Surprised by Yamaha Corporation

[stacktester]

About 3 years ago I bought a Yamaha 2400 quiet generator. After using a demo and seeing that it did all I needed for dry camping at Daytona and other places we go I bought it.

Last year while dry camping I heard a loud grinding noise in the generator. After I took the cover off I realized a screw had backed out and was in the electrical part of the genny. That little tiny screw caused a lot of problems in there for sure. I took it to the shop last week and the guy told me what needed replacing. Well the part was $275 which I wasn't willing to part with since it was $1,200 new and I figured I'd just buy a new one. After labor and the part it was going to be $500 ish to fix.

I decided to call Yamaha today and after talking to a guy in customer service he sends me to their dept. that handles unhappy customers. I got lucky and got the right guy because he is having the part shipped from Japan and will have it to me within 10 days. He sent it for free and apologized that he couldn't take care of the labor. I was plenty happy with that as I was going to junk the genny had this not happened. It's been quite a while since I've seen customer service like this. It was a poor design and we will be fixing this so it doesn't happen again.

I'm still surprised they did this.

 

[kathie859]

Isn't it wonderful when companies actually act like they value your business and do the right thing? You must have presented yourself in a positive manner to get such a great response!! Congrats

 

[Live4FW]

Donnie,

I had a similar experience with Yamaha but it was with marching band drums. I needed to replace some old parts on a tenor set and they sent them to me free of charge.

I couldn't believe it.

Just really nice folks.

Scot

 

[liv luvs disney]

Hey Donnie that's great news! What a nice antithesis to your bad experience at Disney last weekend.

 

[DaveInTN]

That's nice to hear. And like kathie859 said, you must have handled it properly yourself. Had you taken a nasty tone it is unlikely the rep would have done this for you.

It is always good to hear about companies that take care of their customers.

 

[tileman]

That's good to hear

We built our house in 03 took about 8 months and we installed MOEN faucets
The one in the kitchen is real tall and pulls out about 1' or so. Well it started leaking.

Called Moen and gave them the part # and what was wrong and they sent out a replacement handle got it in about two days

Same went for a DVD burner for my PC had it about 9 months and it stopped working called NEW-EGG and they sent me a diff one just in the same price range.

Ron.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

This is really good to hear. I'm so tired of terrible customer service. I'm glad to hear they did the right thing!

 

[auntie]

Guess you had nothing to loose by calling and everything to gain. Glad to hear it turned out well for you Donnie. That's quite a savings.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Having used Yamaha products for a number of years now, I am not surprised at your experience, Donnie. I have always found them to be a stand up company that, in general, makes a rock solid product. I am a little distressed, however, in hearing that they are now making some of their motor scooters in China. Time will tell whether this was a good move on Yammy's part or not.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I think he "dropped" a screw and it fell into the gen, the rest of the story is just his coverup.

 

[stacktester]

Having used Yamaha products for a number of years now, I am not surprised at your experience, Donnie. I have always found them to be a stand up company that, in general, makes a rock solid product. I am a little distressed, however, in hearing that they are now making some of their motor scooters in China. Time will tell whether this was a good move on Yammy's part or not.

Jim I heard that the smaller 4 wheelers were now subbed out to Eton. I think the 80 and 125 models are the one's. Luckily I bought my daughters 125 Grizzly in 06 before they made that move. I pretty much only buy Honda and Yamaha and am looking at the Yamaha Big Bear 4x4 to buy later this year. My uncle has 3 Yamaha 4 wheelers and one is about 10 years old. I think the only thing he's done to it is clean the carb out a couple times.

 

[LONE-STAR]

My yamaha golf carts are rock solid and fast.

 

[disney4dan]

Hey Donnie

Maybe we can get Yamaha to take over Keystone? Glad to hear that Yamaha is a stand-up company like that.

The only other time I had a similar experience was with my Coleman Dual Fuel stove. It sat for years in storage, and the first time I went to test it all the fuel ended up everywhere in the bottom (Note to self, Do Not light this type of stove inside!). I called their customer service line to see if I had done something wrong and the rep told me he was sending two replacement parts out. Then he went and told me that it was more than likely a spider nest in one of the parts, how to clean that part, and he was right!

Since then, I have purchased Coleman products when I can. They won't get rich off of me, but I am not buying the "store name brand".

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Reading all this makes me wanna run out and buy something Yamaha in hopes of break down just so I can be treated nice

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Hey Donnie

Maybe we can get Yamaha to take over Keystone?

Oh Dan, don't say that. I'm still waiting to take my first official camping trip with my Outback. Well, at least my scooter is a Yammy and thus far trouble free.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Oh Dan, don't say that. I'm still waiting to take my first official camping trip with my Outback. Well, at least my scooter is a Yammy and thus far trouble free.

Oh come on Jim, don't ya wanna experience their customer service !

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Oh come on Jim, don't ya wanna experience their customer service !

I'm thinking of dropping a screw in the engine like Donnie did so I can see if they will stand behind my scooter.

 

[Tigger1966]

I have had very good luck with Creative Labs. Had an MP3 player die and even though it was a refuburished unit almost a year old they replaced it. I only had to pay to ship it there. I also spent quite a bit of time dealing with an very good person with tech. support.
That is why I only buy Creative products.

 

[disney4dan]

Oh Dan, don't say that. I'm still waiting to take my first official camping trip with my Outback. Well, at least my scooter is a Yammy and thus far trouble free.

I will say that the dealer did right by our first few days when it was leaking, including coming to pick up the trailer and bring it back after the first time (and we are a 40 minute drive away). I have not had to deal directly with Keystone yet, but was referring to the fair warning I got from Donny before the purchase and from what I read on rv.net (I had just read a post about a Keystone with a fiberglass delamination problem that looked terrible on a trailer less than 2 years old). But, I will say that Flagg RV service in W. Boylston, MA has been terrific and I will always give them credit for that .

Here's hoping that our trailers hold up for many years of trouble free camping!

 

[stacktester]

Dan last Friday I was having propane issues with my 5'er and I called the service manager at my dealer. I took an empty tank that had all the appliances working off to be refilled and when I hooked it back up nothing worked. He walked me thru a few steps and decided it was the regulator. I went to the dealer about 20 miles away and got another one, came back and installed it and nothing. I called him again and he said I was on his way home he would drop by. Come to find out since there is a tank on each side of the camper there's another high pressure reg. mounted by the other tank and it was leaking. I got a tutorial in propane and how if any part of the system fails it purposely shuts down to keep propane from leaking out and causing a fire.

Now as for Keystone I still don't take my camper in because I know what the answer is. Luckily this guy who helped from the dealer works on the side some and is going to help me on some issues I want to fix. Keystone basically makes a good rv but when they put something on the market that messes up in masses they're not too good about repairs. I have some delam on the back of my camper that's gonna have to be addressed one day and I know it will be me tearing it out and fixing it. I hope your camper is holding up.