Well it's been a while, a few quick personal updates and an RV update. Last year I had two surgeries, one on my back for melanoma and one on my nose for basal carcinoma. Work is going well, keeping me busy which is good!
We dropped off the RV last October 15th for the following repairs, continued leaking of the black tank into the belly of the RV, battling the smell through the summer months became a weekly event. They also had to work on the black and gray tank valves, again and the jacks were still popping and we were still losing power in the kitchen island and storage area and of course the front cap LED's were falling off.
Nothing to make owning an RV fun right? I received a call finally from the dealer two weeks ago (after the entire winter went by) that the repairs have all been completed! My cost, a tad over $500.00, so we scheduled the delivery date for Friday April 8th, all was good to go.
Saturday March 19th I decided to go to the dealer for their annual RV show with my brother. While there I got the keys and went to check out the rig, LED's still not fixed, check, RV sitting low in the front probably due to jacks popping through the winter, check, so that wasn't fixed, natch, check the black and gray valves, neither of them work, AT ALL, locked in place, check, the living room AC has never worked, as in NEVER... something new, the chain for the huge bedroom slide, the slide I mentioned when new I would need to make sure lasted, was sitting on the top of the slide, obviously a lot of slack since we dropped it off last year.
I talked to the dealer, they will of course check it out...... wait almost 2 weeks, take Monday the 28th off to go back to the dealer to see when things would be scheduled only to find out nothing has been scheduled, nothing has been fixed. I let a few people there know I'm getting beyond angry and would like to see something happen, ASAP. The service tech says they will get right on it.
Fast forward to this morning I get a call, the landing jacks pump is bad, again, the black and gray tank valves are bad again, the chain took over an hour to adjust because.... well apparently adjusting a chain.... is hard.... on and on we go.
I stopped him and ask, how is it, that it got a clean bill of health two weeks ago, you took my money and now suddenly all of this shit has gone wrong? You're telling me that since it got that clean bill of health, the pump went bad, the valves went bad.... seriously. After we went back and forth, the total is over $3,500.00..... on top of the $500.00 we have paid.
I called Keystone and had a very extensive conversation with them, tomorrow I'm having a conversation with a lemon law attorney and Saturday I'm having a conversation with the dealership owners, this incompetence has to be addressed, the list of their incompetence is insane....
The wife and I have had it with this RV, it's nice to look at, but we're done, no matter the outcome we will be looking for something different, we know when we're licked, this is bullshit RV # 2, apparently we just aren't meant to have something nice. Depending on Saturdays outcome, we will never give Collier RV our business again and may get out of RV'ing completely, I don't know of another couple with this many problems with either a used or new rig, or the ability to have two dealers with tech's that NEVER DO A DAMN THING RIGHT.
I give up, seriously, tents are looking so good right now.
8 comments:
so sorry you have had such a bad time. When we first got our Alfa, then backed into a tree damaging the top corner, we got involved with a rip off team at the local RV place. Many thousands, and an insurance claim later, the corner still leaked. We took it to a recommended place in another city and the fix was simple, inexpensive, and has lasted two years.
Don't give up on the RV life. You seem to have enough stress and need the git away for summer weekends. Had you paid for the same repairs the first time? Or had they just looked at the problems and not fixed them.
There is no pride in a job well done anymore! We have decided to only buy used, in hopes that all the manufacturers repairs are done.
So sorry for your troubles my friend. It does seem to be a never ending process of fixing poor design, cheap components, and shabby craftsmanship.
Since I'll be constantly fixing anyway no matter how new or expensive, I'm sticking to older cheaper, not shiny models.
At least then I don't feel like I'm paying a lot up front for it to be "right" when it never is.
Good luck. I hope somebody makes this right for you.
Merikay - I can't see us getting out of RV'ing, however I can't see us ever owning another 5th wheel again. Of all the people we know, the ones with 5th wheels seem to have the most issues, I wish I knew that back in 2013. The issues we have now are likely dealer incompetence mixed with Leibert poor quality regarding their pumps and all involved having horrible warranties. Ronda and I are looking into all options, unfortunately we don't have a lot of dealer options, none of them in our area have good reputations, not a single one. Lack of a pickup truck also hurts our options. Lesson learned on this for sure.
Kathy - Agreed, there is zero pride in workmanship, the companies who build RV's still have 1 year warranties and in this area of 6 month camping seasons you have a very short window to get issues resolved and you have to pray they all happen in the first year but that is rare and they know it. Our used Endeavor had issues, but those were almost completely dealer related and I could have taken that farther away for repair.... sometimes I learn the hard way.... no, it looks like almost always I learn the hard way.
I hope things are going well with the campground, I've been away from blogs for a while now due to work being very busy but I'm going to try and catch up.
Andy,
Thanks, I agree 100%, this is our last new rig, new makes no sense at all.
All I can say is WOW!! I've been following your RV story from the first one and all the decision process to buy this new 5th wheel. You have a lot more patience than I do (did). I know the feeling ... my first RV sat for the winter and had two repairs without even hitting the road.
Sorry I missed your post the other day. We had similar issues with our Avalanche but the dealership worked with us. What Keystone would not fix I simply submitted an online complaint with the Better Business Bureau of Indiana. Within days the issue was resolved. Unfortunately it does sound like your issues are more Dealer Oriented.
If you are using the Lemon Lawyer make certain you also have his fees covered in the Law-suite.
Be Safe!
It's about time.
Hey Bub. You know I am at the ready to go over and use some size 10's on Collier.
The fact you brought them BUSINESS with our picking up a used Class A a couple of weeks ago should be THE sign to Ownership there that when you say you bring them business, that you follow through. And that you can easily spread the word about just how bad their repair department is.
Looking forward to the camping this weekend. :)
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