Here we go/ venting

[socalhd]

My rig had been at the Dealer for 2 weeks with Warranty repairs mostly identified at time of purchase and delivery in January. They claimed the parts were on order at that time and they called us to set up this service appointment because they received parts. Now here we are. I have not heard 1 word from them and when we call we either get Voicemail or when we do get someone on the phone. It is we will check and get back to you and then no return phone calls.
I was a Service Advisor for a Harley Dealer. This is not the way to treat Customers.
We need LawMakers to establish a Law regarding these delayed returns.
Something as simple as a Law Stating; If a Dealer conducting Warranty repairs does not complete the repairs or return the vehicle to the owner within 15 days of the date owner dropped off vehicle, said repair facility will be responsible for the Customers monthly Loan Payment for that month and any subsequent months the Repair Facility retains the vehicle.

[glenalt]

I agree, I hate it when that happens. A personal visit might be in order. Good luck

It looks like you have a nice bike. I ride a 2010 Limited and love ride.

Glen

[GaryWT]

It is the dealer and not Keystone. A good dealer would keep in contact with you, unfortunately they all don't. The last time I had work done, they ordered the parts based on pictures and when the parts were in, I brought the trailer in at the appointment time and stayed there waiting for it. They had it all set in a lout 4 hours. Hopefully once the snow melts I will not have any issues this year. Good luck.

[chuckster57]

While I agree your dealer should be a little a bit more attentive to you, I can tell you that even though we have submitted warranty claims including pictures, description, and VIN, the wrong parts have been sent.

Not saying this is the case here, but maybe a personal visit is in order. Be patient and calm when you talk to them but maintain a firm stance.

As far a "law" requiring a 15 day repair or pay the payment? That's not fair to those dealerships that ardently attempt to get parts and make the repair in a timely fashion. And there is another aide to that coin:

Units not picked up within 2 days of repair are subject to storage fees. Do we charge it... haven't seen it yet, and we had a full timers fifth wheel for 2 months waiting for parts, and when we finished it he was "out of town on business" for an additional 3 weeks.

Okay rant off..I am truly sorry your having issues, but at least you didn't come up here and buy only to find your local dealer wouldn't do any warranty work on it.

[socalhd]

Aargh now even more angry. After 2 days of calling and my rig being there 2 weeks, the Service Advisor called back and said they just got a tech on it today and just today they discovered the parts they ordered in January are lost and they have to order those items again. Service Advisor said there was a delay getting it to the tech because I requested a certain Tech. No what I said was a certain Tech has all the details and got the parts on order. So they did nothing with my Rig until we started calling. Service advisor said well you can pick it up and reschedule when we have parts. Hey DipS--t that's what we did do. There were warnings about this crap treatment all over the Internet but somehow I thought my dealer would be different. Wrong.
I am spitting Bullets right now.
New Owners of RVs take heed. If there are repairs discovered and needed at time of delivery of you new Coach. Do Not Take Delivery until fixed

[sourdough]

I have found that RV repairs ARE frustrating.....and I don't think there is any other way it is done. That said, how long has it been in the shop after they said they had the parts? Did they encounter other issues?

I think a visit to the shop is in order. When I first bought this last trailer it was from a dealership that had just been bought out by CW. The service manager was new, the GM was new etc. I do not usually work with a service advisor. I was going thru the same thing you are. I got the GM/exowner's phone number, called him and told him I was coming to see him and the service manager and to meet me. When I got there I met him, told him my issues then told him I wanted a sit down with him and the service manager. We did. The service manager handles me personally on all my issues now. He calls and emails status. He gets lots of extra things done for me; simply because I don't put up with crap and they needed some guidance....which I happily provided:)

All that to say if you have a dealership that is not responsive and uses voicemail/unreturned calls to dodge you and refuses to provide updates I don't think you can continue to do those things and expect things to get better. I would just drive in, walk into the office and get things going.

***Note - this was posted prior to the OPs last post.

After reading the last post you do have a dealership issue. If they aren't competent enough to order parts and keep thim for the proper unit then I don't know what to say. I would just add that to the other observations you had and make a bee line for the GM/owner's office.

[socalhd]

While I agree your dealer should be a little a bit more attentive to you, I can tell you that even though we have submitted warranty claims including pictures, description, and VIN, the wrong parts have been sent.

Not saying this is the case here, but maybe a personal visit is in order. Be patient and calm when you talk to them but maintain a firm stance.

As far a "law" requiring a 15 day repair or pay the payment? That's not fair to those dealerships that ardently attempt to get parts and make the repair in a timely fashion. And there is another aide to that coin:

Units not picked up within 2 days of repair are subject to storage fees. Do we charge it... haven't seen it yet, and we had a full timers fifth wheel for 2 months waiting for parts, and when we finished it he was "out of town on business" for an additional 3 weeks.

Okay rant off..I am truly sorry your having issues, but at least you didn't come up here and buy only to find your local dealer wouldn't do any warranty work on it.

I didn't make the appointment until they called me and said the parts were in. And Chuckster I have walked the mile in the shoes of a Service Advisor, I know the frustrations of same. We made this appointment for service 2 weeks ahead as well

[chuckster57]

I saw your post that said they "lost" the parts....:banghead:

I feel your pain and frustration. Keep on them, and make them understand that THEY dropped the ball. You may not get anything out of it but the satisfaction of venting. I have witnessed frustrated customers and I as an RV owner know how they feel. It's hard as a tech (employee) to remain quiet, but there isn't anything I can do about it at the moment.

[therink]

Is this by any chance a Camping World location? It sounds like it.

[sourdough]

therink - I think I have to question your blanket statement. I have only had a Keystone product for a year and bought from CW. I have had multiple issues and I can say hands down, from TX to FL, CW has gone to the mat for me. Don't know your issues but I can attest that they have gone above and beyond for me.

[therink]

therink - I think I have to question your blanket statement. I have only had a Keystone product for a year and bought from CW. I have had multiple issues and I can say hands down, from TX to FL, CW has gone to the mat for me. Don't know your issues but I can attest that they have gone above and beyond for me.

It just reminds me of a CW experience I had twice and I constantly read about on rv forums. That's all.

[JRTJH]

This seems to be shifting from a "I have issues with my dealer's service department" to a "CW is the cause" thread. Please, gentlemen, back to the topic which is NOT Camping World.

[therink]

Sorry about that. I'll be good.

[mark1228]

Sorry for your trouble and as the GM/owner of an RV dealership, I agree with other posts about contacting the GM or owner. Sometimes we don't know these things are happening and once made aware of it can jump in and correct it. Hopefully that will be your experience. Before you blow a gasket, have a conversation with someone in charge and see if it gets you taken care of.

[socalhd]

This particular Dealer is about 40 miles away from me and closed Saturday and Sunday so very difficult for me to walk in and get a face to face. Rather than blasting them right away I sent a message thru Yelp without Posting it publicly. I did this because I wasn't getting any where by phone and there was no email contact. The Yelp message got me an almost immediate response from the Service Manager. He was apologetic and did not make any excuses, nor did he try to deny his Service Advisor dropped the ball and let the rig sit for 2 weeks. Some of the issues have now been fixed but they need to find out what happened to the original warranty claim and parts that were ordered. He has his best tech on it and will stay on it. He gave me his phone number and email and assured me he will do a better job of keeping me informed. Hopefully we will reach a timely resolution.
At this point Yes, it is an in house Dealer problem. Not Keystone, yet
If they would have called me last week and said the tech has done what he can to this point and we are now waiting on parts, which could take up to 2 more weeks, I would have accepted that.
Anyway, vent over for now

[Ron]

Dealers are so overwhelmed with warranty work because these things we spend big bucks for are built like junk, also the junk tires they put on them blowout and tear up the side of these junk trailers adding more repairs for the dealer. The last time I scheduled repairs on our junk trailer, I told the dealer that I would bring it in the day before they were going to start the repairs cause I did not want it sitting on there lot days on end before they would work on it, hah still did no good, still was a delay in starting the repairs and repairs not well done at all. I hear your pain, been there done that so many times and unfortunately it will never end until they start building a better quality trailer with quality parts, sure we may have to spend a little more but in my opinion it would be well worth it and piece of mind when towing down the road...

[socalhd]

It looks like you have a nice bike. I ride a 2010 Limited and love ride.

Glen

Thank you. Yes I bought a new CVO this year and love it.

[KanTC]

socalhd,

Glad to hear that you received a response from the dealership... sounds as though they've acknowledged the situation could have -or- should have been handled differently.
Give them the opportunity to keep their word ;) and please report the results when you get the trailer back.

Terri, the Chevy co-pilot :)

[sourdough]

It looks like escalation within the dealership may get you fixed...I hope so. I will give you an example of why I deal with the service manager or GM only. I took my trailer in for warranty work which I had discussed with the service manager. He was gone so his service advisor went out with me and did the walk around, filled out the work order etc. He asked me if it was winterized and I said yes. He asked if I had put anti freeze in the lines and I said no - I blew it out. He replied that lots of folks had frozen lines when they only blew it out. I said it was fine - I knew how to blow it out and when I finished there wouldn't be more than a few drops in the lines. He again asked about adding anti freeze and I emphatically told him no. When the service manager called for me to pick it up he advised that I had a bill for winterization and I promptly got POd. I explained what had happened, told him to talk face to face with the advisor and tell him I was coming in so we could all talk about it. When I arrived the service manager sheepishly told me it had been a "mistake" and I wouldn't be charged...plus, I had a $50 credit for my next visit.

Sorry for the long post but just wanted to illustrate, from my experience, why I don't deal with a service advisor - unless I have to.

[Rex1vt]

We need LawMakers to establish a Law regarding these delayed returns.
Something as simple as a Law Stating; If a Dealer conducting Warranty repairs does not complete the repairs or return the vehicle to the owner within 15 days of the date owner dropped off vehicle, said repair facility will be responsible for the Customers monthly Loan Payment for that month and any subsequent months the Repair Facility retains the vehicle.[/QUOTE]

I would rather have a provision for extended warranty for down time beyond my control,assuming some reasonable time allowance (fill in the blank) for inevitable issues that may arise.I asked Keystone for a warranty extension for issues I have experienced and of course got no answer.

[denverpilot]

Dealers are so overwhelmed with warranty work because these things we spend big bucks for are built like junk...


This. When you sell junk you have to service junk. I don't think the industry has really figured that out yet. They're right in the middle of learning that pain right now. Dealers are getting slowly and continuously hurt and their profits eaten and are slowly losing customers to the unintended bad faith stuff that happens when the dealer is pitted against the manufacturer.

Example: Keystone won't be my first choice to replace my trailer someday or upgrade. Why? The roof issue I just had. Warranty didn't cover it, trailer less than a year old, roof peeled back from the front attachment points. Hey I'm a big boy and I wrote the check and fixed it... But am I going to put Keystone on the top of my "they make me happy" list of things in life? Not a chance.

Dealers are in a tough spot. Not too many non-junk brands out there anymore...

I'm a relative latecomer to the new RV game, after all the bankruptcies and mergers, but I know what the build quality of my grandparent's and parent's units were.

The build quality of mine isn't even close. It looks nicer inside and is a lot lighter than theirs, so I can tow something bigger than they could, but no way mine lasts as long as the previous units in the family.

(Grandparents had an Aspen TT and wife's parents had a pre-cheap Coleman. Both lasted decades. Multiple. With minimal work on them. Both were overbuilt and heavy as heck for what they were. In fact the poor Coleman rolled down the road and was useable from 1983 or 4 until two or three years ago. It literally self-destructed on its last trip
and was towed to the dump by my brother in law. Not kidding. We took our honeymoon in it and this year is our 15th anniversary. It was over a decade old when we did that trip. Toward the end, the Coleman needed $100 worth of work or parts annually. Maybe $150.)

I just dropped a check worth 10% of the entire cost of my 5er to fix the roof. It wasn't $150. And it's a year old. It does that every year? I'm out.

Worse than a boat. Or an airplane. And I have an airplane. I avoid owning boats like the plague.

There weren't any cheesy stories about "Dicor cracks" destroying the whole leading edge of the roof on the Aspen or the Coleman, but they had a real darn roof made out of aluminum that wrapped around and no one expected some fancy caulk to maintain the integrity of the entire roof system. The Aspen never leaked and the Coleman leaked after hail punched 50 or more holes in the aluminum one summer, but the sealant we put in the holes lasted years and years before we had to do it again.

Check the Dicor garbage quarterly?! YGBKM.

I will now, of course, but my past experiences with TTs didn't prepare me properly for this significantly lower quality junk.

II'll stay on top of it (pun intended) now that I know what a dealer has to charge now to do a repair.

Junk is junk. And this stuff really is, junk. Junk can be maintained, it just takes more work.

[mazboy123]

typical deal with many dealers.

as for your idea about a law dealing with this, there is a law called, 'take it to another center.' that is about all you can do other than complain to other people about poor service.

[mark1228]

This. When you sell junk you have to service junk. I don't think the industry has really figured that out yet. They're right in the middle of learning that pain right now. Dealers are getting slowly and continuously hurt and their profits eaten and are slowly losing customers to the unintended bad faith stuff that happens when the dealer is pitted against the manufacturer.

Example: Keystone won't be my first choice to replace my trailer someday or upgrade. Why? The roof issue I just had. Warranty didn't cover it, trailer less than a year old, roof peeled back from the front attachment points. Hey I'm a big boy and I wrote the check and fixed it... But am I going to put Keystone on the top of my "they make me happy" list of things in life? Not a chance.

Dealers are in a tough spot. Not too many non-junk brands out there anymore...

I'm a relative latecomer to the new RV game, after all the bankruptcies and mergers, but I know what the build quality of my grandparent's and parent's units were.

The build quality of mine isn't even close. It looks nicer inside and is a lot lighter than theirs, so I can tow something bigger than they could, but no way mine lasts as long as the previous units in the family.

(Grandparents had an Aspen TT and wife's parents had a pre-cheap Coleman. Both lasted decades. Multiple. With minimal work on them. Both were overbuilt and heavy as heck for what they were. In fact the poor Coleman rolled down the road and was useable from 1983 or 4 until two or three years ago. It literally self-destructed on its last trip
and was towed to the dump by my brother in law. Not kidding. We took our honeymoon in it and this year is our 15th anniversary. It was over a decade old when we did that trip. Toward the end, the Coleman needed $100 worth of work or parts annually. Maybe $150.)

I just dropped a check worth 10% of the entire cost of my 5er to fix the roof. It wasn't $150. And it's a year old. It does that every year? I'm out.

Worse than a boat. Or an airplane. And I have an airplane. I avoid owning boats like the plague.

There weren't any cheesy stories about "Dicor cracks" destroying the whole leading edge of the roof on the Aspen or the Coleman, but they had a real darn roof made out of aluminum that wrapped around and no one expected some fancy caulk to maintain the integrity of the entire roof system. The Aspen never leaked and the Coleman leaked after hail punched 50 or more holes in the aluminum one summer, but the sealant we put in the holes lasted years and years before we had to do it again.

Check the Dicor garbage quarterly?! YGBFKM.

I will now, of course, but my past experiences with TTs didn't prepare me properly for this significantly lower quality junk.

II'll stay on top of it (pun intended) now that I know what a dealer has to charge now to do a repair.

Junk is junk. And this stuff really is, junk. Junk can be maintained, it just takes more work.

If your unit was under a year old, this should have been a warranty repair unless there was a sign of impact/damage.

I have to repectfully disagree with your assesment of quality on the older units. I sell between 350-400 new and pre-owned RV's every year and quite honestly, it is rare that we get any brand of older (1970's-1980's) that has not leaked.

[gearhead]

I've got a 2 year old boat I ain't done anything to, a Grand Cherokee that has been trouble free, a F350 that has only needed a free reprogaming, a Corvette that has had one minor recall and a new Montana that I couldn't use for 5 months because of an incompetent dealer. I've spent upwards of $2,000 out of my pocket to make it useable. It's getting a wet bolt kit now so I won't be stuck in the middle of nowhere with broke down springs.
I'm giving it 5 years max. Sell for a loss, lick my wounds, stay in a Hilton.
You can bet few congress people own RV's or it would be very different.

[wahoonc]

This. When you sell junk you have to service junk. I don't think the industry has really figured that out yet. They're right in the middle of learning that pain right now. Dealers are getting slowly and continuously hurt and their profits eaten and are slowly losing customers to the unintended bad faith stuff that happens when the dealer is pitted against the manufacturer.

Example: Keystone won't be my first choice to replace my trailer someday or upgrade. Why? The roof issue I just had. Warranty didn't cover it, trailer less than a year old, roof peeled back from the front attachment points. Hey I'm a big boy and I wrote the check and fixed it... But am I going to put Keystone on the top of my "they make me happy" list of things in life? Not a chance.

Dealers are in a tough spot. Not too many non-junk brands out there anymore...

I'm a relative latecomer to the new RV game, after all the bankruptcies and mergers, but I know what the build quality of my grandparent's and parent's units were.

The build quality of mine isn't even close. It looks nicer inside and is a lot lighter than theirs, so I can tow something bigger than they could, but no way mine lasts as long as the previous units in the family.

(Grandparents had an Aspen TT and wife's parents had a pre-cheap Coleman. Both lasted decades. Multiple. With minimal work on them. Both were overbuilt and heavy as heck for what they were. In fact the poor Coleman rolled down the road and was useable from 1983 or 4 until two or three years ago. It literally self-destructed on its last trip
and was towed to the dump by my brother in law. Not kidding. We took our honeymoon in it and this year is our 15th anniversary. It was over a decade old when we did that trip. Toward the end, the Coleman needed $100 worth of work or parts annually. Maybe $150.)

I just dropped a check worth 10% of the entire cost of my 5er to fix the roof. It wasn't $150. And it's a year old. It does that every year? I'm out.

Worse than a boat. Or an airplane. And I have an airplane. I avoid owning boats like the plague.

There weren't any cheesy stories about "Dicor cracks" destroying the whole leading edge of the roof on the Aspen or the Coleman, but they had a real darn roof made out of aluminum that wrapped around and no one expected some fancy caulk to maintain the integrity of the entire roof system. The Aspen never leaked and the Coleman leaked after hail punched 50 or more holes in the aluminum one summer, but the sealant we put in the holes lasted years and years before we had to do it again.

Check the Dicor garbage quarterly?! YGBKM.

I will now, of course, but my past experiences with TTs didn't prepare me properly for this significantly lower quality junk.

II'll stay on top of it (pun intended) now that I know what a dealer has to charge now to do a repair.

Junk is junk. And this stuff really is, junk. Junk can be maintained, it just takes more work.

Nailed it!:applause:

I have been messing around with RV's for close to 40 years. Rebuilt more than a few. Funny thing is even the so called "quality" units from years ago had issues, but you fixed them and moved on. There are a few units today that are somewhat better built than others, good luck on finding them. People today want features and shop price... they get what they want... Quality Price Features pick two.:banghead:

I was just thinking about my first TT... it was a 1970's Pathfinder. Used it for deer camp and beach camping. It had its issues, but it was dead simple and easy to fix. They were notorious for having the rear wall rot out, but you could peel the siding back and replace the rotten framing add some sealant and be good to go for another 15 years.

I have had a couple of vintage Airstreams too... my 1975 was built by a bunch of stoners, whole series of screwups, but at least it didn't leak... much.:p

Aaron:cool:

[Festus2]

I am wondering what rehashing existing or past issues others may have had with their dealer and/or Keystone does to provide any constructive suggestions for the problems outlined by socalhd, the OP. It seems that he is now, after a very lengthy and frustrating wait, on his way to having his problems finally resolved by the dealership.

I'm not sure what, if anything, is being accomplished by these series of posts in which members describe their own problems - some of which have appeared on the forum earlier. We have heard about unresponsive, incompetent and uncaring dealerships. We've heard about the shoddy workmanship from Keystone. Maybe it's time for the negativity and "ranting" to stop and wait for socalhd, the OP, to get back to us with a concluding report and hopefully a final and positive resolution to his issues.

[Barbell]

We did not buy from Camping World but have used them from South Carolina to Arizona with mostly good results. The one that was not great was in a small town in Northern AZ in the winter when they were snowed in part of the time. They had a lot of employee turnover but did manage to get our warranty work done without a lot of hassle. The others were great.

[Stew]

Hook it up to your truck and drag it out in front of the dealership with a sign that says "ask me how I'm getting treated". See if that gets any movement...

[Festus2]

He was apologetic and did not make any excuses, nor did he try to deny his Service Advisor dropped the ball and let the rig sit for 2 weeks. Some of the issues have now been fixed but they need to find out what happened to the original warranty claim and parts that were ordered. He has his best tech on it and will stay on it. He gave me his phone number and email and assured me he will do a better job of keeping me informed. Hopefully we will reach a timely resolution.


Stew -

What could possibly be gained by him driving his rig up to the dealership with a sign that says "Ask me how I am getting treated"? At this point, it seems that the dealership is now actively involved and committed to getting socalhd's issues "fixed" as well as trying to make amends for the mistakes they made. It looks like there has been some "movement" that doesn't involve the OP having to haul his RV down to the dealership and park it there with some sarcastic sign on it.
Let's just wait for socalhd to fill us in on how this all ends rather than offer suggestions that would do nothing more than to sour the relationship that has finally been made between socalhd and the dealer.

[Flicdog]

Socalhd..is the dealer located in San Marcos by any chance?..I just dropped mine off for some warranity work this morning

[socalhd]

Socalhd..is the dealer located in San Marcos by any chance?..I just dropped mine off for some warranity work this morning
I am holding off identifying the Dealership Publicly.
And to all thanks for the support. Camping World is not involved other than being across from this Dealer.

[mazboy123]

if you had a problem that was about a year old montana would have responded to it. i've had numerous problems over the years and montana, with sometimes numerous phone calls, has responded positively to my issues.

sorry about your issue but the quality of rvs is all the same to me.

[socalhd]

Hey all, just to be clear. My thread here was not intended to blast Keystone or their product. I purchased the rig with eyes wide open knowing these are houses on wheels and things move. Camping World is in no way involved with this issue and at this point it appears the problem has narrowed to a Single Employee within this Dealership.
I've already received 2 follow up emails from the Manager.

[socalhd]

So moving Forward, the Manager has been keeping me updated. Unfortunately it all has to start over and a new warranty claim has been sent to Keystone to be reviewed. I have no idea how long this will take.

[therink]

I'm glad to hear you are getting it worked out. I can relate to tthe frustration you must have been experiencing.

[Festus2]

So moving Forward, the Manager has been keeping me updated. Unfortunately it all has to start over and a new warranty claim has been sent to Keystone to be reviewed. I have no idea how long this will take.

On this note the thread will be closed until socalhd requests the Moderators re-open it so that he can submit a final report on the resolution of the issues he has had with his RV. We hope that the claim is dealt with in a timely manner and resolves the problems he has had to his satisfaction.
Thank you for your participation.
The Moderators

[Festus2]

Moderator's Note -
The OP has requested that the thread be reopened so that he can post an update on the issues that he reported on earlier in the thread.

The thread will be reopened to allow socalhd to submit a concluding update.

[gtsum2]

Looking for a good outcome for you SoCal

[socalhd]

After 6 weeks in their shop I got her back yesterday. The rig was completely detailed including a Cleaned roof. The Service Manager was outstanding thru the process once I was able to reach him. Most of the work has been completed but they identified some other issues Mostly cosmetic they want to fix but waiting on those parts. They sent a warranty claim in on the front door warped but that had to go thru Lippert. They got that approval yesterday but unkown when those parts will arrive.
Realizing this rig has been sitting for awhile the Service Manager had the shop perform an axle service at no cost to me.
We are out in the desert with it right now on another shake down run. Happy to have it back.
1 other note. The Manager said they will come and pick up the rig. When parts arrive and deliver it when the work is done.
All is good.

[Festus2]

socalhd -
Glad to hear that your issues were solved and that your dealer came through for you.
A happy ending for all and an appropriate way to "close the curtain" on this thread.