Keystone take note

[Phil P]

Several people here on the forum have made the statement that the quality of the 5th wheel trailer is the same across the industry. All you have to do is look at the forums for the other manufacturers to see this.

I agree with these statements to some degree; however my point in the discussions is that while all manufacturers have production problems and produce the occasional “Limon” it is their handling of these problems that creates the good will that produces an excellent organization with integrity.

While browsing some of the other forums that include all manufacturers I found this open letter to one of your competitors. You may want to take time to reconsider your position on customer service.

Phil P


Service Recognition

Dear ****,

We travelled to ******** in April of 2011 to purchase a 2006; 32’ *** ******** fifth wheel that you had on your lot. *** ******** was handling the sale on consignment.

We have travelled, in our camper, more than 25,000 miles in three years. We have lived in the RV for a total of over nine months. We rarely stay in one campground for more than a week at a time. The *** ******** we purchased is the most comfortable camper we have ever owned. It tows extremely well. The solid construction makes it substantially heavier than most fifth wheels of the same size. This requires a larger tow vehicle, however while traveling or camping HIGH WINDS HAVE LITTLE TO NO EFFECT ON THE CAMPER. This gives us a high degree of stress free towing and reduces anxiety while camped during severe weather.

Our experience has not been trouble free. We attribute almost all of the issues to the age of our camper rather than *** ********. After all our camper is now eight years old and is long past any warranties.

Now, to the point of this letter. I hope *** ******* fully appreciates your service manager, *** ******r. I have contacted him a least six times in the past three years. He has willingly helped every time. He was expedient, thorough, very knowledgeable, and absolutely professional in how he handled each of our problems. Last week, I sent him an e-mail explaining a furnace problem that a local service tech could not resolve after many hours of working on it. I included my phone number in the e-mail not really expecting a call. At best I was hoping for an e-mail response in a day or two. He called me within five minutes. We discussed a few trouble shooting steps over the phone. After two subsequent e-mails we were able to resolve the problem in less than twenty four hours. To get this kind of treatment on an eight year old camper, purchased used, and parked 1500 miles away is not just exceptional, it is unbelievable.
My thanks go out to ***. He has been courteous and totally committed to helping every time. Thanks also to *** ******** for promoting and supporting this exceptional service. It is comforting to know that *** ******** customers are never forgotten.

Sincerely,
****

[bethandkevin]

Thanks for the post Phil. From what I gather from it though, the owner was impressed with the customer service skills of a particular dealer rather than a manufacturer. While pleased with the product, they seem overjoyed with the customer service from their selling dealer. If, in fact, this is the case in point in your post, I can reinforce that by saying that I too am more happy with my selling dealer than Keystone. While Keystone did take care of most of the warranty issues I had, they did not take care of all. Nor have I had them go above and beyond for me, while the selling dealer and in another case, Tiara RV did. Keystone failed to stand behind their "bike carrier hitch" that failed on our first trip with our 3402. CW of N.Michigan stepped up and offered to replace it with a heavier unit that would not and has not failed. It was added at my cost. However, I am happy because someone offered to address my problem rather than simply saying "NO". When our Norcold four door failed at the National Rally, I was simply offered phone numbers of possible service facilities for Norcold. Tiara actually offered me small refrigerators to get me by at least. One of the numbers given to me by Keystone was actually a competing manufacturer. I was finally able to contact the service facility used by Keystone for it's refrigerators, furnaces and awnings. My problem was a simple wiring issue with the thermistor. Again, no extra from Keystone, I had to pay the bill myself. The trailer was out of warranty by five months. The bill wasn't much, $70.00, but it still stung a little having to pay it myself. That would have been nothing for Keystone to pick up and I wouldn't be posting negatively about it here.I might add that I had the same issue while it was in warranty and the dealer sent a technician over 40 miles and into the woods to our trailer to check it out and picked up the tab when they couldn't find a problem! Kudos to Tiara though for actually trying to address my immediate problem-food spoilage. Like many on the forum, I will continue to fix most problems myself because I can and look for help from my dealer when I need it. I hope I can get "free" advise when I need it as the letter writer did from their dealer.

[Phil P]

quote:Originally posted by bethandkevin

Thanks for the post Phil. From what I gather from it though, the owner was impressed with the customer service skills of a particular dealer rather than a manufacturer.

Hi

I guess I need to clarify.

The letter is addressed to the manufacturer and only mentions the manufacturer’s name. This manufacturer will take their used 5th wheels on consignment. This is why my wife and I stopped to go thru their production facility last year we could see used trailers sitting in what looked like a parking lot.

My wife and I have been thru the factory of a number of manufacturers and this one is impressive. They have and will show you all of the construction drawings, wiring diagrams and plumbing diagrams they use to build the unit.

On top of that the same information is maintained on the production line for reference and the personnel doing the work do it in accordance with the production manual.

This has got to reduce the cost of after sales warranty.

The result is what you see in the letter, the information to correct discrepancies is readily available from the manufacturer you don’t get excuses just answers.

Phil P

[bethandkevin]

Useful information. And yes, Keystone should take notice.