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Old 05-30-2012, 09:23 AM   #1
28Bunkhouse
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Angry Keystone Owners Beware

Just a heads up to any Keystone owners travelling to the Prince George area in British Columbia, Canada looking for warranty service. NR Motors or Northern Recreational will not honour warranties on any coach not purchased from them. I have recently had an axle issue and was told I would have to pay for any repairs and try to get the money from Keystone. Keystone was of little help and suggested I go to other dealers 7-8 hours travelling time away. This is not service!
Just to back up a little, I originally purchased the trailer at another location and then relocated to where I am now in the Prince George area. My original dealer has sold out so I can't even go there which is about a 9 hour drive.
I have made arrangement at an alignment shop to have the trailer inspected at my own cost. I will think very hard again before I purchase another Keystone Product( we do like the trailer) But the service is certainly substandard to say the least.
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Old 05-30-2012, 10:04 AM   #2
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holy flarp! I do not know the canadian laws but in the the us that would be illeagal! a dealer is a dealer. my thought would be to ask them if was looking for a new unit would you like me to purchase it here? or are you telling me that since i did not buy this one from you i should also go someplace ealse?
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Old 05-30-2012, 12:09 PM   #3
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Brian & Barney -
The problem that you are experiencing is not entirely Keystone's fault- but also dealership issue. I have checked into this previously, and I am quite sure of the following:
1) A dealership is not obliged or legally bound to work on your RV if you didn't purchase it from them. The policy of almost every RV dealership is that they will service their customers first and non-customers second. When you think about this, it makes good business sense to do that. As a customer who purchased an RV from "X", I would expect to be looked after before some other guy who bought an RV from "Y".
A good dealer will ensure that his customers are given priority with regard to wait times for servicing and everyone else goes to the back of the line.

2) Dealerships are not under any obligation- legal or otherwise - from the manufacturer - including Keystone - to perform work on any Keystone product that is bought into their service department for repairs - warranty work or not.

3) Dealerships will generally not carry out any warranty work unless it has been pre-approved by Keystone. They want to know that they will be paid up front before proceeding.

4) There is no Canadian law requiring a dealership to provide service on RV's or vehicles that were not purchased from it.

5) Barney - I have been advised by several, large Canadian RV dealerships that these same policies also exist in the United States. So it doesn't appear that these practices are illegal in the US but they well may be. I would think that any American RV dealership would also want to serve their own customers first and you would also hear....."Sorry, if you didn't buy it from us, you'll have to wait while we service our own customers first."

6) Service departments and Keystone do not take kindly to this warranty scenario. Mr.X has taken his RV to Joe'sRV for warranty work. Turns out later that Joe'sRV didn't do a good job so Mr.X takes it to John's RV and wants the warranty work redone. John'sRV checks with Keystone who denies the work saying that it has already been authorized, the work done and we've paid for it. Sorry, we're not paying for it again".

You might try Barney's strategy, which sounds reasonable and makes sense, but you might be surprised at the answer you get - especially if the dealership is a place that does a good business.

So it seems that a dealer really isn't a dealer after all.
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Old 05-30-2012, 12:38 PM   #4
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FESTUS I agree with my customers first the other guys second. maybe the rv industry is this way,but one of the fastest ways to loose your frncise is is to refuse to work on a vehical under warranty. and yes here in the usa you must service a product under warranty. after warranty it is different but i speak from the car side of this when it comes to rv's ihave know knowledge if i am wrong i am sorry. but the dealer i bought my last rv serviced the other one under warranty because the selling dealer could fix there way out of a paper bag with both ends open. and several years latter he got a sale. what would boggel me is this guy moved away 9 hours and the new dealer just sends him away!! hope he's busy around here he wouldn't last long what i read into the post was you did not buy it here goaway not i'll get to it when i can. so if the dealer is that busy yes you will have to wait your turn. but flat out goaway is unacceptable service! ps i have to take the story with agrain of salt because it is onesided also.
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Old 05-30-2012, 01:39 PM   #5
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Beware

Good Discussion guys, I was told flatly that it was the dealers policy not to honour the warranty if it was not purchased there. There was no discussion of waiting my turn, it was we'll work on it, you pay, maybe Keystone will cover. My TT warranty expires in 2 weeks. I have made an appointment to have the axle problem corrected at the same jobber shop that the Dealer uses. It will cost me some money, but I will get satisfation. I will likely never buy another TT from this company, so say what you will, but once burnt,I get even.
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Old 05-30-2012, 02:44 PM   #6
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Brian -

I don't think it would make any difference if you had a Keystone, KZ, Forest River, Heartland, etc. You would probably find the same treatment from the non-selling dealer. The manufacturer is pretty limited in telling the dealer what his business HAS to do, unless it's written in the manufacturer/dealer agreement. Now, if the manufacturer gets enough complaints about a particular dealer, then they may decide to severe the dealer's contract and relationship.

Are there any other Keystone dealers around? I understand that you don't have to go to only the dealer that sells your model, but any dealer that sells any Keystone model. Unless your area is like the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. We have only one RV dealer now that handles all the Keystone models.

I had a similar experience with a former Keystone dealer - McClain's RV. I took the Alpine in for the first Iota ATS recall to McClain's. Well, I tried to take it in, that is. McClain's would only make an appointment some 5 weeks in advance. I thought it a little funny that they seemed to perform the recall work in only 30 minutes as Keystone authorized and estimated an hour labor. And it certainly didn't appear that McClain's had removed/replaced the storage basement wall which the ATS was behind. Well, when I replaced the Iota with a TRC Surge Guard ATS, I knew for certain that McClain's had not performed the recall but probably charged Keystone. The ATS lug screws that were supposed to be tightened to 45 inch-pounds were very easily removed with only a slight wrist movement! Maybe 10 inch-pounds at most? I am happy to say that McClain's doesn't handle Keystone sales and service anymore, but I had no input on that. But consequently, I won't buy anything that McClain's sells ... Not even RV TP!

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Old 05-30-2012, 04:20 PM   #7
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In May 2 years ago, a few weeks after I bought my Cougar 700 miles from home, I had a small water infiltration from the bedroom window. I call the Cougar dealer closest to home to get service and was flatly told to call back in SEPTEMBER and they MIGHT fix it then. I contacted Keystone and all they did was to send me a list of Keystone dealer in the province.

A local dealer gave me an appointment to fix it not realizing that I had bought it somewhere else. When I got there he was quite unhappy about the whole thing and did not want to fix it. I had taken the rig there, so after discussion he agreed to do it. But he told me not to come back for warranty repair.

I don’t know about the other RV manufacturer, but in my book it’s minus 1 for Keystone.
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Old 05-30-2012, 04:31 PM   #8
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On I do not understand how you guys can keep getting mad at keystone because you have a crappy dealer. Maybe the best thing to do is to read some reviews on a dealer before buying from them. OFF
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Old 05-30-2012, 04:59 PM   #9
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Quite simple. When I look at my rig, it says Keystone. I my book, it is their responsibility to make sure that their warranty is honored.

I don’t see a GM dealer refusing warranty repair on a car and getting away with it if GM is aware of it. It should be the same for Keystone..
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Old 05-30-2012, 05:28 PM   #10
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Quiroule -

Since you're north of the Border, you probably have better GM service than we do down here. In years past, I have had both a Buick (a GM product) and a Toyota dealer put me on the back burner for warranty service since I was not "their" customer. But they were very willing to put me at the front of the line if I paid them directly!

Perhaps Keystone was trying to make sure their warranty was honored. But it seems to me, from my own personal experience, RV dealers are the worst when dealing with ANYTHING! If I had my druthers, I would rather deal with the RV manufacturer directly than through a dealer. In my own "book" I can tell you I will never buy an RV product or accessory from two different RV dealers in either Oklahoma and Texas! But I would consider buying another Keystone.

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Old 05-30-2012, 05:54 PM   #11
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I have read this same story many other times in different forums. Different manufacturers. Different dealers. Just insert almost any RV manufacturer/dealer out there. It's not only Keystone.
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Old 05-31-2012, 06:37 AM   #12
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This is simple.The sign over my door says"SERVICE" so when walking into my shop that is what a customer should expect to get period end of discussion. That is what i expect when i got to a shop if not you lose by bizz. forever. and i tell people. so do others just like it was done here. be it leagle or not what appears here is very bad customer "service" and a loss of a future sale. our campers are not cheap and if a dealer is that insensitive well the go away. and jobs are lost( flarp i sound like a politican) sorry but you all get the idea. but keyston is a good product and this dealer well who knows. just leaves a bad taste when this stuff happens.
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Old 06-12-2012, 12:47 PM   #13
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Beware

Update, I took my trailer in to a spring and alignment shop. They found the camber out on one side of one axle and the toe in all over the place from the factory. I paid my $325.00 CAD and am a Happy camper no thanks to The local dealer or Keystone. Just to clarify again the closest dealers to me were a minimum 8 hour drive and the dealer I purchased from has changed hands. As for car dealers, I can take my Dodge to any Dodge dealer in my province and get warranty work.
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Old 06-12-2012, 01:04 PM   #14
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Camber....

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Originally Posted by 28Bunkhouse View Post
Update, I took my trailer in to a spring and alignment shop. They found the camber out on one side of one axle and the toe in all over the place from the factory. I paid my $325.00 CAD and am a Happy camper no thanks to The local dealer or Keystone. Just to clarify again the closest dealers to me were a minimum 8 hour drive and the dealer I purchased from has changed hands. As for car dealers, I can take my Dodge to any Dodge dealer in my province and get warranty work.
We burned a set of tires off a former year old TT, the axles needed to be replaced. That was one heck of an alignment shop you found, they must have had to remove the axle(s) and heated and bent them to adjust camber on a straight axle, not that easy a job.
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Old 06-13-2012, 06:36 PM   #15
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Broken Frame

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Originally Posted by 28Bunkhouse View Post
Just a heads up to any Keystone owners travelling to the Prince George area in British Columbia, Canada looking for warranty service. NR Motors or Northern Recreational will not honour warranties on any coach not purchased from them. I have recently had an axle issue and was told I would have to pay for any repairs and try to get the money from Keystone. Keystone was of little help and suggested I go to other dealers 7-8 hours travelling time away. This is not service!
Just to back up a little, I originally purchased the trailer at another location and then relocated to where I am now in the Prince George area. My original dealer has sold out so I can't even go there which is about a 9 hour drive.
I have made arrangement at an alignment shop to have the trailer inspected at my own cost. I will think very hard again before I purchase another Keystone Product( we do like the trailer) But the service is certainly substandard to say the least.
I have a 2005 sprinter 5th wheel. The frame broke in half at the king pin, Just normal driving. Keystone has called me twice wanting too fix it, but they want me to pay half. I think it is a defective piece of steel, and i don't think i am responsible. Got any suggestions
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Old 06-13-2012, 06:42 PM   #16
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We burned a set of tires off a former year old TT, the axles needed to be replaced. That was one heck of an alignment shop you found, they must have had to remove the axle(s) and heated and bent them to adjust camber on a straight axle, not that easy a job.
My 05 sprinter is wearing the tires out on the inside edge of the front tires on the front axel and the out side edge of the ,tires, on the rear axel. i had to buy a new set of tires for the drivers side. The side that the slid is on. I was told that sometimes ther are messed up from the factory
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Old 06-14-2012, 04:00 AM   #17
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I too have had axle issues, but since mine was out of warranty I went straight to Dexter Axle. I had the rear axle was totally flat. No camber at all. Dexter replaced all running gear as a good faith gesture, since I only had 6k miles on the unit. I had to pay for labor and shipping to get the old axles back to Dexter. If they find a defect they will give me my money back plus 2 new tires. Dexter has a limited 2 year warranty.
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Old 06-14-2012, 09:13 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by Irondog View Post
I have a 2005 sprinter 5th wheel. The frame broke in half at the king pin, Just normal driving. Keystone has called me twice wanting too fix it, but they want me to pay half. I think it is a defective piece of steel, and i don't think i am responsible. Got any suggestions
This worries me a bit as some of the roads to the coast are a little rough. I want to see if I can get a much shorter Pin box to reduce the twist on the front cross member.
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