like some kind of annoying asshole (bummer when customers want info, that GFC claims they’ll provide along the way)
GFC are hype beasts IMO, do not believe a word when it comes to time lines provided, other then when you actually have an install date scheduled
when you do finally have an install date scheduled, follow up as many times as it takes to make sure they built what you bought, cause they don’t seem worried about getting that info before you make a long trip
At the end of the day its a truck topper with a tent, that took longer to make then the covid vaccine and getting to Mars this go round… perspective on actual American manufacturing superiority. Hot take but true.
Long story short, if you’re fortunate enough to be looking at buying a wedge style camper, know there are other options in the market, that can be considered.
If GFC would have kept their mouth shut about timeline “improvements” and just did work, this write up may have gone another way. Like Chris Rock said “you’re supposed to do your work”, GFC you should have had a 3rd shift the entire time.
Before you lose it and respond, perception is reality and mine is mine. Also take note that official GFC responses have all but disappeared from this forum, leaving you the customer to sort it out amongst yourselves.
GFC has a lot to learn about doing business and I for one won’t be doing business with them again.
I’m sure you could sell your camper for close to what you got it for since there are many in line wishing they had their camper by summer.
You had a lot of funny lines like the one about the mission to Mars, but besides wait time I’m not really sure what you are mad about. Have you ever built a new house? Have you ever ordered a truck brand new not in stock yet? Pretty much par for the course is deadlines being pushed due to strange circumstances. That’s in a normal year… these guys I believe are trying to do it right, American made through and through, unfortunately people who have good experiences typically don’t say much, where as people who are disgruntled speak up. I know I’m that way. Do you run a business? 2020 was a bitch to keep one afloat, and these guys excelled, and in my opinion are doing a damn good job, but as you stated that’s just my opinion. You admit that once you got it, it was as advertised… so thanks for the review and warning.
It might just be time to go take that thing out for a long weekend in the woods, you will probably feel better.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It is good to get feedback both good and bad. Hopefully they read it and work towards improving things. I have had both totally amazing customer service, and not so amazing from them, even for the same issue.
It feels like growing pains, but that doesn’t justify it or change ones experience, and every customer and their experience is valuable and critically important, even when you have more than you can handle.
I appreciate your sentiment. Communication is the most important issue in customer service and I agree that perception is reality. I work in the healthcare industry and in my current position deal with complaints, mistakes and regulations at the executive level. After having worked in the field for almost 40 years, I’ve seen how the right words and timing of updates and honesty makes ALL the difference. And this is coming from one of the most regulated industries where you can do all the right things and the customer can still be unhappy and bring down the sky on your head. I’m not a fan boy, but am old enough to put things in perspective. The building of a house is a good example. I just passed one year in my first house built new. Our builder was very honest about timeframes, but I was still frustrated when I didn’t think enough had been done, week to week.
As for GFC, I am confident they are trying to get their act together and should be seeing how they need to improve communication. They are/were trying to hire more CS staff and you can see their general communication to the public is increasing. In full transparency, I have build #986 a VI camper installed in January 2021. It was completed in November 2020, actually a few months earlier than promised. I am OCD about purchases, especially expensive ones. I researched all of the available options and compared to my needs/wants for years. I wanted a wedge camper that would allow me to still use my truck bed. GFC was the best overall option. Now, SuperPacific came on the scene after I was committed, but don’t regret my choice. They seem to be a fine company too, but they have or will have similar issues. I am bought in with the idea of supporting a company with my purchase dollars and am behind GFC. They may prove me a fool, but I’m leaning in their favor right for now. I’ve only had the chance to use the camper a time or two (COVID/healthcare) and if it starts falling apart after some trips, I will be one of the loudest whiners for sure.
Anyway, I apologize for the long ramble, but this is Friday and I’ve dealt with some unreasonable expectations this week and just felt I needed to weigh in. I hope it works out for everyone and being able to get your money back should ease some of the dissatisfaction.
Since you feel the need to share your negative perspective, I feel compelled to share my positive perspective.
Sometimes people’s experiences reflect more on them and the fairness of expectations.
As a business owner who strives for an excellent product and service, I admire GFC’s honesty and humility. For example; the hinge issue was expensive for them and they stepped up. Short-term-minded leaders don’t do that. You knew the wait time was long, why did you buy it? COVID was a terrifying bitch for business owners who are making payroll, getting locked down, can’t get supplies, and can’t plan for such uncertainty.
The most important quality I look for in a company is that they are trying, hard. GFC is trying. If you think you can do better, start your own and put them out of business. Just remember there are delightful “reviewers” waiting to condemn you for the struggle. This kind of criticism is trivially easy and not real helpful.
Part of having a good experience is to consider yourself an ally of the business you patronize and try to help them, not harm them. STUFF WILL GO WRONG.
You signed up to do this, apparently.
Mine was delivered on time with great improvements. Many others report the same.
Maybe you were? Look what you just did by posting this.
This is redundant to #2
Mine was built as specced. What’s your actual issue?
It is quite clear that people have different experiences with GFC customer service. I have had both good and bad, and had the same set of expectations in both instances. While I’m glad you (and myself) have had overall good experiences, saying the above is insinuating the original poster has had the same customer service as you, but has a bad attitude about it, which you have no way of knowing and casting judgement on him doesn’t help the conversation in my opinion.
Do you tell your businesses customers to “go camping and chill out” when they complain?
The perception you’ve provided to us is one of you sounding like an impatient person, who still got what they paid for, and in even less time than quite a few other people KNOWING there would be delays. If you’ve had only communication issues with the company, then just say that. Otherwise, this is not a company review.
This is a fair take on it. It seems often the major GFC complaints are around communication. Hopefully with some new customer service folks this will improve.
I definitely think there could be better communication around build date estimates. Those of us who have been following GFC for a while know that they are a small operation still growing to meet demand. However, their campers are reaching more and more people who may not be familiar with the growing pains of this business. My build has been delayed but I find comfort in the fact that this delay is due to re-tooing and finding efficiencies of scale to support all consumers. In short, I think GFC should communicate more clearly all build estimates are subject to change. Especially because their brand is reaching more consumers than ever.
Thank you for saying this. This hive-mind mentality that everyone HAS to agree that GFC is the end-all-be-all, holier than thou option is getting ridiculous. People can disagree, that’s ok! I have also had good and not so good CS experiences but I like the product so I continue to buy into the the GFC ecosystem. If I didn’t, I’d move on and look for another product that better served my needs AND THATS OK TOO! I appreciate OP for going against the grain because I think it needed to be said but dumping on them for having a different opinion is just juvenile.
The positive part of the original post is evidently he is happy with the product, just not happy with the experience he went through to get it. He said nothing negative about the camper itself.
Running a small business is tough–and 2020, sheesh–I get it, but keeping in touch and managing expectations helps soothe chapped rears. It would seem Camper1088 is venting about this, not the product, as the title of the thread would suggest.
Here is what I posted back in 2019. Check out the first reply, historically pretty interesting.
I DID receive an email about hinge repair if it was broken (mine isn’t–yet) but haven’t heard anything since. There is a V1 upgrade package which I read about on this forum from another user, not GFC. I’ve commented extensively in other threads about communication or other ideas like a “proactive” repair kit (as opposed to winging it on the road). Crickets.
Anyway…just got back from a long road trip with a couple nights camping in the snowy desert and a couple nights banging around the city. I still like my GFC.
I’ve been happy with my camper. It’s great. I didn’t love the wait for my V1, but meh… Sometimes bank lines are long too. I think they did a good job managing the V1 campers. Picked up my GFC in Bozeman in May 2020.
Things seem a little off kilter with the V2, but heck, give them a chance to evolve. I got my proactive hinge upgrade February in Bozeman. New hinges seem good. I have the hatch latches which work great. I will be installing my rear tent lock as well. It took some driving on my part, but I’m happy. I now have a V1.75 camper.
OP, I can appreciate your concerns. $8k is a lot of money and I can see why you’re unhappy with the lack of customer service and missed timelines.
I’ve stated this in other posts, but communication issues and missed timelines exist with other wedge camper companies such as Super Pacific and Vagabond. I’m not trying to dog these companies, but rather provide perspective.
Having done business with GFC before as well as Super Pacific, I’ve learned that you have to be persistent in your communications to get answers. I always tell business owners to under promise and over deliver. Never the other way around.
In any case, thank you for sharing your feedback and I hope you can enjoy your camper.
I agree with the original poster about the terrible communication from GFC. I bought a RTT in 2020. They missed the delivery date deadline they promised when I ordered. Based on the company history and COVID being COVID I half expected they would not meet the deadline so I wasn’t that upset and I was willing to cut them a lot of slack, but I was still disappointed they missed a deadline they promised which meant I couldn’t use it on a long planned trip. It was more annoying they didn’t contact me to say they were missing the deadline once they knew or give me a new time frame for delivery.
What was really frustrating was the terrible communication and lack of customer support I experienced. They upgraded the design of the tent after I placed my order which was a good thing, but I wasn’t notified with an email or anything. I just happened to learn about it on this forum. Once I learned of the update from the forum I contacted them and couldn’t get an answer back whether my tent would be the new version or old. The change with doors being added to both sides was great, but it affected my awning selection among other things.
Finally, if you have a question once they have your money good luck getting anyone to respond to your email or call you back in a timely fashion. They are fairly responsive to questions prior to ordering to get you hooked but once they have your money you can send them an email with a question and they may or may not respond for several days or week.
You have a question during your install? There is no phone number provided. You just have to stop your installation and send them an email. You then wait a few days for them to respond. I had a quick question about the mounts that took 2 minutes for them to answer after they finally responded 3 days later.
I like my tent and it is well built. However, the poor communication and customer service experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. I doubt I will buy from them again if I’m in the market in the future. Like the OP said, perception is reality and mine is mine.
The fact that this company pays for this forum where you can share your negative opinion should tell you all you need to know about them. I applaud all their efforts to make a tremendous product. Try to find another camper that you can sell used for almost what you originally paid. You could probably make someone else very happy by selling yours. It may make you happier as well.
While I’m glad you (and myself) have had overall good experiences, saying the above is insinuating the original poster has had the same customer service as you, but has a bad attitude about it, which you have no way of knowing and casting judgement on him doesn’t help the conversation in my opinion.