reaching my limit.... - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2913 · 01-20-2006, 01:42 PM

...with our service dept. I am trying very hard to not get angry but it is not working. We had to bring our unit in after Thanksgiving. We had just picked it up from the service dept. one week earlier for leaks around the slide. We picked it up - packed it up and off we went only to have to cut our trip short because of yet another problem.
This time it was the black water tank. Two days into our trip the tank started leaking all over the place. It was GROSS! It leaked into the under carriage and then finally let loose outside the camper. Brought it back in and it has been sitting there ever since.
The service dept. claimed that they ordered the part immediatly but that it was back ordered......the waiting begins.....one week leads to two weeks .. leads to three....you get the picture here. I call to inquire as to when we might expect our unit back and I am informed that the part is still back ordered and they do not have a clue when it will be in. I politely ask if it is possible to take the tank off one of the units on the lot .... the answer was no of course. More waiting. Before the holidays I call and ask again about the unit and I am told it is still on order. Waiting!
Here we are now into the new year and still waiting. Whenever we call them they have no answers until today. Today I am told the reason it has taken so long is that it is all Keystones fault. The part was on back order AND they always let the stock run low before the end of the year for inventory reasons AND Keystone shuts down for two weeks around the holidays AND when the part finally came in Keystone sent them the wrong fitting! So service blames Keystone and Keystone blames the service dept which leaves the customer who paid all that hard earned money on the Keystone product left hanging.
When does it end? I just want my camper back in one piece. I want the service they promised me when I bought it, I want them to not give me the run around and then deny what they have said, I want to be able to camp in my camper that I am paying monthly payments on but I can not because it is always in the service dept.
I am sorry to vent here - I know that negative comments are not fun to read. Someone please tell me that I have not wasted my money on a Keystone product. I really like my unit but I am seriously thinking about getting rid of it and going back to a SunnyBrook. I know every company has its problems but this is nuts.

richfaa · 01-20-2006, 02:03 PM

Forget your dealer and service department.Call Montana directly.I don't remember the numbers to call but someone will be along to give them to you. Perhaps someone knows who the District sales manager is for this guys area.My guess is that the dealer is doing a number on this guy.

Montana_2913 · 01-20-2006, 02:19 PM

Thanks. I can probably search this forum and find that number. I appreciate your response. I am so disappointed in this service dept. Words can not even explain. We really like our unit and do not want to have to get rid of it because of a crappy service dept. or problems with Keystone.

William H. Collier · 01-20-2006, 02:24 PM

Iam very sorry to hear about your black tank problem. I think what you have going here is a dealer problem, not Keystone. The Montana is a excellent unit and as with all units there are problems some more serious than others. Keystone has a great reputation of standing behind their units unfortunatly the dealers are not under direct control of Keystone, you did not say which dealer this is. Some one will come along here with phone numbers to contact Keystone directly and maybe you can expidite the repairs. I sure would not hold Keystone responsible for the ineptness of the dealer. Just my 2 cents.
Bill

Montana_2913 · 01-20-2006, 02:28 PM

The dealer is SunCost in Winter Garden, FL. I would highly recommend staying far away from them. I am happy to hear that Keystone stands behind their units. Maybe some communication with them directly will help. I hope so

steves · 01-20-2006, 02:49 PM

Take charge, get involved directly with Keystone at (574) 535-2100. It's one of those situations....if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.

Northstar · 01-20-2006, 02:56 PM

Sorry to hear your dealer is failing to provide timly service. I would suggest you talk directly with Keystone customer service dept and request assistance. Their number is on their web site. Again this sounds like your dealer has dropped the ball. Good luck.

ols1932 · 01-20-2006, 04:36 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by steves

Take charge, get involved directly with Keystone at (574) 535-2100. It's one of those situations....if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.

Try and talk to Lon Nelson in Customer Service. He's the one I have worked with and he is really customer oriented. He'll bend over backwards to help you. You may have to take your rig to Goshen, but you will get help.
Orv

ronnilu · 01-20-2006, 06:26 PM

Hey Sixcampers--
We know your frustration, as it also happened to us with our 2005 Montana. I won't go into all the details, but we now have a 2006 3295RK. I too would encourage you to contact the Customer Service Dept. as Keystone should be the ones to get onto the dealer. If yours is still under warranty, check the fine print--the warranty in our state is extended by the number of full days it is in the shop. If that is your case, you might want to remind Keystone of this. It is to Keystone's benefit to get your unit out in as little time as possible. Good Luck
Ronnilu

Garin1 · 01-21-2006, 12:05 AM

WOW,,, sorry to hear about that. Please listen to the others and give Keystone a chance. I had a serious slide issue with one of my old Keystone units and it was 5 months out of warrenty but Keystone covered the whole thing. I sympathize with you though, we love spending time in our Monty.

Garin1 · 01-21-2006, 12:11 AM

Sixcampers, is that a misspell on the dealers name? I bought my first unit from Suncoast of Jacksonville Florida and they were great to deal with. Of course this was a long time ago

Montana_2913 · 01-21-2006, 03:30 AM

Yes it was a misspell on the dealer name lol. It is Suncoast.
I really appreciate all of the responses. I will be contacting Keystone and Lon Nelson. I am also going to look into my warranty and see about the warranty extension for service time. I also want to look into the extended warranty we purchased and see what all that covers. Thanks guys

Montana_2913 · 01-24-2006, 02:52 AM

Well we were able to pick up our unit yesterday. Appeared to be fine at first glance of course we will not know if the tanks are really repaired until we go camping but it did not appear that they caused any additional problems. Everything appeared to be intact and nothing was broken, scratched or dented.
You might be wondering why I say - there was no additional damage. That is because almost every time we have had to bring it in for service they manage to damage something. They screwed thru a wall into my bathroom once, scratched my cabinet another time, my ceiling has blue dye or ink across it from another trip in and we had some companions we did invite to travel along with us as a result of one service visit. The companions were mice. We picked up the unit from service and discovered we had mice. There was mouse poop everywhere!
But I digress....here is the latest saga. Picked up the unit - appeared to be okay minus some dirt on the floors. My husband walked thru and said other than being dirty it looks okay. We get it home and realized that what we thought was dirt was really dead ants. There were dead ants all over the floors.
We started inspecting the unit - cabinets, drawers, the under compartments etc. ANTS!!!! Millions of ants. I am not exagerating - millions. The outside compartments were crawling with ants. There were even ants crawling on the outside of the unit from the roof to the floor.
I will be calling Keystone today. I am fed up. I planned on calling them and sending a letter but wanted to wait until I picked up the unit - I am glad I waited.

Yes I spelled Suncoast wrong

campbud · 01-24-2006, 11:05 AM

Oh wow so sorry that you are going through this...Yes I would call Keystone and let them know everything that went on. I hope that they will get everything fixed for you so that you will soon be back camping.

Montana_2913 · 03-12-2006, 06:24 AM

I can not believe this but our camper is back at SunCoast yet again! We got it back used it for one weekend and parked it on the side of the house. We had rain and my husband went out to check the unit and make sure that there was no water in the camper and sure enough it was soaked again!
I called Keystone and at first they did not sound like they were going to be much help but when I explained that this leak has been going on for a while now and that I have a son who is allergic to mold and my concerns for his health they scheduled another service appt.
So now the camper is back down at SunCoast and the nightmare begins again. They sprayed water all over the darn thing but have been unable to determine the cause of the leak. They told us there has been extensive water damage and all the facia around the slide needs to be replaced and some of the boards in the bedroom. I believe the bathroom floor has damage as well since it never creaked but now it does

Suncoast told us when we called to check on the progress of the repairs that they were now waiting for natural rain. LOL Natural rain? Here in FLORIDA in the month of March? Looks like we will be waiting indefinetly for our camper to be repaired!
We bought this unit New Years Eve 2005 and since then it has been in for service almost 1/2 that time for one thing or another. Maybe not half that time but close to it and that is just not acceptable. We are paying for a unit we can not use.
I am so upset. The camper we traded in for the Mountaineer never had a single problem. Any problem we ever had was caused by us other than one single small problem. When we did have to bring it in for service it was in and out in a short period of time - never more than two weeks in service. The amount of time this Mountaineer has been in service is pitiful!!!!
So now what? What do we do now? I am thinking it is time to get a lawyer. This is just bad business.
I know every manufacturer has its own problems. Keystone is not the only mfg out there that has issues and I know that there are many happy campers out there in Keystone products but I am not one of them. I traded in a good unit for something that is useless to me.
I have spent the better part of the time I have owned a Keystone product without a camper.

fulltimedreamer · 03-12-2006, 12:04 PM

Sixcampers,

After reading the latest on your coach, I had to think on this one for a while before I responded. It seems to me that your dealer has had a more than adequate time to repair this unit. Were I in your shoes I think I would be taking this to another level with Keystone. It seems to me that it would be reasonable for the factory to pick this unit up and take it back to the factory. While there, the initial leak should be repaired and the coach should inspected and any addtional damages caused by the leak should be repaired as well. At this point, I would calmly but firmly let Keystone know that this is my expectation. We have seen Keystone and more specifically the Montana business unit step up to the plate and do the right thing. I hope that your next report here on the forum will be a continuation of that policy.

Please keep us informed of the progress you make as we are all stakeholders because we as consumers have chosen to give our business to Keystone and specifically Montana. I wish you the best.

richfaa · 03-12-2006, 12:42 PM

I would be , as you say, at my limit..However I would give keystone a chance to respond as they have responded many times to problems like yours.One of the primary reasons we purchased a keystone product is because we believe they will respond.We have to believe that or admit that we made a very bad choice.I would start with customer service and go up the line till I found the person that will take action.We are confident that your problems will be addressed by keystone. If they are not I would be very disappointed.Of course that they happeed in the first place is a .. "Shame on you keystone.."

Hemlockusa · 03-12-2006, 12:56 PM

HI SIX CAMPERS - SURE SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PROBELMS. I had that happen one time, and about the same thing you went through... I got smart, wonderful thing a FOUR way conference call ... I called and got the factory REP on the line---Then the Regional Manager who was on the road and last, I called and got the dealer on the phone!!!!!! You talk about funny!!!!!

That dealer couldn't say SORRY FAST ENOUGH. I found out during the conversation that the dealer had not even ordered the parts (AND THAT WAS AFTER MY UNIT HAD SAT THERE FOR 3 1/2 MONTHS...The Factory AIR FREIGHTED OVER NIGHT THE PARTS and the next day the REGIONAL MANAGER arrived at the dealership to personally make sure the repairs were done and the following day the REGIONAL MANAGER AND DEALERSHIP Owner delivered the unit to my driveway. The regional manager handed my wife a certificate for a week stay at a great resort park in Branson Mo. The dealer handed over a check for $350.00 for fuel and expenses to get there....

IT'S NOT A FAIRY TALE --- AMAZING WHAT A CONFERENCE CALL CAN ACCOMPLISH. Please don't let that dealer get away with playing that game... you deal the cards, just like above, and see what happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS THREE YEARS AGO AND NOT A KEYSTONE PRODUCT. Oh, I am sure Keystone will step to the plate on this one - if you do a conference call.... I SHOULD ALSO SAY, TAKE PICTURE'S OF ALL DAMAGE CAUSED BY DEALERSHIP WORKERS, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING SHOULD YOU HAVE TO CALL AN ATTORNEY..

SEE YOU DOWN THE ROAD --- John Hogan (aka Hemlockusa)

HamRad · 03-12-2006, 01:04 PM

Other than the original problems it sounds to me like Suncoast is to blame..... not Keystone. Surely you don't blame the ants on Keystone. Also I'm wondering what the difference is between the water used to test for the leak and "natural Florida water"? When you get that sort of response from a dealer then I'd be looking for someone else to take care of the problem.

Was the previous camper you had serviced by Suncoast? As fulltimedreamer said... I think you should look for another dealer. And if they can't or won't fix the problem then by all means look to Keystone for a fix.

Good luck,

HamRad

Hemlockusa · 03-12-2006, 01:41 PM

SIXCAMPERS -- I Really think you should know, if you don't by now, this forum is VERY POWERFUL !!!! There are a lot of GOOD PEOPLE here and we want to help each other like a large very large FAMILY..... KEYSTONE is monitoring this forum and I think they will really do the right thing. Keep us all posted..... The Dealership may not realize, but the outcome of something like this could be very adverse for them!!!!! you should probably mention to them and give them this web site... let them read about themselves.... IT COULD BE AND EYE OPENER for them, when they realize how many good folk's are on this forum.. GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS..

See you down the road - Later John Hogan (aka Hemlockusa)

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