Warranty Issue, 10 cabinet doors failing!

[SargeW]

It was a hot summer just about everywhere this year, especially in the southwest and southeast. I noted a delamination issue with one of my bedroom wardrobe doors a few months ago. I didn't think too much of it, and tacked it down with a pin nailer. (It didn't stay down).

That has evolved into 10 of my 16 cabinet doors failing in a variety of ways. Almost all on the edges of the cabinet doors, top, bottom, or side, it doesn't matter. On the bathroom medicine cabinet doors, the paper "veneer" is flat peeling off in sheets. I documented and tagged 14 locations on 10 doors with numbers and pics.

I contacted my selling dealer (they are kind of a joke for service) and recommended I contact Keystone to start a warranty claim

Keystone referred me back to another dealer in my area and I went to see them today. I have an appointment in a few weeks to have the trailer inspected and they have to send pics and all off to Keystone, who then sends it to whomever their "door vendor" is. At this point, I want all 16 doors replaced. If the other 6 haven't failed yet, they will.

This is my 8th new RV, and 4th towable. I have never seen delamination like this before. I will include a few pics for reference.

[LHaven]

Havasu City? We can eliminate humidity, right? Bad batch of glue is one possibility, but that isn't going to cause the weird behavior in #2 and 3.

[SargeW]

Yeah, my guess is just bad glue, or a flawed machine process applying the pressure to the edges. Either way, that many doors all failing says that the production screwed something up.

[RV Vacation]

Regardless the reason for the problem, it will be interesting to see how "Keystone" handles the problem both in replacement/repair and time.


Good luck SargeW and please keep the rest of us informed.


Be well safe travels, your friend and mine,

John

[SargeW]

Will do John. I have an appointment at a dealer near me for mid Oct to take it in. We will see how it goes from there.

[SargeW]

I took the rig to a local dealer on 10/17 for inspection of the cabinets and a few other minor issues. I also provided them with a USB stick with 39 pics of the various locations of all of the affected cabinet doors, and a written description of each failed door and the location.

They sent the pics and warranty request to Keystone on 10/19. I picked up 10/20 and brought it home as there was no reason to leave it sit on their lot while waiting for warranty approval and/or parts shipment. Now I wait.......

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by SargeW

... Now I wait.......

I'd urge you to stay "proactive" with Keystone. Give them a couple more days, call them and confirm that they did receive the photos and warranty claim. Then ask them how long before they make a decision. Send Keystone and the new dealer an email restating what you were told, then a day after the time they told you they "should have a decision" then call them back to get an updated status. Every time you talk to someone, send a "email of understanding" summarizing what you understood from the conversation. That way you have a record of every step in the process.

Hopefully you won't need the "source documentation with names and statements" but if you do, it sure beats the "he said/she said" that follows....

Good Luck !!!!!

[SargeW]

Thanks, that is my normal SOP when dealing with most RV manufactures and dealers. "If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen". I have found only meticulous records can be relied on when following any kind of repair or transaction. I will post up what my experiences are with the dealer and Keystone. So far the dealer has been pretty good. Hopefully it continues.

[SargeW]

Finally heard from the dealer today (actually I called and bugged him). They got warranty approval to replace all of the failing doors. No cabinet door pulls are to be included as I have already changed them out and will reuse the pulls I already have.

Actually they agreed to cover 4 other warranty items, except one that had to go to Lippert. My outside patio awning front arm will not lay flat against the RV when in the closed position. It sticks out about 2-3" at the bottom. So now Lippert is argueing with Keystone about who's fault it is, and the responsibility it is to fix it. The drama continues!

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by SargeW

Finally heard from the dealer today (actually I called and bugged him). They got warranty approval to replace all of the failing doors. No cabinet door pulls are to be included as I have already changed them out and will reuse the pulls I already have.

Actually they agreed to cover 4 other warranty items, except one that had to go to Lippert. My outside patio awning front arm will not lay flat against the RV when in the closed position. It sticks out about 2-3" at the bottom. So now Lippert is argueing with Keystone about who's fault it is, and the responsibility it is to fix it. The drama continues!

I think that is actually good news! I'm glad they're taking care of the doors. The awning can be irritating but hopefully it's only cosmetic. I had one trailer the dealer swiped the side of my trailer while they had it in the yard for work and bent one arm of the awning. They had to replace the entire thing and once done the front arm was similar to yours only it stuck out about 1 1/2 - 2". I bugged them about it but didn't want them tearing things apart and "adjusting" things only to find other things broken. Once I got used to it I never thought about it. It worked fine and the 4+ years I had it after they replaced it the awning worked fine. Stay on top of them; you don't want the cure to be worse than the problem you have.

[SargeW]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I think that is actually good news! I'm glad they're taking care of the doors. The awning can be irritating but hopefully it's only cosmetic. I had one trailer the dealer swiped the side of my trailer while they had it in the yard for work and bent one arm of the awning. They had to replace the entire thing and once done the front arm was similar to yours only it stuck out about 1 1/2 - 2". I bugged them about it but didn't want them tearing things apart and "adjusting" things only to find other things broken. Once I got used to it I never thought about it. It worked fine and the 4+ years I had it after they replaced it the awning worked fine. Stay on top of them; you don't want the cure to be worse than the problem you have.

You are exactly right Danny! This kind of falls under the umbrella of "be careful what you ask for, you just may get it"

[RV Vacation]

Originally Posted by SargeW

Finally heard from the dealer today (actually I called and bugged him). They got warranty approval to replace all of the failing doors. No cabinet door pulls are to be included as I have already changed them out and will reuse the pulls I already have.

Actually they agreed to cover 4 other warranty items, except one that had to go to Lippert. My outside patio awning front arm will not lay flat against the RV when in the closed position. It sticks out about 2-3" at the bottom. So now Lippert is arguing with Keystone about who's fault it is, and the responsibility it is to fix it. The drama continues!

Good for you Sarge W. and thank you for the update. I think such information helps others having issues with their RVs.

Anytime I had issues with warranty claims it was the dealership refusing to honor the warranty and we had to go directly to the RV manufacturer.

Your issue with the awning is a perfect example showing how a manufacturer(s) and/or dealership point the finger at each other when it comes to warranty claims.

It might be interesting for you to contact Lippert directly howeverrrrrr, Lippert is said to be closing many of their product facilities. Some of those said to be moving to Indiana from other locations. I would assume, if true, the move will create scheduling problems for a bunch of reasons.

Thanks again for your update and even gooder news.... I did not have to sign back in to post this response. Will miracles never cease? lol