Dealer/keystone good news stories - Montana Owners Club

1retired06 · 08-16-2016, 03:14 PM

With all the bad being expressed (deserved from what I have read), about dealers and keystone, there are some positive stories. I had several issues with our 2015, failed frig, failed microwave, broken theater seat, failed black and gray flush valves, cargo door delamination, leaking slide. At the 11th month, everything was replaced, or repaired correctly. Good response from keystone and dealer. Attitude from both was to make it right. Minor issue with cracked hinges but that was resolved by me working directly with keystone with a Keystone POC provided by a member of this forum (DQdick). A month ago, one of our frameless windows shattered. Made a dealer appointment, 15 minutes after arrival, measurements and photos taken. Dealer worked directly with our insurance and I had a check within seven days from our insurance. Keystone had a correct replacement window at the dealers within 10 days, and today, arrived at our dealer at 0830 and by 1100 was on our way home with replacement window installed. In July, lost the living room AC while in sevierville TN. Ricky's Mobil
RV declared the AC dead, worked with dometic two year warranty, and new AC installed and working. Cost me $80 because dometic warranty did not cover service call charge.

jameswbarton · 08-16-2016, 03:21 PM

Lots of issues for a really new RV. I am not looking forward to seeing another dealer or spending any more days on the phone. Glad you have a good dealer the two good ones near me cannot deal with keystone any better than I can according to them. They were very willing to fix anything I would pay for. I see you did not publish the POC.

1retired06 · 08-16-2016, 03:27 PM

Not intentionally. DQdick provided, and that number is somewhere in my desk at home. We are still on the road tonight. And yes it was frustrating. More problems in the first year of 2015 ownership, then with the other three combined over 13 years, at one point wanted to burn it to the ground. But today, a great unit we enjoy vey much, if DQdick sees this post, maybe it will jog his memory and he will provide

Artemus Gordon · 08-16-2016, 08:32 PM

Very happy you posted this positive story. Some people thrive on negative stories or bad experiences. I believe some people quickly wear out the patients of their dealers and manufacturers. Not everything that happens to your camper is manufacturers fault. Poor maintenance, bad towing and over the top expectations play into problems. Not saying problems don't exist, I have had several including a $12,000 repair in first six months of ownership. Yes indeed, a major slide problem which took out a wall and destroyed the master bedroom. Keystone had a local dealer repair my coach in two weeks. They even arranged to pick it up at a campground (4th of July Weekend) in Tahoe where the problem occurred. We have gone to dealers from coast to coast and treated extremely well. Overall I have enjoyed our Montana and Keystones cooperation to make things right.

trustymopars · 08-17-2016, 01:37 AM

I don't know if it's a common problem, but the living room a\c has quit on our 2015 3611, also. We'll have to get by on our front air for a couple of more weeks until we end our hosting gig. The great folks at North gate RV already have me a replacement, and have an appointment for replacement on our way back home. JT.

jameswbarton · 08-17-2016, 02:02 AM

BTW telling the truth is not a fabricated or a Negative Post. It is just a fact.

Obviously Montana's have changed dramatically in the last few years from the High Quality of years gone by.
Some of us sleep in our Montana's not with our Montana's.

For us it is our home while traveling the USA and Traveling Nursing so it needs to be more livable than an occasional campers requirements. So to us having a home that we can sleep in with a temperature of less than 90 degrees while working nights was important. Since we work under contract reliability is important to us so we can move to the next assignment on time.

Twopetes · 08-17-2016, 03:38 AM

Agree with jameswbarton - the truth is the truth! I find it interesting that owners with the same model and year can have such different issues. Kind a like the mindset of never buying a car built on Monday or Friday! We bought the 2015 High Country 353RL from Camping World of Columbia (SC). I even tried to play CW of Myrtle Beach against CW of Columbia, but they caught on to that pretty quick! Oh well, was worth the try!

CW has done well by us. So I cannot complain. We did have a couple of strange issues occur - on the road so we fixed them ourselves (camper was a week old). The interior header on the front of both main slides (wood facing) came loose, more like were falling off. A little construction adhesive and and air nailer, and never more will they be loose.

I expect some of this and would be surprised if it did not happen. Fortunately for us (knock on wood) we have not had any major appliance issues.

To me it is part of the adventure, as line as it is not over the top stuff or poor quality.

enjoy - and safe travels

Steve

Razrbk · 08-17-2016, 04:25 AM

Our 1 year warranty period is about over. It has been quite an eye opener. The amount of in-the-shop downtime for warranty work was around six months. My overall service response from Keystone was good. The most disappointing aspects were (1) poor quality control which led to my trailer having to be finished by myself and the dealer; (2) a triangulated process of obtaining warranty approval, parts and service which just increased time required to do the job; and (3) dealer/service center variability - first one I used was terrible and the second one was good.

dfb · 08-17-2016, 04:49 AM

Yes! THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIRS IS OBSCENE,! Why do we bring in our Montanas for simple fixes, only to have the dealer do the fix months later?. We brought ours in for black water handle not closing, toilet leaking, water heater not working.. We had an appointment and didn't get it back until 2 months went by! We had paint repair and they kept it 3 months! Got the Rv back, they poked holes in the awining from the ladder, bent th awning tube and their air hose ripped a Vent cap off... We should demand that for everyday it is in the shop for repairs, they add a day to the warranty. Another poster said," try to find an Rv that is not a Thor product! He was right... There should be an anti trust suit filed for monopoly against Thor.. If one company owns it all, there is no competition to make a product better or price completion.p

dfb · 08-17-2016, 04:51 AM

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

Yes! THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIRS IS OBSCENE,! Why do we bring in our Montanas for simple fixes, only to have the dealer do the fix months later?. We brought ours in for black water handle not closing, toilet leaking, water heater not working.. We had an appointment and didn't get it back until 2 months went by! We had paint repair and they kept it 3 months! Got the Rv back, they poked holes in the awining from the ladder, bent th awning tube and their air hose ripped a Vent cap off... We should demand that for everyday it is in the shop for repairs, they add a day to the warranty. Another poster said," try to find an Rv that is not a Thor product! He was right... There should be an anti trust suit filed for monopoly against Thor.. If one company owns it all, there is no competition to make a product better or price completion. This has been proven with the lack of quality in all our rvs....

dfb · 08-17-2016, 04:55 AM

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

Yes! THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIRS IS OBSCENE,! Why do we bring in our Montanas for simple fixes, only to have the dealer do the fix months later?. We brought ours in for black water handle not closing, toilet leaking, water heater not working.. We had an appointment and didn't get it back until 2 months went by! We had paint repair and they kept it 3 months! Got the Rv back, they poked holes in the awining from the ladder, bent th awning tube and their air hose ripped a Vent cap off... We should demand that for everyday it is in the shop for repairs, they add a day to the warranty. Another poster said," try to find an Rv that is not a Thor product! He was right... There should be an anti trust suit filed for monopoly against Thor.. If one company owns it all, there is no competition to make a product better or price completion. This has been proven with the lack of quality in all our rvs.... Just met a couple in the Rv park we are staying in..2014 Montana with the roof disintegrating! Keystone said it was bird damage and won't cover...I thought our roofs were covered for 12 years!

richfaa · 08-17-2016, 05:56 AM

We have always had good service from our Dealers and Keystone. Our last tank replacement was 3 weeks down time. I expect the same on this latest tank replacement. Took it in to the dealer today.

In terms of quality /workmanship IMO it has not changed since our first Montana in 2006.We still have the same quality problems.

for us since we are high end users down is time we can not use our RV that is our biggest disappointment.

jameswbarton · 08-17-2016, 06:04 AM

Great News for Me! In a positive light! I do not get a discount from Keystone nor do I have any family members working there.

I spent another hour today and got to my owner relations contact in Keystone through their only customer service number. He had already reversed several warranty denials and approved all the remaining work. He told me to call the Dealer and order the parts level 2 to expedite them. He told me the separator baffle on the rear AC was my cooling problem and it required the removal and re-installation of the rear AC unit.

So in a week or so I can pickup my HC 375 FL in the condition it should have been on 2 June.

BTW I never heard of Bird damage to a TPO or EDPM roof? Some one in Keystone is gong to new creative heights to get out of paying for shoddy materials? Keystone also admitted my condensation problem from the rear AC is a terrible design and that the inadvertent "screw molding roof damn" making little lakes on my roof is the current manufacture and really should be re-designed. He complimented me on my photography of the issue and said he will submit it to the design change commitee but that will not help me as they will never do a recall. I bought it as is!

waynemoore · 08-17-2016, 06:30 AM

That is great news I bet you are happy to get your isuess fixed. As for the bird damage to the roof. If that bird is that big to damage a roof I would suggest you done mess with it.

**DQDick** · 08-17-2016, 08:30 AM

Depends on what the damage was. Years ago when folks didn't warn about using fruit smelling soaps to wash roofs there were many reports of birds pecking holes and squirrels digging on roofs.

dfb · 08-17-2016, 11:02 AM

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

Yes! THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIRS IS OBSCENE,! Why do we bring in our Montanas for simple fixes, only to have the dealer do the fix months later?. We brought ours in for black water handle not closing, toilet leaking, water heater not working.. We had an appointment and didn't get it back until 2 months went by! We had paint repair and they kept it 3 months! Got the Rv back, they poked holes in the awining from the ladder, bent th awning tube and their air hose ripped a Vent cap off... We should demand that for everyday it is in the shop for repairs, they add a day to the warranty. Another poster said," try to find an Rv that is not a Thor product! He was right... There should be an anti trust suit filed for monopoly against Thor.. If one company owns it all, there is no competition to make a product better or price completion. This has been proven with the lack of quality in all our rvs.... Just met a couple in the Rv park we are staying in..2014 Montana with the roof disintegrating! Keystone said it was bird damage and won't cover...I thought our roofs were covered for 12 years!

1retired06 · 08-17-2016, 11:40 AM

Sounds like you need to do some research and choose a better dealer in the future. What dealer are you referencing so we can avoid?

jameswbarton · 08-17-2016, 12:53 PM

All the selling dealers fault?
If We took a vote from informed owners that have had warranty problems in the last 2-3 years,and their service departments get to vote, it is obvious to anyone that the Dealers are not the problem it is Keystone/Thor. Those Dealers want happy satisfied Loyal Customers just as much as We want quick repairs for warranty issues.

Did "Iretired" do so from Keystone? You seem to need a 12 step program being in denial that Keystone has a warranty/quality problem the last few years. Which dealers are great in your opinion, and fix things out of their own pockets? Where is the great dealer database? Who are higher level Keystone Contact's that can help expedite our issues, how do you get around weeks in the shop with most of that time waiting for keystone approvals, and then for Keystone parts? I can have parts from anywhere in the US in 3 days, why do Keystone dealers have to wait 2-3 weeks for parts.

I did not buy my Keystone Montana as a DIY repair project and I doubt many others did so. If we just put up with the poor quality then there is no pressure on Keystone to fix their manufacturing design issues. I see no reason to pretty up an ugly situation for those that need considerable warranty work. You are not gong to hurt your resale values with honest facts

It took me 3 solid months to get less than a dozen items repaired and I went through all three local Keystone Warranty Repair Dealers to get that accomplished before winter on a RV I bought on 2 June. Those are my facts. I hope not many need or have to go through what I did as I thought General RV who I dealt with for parts for many years also had good service. Now General RV Keystone Warranty Service makes Camping World look good.

BTW is there a way to put your "Bad Dealer" list into a searchable format. I looked for General RV but your multiple pages does not search easily by state or city or dealer names. If you are keeping tabs on dealers good or bad it would be nice to have it easily searchable.

Just My NSH Opinionated Opinion on My 1st Montana HC-375FL not listing the dozen or more SOB's I have owned.

dfb · 08-17-2016, 02:03 PM

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

[quote]Originally posted by dfb

Yes! THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIRS IS OBSCENE,! Why do we bring in our Montanas for simple fixes, only to have the dealer do the fix months later?. We brought ours in for black water handle not closing, toilet leaking, water heater not working.. We had an appointment and didn't get it back until 2 months went by! We had paint repair and they kept it 3 months! Got the Rv back, they poked holes in the awining from the ladder, bent th awning tube and their air hose ripped a Vent cap off... We should demand that for everyday it is in the shop for repairs, they add a day to the warranty. Another poster said," try to find an Rv that is not a Thor product! He was right... There should be an anti trust suit filed for monopoly against Thor.. If one company owns it all, there is no competition to make a product better or price completion. This has been proven with the lack of quality in all our rvs.... Just met a couple in the Rv park we are staying in..2014 Montana with the roof disintegrating! Keystone said it was bird damage and won't cover...I thought our roofs were covered for 12 years!

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