Good Sam Enterprises LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) has filed a lawsuit against RV Advisor LLC and Gigi Stetler for trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices, according to a release issued late Thursday (March 19) afternoon.
Good Sam alleges that defendants recently began infringing on the goodwill and trademarks of Good Sam by marketing its products and services under the GOOD SAMARITAN CLUB brand and making numerous false or misleading statements about Good Sam’s products and services, the release continued.
“We believe this misinformation campaign fueled by RV Advisor and Gigi Stetler misleads our customers and the public by using our trademarks and making false, misleading and deceptive statements about our products and services,” Tamara Ward, chief operating officer of Camping World Holdings stated. “We will not allow RV Advisor or Stetler to add legitimacy to the products and services they purport to offer and deceive and mislead the RV community by trading on the goodwill and trademarks established by Good Sam over the past 55 years.”
Ward added, “We will proactively and aggressively pursue our rights against any company that uses deceptive trade practices and attempts to trade on our name to provide legitimacy to their business. We’ve been cultivating our trademarks and concepts for over 55 years and will not tolerate any type of unlawful business activity to infringe on our rights.”
RV Advisor officials contacted RVBusiness and provided the following statement on behalf of Stetler.
“We at RV Advisor created our social media platform, the Good Samaritan Club, with the goal of starting a chain reaction of good deeds. Since the start of the pandemic, people need help and support more than ever, and the RV community has answered that calling. Marcus Lemonis can not trademark the long history of good samaritans and the will of the RV community to do good for others. Marcus Lemonis’ time would be better utilized actually servicing the needs of the thousands of Camping World customers who have been sold subpar products and services, handling the barrage of lawsuits from former customers, business partners and employees and actually helping the struggling businesses featured on ‘The Profit’ – many of whom accuse the CNBC star of unethical business practices, predatory behavior and intimidation tactics.”
In a separate announcement today (March 19), FreedomRoads Holding Company LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Camping World Holdings Inc., filed a lawsuit against Steve Weissmann, president of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, a recreational vehicle manufacturer, to collect money due under the terms of a consolidated secured promissory note, which the defendant personally guaranteed.
FreedomRoads lent Tumbleweed over $2.5 million over the course of ten loans in 2017 and 2018 to help fund Tumbleweed’s growth, according to the company release. Tumbleweed defaulted on the note, the release stated, when it stopped making payments in January 2020 and all sums became immediately due and payable when Tumbleweed filed a bankruptcy petition in March 2020.
FreedomRoads filed the lawsuit against Weissmann for breach of contractual obligations. The lawsuit seeks damages in the amount of unpaid principal and interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. At the time the complaint was filed, the total amount due was over $3 million, the release concluded.
