Posted by Wes Johnson The attitude wasn’t as hard to take as the misinformation, however. While we were shopping, we were often given false assurances. For instance, many Clayton salespeople promised every "Greenbriar" model was high-end, and thus came from the factory with the "Duke Power" energy standard. Actually, standard in that model was R-11 (roof), R-11 (walls), R-21 (floor) – far shy of the Duke standard (which calls for R-28 in the roof). We were mislead about stud spacing, about insulation and window ratings, about the thickness of the OSB wrap – in essence, at one point or another, salespeople frequently and knowingly fabricated information about virtually every aspect of the homes they were pitching in response to our questions. Back in 2001, I was speaking with Kevin Clayton himself, President of Clayton Homes, Inc., complaining about how his dealerships had misrepresented their products. My wife and I had written him a letter, and Mr. Clayton personally called us to say he was "very embarrassed" about what happened to us while we were shopping for a home. He told us it was a "shame" that the salespeople were the way they were, but that was the state of the "industry as a whole." (The consummate salesman, however, he turned this around into a pitch by saying they were going to make it up to us with a "special" interest rate he wrangled just for us if we would give Clayton Homes another try. The "special rate" turned out to be 9.9%, the exact same deal everyone who walked in off the street was getting at that time. It was also 3% higher than the current bank rate for the same loan.) Mr. Clayton also offered us what he promised would be a very attractive price (and it was), but then the company made up for it by attempting to charge us almost twenty thousand dollars just to "set up" the new home. (We declined his not so generous offer.) In essence, it was business as usual, and none of them are about to change their ways. This brief introduction brings to the forefront the same theme that will be amplified below: a pervasive lack of integrity exists in this industry. You can draw your own conclusions, but I would like to comment to this extent: so many things went wrong in our home (purchased from the Manufactured Housing Institute’s "Manufacturer of the Year" for the past four years in a row) that there is no possibility they were all chance occurrences. Furthermore, in doing research for this book I have heard from and read accounts of many other manufactured home owners from nearly every brand home and virtually every region of the country who have their own horror stories. This problem is truly industry wide. Even though we tried to be as careful as possible the first time around, we had to force Clayton Homes, Inc., to deliver us another home. Even then, the problems continued – the dealer and the manufacturer made many of the same mistakes on the substitute home that they did on the first one (and some new ones!). Let’s continue with dishonesty during negotiating the terms of the sale. To make this important point, this example requires extensive elaboration. This was a particular issue of dissonance in the case of the home we purchased and the contract we signed. My wife Amy and I both noticed one specific passage which concerned us. We in turn faxed it to someone else to review it – and they had the same concern. The passage regarded arbitration: "ARBITRATION: All disputes, claims or controversies arising from or relating to this contract, or the subject hereof, or the parties, including the enforceability or applicability of this arbitration agreement or provision and any acts, omissions, representations and discussions leading up to this agreement, hereto, including this agreement to arbitrate, shall be resolved by mandatory binding arbitration by one arbitrator selected by Seller with Buyer's consent. This agreement is made pursuant to a transaction in interstate commerce and shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act at 9 U.S.C. Section 1. Judgment upon the award rendered may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The parties agree and understand that they choose arbitration instead of litigation to resolve disputes. The parties understand that they have a right to litigate disputes in court, but that they prefer to resolve their disputes through arbitration,, except as provided herein. THE PARTIES VOLUNTARILY AND KNOWINGLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT THEY HAVE TO A JURY TRIAL. The parties agree and understand that all disputes arising under case law, statutory law and all other laws including, but not limited to, all contract, tort and property disputes will be subject to binding arbitration in accord with this contract. The parties agree that the arbitrator shall have all powers provided by law, the contract and the agreement of the parties. These powers shall include all legal and equitable remedies including, but not limited to, money damages, declaratory relief and injunctive relief. Notwithstanding anything hereunto the contrary, Seller retains an option to use judicial (filing a lawsuit) or non-judicial relief to enforce a security agreement relating to the Manufactured Home secured in a transaction underlying this arbitration agreement, to enforce the monetary obligation secured by the Manufactured Home or to foreclose on the Manufactured Home. The institution and maintenance of a lawsuit to foreclose upon any collateral, to obtain a monetary judgment or to enforce the security agreement shall not constitute a waiver of the right of any party to compel arbitration regarding any other dispute or remedy subject to arbitration in this contract, including the filing of a counterclaim in a suit brought by Seller pursuant to this provision."
Link: Manufactured Home Buyer's Handbook
on 3/8/2005, 2:38 pm
209.215.39.7
In search of a particular Clayton Homes display model, my wife and I found a sales lot which had it using the Clayton web site. Soon after I went up the steps to this specific dealership using my cane and advancing upward with my right leg only (I contend with Reiter’s Syndrome, a rare arthritic condition), our saleswoman was earnestly telling us about Clayton being the "Manufacturer of the Year," how great the Clayton company President was, and then she said to our astonishment how Clayton Homes is a fantastic company in part because - "we even hire the handicapped and junk like that." "Junk" was her exact word; I felt a warm spot in my heart for her and Clayton right there - even before she told me the part about the bet with her manager that we couldn’t be the couple from York, because we drove up in a Mustang and that little "hick village" just couldn’t have any Mustangs. Oh yes, the Lamborghini of the redneck world. "Sue" had the same inner attitude toward customers as most of the salespeople we worked with, she just lacked the polish. She never stopped smiling, though . . . 
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