So i am going to start with my original interaction with GFC back in February of 2019.
I tried and tried to order a RTT and specific mount kit for the 4runner I had at the time, the process started out bad and just got worse and worse. So bad that I actually ended up just getting so frusterated by the constant changing info that I was getting that I got a refund and cancelled my order completely.
Just by happenstance I came across Adventure Vehicle Concepts outside Denver, CO. They had started selling the RTT’s as a hub for GFC and had one with the 4runner mount kit available, and I bought it. Later I was told that the reason I had such a difficult time getting one from GFC was because they were sending them to places like this and my order was being pushed back and back.
6 months into ownership, 2 of my zippers were falling apart, and I reached out to GFC, and they sent me a new tent free of charge, and did it quickly(first positive experience with them so far).
I sold the 4runner in 2021, and bought a Ranger. I called GFC, and someone actually answered, on the first try at that! Placed an order for a camper and set up an install date just a couple months out.
A month ago(about a year into ownership) one of the small window zippers peeled off the tent, I placed a service ticket on a Sat. Night, and on Monday got a phone call from them and today I received a new tent under warranty.
This company went from screw these guys, to damn fine job in 3 years.
So, cudos to the GFC team, and whatever or whoever lit a fire under their asses.
There are customers out there with issues with their GFC’s, and I am lucky enough to not have any up top water issues🤞, hope to stay that way, but feel bad for those of you that do… I sure hope this new batch of fixes gets all those dried out.
That is incredible, about three months ago I did a service ticket for a delaminate window zipper on my then 8 month old camper. I was promptly contacted and new tent fabric was ordered at a four to six week lead time. Coming up on three months of waiting patiently, figuring they are focused on other bigger customer issues. But hearing your account has me wondering. I will continue to patiently wait.
It’s been long enough that I would reach out and just touch bases with CS. I know they’ve slowed production down a bit but they should atleast be able to give you and update for piece of mind. If something did happen, I’m sure they will send something right away
I’ve always had great service using the CS team. One time I called, and decided halfway through ringing that I didn’t actually need to call, hung up and would just shoot an email. Got a call back checking to see if they could still help; Was blown away!
I was thinking at the three month mark I’d reach out (Monday). I knew they were taking care of other bigger issues and I’ve been pretty busy the last couple months. I was just a little surprised to see the OP’s quick response to their issue.
We knew from the start that customer service would be crucial to the success of the business. But in the very beginning we chose to prioritize figuring out production. The rationale was that in order to eventually get to having great customer service, you had to actually have produced products to support. Once we got production running reliably we turned our attention to CS (among other things) and it’s great to hear our efforts are having an effect. Our goal is to someday be able to claim having the absolute best customer service in the RV/truck camper space. We have a long way to go but we’re ever so slowly getting closer.
Why didn’t we just prioritize both early on? We would have loved to but we just didn’t have the resources back then to do both at the same time. We are not owned by private equity or a larger company. We don’t have any investors. We didn’t get any startup bank loans. And we didn’t start with a big pile of cash.
Customers paid us to build them something and we had to be very frugal to make sure we didn’t let them down. My goal has always been to build a company that will be around for at least 100 years. To do that, we need to both stay in business and have happy customers. So we’re committed to customer support as in integral part of our core business. But maintaining independence also means that sometimes it takes us longer than we’d like to live up to those commitments.
And a quick email got everything back on track. Having followed how GFC goes above and beyond to make things right with their customers definitely played into my decision to buy a camper from them.
I have always been impressed by GFC customer support. I am lucky because if I ever have a question or concern I live close enough to swing by easily which is not the case for everyone but as others have said, any issue I have had had been handled well.
