Things that can happen in a month

You can buy a house. You can get married. I've done both. How about that! Since my last post things have been pretty hectic. Alan arrived December 16 and he's a sweetheart. We knew within days that we'd be able to spend the rest of our lives together but we waited a few more weeks just to make sure. He told me that when he came to Florida he wasn't exactly sure if he was in love with the RV lifestyle or the woman but that after a week he knew that it was the woman. So that cheered my heart.

I have to tell the story of how we bought our new rig. We started out in Sarasota at RV World "just looking." We found some possibilities but decided to drive 60 miles up to Seffner to check out Lazydays to see if they had what I was looking for, a Winnebago Adventurer, with a certain floor plan that I wanted. Neither dealership had it. So we spent 3 hours at Lazydays looking at RV after RV. Mike, our salesman, was infinitely patient. We started out looking at new and then shopped the pre-owned rigs. Several times we passed this one rig and every time we went by it Alan would say, "You know I really love that color...." But we couldn't see it because it was locked up with a Sold sign in the window. So we settled on a different Winnebago Adventurer and went back to Sarasota after filling out all the paperwork to start the deal.

The next day, Thursday, we went back to RV World and had another look at a couple of rigs they had there. One was a leftover Gulfstream and the other was a Forest River. I didn't like either one of them but Alan was adamant that he wanted a diesel pusher which both of these rigs were. I wasn't happy with the quality of them and I wanted the Winnebago from Lazydays. However, it was a gas rig and Alan didn't want gas. So we decided that whichever dealership called us first, that's the one we'd buy.

Well, Friday rolled around and I was getting impatient with Lazydays as I really wanted the 'Bago. So I called them around 1 in the afternoon and talked to Ben and asked him if they were having very much trouble getting financing. My credit score was really good but they were running into problems with the debt to income ratio. As luck would have it, RV World called us around 3 and said to come down and sign the paperwork for our new rig. We had gotten the Gulfstream.

Now, normally, when you buy a new house, you're usually excited. But I was just kind of ambivalent. I really didn't care for the floor plan but my thought was that any Class A rig was a step up from the Class C as it had more storage space and living area. Not only that, but even though it was a new Gulfstream, it was a leftover 06 and I wasn't happy about going backwards in the model year as my Outlook was an 07. But Alan was happy with a diesel pusher and if he was happy then I'd be happy.

Before we left I figured a courtesy call was in order for Lazydays. I called Ben the finance guy and told him that we'd decided to go with the deal from RV World and all he said was ok. Then I called Mike our salesman to tell him the same thing. I got his voice mail and left him a message. Then we left for RV World.

I signed all the paperwork but I wasn't happy with the interest rate of the loan. It was worse then the one I'd had on the Outlook and I made sure they knew it. After all the signing done, we were scheduled to take delivery of the new rig at 1 the next afternoon which was a Saturday. This was an ambitious delivery time as they had some work to do on the rig first like fix the door handle that was broken and replace a missing vent off the fridge and fix the entry steps that wouldn't work. But we needed to get it done because we had to be in St. Petersburg on Sunday.

At 9 the next morning I get a call from RV World. The wanted us down there ASAP because they needed to get the Outlook in the shop to do the internet antenna swap. So Alan and I raced to get the Outlook packed up and down there within the hour.

T minus 4 hours and counting.

Around 9:30, Mike calls me to find out what had happened. I told him that I never heard anything back from Ben and so I figured that he'd given up. Mike was upset that nobody ever called me back. He was off on Friday and when he got in that morning he check to see how it was going and that's when he got my message. So he grilled me on what kind of deal we had and made sure I knew what an inferior quality of coach the Gulfstream was. I agreed with him but told him that we had a deal with RV World and that I'd signed the paperwork already. He told me that as long as we hadn't taken delivery of the coach yet that the deal wasn't done yet. He told me to give him an hour and he'd call me back.

T minus 3:30.

We got down to RV World at 10 and took the Outlook back to the shop for the antenna swap. While they were starting the work, our salesman showed us around the parts department and introduced us to the service manager and a few other people. The Gulfstream was in the shop getting prepped for delivery. At 11:30, Mike called me back. We were in the middle of a conversation with our salesman and I had to skulk off so he wouldn't hear me talking to Mike. Mike asked me if he could get us the same deal on a Winnebago Tour, would we take it. I told him it had to be the same payment and it had to include the 7-year warranty. He said OK and that he'd call me back.

T minus 2:30 and counting.

We putzed around the parts store looking for a few items we needed for the new rig. Not too many things because I already had most everything I needed with the Outlook. Alan and I talked about what Lazydays was trying to do. I was convinced that they'd never pull it off. I picked out a few things and put them on the counter and waited for the man to finish with another customer. No hurry. We had to wait anyway for our delivery time. Then Mike call me back again.
"Remember that Winnebago Tour you kept looking at because you liked the color?"
I'm like, yeah.
"We got you the Tour."
"I thought it was sold???"
"It was when you were here but I checked this morning and it was back on the list."
"So you got us a deal on the Tour? And it's the same terms as this one?" My heart is starting to race.
"Yep."
I can't believe it. So I'm like, "Uh, Mike, we are supposed to take delivery of this Gulfstream in a half hour!
"By law, as long as you have not taken possession of the coach or slept in it, you do not have to go through with the deal."
"Are you sure???"
"Absolutely."
"OK, I'll call you back in 5 minutes."

T minus 40 minutes.

I grab Alan and give him the details.
"Remember that gold coach you loved the color?"
"Yes."
"That's the one they've got for us."
"!!!!!!!!"
He asks about the deal and I fill him in. I love the fact that it's a Winnebago and he loves the fact that it's a diesel pusher. We'd looked at some Tours at RV World but they were out of our price range. The one at Lazydays is an 07. At the time, I thought it was new but later I found out it was pre-owned. That's ok.

T minus 30 minutes.

ABORT! ABORT!

We hustle back to the service department to see how far they'd gone with the antenna work. So far, all they've done is to remove it from the Outlook. We made sure they had not drilled any holes in the roof of the Gulfstream and the answer was no. Great. We told them to stop right there and to give us all the parts. Then we drove the Outlook back to the front of the dealership and Alan told me that he didn't have the nerve to tell them what we planned to do. Besides, it was my name on the deal anyway. So I went inside and gathered up the two sales people that had worked on the deal and the finance girl. I told them that we'd changed our mind and that I wanted my $2000 down payment back. Of course they were upset and I apologized profusely but I was resolute. They asked me to wait for a minute so I did. I saw the sales people talking to the manager and then they called me back to his office. I told him that Lazydays had offered us the same deal on a Tour and since it was a much better quality coach that we wanted to go that route.

That's when the mind games started.

First they tried to tell me that since I'd already signed all of the paperwork, I'd have loans on two RVs. That didn't phase me. (Todd, the finance guy at Lazydays had told me this wasn't true.) I spent 20 minutes listening to them almost threaten me with legal action. Not in so many words; but close. By now, Alan had come to my aid as he saw I was getting the third degree. Then they tried to say that since they'd already done work on the Gulfstream, that we'd be responsible for that work. Alan pointed out that it was work they'd needed to do anyway and that if they bothered to check with their service department, they'd find out that no cutting had been done yet for the antennas. Then they tried the tactic that Lazydays was pulling a fast one because there's no way they could sell me a new Tour for the same price as the Gulfstream. (Remember, at the time I didn't know it was pre-owned.) Alan told them he didn't know how Lazydays had come up with the deal they had but he at least wanted to check it out. Maybe it WAS bogus. But then again, maybe not. After 15 minutes of trying to get out of there, we'd had enough. We went outside and I called Todd and asked him if there was any way RV World could sue us for anything. He said absolutely, 100% not. He said as long as we had not taken delivery, that RV World didn't have a leg to stand on. He said they were just trying everything they could to not let me leave and to keep us there so they would work on us some more. He said in all honesty, they'd probably do the same thing. That's all I needed to hear.

Then the sales manager came out with the paper that I'd signed saying that I'd already taken delivery. When I saw that, it was the last straw. I told him I'd had enough and that we were leaving. I told him I wanted my money back and that I expected to see a check within the week. I told him that if he wanted to try to make that form stand up in court, then I'd see him there. I apologized again for all the trouble they'd gone through and we got into the Outlook and pulled away.

It had taken us almost an hour to get out of there. I had never been so stressed out in my life.

When we pulled into the parking lot at Lazydays, there sat the Tour. It was beautiful. The inside was immaculate. It was then that we found out it was pre-owned and then the deal made sense. That was how they'd been able to match the one on the Gulfstream. After I found out, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. And then excitement started to kick in. Mike gave me the keys and I got to drive it. Let me tell you. Driving the Tour compared to driving the Outlook is like the difference between driving a truck and a Lexus. The air suspension in the Tour makes all the bumps go away. And the 400 hp diesel engine..... When you press the gas pedal, it just goes. When you pressed the gas pedal in the Outlook, it had to think about it for a while. And towing the Mariner??? The Tour doesn't even know it's back there. In the Outlook, I felt like I was dragging a boat anchor. Even though the Tour is longer than the Outlook (by 10 feet), there is way less angst driving on the interstates because the Tour is actually 2 feet narrower than the Outlook. So when the big semi's pass me, I have a bit less width to me and thus more clearance on the side. That extra two feet makes a big difference. Jersey barriers aren't as scary anymore.

Well, we didn't get to take it home that day. Or the next. Or the next. Christmas week just really jammed us up. We took delivery on the 28th. Remember the catch? It was there. When we'd left RV World and drove up to Lazydays, we found out that Lazydays has gambled that they'd be able to get me financed. So when I test drove the Tour, they still had not gotten the financing yet. But, hey, it got done AND I ended up with a lot better rate than the one I had with the Outlook. AND it was with Wachovia bank who I banked with anyway.

So everything worked out in the end. I put a picture of our new house at the bottom of the page. Alan took it when I was driving out of Lazydays. Got the Mariner all hooked up and everything. It looks so small back there.

Guess I'll have to tell my folks I'll have to buy a new plug for electric at their house. Gotta get a 50 amp RV plug to hook up that other wire under the house. :)

So that's the story of the Tour.

Next installment will be the wedding.