Bad Sales Guy

Back in the dark ages of this blog, we told you about a sleazy sales guy we met at an Itasca dealership in California. Today, we met a really bad sales guy at a Winnebago dealership in Missouri.

It was a gorgeous autumn day in Kansas City. We crossed the state line to stock up on adult beverages. After making our purchases, we decided to go for a scenic drive and visit the area's Winnebago dealer. About 20 minutes later we arrived at the place and were greeted by a smilin' RV salesman.

We asked for just a wee bit of his time to look at the Winnie diesel pushers he had on the lot. We explained our situation and told him we were just looking. We explained our pledge not to make any buying decisions for at least another 3 1/2 months. We said we didn't want to waste his time, and he said "no problem" and invited us to take a look.

There were three diesel pushers for us to see. One of them was a brand spankin' new 40-foot Journey with a new floor plan we'd yet to lay eyes on. We stepped inside. And, we liked it. We really liked it. It had everything we wanted and then some. Yes, it was nice. Very nice!

Now, if either of us had been the smilin' RV salesman (and I'm so glad we're not), we would have taken a shot at selling this motorhome today. We wouldn't have tried any of tactics the sleazy sales guy used, but we would have at least asked a question or two. After all, if a couple of fulltimers find the diesel pusher of their dreams, are they really going to let some silly little self-imposed 15 weeks stop them?

(I can answer that! And, the answer is No!)

What did this guy do? First of all, nothing. He sat on the Rest Easy sofa and smiled. He didn't point out a thing! He left us to do all the exploration ourselves. Maybe he thought since we already owned a Winnebago we could figure things out on our own. We did, but it would've been nice to hear something about some of the features that would make this big new diesel pusher more fun than our short little gasser. But, we didn't.

Second, when Paul asked him about financing (There's a big buying signal!) this was his reply: "You know, these days many banks aren't approving loans for fulltimers."

Seriously. He said that! This guy knew nothing - and I mean nothing - about our financial wherewithal, and that's what he had to say in response to a question that, loosely translated, meant "We might actually be interested in buying this thing."

His disinterest in selling tempered our interest in buying. Besides, we were hungry. So, it was time for lunch. We thanked the man for his time and took his card. We gazed longingly at the diesel pusher of our dreams and pointed the squirrel in the direction of our moose. Along the way we recounted what we really liked about that nifty Journey. Finally, Paul put into words what we both were thinking.

"If he had done a better job, he could have sold a motorhome today," he said.

Absolutely.