Jayco is suing a chain of RV dealerships in the southern U.S. after a sting operation showed it was selling Entegra Coach motorhomes outside its contracted territory in Texas. The lawsuit was filed June 13 in U.S. District Court in South Bend claiming National Indoor RV Centers is improperly selling Entegra Coach models.
This story by Ryan Jeltema originally appeared in The Elkhart Truth.
The dealership chain has agreements with Jayco to sell Entegra Coach models, which are priced from $400,000 to $700,000, from its locations in Arizona and Georgia. However, Motorhome Specialists in Dallas owns an exclusive agreement from Jayco to sell Entegra Coach motorhomes throughout that part of Texas.
Jayco sent a private investigator to National Indoor RV Centers’ dealership in Texas on May 9 to verify the improper sales of Entegra Coach motorhomes were taking place.
The investigator wrote in an affidavit filed with Jayco’s lawsuit that she was put in contact with a dealer named Angie Morell at the Texas dealership. Morell made comments throughout their conversation that would indicate she knew Entegra Coach models should not have been sold there, such as why she couldn’t display Entegra Coach brochures in public areas of the dealership and why the investigator would have to travel to another dealership to pick up the motorhome after the sale was completed.
“They have attempted to cover up what they are doing because they know it is illegal,” Jayco’s lawsuit says.
Still, Morell, who also is named as a defendant, offered to negotiate the price of a new Entegra Coach model at the Texas dealership and complete the entire transaction there, according to the private investigator. She noticed a whiteboard in the dealership naming salesmen and models that showed at least 12 Entegra Coach transactions had occurred there recently.
A hearing on Jayco’s request for a preliminary injunction forcing National Indoor RV Centers to stop selling Entegra Coach models in Texas has been scheduled for July 25. There is no timetable for when the court will rule on Jayco’s request for a restraining order and injunction or National Indoor RV Centers’ request to throw the case entirely.