We were afraid this would happen.

[The Weekenders]

Last Friday we brought our 2008 3585SA to our dealer in Bismarck for some minor warranty work. One issue was our kitchen countertop. After the cold temps of -35 below we noticed towards the end of the countertop some pieces looked like they were "seamed" together. In fact you can see and feel the "seams" sticking up. A line across the middle and one from the end about six inches meeting each other. The service dept rep. agreed it looked bad and sent pics to Keystone. They replied that they would not cover it. DW and I went through the roof. She told the service rep to contact Keystone again which they did. Keystone says they will have a meeting next week to review the issue again. We paid some big bucks for this unit and expect Keystone to stand behind it. At this point I am confident Keystone will do the right thing. If Plan A fails, Plan B will be to contact Keystone directly. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Rick

[bsmeaton]

Are your's the Corian tops?

[The Weekenders]

I believe thats what it is.[/img]
It is like the one in this pic I found of another one. It is the part where the countertop kind of overhangs at the end.

[richfaa]

You have a 1 year bumper to bumper warranty. Do not understand why Keystone would not cover it???? I would call keysone direct....now.

[The Weekenders]

Thanks Rich. We should have our answer on Monday. If it is not satisfactory, I will call Keystone direct.

[exav8tr]

IF, and when, you contact Keystone, it might be advisable to let them know that you belong to the MOC. This seems to get a little more atention although I wouldn't guarantee anything with the state of the economy and the RV industry. Good luck and try not to lose your cool!!!

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I bet Keystone comes through for you. If you're told again that Keystone won't cover the damage, the advicefrom richfaa and exav8tr to contact Keystone directly is exactly what you need to do. You may discover that your dealer is speaking for Keystone, and never contacted Keystone about the problem in the first place. I'd also mention to the dealer and Keystone that you are a member of MOC, because past experience has proven to me that the collective ears, eyes, and voices of MOC can and do make a difference when getting problems solved.

By the way, we have the 3585SA model and love it!

Carolyn

[Glenn and Lorraine]

The above advice is dead on the money. I can only add that while speaking to the folks at Keystone remain cool, calm and collected. No matter how bad things seem to be going DO NOT let yourself lose your cool. You'll get many more bees with honey than you will with salt.

And, Carolyn's statement "You may discover that your dealer is speaking for Keystone, and never contacted Keystone about the problem in the first place." is not far from the truth. Too many times Keystone has said that the customers call was the first time they heard about the problem.

[Lambchop]

Rick,

The people at Keystone are very helpful. Diffidently call then as was previously stated by other members.
Your dealer is probably giving you lip service. A common practice nowadays. It's not a easy job to replace the counter top & that's why they are trying to talk you out of it.
The dealer gets a certain fee from keystone for labor & they maybe had a bad experience in doing one in the past.

Hope everything turns out OK for you. Keep us posted.

Roy

[The Weekenders]

quote:Originally posted by Lambchop

Rick,

The people at Keystone are very helpful. Diffidently call then as was previously stated by other members.
Your dealer is probably giving you lip service. A common practice nowadays. It's not a easy job to replace the counter top & that's why they are trying to talk you out of it.
The dealer gets a certain fee from keystone for labor & they maybe had a bad experience in doing one in the past.

Hope everything turns out OK for you. Keep us posted.

Roy

Roy and everyone else, thanks for all the great advice. I guess I am from the old school where you expect to get what you paid for and with that said I assumed the dealer would do the right thing. Unfortunately some dealers will do the lip service thing but I will keep on top of them. It is great to be part of such a great group of folks here!

[DHenry]

When you do call Keystone, have your VIN number ready to give to them. Keystone is truly a great company.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Oh, yes--that VIN number is crucial. Luckily, I had that and all the other sales info at hand when I made my first call to Keystone. Patience and politeness are virtues, too. I can't speak highly enough of Keystone's customer service help in my situation. Once Keystone was involved, everything else fell (is falling) into place.

Good luck--keep us posted.

Carolyn

[bsmeaton]

From your picture I would say you have the fiberglass, not the Corian tops. If the sink is one piece with the counter it's fiberglass, and it actually looks like fiberglass from underneath.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

Montana should take care of the issue no matter what kind of top it is.

[DarMar]

Yep, that's the fiberglass. With the talk of cold weather and counter tops I am kind of nervous about ours, already replaced once under warranty a year ago. Our dealer sent us an email warning everyone to inspect their units because of the unusually high number of counter tops, vinyl flooring and shower surrounds that are cracking from our extreme temperature variations. Say whaaaat, unbelievable!!! Went to the storage shed today to check our unit and all seems fine for now.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

Montana could solve this by clearly stating to their material vendors what temperature extremes the purchased components have to meet. Then clearly state in the Montana specifications/owners manual what temperatures they guarantee/warranter their units for. There is a limit to the extremes but apparently it hasn't been published. If and when enough warranty claims hit the factory, things will change. But what do owners do after the unit is out of warranty and yet it was defective to begin with? Extended warranty companies may cover this but look what will happen to extended warranty insurance rates if this kind of stuff continues. It has to be done right at the factory to begin with to get the lowest cost, highest quality product. Not at purchase but the lowest overall cost during ownership is what is important. I'm sure the data is available but...

[msieger]

Keystone replaced my countertop last year no questions asked. Keep cool and I know they will take care of it.

Mike

[DarMar]

Rick, as said "keep cool" as I too believe Keystone will look after you with no questions asked as they certainly did with us last year. But my concern is for the future when these units are off warranty but perhaps all defects may appear during warranty and get taken care of as I don't recall hearing of anyone yet that has had to pay for a replacement. We will see.

[bsmeaton]

Ours was replaced last January because of spider cracking (fiberglass top). I asked what kind you had because I always figured the Corian was the cure if mine ever cracks again out of warranty.

My Dealer told me it was covered just from the phone call, no questions asked. We had to have the sink covers replaced too, because the color was different. He ordered it and we scheduled repair a month later.

[iowaone]

I am still waiting to here from my dealer if the corian countertop will be repaired or replaced after mine developed a big Chip at the corner during the extreme cold. Keystone is sending the corian rep out to inspect/repair it