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Old 03-03-2015, 07:03 PM   #21
gearhead
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"Add all of this to the FACT that warranty is a money loser anyway "
Why is that? Tell us more.
My independent parts and repair shop was quite pleased with their reimbursement from Dometic for my refrigerator warranty repair that my selling mega-dealership couldn't fix.
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Old 03-03-2015, 11:03 PM   #22
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"Add all of this to the FACT that warranty is a money loser anyway "
Why is that? Tell us more.
My independent parts and repair shop was quite pleased with their reimbursement from Dometic for my refrigerator warranty repair that my selling mega-dealership couldn't fix.
Domestic is not a manufacture warranty item, thus the differance in price. Same thing with Coleman and other non manufacturer defeats. I beleive what mark1228 is referring to, roof leaks and he is given 4 hr book time to repair a roof that takes him a day and a half. Or a floor squeaks and he is given 2hrs labour to fix it.
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Old 03-04-2015, 05:43 PM   #23
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One would think that these dealers that claim they sell at high discount because their volume grants them better wholesale price from Thor, would swing some of that influence on warranty rates. One would think.
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:50 PM   #24
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I understand the pain of the dealers, but I do have to toss out here that any dealer who sells an expensive extended warranty, that covers bupkis...

And I mean it... if they even OFFER them, and then complains that warranty isn't a profit maker... doesn't get too many tears from me. Keystone warranty may be a money loser but how many people get suckered into the extended warranties at most dealerships?

Frankly that one move right there, lowered my view of my otherwise "good rated" dealer, by orders of magnitude.

Just stop selling them and explain that you don't because they sucketh mightily.

First 5er, so we made the standard mistake, before doing enough research on them, and have one, and so far, with paying the dealer over 10% of the new cost of the unit for roof repairs NOT covered by Keystone ... and therefore also NOT covered by the extended warranty...

The general feeling is that the dealer has reached into my wallet deeply, twice, for what they should have reached into it once for.

I'm fine with it. Live and learn.

In the grand scheme of things a different vehicle extended warranty saved me from over $13K in repairs to an automobile, so I'm still ahead of the extended warranty game.

Karma. I was due for some payback on that one. Ha.

But dealers who sell them, and then smile and say "none of that is covered", knowing the most common repairs are not covered (come on, I know your service department computer system tracks this, I'm slow but not stupid haha), should just knock it off. Really. Nothing good between customer and dealer can ever come of that. It's an almost guaranteed no-win for the customer and win for the dealer in the vast majority of common repair cases, I bet.

Selling the typical RV extended warranty, is just total crap for customer service, and every dealer with a service department tracking system knows it. Private dealers should leave it for other dealers to do to customers and just stop offering them in the finance office.

It's about as customer friendly as selling junk bonds. Haha.

Every time I open up that nice thick book of trailer paperwork and maintenance stuff all pretty and embossed with the dealer's name and address, guess what two things are on the left and the right? Left is a file folder with the receipts for all the stuff not covered, and right is the glossy pretty sales pitch the dealer handed me for the great-deal extended warranty. Guess who I'll associate with no wanting to do business again with by looking in that book every time I put a new receipt for even standard maintenance in it?

Worst marketing ever. "Here's what we didn't do for you."

Just sayin'...
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but that's what it is. There are no facts in your argument. I'm sorry if you feel you got taken on your extended warranty on your RV but I have seen extended warranty save people lots of money. I have also seen folks never use. Lets be honest, extended warranty is insurance. Some people choose to insure their vehicles with higher limits than others for the peace of mind it provides while others don't feel it is worth the premium. Because a dealer offers customer's that choice does not make them bad. In fact I would argue that a dealer that does this honestly and without high pressure is doing their customers a favor by giving them the CHOICE. It is in fact your choice to buy it or not.
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:52 PM   #25
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One would think that these dealers that claim they sell at high discount because their volume grants them better wholesale price from Thor, would swing some of that influence on warranty rates. One would think.
One would think that and believe me, I have sat in many meetings where these things get discussed with top level execs from both Thor and Forest River. The thing you have to remember is that between those two company's they cover over 70% of the RV industry so if you are going to be a dealer you almost have to do business with them or you have nothing to sell.
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:55 PM   #26
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Domestic is not a manufacture warranty item, thus the differance in price. Same thing with Coleman and other non manufacturer defeats. I beleive what mark1228 is referring to, roof leaks and he is given 4 hr book time to repair a roof that takes him a day and a half. Or a floor squeaks and he is given 2hrs labour to fix it.

This is right on. Just today we had a continuing issue with a new unit that we have 13 hours of troubleshooting time on and Keystone wants to pay me for 5. This is a brand new unit that has not left our lot yet. Why should I have to absorb 8 hours labor on a brand new unit? And as I have mentioned, Keystone is one of the best. This is why dealers don't want warranty work on units they didn't sell. At least when this one is done I will have made some money on the sale.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:22 AM   #27
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This is right on. Just today we had a continuing issue with a new unit that we have 13 hours of troubleshooting time on and Keystone wants to pay me for 5. This is a brand new unit that has not left our lot yet. Why should I have to absorb 8 hours labor on a brand new unit? And as I have mentioned, Keystone is one of the best. This is why dealers don't want warranty work on units they didn't sell. At least when this one is done I will have made some money on the sale.
That sounds like my Dometic refrigerator repair, or "no repair" at the huge dealer I bought it from. Your 13 hours is just about what the Houston mega dealer spent on it without fixing it. They had their "best certified" tech on it the last unsuccessful visit. My independent shop that only does repairs and parts ,diagnosed it and had parts on the way in 2 hours.
Maybe you should question the quality of your techs.
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Old 03-05-2015, 08:11 AM   #28
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That sounds like my Dometic refrigerator repair, or "no repair" at the huge dealer I bought it from. Your 13 hours is just about what the Houston mega dealer spent on it without fixing it. They had their "best certified" tech on it the last unsuccessful visit. My independent shop that only does repairs and parts ,diagnosed it and had parts on the way in 2 hours.
Maybe you should question the quality of your techs.
Why would he need to question the quality of his techs? He described an event of trying to find a needle in a hay stack which is much of what electrical issues are. That compares to fixing a fridge? Was it a frayed wire on the fridge...I don't get it!
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Old 03-05-2015, 10:44 AM   #29
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That sounds like my Dometic refrigerator repair, or "no repair" at the huge dealer I bought it from. Your 13 hours is just about what the Houston mega dealer spent on it without fixing it. They had their "best certified" tech on it the last unsuccessful visit. My independent shop that only does repairs and parts ,diagnosed it and had parts on the way in 2 hours.
Maybe you should question the quality of your techs.
Yeah maybe, but doesn't it make you wonder how we are expected to diagnose something fast when the very people that built it have no idea of where to even start? I don't know what happened on your repair so I can't comment on that, but I do know that I personally am pretty strong on electrical and this one had me. The fact remains that I have much more time into a warranty repair than I will get paid for.
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Old 03-14-2015, 02:25 AM   #30
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I honestly do not think Keystone or any other MFR will ever do anything like this. I researched stuff for several years before upgrading to a fifth wheel. All I kept hearing was buy local and the local guy telling me if you buy elsewhere, don't drag this thing back here for warranty. Being a retired Navy guy after nearly 30 years of service, I asked the question, what happens if I move under orders? I thought this was all BS so I called Keystone and was promptly told our independent local dealers have the right to refuse warranty work and we support them. So basically, a scam in my opinion. I would think if it involves movement of the unit back home some common sense would prevail. I really desired to buy local but the reality was we were $14K apart period end of discussion. So a choice has to be made, is it worth $14K to buy local for one year worth of warranty? Heck you can spend the $3K or so and get extended and take anywhere you want and still be ahead as long as your first year goes smooth or simply drag back where you got it...That was my plan all along which fell apart because the selling dealer was a complete moron and I would not trust them to fix anything. My approach was always buy local if it were within $2-3K but when you are in an area where there is only 2-3 Keystone dealers within 100 miles and you settle on specific make, you are limited. Keystone could resolve it easily just like the automotive industry does but the simple fact is I do not believe they care or it would have been resolved.
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Old 03-19-2015, 06:49 PM   #31
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I honestly do not think Keystone or any other MFR will ever do anything like this. I researched stuff for several years before upgrading to a fifth wheel. All I kept hearing was buy local and the local guy telling me if you buy elsewhere, don't drag this thing back here for warranty. Being a retired Navy guy after nearly 30 years of service, I asked the question, what happens if I move under orders? I thought this was all BS so I called Keystone and was promptly told our independent local dealers have the right to refuse warranty work and we support them. So basically, a scam in my opinion. I would think if it involves movement of the unit back home some common sense would prevail. I really desired to buy local but the reality was we were $14K apart period end of discussion. So a choice has to be made, is it worth $14K to buy local for one year worth of warranty? Heck you can spend the $3K or so and get extended and take anywhere you want and still be ahead as long as your first year goes smooth or simply drag back where you got it...That was my plan all along which fell apart because the selling dealer was a complete moron and I would not trust them to fix anything. My approach was always buy local if it were within $2-3K but when you are in an area where there is only 2-3 Keystone dealers within 100 miles and you settle on specific make, you are limited. Keystone could resolve it easily just like the automotive industry does but the simple fact is I do not believe they care or it would have been resolved.
The easy way to resolve it is for the manufacturer to treat the dealer better on the warranty side so it is worth the dealers time to do it. The larger difference between RV and Auto is that car dealers are franchised so there are lengthy legal agreements that cover the entire relationship. The dealer is protected in a franchise. RV dealers are just dealers, not franchise's so Keystone can pull out of my store at any time and the ONLY recourse I have is to sue them. They are owned by Thor who is about 40% of the industry and has very deep pockets so it is dealer suicide to sue them.
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Old 03-20-2015, 03:20 PM   #32
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I would wager that one of these days a young hungry attorney will buy a RV and experience this warranty nightmare and file a class action suit.
I hope he cleans their plow.
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Old 03-20-2015, 03:58 PM   #33
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I would wager that one of these days a young hungry attorney will buy a RV and experience this warranty nightmare and file a class action suit.
I hope he cleans their plow.
Many have tried, none have profited (other than the attorneys)

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Old 03-22-2015, 01:35 PM   #34
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I would wager that one of these days a young hungry attorney will buy a RV and experience this warranty nightmare and file a class action suit.
I hope he cleans their plow.
What would the lawsuit be for?
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Old 03-27-2015, 05:26 PM   #35
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Any dealer who EVER tells me he won't do warranty work on a unit he didn't sell me will NEVER get ANY on my business. (new- parts- etc...) PERIOD....
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Old 03-28-2015, 05:41 AM   #36
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Bill,

I agree with you and I do the same thing (because it makes me feel better about the situation and because I can) BUT........

Unfortunately, that probably won't make much difference to a busy dealership. They usually have a backlog of appointments in the service area and enough business in the parts department that losing one customer won't be an impact on the bottom line. In order for that to be effective, enough people would have to stop shopping or doing any business with that dealer. There's enough "other people" to take your place, that it's likely he won't even miss that you're no longer there.

In today's market, walking out and not returning doesn't have the impact that it once did.

Now, if "enough people did it".................... But that's probably not going to happen......
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:54 AM   #37
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Any dealer who EVER tells me he won't do warranty work on a unit he didn't sell me will NEVER get ANY on my business. (new- parts- etc...) PERIOD....
I am sure they will spend many sleepless night over the loss

I have been in several large dealerships in the past few weeks in my travels. Somehow based on the fact they were packed, they aren't going to miss one little ole customer.

While I don't agree with their policy, it is their's to make.

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Old 04-05-2015, 04:18 PM   #38
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Any dealer who EVER tells me he won't do warranty work on a unit he didn't sell me will NEVER get ANY on my business. (new- parts- etc...) PERIOD....
I understand your feelings but as a dealer that has thought about this for 15 years I can tell you that I still won't do your warranty work if you didn't buy it from me. We lose so much on warranty work that you would have to spend lots of $ in parts for me to even break even again. You need to direct your anger to the manufacturer's, not the dealers. If a dealer made $ on warranty, do you think they would say no?
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