As many of you know, we had a "mishap" with our fifthwheel back on May 15 in Texas.  The dealer in Texas did temp repairs thus allowing us to live in it as we are fulltimers.   Since we had planned on spending three weeks in this area during June, we brought it back to NJ to be repaired at the dealer that we purchased it from.

We took it to the dealer on May 24, they kept it for 5 days to determine what needed to be ordered from Keystone.  
 
3.5 weeks AFTER we took it to the dealer, they called and wanted to know if we wanted them to order the parts.  On May 28 we had given them our $500. deductible and we received the check from the insurance company the same day they called.  Why would they ever think we wanted them to wait to be told to proceed with repairs?

Len has called the dealer numerous times and been given various reasons why no order has gone out yet.  He called today - they STILL say they are working on the order.  It is now 38 days since we took the rig to them and they are STILL working on the order?    UNBELIEVEABLE! 

This being our first summer as traveling fulltimers, we had lots planned.   But here we sit in my daughters driveway at the mercy of a dealer that is obviously not concerned about future sales.

Has anyone from RV-Dreams had dealings with Scott Motorcoach in Lakewood, NJ and, if so, is this their typcial way of handling customers?

Curious minds want to know.

Unfortunately let this be a lesson for you, that dealer would have gotten a call from me each and every day for the first week, after that i would have moved in another direction. i also would have backed up each call with an Email just to create a trail and a timeline. It is unfortunate that business must be done this way, but in this climate of WHO GIVES A ####, you have to be proactive, Good luck,Gene

-- Edited by GENECOP on Thursday 1st of July 2010 11:08:23 AM

I would ask for my 500 back and find another Montana Dealer with a better reputation. I would also file a complaint with the Manufacturer along with the BBB. Further, I would write a letter to the owner of the dealership and let them know what I thought about their business practices and that it would be relayed all over the internet. That's just me though.

Phyllis, I agree that it is time to get aggressive with this place and go to the top if necessary. I am rather impatient when I need something done and can be VERY persistant( former deliquent account collector for utility company).I would make this place either **** or get off the pot! As suggested call Keystone,contact BBB,demand to talk to owner of dealership.If they are this inefficient I'm not sure you want them doing the work anyway so look for alternative as you are already being inconvienced anyway.Although I'm not a fan of Good Sam's their action line get's results as does the one for Trailer Life Magazine.Good Luck


-- Edited by Racerguy on Thursday 1st of July 2010 12:59:39 PM

Thanks for the suggestions. Len last talked to Keystone late last week. They agreed this is unacceptable. We thought they had finally placed the order last Friday when the dealer called and asked me to send a picture of what our back cap (wall) looks like as the manufacturered needed it. I emailed it immediately. It seems strange to me that the Keystone would need a picture. Don't they know what a back cap of a 2009 model would look like? I asked this on the Montana owners forum. I was told this is not unusual as they do change some things midyear. However, I would think they could tell by the VIN number. Len tried to call Keystone yesterday. Was put on hold for length of time. One of us will call again and if we ever get through to customer service, will get a direct extension. We had thought about asking for our $500. back and going elsewhere. There is a Montana dealer over in DE and another not too far away in PA. We will know better what to do once we get through to customer service. Thanks

We have been through similar with a dealer in Houston. As I was reading your post I was wondering if it was the same dealer.. Not so. Sorry for your troubles. We have since traded the tt we bought at that dealer and bought a new 5th wheel. They sure lost our business.

Leno - last night husband called dealer and spoke to the salesperson who sold us the fiver. His last name is Scott. Since it is Scott Motorcoach we are thinking there just might be a connection. Len told him if they wanted to GIVE him a Montana right now, he would refuse it as he is that upset with the company. The salesperson said he wished we had called him sooner. He said he will look into it today and we will have an answer by noon today. We will see. One reason we have not sought out another dealer to do the repairs is we already have check from insurance company made out to us and dealer. Prefer not to go thru hassle of starting insurance process all over but might be forced to.

I hope you get your answer - and soon! You have been so much more patient with them and the whole process than I would have been!! I would have been on the phone every day asking for an update - they probably would have worked faster just because they would be so sick of hearing from me!! I sure hope you guys get your fiver fixed soon, so you can get back on the road! :)

Phyllis,

Looking at the topic of your post, I thought you might be talking about mowing here at the RV park where we are right now! 

Overgrown when we got here, been here a week and a day and still no mowing action!

We are having some issues with our Montana 3585SA.  Hang in there and hope yours are resolved soon soon soon!

Cheers,
Betty

They would have given my $500 back, and I would have moved on long ago. If the customer service at your insurance company is anywhere near as good as ours, all it would have taken is a phone call, explaining the problem, and a new check would have been on its way. I guess I have a short fuse for bad service, but the problem of waiting that long to even see if you wanted them to order the parts..........that's got to just be stupidity! Surely they're not just trying to make you think they're that stupid just to delay for some reason. Now, I'm gettin worked up over this, and it's not even my problem. I just hate bad service. I better stop before I get on a rant! I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. They WOULD be giving me something for my trouble if I was in your shoes. $500 discount (deductible refund) might make me happy :)

I talked to our salesperson this morning. He apologized for the situation. He agreed that the whole issue of waiting for us to tell them to order the part makes no sense or that they claim they were working of getting the part numbers AFTER we had received the insurance check. He says he will keep on top of it and to call him at any time. Let's see now if things move along better. He explained that Keystone will need 3-4 weeks to fabricate a new back cap and build the cabinets. We expected that. What we didn't expect was that it would take almost 6 weeks for the dealer to get the whole process moving.

Tim & Robyn wrote:

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I have no idea if this will do any good, but have you thought about contacting the manufacturer? Having a dealer this irresponsible does them no good... I doubt if they would yank this dealer's 'license' to deal their product, but it couldn't hurt. Complaints to the BBB might be in order as well... and the dealer should know you're doing it. I would also let them know that you are broadcasting your dissatisfaction with their 'un'timeliness of service far and wide on the internet.

It still stuns me that there are business owners out there who think they can get away with stuff like this, especially in this tanked economy. If they don't wise up, they too will soon be standing in line at their local unemployment office.

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Excellent point Tim. This works whether you are dealing with an RV dealer or car/truck dealership. Many many years ago I was having problems with a local dealer on a repair on my Ford pickup. I was not satisfied with their progress. I found a number at Ford corporate headquarters where I could call regarding issues with a dealer. They took my information (I always keep detailed notes) and even gave me a tracking number. The company must have chewed out the dealership or maybe assess points against them or something because the dealership did a total 180 and had my problems addressed immediately.

 

We have talked to customer service at Montana. So far all we've heard is that the delay from the dealer has been unreasonable. Now that we are told the parts have been ordered we will call Keystone again next week for an update.