My wife and I spent a little over two hours with Reace yesterday at the Escape facilities in Chilliwack going over options and learning all about the 19 we ordered for a June delivery. First of all, seeing Chilliwack was quite a treat. It's a beautiful small to medium sized town with an obviously agricultural foundation in a valley surrounded by gorgeous mountain peaks. We stayed at the Best Western which, while not a Four Seasons, is clean, quiet and staffed friendly folks. Best of all, it's .2 miles from the Escape facility making it a short walk or an embarrassingly short drive. Had dinner at a place called, "Bravos" which was excellent (and very pricey - but not out of line with quality of the food and service). We poked around all the various models while Reace was wrapping up a phone call and following are my thoughts and observations on our decision to order an Escape product:
1. The exterior and more importantly, the interior fit and finish is immaculately executed. I'm a hyper, Type A handy-person and I know perfection when I see it. While my wife was trying out the bed and bathroom (hey, those things are important!) I was looking for variances in gaps between cabinets and walls, distances between linoleum and trim INSIDE the storage areas, and looking under the dinette seats to see how we'll things like plumbing and wiring were placed and trimmed-out. "Neat and tidy" doesn't do their work justice. The best example of "going above and beyond" was that all of the edges of the plywood panels under the seats of the dinettes were chamfered (obviously using a hand sander). Not at all necessary but very thoughtful if a child was to open it and spared a splinter because somebody spent an extra 5 minutes, "doing it right."
2. Reace spent as much time trying to either trying to understand what the heck I was asking about (I am the novice's novice when it comes to trailers) or talking me out of buying options (larger fridge, solar panel, twin 6v's, etc) that wouldn't serve my immediate needs. When was the last time that happened to you at a car dealership?
3 . Great product, a willingness to help you learn enough to enjoy it (and grow into it) and a business model you are proud to support with your hard-earned money.
Mary and I are so confident that we made the right choice that we wanted to share our experience with other folks just like us that who are, frankly, uniformed shoppers swimming in shark infests waters. Our conclusion: Escape Industries are makers of top-notch products whose business model is not making a quick buck, but rather keeping their customers happy. And if you ever have an issue, you can deal face-to-face with the CEO.
I'm so convinced that we made the right choice that I've just spent fifteen minutes typing this note in order to promote their business! Go figure ...
