A Jeeper's Short Rant

[Jeep Driver]

Wife, son, and I went to the Jeep Invasion today in Pigeon Forge. 

Yesterday on my way to the job I noticed the Rigid tent/trailer there, I wanted to cruise the vendor lot. 

 

As some of you know I've been eyeing a pair of VisionX Light Cannons for which I'll be spending beyond $2K for. Rigid was in the running and I've seriously considered KC's offerings too. (I've looked and looked at JW Speakers off road lights......eh........)

 

I'd like to see what is being offered, get my hands on them, talk to some reps......etc..........

 

We walked in with others but were stopped by a cop who told me I had to get a wrist band and he directed me to the 'gate'. 

I was told it would be $36 for the three of us. 

I'll be dammed if I'm going to pay for the privilege of spending my hard earned money!

 

Screw Rigid.........their off the list. 

It's a good thing I didn't pay much attention to the others vendors there............screw them too.

 

Many of these companies are internet based, we have no way of F2F and handling products that we spend good money on. 

 

 

 

As for the rest of it all.........sucked! Don't waste your time. 

[coheed]

This has been my feeling towards basically any car style gathering the last couple years. Most of them have become parodies of whatever scene it is. The only ones that seem to be half way decent are home town run swap meets and the Autofair they hold in Charlotte. Even the Autofair sucks unless you stay out of the speedway where people don't have to pay as much to sell stuff.

[Pete M]

maybe they feel that a fee cuts down on the looky-loos so that the more likely buyers will get a better experience? 

 

or maybe they just want all the monies.  all of them. 

[MJXJjeepguy]

I understand ur feeling as I went jeep show today but i think it worth it I did buy few jeep stuff most of it is like 25% cheaper than u buy online it like event discount but other than that really enjoy to looking at different jeeps and see how they built.

[WahooSteeler]

It looks like a pretty large event. That takes a lot of people to organize, promote and run something like that, and that costs money. And the promoter is certainly not a non-profit company, they're their to make a buck too. I understand your frustration, but I've never seen any kind of event like that be it an RV show, boat show, off road show, SEMA....whatever, that doesn't charge an entry fee. If the organizers did not do a good job of advertising the gate fee or vendors area fee, shame on them. If you did not know or anticipate this before you showed up, well........what did you expect?

 

I'd also ask, why do you say screw Rigid and the other vendors? They are not the ones charging the fee to get in to the vendor area, the event promoter is. You say you are upset because you are willing to spend over $2k for one of the mfr's products on display there but they are mostly online companies and you want to be able to see it, touch it, discuss it with a sale rep etc. Well sir, that will cost you $12 (or $36 in your case since your family was there with you) because the promoter spent money to bring these mfr's together so you could do just that. Seems like $12 is a small cost to pay to help you make a more informed and comfortable $2000+ decision. And as already pointed out, almost always the products for sale at events like this are on sale because they have a captured audience of their exact target market! The volume of sales makes up for the lesser margin. I know you know all this JD, and even if you were not ready to be a buyer today and take advantage of the "event sale price", I go back to $36 being a small expense for a much greater piece of mind when you plunk down your hard earned $$ on your dream Comanche. 

[Jeep Driver]

44 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

It looks like a pretty large event. That takes a lot of people to organize, promote and run something like that, and that costs money. And the promoter is certainly not a non-profit company, they're their to make a buck too. I understand your frustration, but I've never seen any kind of event like that be it an RV show, boat show, off road show, SEMA....whatever, that doesn't charge an entry fee. If the organizers did not do a good job of advertising the gate fee or vendors area fee, shame on them. If you did not know or anticipate this before you showed up, well........what did you expect?

 

I'd also ask, why do you say screw Rigid and the other vendors? They are not the ones charging the fee to get in to the vendor area, the event promoter is. You say you are upset because you are willing to spend over $2k for one of the mfr's products on display there but they are mostly online companies and you want to be able to see it, touch it, discuss it with a sale rep etc. Well sir, that will cost you $12 (or $36 in your case since your family was there with you) because the promoter spent money to bring these mfr's together so you could do just that. Seems like $12 is a small cost to pay to help you make a more informed and comfortable $2000+ decision. And as already pointed out, almost always the products for sale at events like this are on sale because they have a captured audience of their exact target market! The volume of sales makes up for the lesser margin. I know you know all this JD, and even if you were not ready to be a buyer today and take advantage of the "event sale price", I go back to $36 being a small expense for a much greater piece of mind when you plunk down your hard earned $$ on your dream Comanche. 

 

Couple of things here-

 

One, actually, no I didn't know I'd have to pay to walk the vendors, outdoor event. Wife afterwords looked it up on FB and others were complaining they could not find the cost of entry posted. 

 

Secondly, I am one who will look you in the face and ask you why I should buy your product over someone else's? 

When I spoke on the phone to the rep for VisionX I flatly asked him, "Will I be disappointed buying your lights?"

If you cannot look me in the eye......why should I buy your S---? Are you going to make me pay to look you in the eye?

If a vendor cannot afford to show up at an event..........stay home.

 

Savings? now that's funny. Here in TN we have a 10% sales tax, any saving will be eaten in tax. When I buy my lights, no tax will be paid. 

 

Over commercialized-

This 'event' is clearly different than other events here. 

Wrangler people spend their money unlike any other............99% of the Jeeps here were/are Wranglers. 

Don't know what more to say........I can't stand their Wranglers, can't stand their attitude, can't stand the people. 

Couple of years ago there was a thread over at NAXJA about some XJ guys getting thrown out of the parking lot.....they were not allowed to park with the Wrangler people. 

These jackasses pull up in front of a restaurant here and park up on a curb or half in the grass or up on a rock...........just a bunch of jackasses. 
Just irritated in general, wasted my time. 

 

No, it wasn't about the $36. 

[WahooSteeler]

11 minutes ago, Jeep Driver said:

 

Couple of things here-

 

One, actually, no I didn't know I'd have to pay to walk the vendors, outdoor event. Wife afterwords looked it up on FB and others were complaining they could not find the cost of entry posted. 

 

Secondly, I am one who will look you in the face and ask you why I should buy your product over someone else's? 

When I spoke on the phone to the rep for VisionX I flatly asked him, "Will I be disappointed buying your lights?"

If you cannot look me in the eye......why should I buy your S---? Are you going to make me pay to look you in the eye?

If a vendor cannot afford to show up at an event..........stay home.

 

Savings? now that's funny. Here in TN we have a 10% sales tax, any saving will be eaten in tax. When I buy my lights, no tax will be paid. 

 

Over commercialized-

This 'event' is clearly different than other events here. 

Wrangler people spend their money unlike any other............99% of the Jeeps here were/are Wranglers. 

Don't know what more to say........I can't stand their Wranglers, can't stand their attitude, can't stand the people. 

Couple of years ago there was a thread over at NAXJA about some XJ guys getting thrown out of the parking lot.....they were not allowed to park with the Wrangler people. 

These jackasses pull up in front of a restaurant here and park up on a curb or half in the grass or up on a rock...........just a bunch of jackasses. 
Just irritated in general, wasted my time. 

 

No, it wasn't about the $36. 

 

Ahhh.........the truth comes out. Interesting about the Wrangler crowd. 

 

FWIW, the vendors no doubt paid a substantial fee to be on display there. While I understand it's the principle vs the $36 for you, still might be worth $12 for you to go back by yourself and visit the mfr's you are considering for your project. If you buy something, after they give you the final price ask them if they'd knock off another $12 for the principal of you having to pay to be a customer LOL.