Keystone no help at all - Montana Owners Club

SlickWillie · 08-28-2007, 04:18 AM

Well, I called Keystone yesterday and spoke with a CSR about the cut in the underbelly of the Mountaineer. The lady told me I would have to take the unit back to the dealer to get it repaired. No way they would send me the tape. So I called the dealer and had them order the tape. Keystone recommended lacing the slit with zip ties, then taping it up. I don't like the idea of zip ties. I am going to try using a upholstery needle with heavy mono line and stitch it up. Then I will clean and tape. BTW, I thought there was insulation in the bottom. None there. I'm also considering the foil bubble insulation on top of the membrane. I think I can get the 8' width at a metal building supplier.

I have never gotten any satisfaction when calling Keystone. They seem to have a "screw you" attitude. When I questioned the lady about speaking to someone else who could authorize sending me the tape, she went to rattling about her certifications, and said she had the authority to send it, but there was no way she would. Long story shortened; we will probably trade up at the end of our 3 year trial fulltime run. SOB will be in our future.

robb · 08-28-2007, 07:06 AM

You must have talked to Susan!
Robb

8.1al · 08-28-2007, 10:46 AM

It's beginning to sound as tho Susan is not everyone's favorite customer service rep.

richfaa · 08-28-2007, 11:43 AM

oopps,,Susan has been very helpful to us. She is the rep that helped us when we melted down in Quartzsite.

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-28-2007, 03:02 PM

What some of us don't seem to understand is "we must go through the dealer first." When all else has failed than and only than call Keystone.
I am not saying anyone did this BUT when you do call Keystone DO NOT develope an attitude. Treat the CSRs exactly the same way you want to be treated. If I was a CSR and anyone developed an attitude with me that someone would stand an ice cubes chance in you know where before they would get any satisfaction from me. Every CSR at Keystone deals with a multitude of customers every single day and the last thing they want or need is an attitude from a customer. Now I'm not saying you have to kiss their butt. At least treat them as a fellow human being OR don't expect them to kiss your's either.

snfexpress · 08-28-2007, 03:20 PM

Nope, Susan is the one that treated me poorly, last year. While under warranty, in a rural part of Utah, in the winter, our heater failed. I hired a local RV repair guy - the only one in the area - to fix it. He spent 5 hours at $60 per hour. He finally got it fixed. Oh, and you should know that I have a 2006 3400RL - the one with the heater inside the unit; one has to completely remove the unit to get to the innards.

When I sent my letter for reimbursement to Keystone, Susan called me back and told me that she would only authorize 2 hours at $60 per hour; when I asked my dealer, they said they routinely get 3 hours at $98 per hour. I wasn't happy at all.

It wasn't the money; it was her attitude: I am authorized and as high as you will get in this organization. Poor customer service. I can deal with the response, just not the attitude.

richfaa · 08-28-2007, 03:36 PM

During the 4 days we were at the service center having the many issues on our 3400 repaired Helen and I made it a point to meet as many of the CSR's as we could. Those who have been to the Service center understand that the customer service reps are in the same building.In particular we wanted to meet, and did meet , the reps that helped us out with our problems when on the road..Susan being one of them. Everyone that we spoke to seemed to be knowledgeable and happy to meet , in person, a customer they had serviced. It is a good idea to go through the dealer first but that is not always possible. We melted down in Quartzsite, Az which is nowhere and I mean nowhere. We had no idea where a Montana Dealer might be, nor could we move the camper. We did call Keystone direct and although Helen was still fanning smoke out of the camper and we were dead in the water. I was as polite as could be although my teeth were clinched, and the CSR , within the hour, had set us up with a Keystone dealer, Not a Montana dealer, In Quartzsite, with the repair facilities to help us and by 10Am, Az time the next day had provided the dealer all the authorization to correct the problem,,cost not being a issue. To date all of our interaction with the customer service and the service center has been very positive..If that changes We will say so.

It would not be a bad idea if when in the Goshen area, take the time to visit the service center and IF a CSR has helped you out..meet them...say thanks..

SlickWillie · 08-28-2007, 04:24 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine

What some of us don't seem to understand is "we must go through the dealer first." When all else has failed than and only than call Keystone.
I am not saying anyone did this BUT when you do call Keystone DO NOT develope an attitude. Treat the CSRs exactly the same way you want to be treated. If I was a CSR and anyone developed an attitude with me that someone would stand an ice cubes chance in you know where before they would get any satisfaction from me. Every CSR at Keystone deals with a multitude of customers every single day and the last thing they want or need is an attitude from a customer. Now I'm not saying you have to kiss their butt. At least treat them as a fellow human being OR don't expect them to kiss your's either.

Glen,

I did not have an attitude, even when the lady wanted to impress me with her credentials. I merely told her how dissatisfied I was with the dealer's quality of work, and that I would like to perform my repairs to the quality that I prefer. When she preceded to tell me that she had the authority to send the supplies, and that she wouldn't, I merely asked her if she realized she had lost a customer. Never got nasty with her, although a part of me wanted to. As I said I'll merely buy some other brand next time.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Your friend.

Montana Sky · 08-28-2007, 10:08 PM

When you cannot reason with a person, confuse them.

richfaa · 08-29-2007, 04:17 AM

I do not know why some folks seem to get good service from Keystone and others have a very hard time.I have not always been completely satisfied or completely agreed with how they handled the issue. we also understand that because something was not handled exactly the way we thought it should be... is necessarily poor service. That a CSR would say they had the authority to do something but just would not do it is a clear abuse of authority. In a previous life I was involved in providing a service to the consumer of a service and no matter how nasty or unreasonable or demanding that consumer might be, It was still my responsibility to provide the service //A CSR is a nasty job. In my book there is NO reason for a CSR to deny allowed service to a Consumer and if the CSR did that for no reason other than they just did not want to...they need to find another career...and..If I had the documentation that a CSR did that..any CSR, any workplace..I would be going up the organizational chain.

FulltimeFollies · 08-29-2007, 04:48 AM

" do not know why some folks seem to get good service from Keystone and others have a very hard time"

You said a mouthful there. I too am amazed at this. When I had my first problem with Keystone, I thought to myself "Oh well here comes the bs that everyone talks about", and sadly to say, I may have protrayed that attitude to the service rep. In no time at all, I was relieved to find that Keystone went out of their way, did beyond what was required, and handled my small , irrating problem like nothing I have seen in many years. And to think , I too am in the service business. Perhaps some people just strike others different, I do not know, but I will testify anytime for the Keystone personnel. Always exceptional service and kindness.

SlickWillie · 08-29-2007, 05:14 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by FulltimeFollies

" do not know why some folks seem to get good service from Keystone and others have a very hard time"

You said a mouthful there. I too am amazed at this. When I had my first problem with Keystone, I thought to myself "Oh well here comes the bs that everyone talks about", and sadly to say, I may have protrayed that attitude to the service rep. In no time at all, I was relieved to find that Keystone went out of their way, did beyond what was required, and handled my small , irrating problem like nothing I have seen in many years. And to think , I too am in the service business. Perhaps some people just strike others different, I do not know, but I will testify anytime for the Keystone personnel. Always exceptional service and kindness.

Believe me, I simply cannot understand this. Also there is no doubt in my mind it happens. Too many say they get good service, too many say they don't get service. Funny, seems I remember seeing that someone thought it might have to do with your standing on this forum. I hope I don't have further issues, but the 1 year warranty will be up in November, and I will use a shop closer to home if they can do the extended warranty work. (hope I don't need them) They have no affiliation with Keystone; just an RV parts and repair shop. In fact, they used to do Keystone warranty work, but when I spoke with the owner, he said they couldn't do that any more. You have to pay, and they attempt to collect on the warranty for your repayment. With the track record I have with Keystone, I don't think that is a good option.

robb · 08-29-2007, 05:33 AM

When I found someone I could talk to (Darrell/ Greg) I could not ask for better help on repairing our Montana.

Robb Isaacs
610 Volvo pickup
2007 3400RL Montana

richfaa · 08-29-2007, 06:05 AM

Our 1 year warrant with keystone is also up and we Do have a extended Warranty.Many vendor provided items are still covered by warranty. A 1 year service warranty is ..a 1 year service warranty and the manufacturer has no legal responsibility to do anything after the 1 year. I think 'Your standing on the forum "was a posted reference to me..nothing could be further from the truth.. We have nothing at all to do with keystone other than we purchased one of their products and at times have regretted that. If being a huge(but polite) pain in the butt gets better service...I qualify. Our 1 year bumper to Bumper warranty is over and we are finished with keystone, If we were to call keystone the first thing I would expect to hear is...what was your purchase date and after that,,,,nothing..My Extended Warranty provider is now my primary contact as well as the vendors with 2 or 3 year warranties of their product. Reality sometimes hurts...

blarkman · 08-29-2007, 07:06 AM

I too find it hard to understand the attitude of Team montana. I know that you catch more flies with honey then vinigar, but when they will not listen to what you are saying it is very hard to stay cool. like I took the 3000 to Alaska. All I hear now is "But you took it to Alaska" what has that to do with my ride issues now. IN my numerious calls to Montana I was surprised to find out that TM reads our posts and are not happy with some of oour comments.. When I called asking for a certain person and was told he was out for lunch and put me through to his voice mail and on the second ring he answered and called me by my last name. Do they have caller ID, also he had commented at one time that he didn't think I was an unreasonable person, so are they making notes as to who is difficult and who not? It is hard to stay cool when the other person is speaking down to you and making you feel stupid
bob

FulltimeFollies · 08-29-2007, 07:18 AM

Just an example, the flexiable strip that holds the power lines from the frame to the slide in the living room (tv side) broke loose from the slide, thus allowing the lines to hang down. Without this flexible piece of plastic to guide and hold it up, the lines would be tangled and possibly drag the road or get broken some way. Our warranty was up, so I called my dealer and he said he would call me back. I was just gonna order the thing , thinking it couldnt cost over fifty bucks. Any way he called me back about an hour later and asked for my present address, as he knows we move around, and when I told him, he said that he called Keystone to order it and they were going to ship it to me direct and there would be the customary "no charge" to me for anything. I just dont know how you can beat that. I suppose if I had a MAJOR problem , I might have a problem, but so far, I have nothing but respect for them.
Some might say I am overly protective of them, but they have sure made my life a lot easier.

SlickWillie · 08-29-2007, 07:31 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by blarkman

I too find it hard to understand the attitude of Team montana. I know that you catch more flies with honey then vinigar, but when they will not listen to what you are saying it is very hard to stay cool. like I took the 3000 to Alaska. All I hear now is "But you took it to Alaska" what has that to do with my ride issues now. IN my numerious calls to Montana I was surprised to find out that TM reads our posts and are not happy with some of oour comments.. When I called asking for a certain person and was told he was out for lunch and put me through to his voice mail and on the second ring he answered and called me by my last name. Do they have caller ID, also he had commented at one time that he didn't think I was an unreasonable person, so are they making notes as to who is difficult and who not? It is hard to stay cool when the other person is speaking down to you and making you feel stupid
bob

You make an interesting point about them (Keystone) reading this forum. I've often wondered about the real ownership of the forum. I researched it some, but didn't really find anything. IIRC, there was mention on the rally thread that some individual paid the cost of the forum. With no ads, I am somewhat skeptical of that statement.

exav8tr · 08-29-2007, 07:36 AM

FF, I experienced the same thing with a day/night shade and a 50 amp power cord. They are sending to a dealer in Bend OR. Didn't even have to "PROVE" to them the parts were defective. A keystone dealer in WA would not even order the parts unless they had the defective parts in hand, even though they looked at the parts a declared they were defective. Keystone stepped up for me and I am now waiting the parts at local RV dealer.

BTW: My flexible strips under the slides broke also. I did not want the same thing from Keystone, so I replaced the end pieces with a 4 1/2 inch commercial duty door hinge. Works great and expect no probs....took about 20 minutes each and maybe $6.00 worth of parts. I felt the replacement plastic part would only break again.

SlickWillie · 08-29-2007, 08:36 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by pparamore

BTW: My flexible strips under the slides broke also. I did not want the same thing from Keystone, so I replaced the end pieces with a 4 1/2 inch commercial duty door hinge. Works great and expect no probs....took about 20 minutes each and maybe $6.00 worth of parts. I felt the replacement plastic part would only break again.

Phil,
What is the flexible strip you're talking about. Something that holds the wires for the slide? The Mountaineer has a spring with wire tie wrapped to it. It twists when the slide goes in, thus the wires get smashed if I don't hold it down. Just wondering if that might be something I could add? Thanks.

go185 · 08-29-2007, 10:16 AM

I called and got Susan. When I explained we were having a problem with the graphics on our Montana she said we had to contact a dealer to get new graphics. It seems funny that some people were sent the graphics from the factory and didn't have to go thru a dealer. What gives??? We really like our Montana - except for the problem with the graphics. Seems like it was only two years when they had this problem. Hope they have a different supplier now. Ours is an 04 Montana 2955RL. We are going to the rally in Sept and hope to get this resolved.

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