Newbee

[cprinz]

Hello, I am new to the site as I am new to owning a travel trailer, I purchased a 2020 Dutchmen Astoria 2903BH. Love the layout, love the dealer I purchased it from and feel that I got a great deal. What I do not like is that Dutchmen's customer service (or lack there of) won't give me contact information of anyone above their level. My brand new trailer has a faulty slide, it is covered by the warranty but I've been without the use of my trailer for 2.5 months and am still waiting for it to be picked up for transport back to the factory. I've been told to not expect the trailer to return to me until October at the earliest. Does anyone have contact information for a GM's or CEO's office? Thanks

 

[Franktafl]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I believe they do not publish that info intentionally. For all the obvious reasons Again, sorry for your issues. What’s the issue with your coach? Welcome to the forum!

 

[cprinz]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I believe they do not publish that info intentionally. For all the obvious reasons Again, sorry for your issues. What’s the issue with your coach? Welcome to the forum!

They put in a new slide mechanism (that doesn't work). From what I found out from one of my local dealers, they only installed 50 of them. I can't win the lottery but I got 1 in 50 in the entire country. . They are doing fine with the ownership of the issue but I had my trailer at the dealer in mid-July and won't see it again until October at the earliest. I don't understand why they can't stop the line and get my trailer in for replacement of the slide mechanism. The factory in Oregon told me it's an 8 hour job, one day and it's fixed. Meanwhile, I have to go all summer without the use of my brand new trailer I bought at the end of May. Further, the dealer here told me they can do the replacement but the factory won't pay them as "it's more cost effective" to have it taken to the factory. So a current customer is lower on the food chain than a new prospective customer. This is the point I want to make to their upper management. Also, I have learned if I complain at the right level, sometimes I can get the solution faster. So my trailer sits in front of my house collecting dust, waiting for transport to Oregon. It's supposed to be picked up next week for an end of September appointment. Supposedly the factory has the new slide mechanism and a couple of minor parts that need to be replaced on hand. But the 8 hour job and turning two screws (the other things that need replacement) takes almost 4 months. So what I have been doing, since they won't let me talk to upper management, is looking for new places I can post reviews on Keystone/Dutchmen's lack of customer care and service. Can you suggest any? Thanks for reading my rant, it makes me feel a little better when I know someone is listening.

 

[dsol]

If I was you I would try harder with the dealer and see if they can do the repair. I am not a warranty expert but I think you might have some rights to not be forced to have it sent back to the factory and be able to have your dealer, who you like do it. I think you need to lean harder on your dealer for support.

When your new car has a warranty issue the dealer makes the repair not the factory. This seems crazy to me. It doesn’t make sense to me they can force you to send your trailer back to the factory as the only option for a repair. And while you wait your warranty is burning on all your other stuff that will likely break later in month 13 of your ownership but effectively month 6 or 7 of your actual usage. It would be shocking to me if you don’t need additional warranty repairs after this and I would hate to see you out of warranty because of all this downtime.

Worst case is maybe you pay the delta on the additional up-charge so you don’t have to wait several more months then bring some some small claims action against them after the fact.

 

[cprinz]

If I was you I would try harder with the dealer and see if they can do the repair. I am not a warranty expert but I think you might have some rights to not be forced to have it sent back to the factory and be able to have your dealer, who you like do it. I think you need to lean harder on your dealer for support.

When your new car has a warranty issue the dealer makes the repair not the factory. This seems crazy to me. It doesn’t make sense to me they can force you to send your trailer back to the factory as the only option for a repair. And while you wait your warranty is burning on all your other stuff that will likely break later in month 13 of your ownership but effectively month 6 or 7 of your actual usage. It would be shocking to me if you don’t need additional warranty repairs after this and I would hate to see you out of warranty because of all this downtime.

Worst case is maybe you pay the delta on the additional up-charge so you don’t have to wait several more months then bring some some small claims action against them after the fact.

Thank you so much for your response. I've gotten more help and ideas here and another forum than I have from "customer service". I bought my trailer in Albuquerque and I live in Tucson. The dealer in NM has been nothing but help but also told me the factory won't allow them to repair the slide. The dealer here has been no help, I've been to two, both cannot adhere to current COVID restrictions, so I am not returning to them. I have a small dealer that is actually following proper guidelines. I have an extended warranty on the unit. The factory is paying for all the months I am without my trailer, or so they said they will reimburse me once I get the trailer back. They are also reimbursing me 4 new tires of my choosing and, of course, paying for the transport to and from. My biggest issue is with the timeline, it seems ridiculous that this takes this long. Also, the people at their customer service center don't respond to emails or phone messages in a timely fashion. Thanks again, have a great day