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07-18-2008, 04:16 AM
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#1
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
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What happened to the great customer service?
For years, I, and others on this forum, have been telling the world they should buy Montana not only because of the good rigs but also because Keystone "takes good care of the customer." Things seem to be changing and I'm wondering why.
I recently contacted Keystone Customer Service about replacing the nose decals on our Montana while we're in Goshen anyhow the week of 7/28. I supplied pictures by email as requested. I was told a few minutes ago Keystone will not install the decals. I will have to pay for labor at a dealer, because "the unit is out of warranty."
This is our third new Montana. It is only 22 months old, for crying out loud. And the decals on the nose are peeling. It will only continue to get worse. And Keystone says that's too bad, fixing it is on my dime.
What's going on, Keystone?
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07-18-2008, 06:45 AM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Osmond
Posts: 673
M.O.C. #3160
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Hi Steve
Not Good! When we go down the road like all people do, we look at the name on the front. If you see the name peeling off,I would say that the workmanship must be very poor. Ridiculous that they won't stand behind it! Just our thoughts.
Larry
__________________
LARRY & LAVONNE HUMMEL
2018 3811MS
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07-18-2008, 08:12 AM
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#3
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: farmingdale
Posts: 298
M.O.C. #1351
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Steve it's one of two things. Either over 16000 posts about how great the Montanas are isn't enough or it's Vicky's fault. Pick one. Dan
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07-18-2008, 09:10 AM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cedar Rapids
Posts: 4,876
M.O.C. #1944
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Steve,
I don't understand why they won't take care of it unless it's because they're under new ownership. Sometimes becoming the part of a bigger conglomerate just means that the customer suffers.
Orv
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07-18-2008, 09:20 AM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Clearwater
Posts: 10,917
M.O.C. #420
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I can't imagine where the problem may be. That's just not like Keystone.
As far as new ownership, Thor has owned Keystone for a number of years I can't see where that is a problem.
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07-18-2008, 09:39 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cedar Rapids
Posts: 4,876
M.O.C. #1944
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine
I can't imagine where the problem may be. That's just not like Keystone.
As far as new ownership, Thor has owned Keystone for a number of years I can't see where that is a problem.
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Glenn,
I had heard only about 1 1/2 years ago that Keystone had been taken over by Thor. I didn't know it had been a longer time. I do know that when we had work done at Customer Service in 2004 that it didn't seem as though Thor had bought them at that time. Actually, it was at that time that I heard Keystone had purchased Dutchmen. Of course, Dutchmen has now become part of Thor as well as Keystone, Airstream and some others.
Orv
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07-18-2008, 09:56 AM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location:
Posts: 2,376
M.O.C. #6575
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I would think this may be a sign of things to come. With the economy as it is, and worsening by the day, manufacturers will be squeezing every dime. I'm hardly one to defend Keystone, but what if that Dodge, Ford, or GM logo on the front of the TV falls off after warranty. They sure aren't gonna ante up for the emblem. And myself, I've never gotten any satisfaction when dealing with Keystone once they got my money.
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07-18-2008, 10:54 AM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cedar Rapids
Posts: 4,876
M.O.C. #1944
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My results with Keystone have only been gotten through my dealer. I've never contacted them directly except when Keystone has told the dealer to have me call to set up an appointment. I have to agree with SlickWillie in that if my blue Ford emblem fell off, they wouldn't replace it.
Orv
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07-18-2008, 01:25 PM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Kelowna
Posts: 1,475
M.O.C. #6237
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They sure get alot of free advertising from us as we travel the roads and at campgrounds.You would think they would want to keep their name out there these days. If mine peels I will take it off and not replace it as all they pay for the ad is to put them on the RV and if they can't do that for us to heck with them.
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07-18-2008, 02:03 PM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fallon
Posts: 6,064
M.O.C. #1989
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Steve,
And others. We were promised at the Spring rally that our peeling decals would be taken care of. Ours are peeling badly on the front and on the one side also. We have been promised for two years now that we would receive the plans for covering the big hole behind our washer/dryer. Since this is our only big problem, we have not pursued it. It sure is poor advertising for Montana. We have even had comments from people (SOB owners) about the peeling decals. If it geta bad enough, they will come off and then Keystone will no longer get the advertisement. We decided we would have something painted on the front - not Montana. If we ever decide to trade this rig in, I sure hope it isn't a factor in the value since most Montanas are affected. If this was an isolated incident, that would be different. However, many, many Montana owners are affected. Keystone has to see the light.
Happy trails....................naked as we may be.
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07-18-2008, 04:12 PM
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#11
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Santa Fe Springs
Posts: 4,189
M.O.C. #639
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When the rep at Flying flags Rally, Blew me off on the deacals lifting, after many hours of typing and sending Keystone a CD with all kinds of pictures and explanations with them all on a MS Word file, They passed me on to bubble gummer to communicate with me and the attude I received from her was the lights are on and nobody is home, she skirted around every question, and most she never addressed.
My next project will be to remove all deacals and have something painted on that Georgia and I like better than an advertisement logo.
__________________
Pulling a 2004, 2980 RL an oldie but goodie.
Tow vehicle is a 2009 RED RAM 3500 DRW.
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07-18-2008, 04:45 PM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Wappingers Falls
Posts: 1,303
M.O.C. #6263
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Sounds like factory is pulling the plug on all the "extras" that set them apart! Decals should not peel off new units. Mine are still Ok, this is just not right!!
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07-19-2008, 04:14 AM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
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The RV industry is hit hard by the present economic situation.Perhaps harder than some others because RV'ing is a luxury and luxuries suffer first. I would guess that belt tightening is now the norm throughout the industry.I am not surprised and we have not see anything yet.
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07-19-2008, 05:05 AM
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#14
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
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The decals issue seems as widespread as the Mission tires. Who is the decal vendor? I think they have changed. I have a new decal ("Montana") but I really hate to put it on if it is from the same stock as this one I have on (but coming off a little at a time).
All other decals on my Montana are fine. It's just this one. Not even 2 years old and it is disintegrating badly. Not hard to compare it to the surrounding decals and say, "That's GOT to a be defective material".
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07-19-2008, 06:21 AM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Orangevale
Posts: 2,341
M.O.C. #49
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We have a 2002 Montana that we bought in June of 2001.
Early on, our 2002 Montana had problems with the decals. The dealer and Keystone said it wasn't their problem. Our Keystone was also less than 2 years old.
Now, here in 2008, we are at the point that we need almost a FULL set of decals and I decided to try to obtain decals again. Another MOC member (HamRad) with the same year/model Montana asked if I would keep him informed as they needed new decals also.
I contacted Keystone and talked with the "head" of Customer Service three times. She said that the 2002 decals were out of stock and even if they did have some, I was on my own.
I also contacted several dealers in two different states. I was quoted from $800 to over $1200 for a FULL set of decals. Where the dealers got their information from to be able to quote me a price, I don't know.
I finally contacted the manufacturer of the decals (Burlington Graphics). They were extremely nice. In fact, I'd say their customer service was fantastic. They were out of the 2002 decals but went back into production and produced two new sets of decals for us. I know it couldn't have been cheap for them to do that but they only charged us $280 per FULL set decals. Installation will be at our cost.
We haven't put our graphics on yet as we decided to wait until towards the end of summer. The graphics should not be installed in cold weather according to Burlington Graphics.
Several months back I outlined my "travels" in obtaining the new set of decals here on the MOC. If you research it, you'll find the name, email address and phone number of the person to contact at Burlington Graphics if anyone wants to buy new graphics. They said they'd be more than happy to help any Montana owner and actually assigned someone to help us. My posts also tell under what conditions the graphics can go "bad".
Through out our years of owning a Keystone, I have never had any luck with Keystone when needing help even though I understand others have.
We are wanting to sell our Montana and get another RV before we retire. Customer Service will make or break the deal and right now, Keystone is batting ZERO. I've already started going to other websites and watching what RV owners of SOBs are saying about their manufacturers.
Has Keystone gotten too big for it's britches? Being #1 in sales means you arrived at that destination with a quality product AND the Customer Service to back that product should the buyer need help.
People are cutting back on buying RVs due to the world oil situation. Word gets around and the lack of customer service from Keystone will turn many people off of buying new RVs from them. I suspect we'll be seeing Keystone laying off workers soon.
Now at this point with a 6+ years old Montana, we were excited finding someone to help us with the decals and we were willing to pay the $280 and the eat the cost of installation. Buyers want the glitz on the outside of the RV they buy and we feel that trying to sell a used all-white RV is a definite "negative" and that we'll recoup our investment (and then some) when selling the Montana.
Steve, I wish I had pursued the matter more back when my Montana was less than two years old. I don't think you should have to pay for the decals or the installation since your Montana is so new. Good luck to you.
Margee.
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07-19-2008, 10:42 AM
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#16
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
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My 3400 and dsprik's are just a couple of months apart his being the newer. Our graphics show no signs of peeling. This 3400 has been over the road, parked in all kinds of conditions, Arizona, Florida....not a problem with graphics..... Why is that??? My opinion is that it is the way the graphics are installed at the factory. I would like to see how it is done and under what conditions..
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07-19-2008, 11:13 AM
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#17
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
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Rich is your "Montana" decal on your nose OK? That is the one causing all the problems.
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07-19-2008, 12:43 PM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
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The nose decal is fine...many bug hits but no peeling.
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07-19-2008, 01:01 PM
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#19
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: anywhere
Posts: 912
M.O.C. #6260
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Gald we haven't had that problem, YET!! Our is a 3400 Manufactured on October 21, 2006, it is labled as an 07. The last time I made a comment like this a month later we were having the same problem, but thus far our are still factory fresh looking and it has been put through the mill, pulled over 14,000 miles in all sorts of conditions. Hope you folks get yours corrected.
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07-19-2008, 02:12 PM
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#20
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Benson
Posts: 3,121
M.O.C. #1658
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Margee,
It's good to hear that you finally got some new graphics. It sounds to me like Burlington went out of their way to help you and the price is great. They need a big pat on the back.
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