Karl Says Goodbye

[Iowa Dave]

Me too, my degree is a BS in BS with a minor in monkey business.
Iowa Dave

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Me too, my degree is a BS in BS with a minor in monkey business.
Iowa Dave

Dewey Chetum and Howe

Wacky and Crew

Name that movie bunch

[kavm]

Looks like this is a very long goodbye!

[jack sparrow]

Hey!!!

It may be a long good bye, but it's made a nice place to say Hello and chat with the fine folks here and around the Escape community...

Not bad at all. Thanks for the information and conversations here.
Hope to see more, lets keep it rolling.

What do you think?

Cheers....... and Happy Trails and Happy 4th!!!!

Jack

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by bborzell

The Long Goodbye.

Raymond Chandler would approve.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by jack sparrow

Hey!!!

It may be a long good bye, but it's made a nice place to say Hello and chat with the fine folks here and around the Escape community...

Not bad at all. Thanks for the information and conversations here.
Hope to see more, lets keep it rolling.

What do you think?

Cheers....... and Happy Trails and Happy 4th!!!!

Jack

I agree! Haven't been here prior to Karl years but enjoy the learning and comradery of this site and the whole ETI Family.. You won't hear any bad words from me about Karls departure...Wish him the best

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Me too, my degree is a BS in BS with a minor in monkey business.
Iowa Dave

Say, didn't you earn that degree from the School of Hard Knocks?

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Me too, my degree is a BS in BS with a minor in monkey business.
Iowa Dave

Hi: Iowa Dave... I have my PHD in Fencing!!! That's post hole digger. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[TPABrahma]

For those who didn't bother to read the job posting for Karl's position on Linked In:

"Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer of KV Capital’s Private Equity division, the President will lead Escape Trailer Industries’ (“ETI”) in preparing the business for sale to its next owner via developing and executing sales growth strategies, de-risking the business to ensure its attractive to the largest prospective buyer pool as possible, driving performance and maintaining a focus on brand strength, continuous improvement and quality across all aspects of the organization."

[GILLMOS]

Not a fan of Karl’s - tho I wish him well wherever he goes. Best thing his replacement can do is restore the legendary customer service with respect to warrantee work and general helpfulness troubleshooting that used to exist - and gave Escape a word of mouth cult following. We upgraded from a Scamp which has that aspect nailed. So did Escape at one time. Despite my issues with Karl’s Customer Service with respect to warrantee coverage, we love our Escape.

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by jaygee

Not a fan of Karl’s - tho I wish him well wherever he goes. Best thing his replacement can do is restore the legendary customer service with respect to warrantee work and general helpfulness troubleshooting that used to exist - and gave Escape a word of mouth cult following. We upgraded from a Scamp which has that aspect nailed. So did Escape at one time. Despite my issues with Karl’s Customer Service with respect to warrantee coverage, we love our Escape.

The new presidents sole job is to make the company look good so KV can find a buyer. I don't expect they will invest any more money into the operation. They have already cut their work force per other posts I've seen so adding extra customer support I can't see happening. All I see is less support and longer response times...hoping I'm wrong.

[MrLynn]

It's disappointing that KV means to sell ETI, which suggests that they may not have any confidence it its future, or the future of the RV market in general. Or maybe they're just business flippers, and they just think ETI is now valuable enough to net them a good profit over what they paid to buy it.

Whatever the case, I certainly hope that whoever takes it over has longer-term objectives and has the resources to invest whatever it takes to make ETI a continuing success, building on its reputation for quality and brand loyalty.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

.... Whatever the case, I certainly hope that whoever takes it over has longer-term objectives and has the resources to invest whatever it takes to make ETI a continuing success, building on its reputation for quality and brand loyalty.

Here's a company that could fit that profile

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by Centex

Here's a company that could fit that profile

No reputation for quality there! But, never fear, Escape trailer volume would seem insignificant to the corporate lords of Thor, barely worth a glance.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

No reputation for quality there! .....

I'd suggest they've taken care to not forfeit the reputation for quality and brand loyalty that Airstream brought to their fold, though it may not carry over to other holdings they've acquired.

Just suggesting that they have the wherewithal to grow the ETI brand unique from their other mediocre majority offerings, like they do Airstream.

Nope, no idea if they'd be interested in that pursuit.

[Iowa Dave]

I’m sure a considerable number of Escape owners feel a sense of disappointment when they read of a “rollover” mentality that the advertisement for a new leader indicates. Many of us have worked for companies that were “sold” while we worked there and then experienced the changes, wage reductions, and benefit cuts that followed.
We all own “orphans” of one sort or another. Not many have the value of an Escape trailer.
Cars, outboard motors, chainsaws, fishing reels, the list goes on and on. Just have to deal with it and hope for the best.
Iowa Dave

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Many of us have worked for companies that were “sold” while we worked there and then experienced the changes...

Heh. So right. I joined the company I worked with when it was just a few-months-old startup and it was great to be part of something that took off nationwide and grew by leaps and bounds. The founder was hands-on and touchable. Then he and his financial backers chose to sell the business to Readers Digest for about $350M. The new management had their heads where the sun doesn't shine and they proceeded to run the business almost into the ground. After a few years the old founder bought the business back, for 5 cents on the dollar. Things immediately got better. Folks like me once again were made to feel valued and the company was run more sensibly. (Regrettably that business model could not survive the supply chain issues and other problems caused by the big health scare, but that's another story.)

[Chasing Trials]

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

The new presidents sole job is to make the company look good so KV can find a buyer. I don't expect they will invest any more money into the operation. They have already cut their work force per other posts I've seen so adding extra customer support I can't see happening. All I see is less support and longer response times...hoping I'm wrong.

I spoke to the guy at delivery of my new E19, on July 4th. He said, they had just laid off a few people that morning............. He said he used to deliver 3 to 4 a week. Mine was the only one that week for him(a short week, they were closed July 3rd). I know they have more than one driver. So the delays on deliveries, maybe from knowing there will be bugs to work out with a "reworked" assembly line crew.

[occer]

Originally Posted by Chasing Trials

I spoke to the guy at delivery of my new E19, on July 4....... He said he used to deliver 3 to 4 a week. Mine was the only one that week for him.

Didn’t Escape offer for a limited time to ship for free recently throughout the United States, wonder how those number look. With the time frame going from 20 months to four to six months for new trailers obversely volume is way down. It only makes sense to reduce work force.

[MrLynn]

Hey, maybe the Oliver folks in Tennessee could buy ETI, and offer it as a 'low-cost' alternative to their premium line.