After an intense trial between Mellen Camper’s RV and its customer, Sly Doutt, represented by Lester Polyester, the RV dealership claimed victory in an RVDA Convention mock trial educational session.
RV Industry legal experts and a veteran Thor consumer affairs liaison played fictional characters in the session titled, “The Super Lawyers Take You into the Courtroom Part II: The Dealership Strikes Back.” This year’s mock trial was a sequel to the session hosted during the 2022 convention, which had a theme mirroring 12 Angry Men. During the initial mock trail, the jury of RV dealers found the fictional RV dealership liable for the consumer’s claim because the dealer failed to follow industry service best practices.
Harold Oehler, RV dealership trainer and certified mediator for Oehler Mediation and Training, played Polyester’s character. Oehler was Lazydays’ corporate counsel for more than 20 years and has more than 30 years of experience with the RV industry. He has presented the mock trial at RV dealerships across the country. Throughout the mock trial, Oehler and the cast’s performance emphasized the importance that dealer’s service employees follow their dealership’s processes and industry best practices.
In a follow-up session, Oehler described key takeaways from the mock trial. He expanded upon three tools every RV dealer has, to avoid lawsuits and retain its consumers: communication, documentation and dealer management.
Communication
Oehler emphasized the importance of consistently communicating with consumers throughout the dealer-consumer relationship. According to Oehler, dealers should constantly be managing consumer expectations and overcommunicating with them. He said responsiveness is critical. Consumers usually talk to an attorney when the dealership stops talking to them.
Oehler said dealers should be truthful with consumers and communicate bad news quickly to build trust and avoid breaking promises. Once consumers contact the dealer, Oehler said there is a 24-hour clock ticking away that employees must beat. If 24 hours go by without a response, consumer frustration will begin to grow and the lack of responsiveness can be used against the dealer before a judge or jury. During the mock trial, Mellen Camper’s provided phone logs to prove that the dealership returned the customer’s phone calls.
An error noted during the mock trial was Mellen Camper’s promise that the vehicle would be in “perfect condition” at delivery. Oehler said the dealer’s promise may be deemed a verbal warranty. He advised dealers to underpromise and overdeliver. According to Oehler, the words used by employees are very important and employees must be trained on how to communicate professionally with consumers verbally and in writing.
He said dealership employees must also be trained to communicate more quickly with manufacturers about repeat service issues, avoid predicting what manufacturers will offer the consumer and resist speculating that similar issues in different vehicles have the same cause. Oehler cautioned that there is no such thing as an “off the record” communication. Oehler also warned that dealers should decline requests to modify a vehicle’s design in any way.
Documentation
Oehler stressed the significance of professional documentation, following dealer processes and having documents signed.
“If the documentation is completed correctly and it supports the dealer,” he said, “the dealer and the document will be much more likely to prevail in a lawsuit hinging on a “he said she said” dispute.”
According to Oehler, repair orders are the most important evidence in a vehicle defect case. He made multiple suggestions for strengthening repair order forms and completing them correctly.
He said all repair orders should include the three Cs: the complaint, cause and corrective action. According to Oehler, only facts should be stated, not opinions or conjecture. The repair order should specify the location of the vehicle component needing repair. Each job line should identify the date that a single repair began and the date it was completed. He said it is also very important to provide an accurate figure for “mileage in” and “mileage out.”
Oehler advised that each job description on the repair order should begin with “customer states” so it is clear the complaint was made by the consumer and was not a finding by the dealer. Dealers must also ensure that the consumer signs the repair order.
Another pain point illuminated in the mock trial involved the consumer’s lawyer claiming that the vehicle was out of service while in the dealer’s care for 150 days. Polyester claimed the dealership held Doutt’s vehicle for 150 days after he dropped the vehicle off, nearly six weeks before the service date. If the dealer offers the consumer the option to drop off the RV at the dealership before the service date, it should be documented as a customer accommodation to reduce days out of service.
Dealership Management
Oehler explained multiple ways for dealers to better manage their processes and avoid lawsuits. In all contracts, he suggested adding a mandatory “Pre-suit Mediation and Inspection” provision rather than an arbitration clause. This provision would prohibit the dealer from being sued until it is provided the opportunity to inspect the vehicle and attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation. Mediation is an informal meeting with a mediator in which the dealer, the consumer and potentially the manufacturer, meet for only a few hours to attempt to settle the dispute. Arbitration is a proceeding where both parties hire a private judge to conduct a trial and decide a winner and a loser. According to Oehler, an arbitration can involve nearly the time and expense of litigating a case through trial.
Oehler said mediation is an informal, inexpensive and effective option for avoiding litigation. It turns a legal issue into a customer service issue and can get the consumer on the road years earlier than traditional litigation. Mediation also allows the consumer to feel heard and brings in a mediator’s third-party perspective.
The DeMars & Associates’ RV Warranty Dispute Program provides consumers and manufacturers the opportunity to mediate disputes about RV defects free of charge to the consumer. Consumers converse through Zoom with a mediator and the manufacturer from the their own home and often reach a resolution. As a DeMars mediator, Oehler attested to the program’s effectiveness. He said most sessions only take a few hours, compared with years in court.
Throughout the service process, Oehler said the dealer should collaborate closely with the manufacturer. Oehler advised notifying manufacturers as soon as an issue is presented for a second repair attempt. Oehler said if dealers communicate promptly with their manufacturer and treat them fairly regarding vehicle issue responsibility, this will allow both the dealer and the manufacturer to build trust and partner better together to more quickly resolve consumer issues.
Oehler Mediation and Training provides mediation services to dealers, manufacturers and RV consumers across the country, live and on Zoom. Oehler, who has received two national service awards from RVDA for his service to the RV industry, conducts mock trials and training similar to those presented at RVDA at RV dealerships nationwide. Oehler said the mock trials empower RV dealership service employees to better communicate and service their customers and to work better with manufacturer to prevent lawsuits. To learn more, contact Oehler at Harold@OehlerMediation.com.
