New Products and Services Reviews on RV's, Cameras, Computers, Hotels, and more.

Recreational Vehicle: Our Review of 2022 Keystone Montana 3761FL Fifth Wheel RV

What You Should Know Before You Buy A Keystone RV.

In case it has not been stated plainly before, we want to make it unmistakably clear: we strongly advise against purchasing one of these RVs from this manufacture and this dealer.

These RV's' are expensive junk and the manufacturer does not stand behind their workmanship or their warranty obligations.  Our experience with both the dealer and the manufacturer has been deeply problematic.  To help other consumers make informed decisions, we are detailing every issue we’ve encountered, including photographs of the defects and the complete email communications exchanged throughout this process.

To give readers proper context, we purchased our defective 2022 Keystone Montana Fifth Wheel RV from Sunrise RV and Truck in Omak, Washington, a dealership owned by Sunrise Chevrolet in the same city.  The RV itself was manufactured by Keystone RV Company in Goshen, Indiana.  Based on our experience, neither the dealer nor the manufacturer honors the warranties attached to the products they sell.  In our view, both entities have proven themselves to be very unreliable.  We cannot speak to how Sunrise Chevrolet treats its automotive customers, but consumers should be aware that this company also owns Sunrise RV and Truck.

In November 2022, my wife and I purchased a brand‑new 2022 Keystone Montana Fifth Wheel RV.  We made this purchase under difficult circumstances: I had just been diagnosed with stage 4 head and neck cancer.  Our home was mid‑remodel at the time, and my doctors made it clear that I could not be exposed to construction dust or debris before or after surgery.  We bought this RV so I would have a clean, safe place to live while recovering from radical cancer surgery, undergoing chemotherapy, and radiation treatment.

We ended up putting a large deposit down using our Capital One Visa card and financed the rest of the purchase of the RV through WSECU, (Washington State Employees Credit Union).  After providing Sunrise RV with a large deposit, we asked the dealer do a couple of upgrades to the solar system and water heater in the RV and were waiting on it to be delivered to our home.

The Many Problems We Discovered With This So-called “Legendary” Fifth Wheel RV

The first red flag appeared right away: the dealer dragged their feet for weeks on the upgrades and delivery.  Every time we asked for an update, we were met with a new excuse—missing parts, unresponsive suppliers, bad weather, you name it.  After nearly two months of delays, the RV finally showed up on December 31, 2022.

To be clear, the only reason it arrived on December 31, 2022, is because we checked the actual weather conditions ourselves.  Using the Washington State Department of Transportation webcams, we confirmed there was no snow in Omak, on I‑90, or on Snoqualmie Pass.  The dealer’s weather excuse simply wasn’t true.

We texted the salespeople, Charlie Breshears and Michael (the new salesperson), asking why the RV still hadn’t been delivered.  We also emailed them photos showing the actual road conditions in Omak, on I‑90, and over Snoqualmie Pass, clearly demonstrating that there was no snow and that driving conditions were perfectly safe.  We sent these images specifically, so Charlie Breshears couldn’t use weather as another excuse for delaying delivery.  Frankly, we don’t believe the RV would have been delivered that day at all if we hadn’t provided proof of the clear roads.  Having to verify the weather for them was embarrassing on their part and, in our opinion, reflected very poor customer service.

The RV was finally delivered on December 31, 2022, by a service driver along with Sales Consultant Charlie Breshears.  They set up the RV in our driveway.  Before delivery, we had already spent thousands leveling the driveway and installing a 50‑amp electrical hookup and sewer connection, which we completed weeks in advance of the delivery.

The second issue showed up right away.  When the service driver along with Sales Consultant Charlie Breshears went to drop off the RV, the self‑leveling system didn’t work.  Charlie couldn’t get the RV to auto‑level, and instead of diagnosing the problem or even mentioning it to us, he instead just manually leveled the RV.  Later, when the RV went back for warranty repairs due to a major plumbing leak, we learned that the curbside front landing gear (hydraulic jack) was bent.  The dealer claimed they replaced it.

The third issue appeared during the walkthrough.  After manually leveling the RV, Charlie showed us the upgraded instant hot water system, the solar controls, and other features.  While checking the interior, we noticed water on the floor in both the kitchen/galley and bathroom.  When we asked why, Charlie said it was probably toilet water that splashed out during the drive from Omak to Kent.  The explanation didn’t make much sense, but we accepted it at the time.  We later discovered the real cause: a leaking pipe hidden inside the wall.

From what we’ve learned, we are far from the only customers dealing with defective PEX piping in Keystone RVs.  Numerous reviews report the same type of issues.  This is a serious and widespread problem, largely because the workers assembling these RVs are not properly installing or pressure‑testing the water systems before the units are shipped to dealers. The dealers, in turn, are not verifying that the PEX lines or the grey and black tanks are leak‑free before handing the RVs over to customers.  As a result, many owners experience flooding the moment they hook up water or use the holding tanks, causing significant damage.  In some cases, owners don’t discover the leaks until months later—by which point the damage is so extensive that the RV is essentially worthless.

The fourth issue happened right after setup.  As soon as the RV was in place, Charlie Breshears drove back to Omak, taking our RV keys with him.  When we called him right away to return, he refused to return and claimed he would FedEx the keys first thing in the morning.  He never did.

We had to call him again, just to get the keys sent.  At that point, we told him about all the warranty problems we had already found. These are problems that should have been fixed long before delivery.  We asked why no one had bothered to inspect the RV, especially since they had months to get it ready.  Because we didn’t have keys and weren’t staying on the property, we had to purchase a new lock to secure the RV and prevent break‑ins.  The lock wasn’t cheap, and we also had a locksmith make keys for the storage compartments.  Charlie Breshears stated that they would compensate us for the lock, but this never happened.

The fifth issue was the condition of the RV itself.  It was filthy, as the photo below shows.

The dealer didn’t bother to clean the RV or fix any of the warranty items.  There was mud and dirt on the floors, and the heat register ducts were full of construction debris, saw dust, dirt, loose screws, and other junk.  We even found an electrical cord inside the the heating ducts.  For a brand‑new RV, it was unacceptable.

We made it very clear to Salesperson Michael that the RV needed to be cleaned before delivery—especially the heating ducts.  We told him we had previously owned a Keystone trailer that had construction debris inside the heating ducts.  We also pointed out a loose vinyl trim piece on the Montana and said it needed to be repaired before the RV was delivered.  Michael promised everything would be cleaned and checked.  That promise was not kept.  The RV showed up filthy, and the vinyl trim was still hanging loose.  Charlie offered excuses instead of solutions.

The fifth issue appeared as soon as we started cleaning: the refrigerator doors were crooked and misaligned.  How the dealership could miss something so obvious is beyond us.  When we called to report the defects, the Sunrise RV and Truck technician Matt told us he wasn’t going to come out “out of the kindness of his heart” to fix them—even though these were warranty issues that should have been addressed long before the RV ever reached our driveway.

The sixth issue was damage that absolutely was not there when we inspected the RV in Omak, WA.  The cabinet that holds the recessed 50" TV arrived with a split in the wood and scratches across the top of the cabinetry.  The photo also shows dirt and construction debris all over the cabinet and the TV. This is completely unacceptable for a “new” RV.

The seventh issue was the discovery of scratches throughout the cabinetry in the RV.  When we first viewed the RV, none of these scratches were present, the RV looked new and did not have all this damage.  What we received was clearly not in the same condition when we first inspected the RV.

The eighth issue was with the instant hot water system Sunrise RV installed as an upgrade.  It didn’t work right from the start.  It wouldn’t even reach 100 degrees.  The dealership’s technician claimed he tested it and said everything was fine.  He even had the nerve to blame us, calling it “user error.”  When we spoke to his boss, we told him exactly what was said and reminded him that we’ve been using hot water for over fifty years.  We also discovered that the unit installed wasn’t even the electric/gas model that we had ordered and paid for. It was gas‑only model.

Because the technician refused to come fix it, we had to call the water heater manufacturer ourselves.  Their support team was excellent.  After reviewing the error codes, they immediately identified the problem: that installer never adjusted the flow settings.  When we told the support rep that the dealer’s technician blamed us, he couldn’t believe it.  He even joked, asking if the technician thought we had only turned on the cold water, and flat‑out called the technician a moron.

The ninth issue was yet another example of Sunrise RV’s misleading practices.  The dealers website advertised the refrigerator as having an ice maker.  After delivery of the RV, when we opened the freezer doors, there was no ice maker at all.  Pure false advertising on there website.

The tenth issue involved the gas range.  The knobs on the gas range have lights behind them, which are supposed to warn you when gas is turn on.  Several of the knobs started malfunctioning on January 01, 2023, just a day later after the RV was delivered.  One knobs lights would randomly turn on even when the gas was completely turned off.  We filmed the problem and sent it to both the dealer and the manufacturer.  Sunrise RV and Truck refused to come fix it and when we contacted the manufacturer they dragged their feet—right up until January 18, 2023, after we woke up to a flooded kitchen galley and bathroom.  Then the manufacture had the dealer picked up the RV to repair this and other things.   The lights were never repaired and now more of them don't work properly

The eleventh issue proved to be the most significant defect in this supposedly new fifth wheel.  The RV had been on our property for approximately 18 days when, on the morning of January 18, 2023, we awoke to extensive flooding throughout the kitchen/galley and bathroom areas of the RV.  Prior to this event, we had invested considerable time preparing the RV, spending multiple days cleaning it, several days preparing the electrical and water hookups for the RV, and an additional day purchasing and installing a new door lock and obtaining replacement storage keys after the dealer left with the original keys.  All of this occurred, prior to discovering the leaking PEX pipe and the mold that was present in the storage area.  This RV was sold to us as being new.

The manufacture and dealer had our RV in their possession for over a year, while we still paying huge payments for the RV to the financier WSECU.  The floors and insulation are still are not fixed/repaired/ or replaced from the water damage due to this water leak in the wall, which was a Keystone's manufacturing defect in putting together PEX piping in the RV.

In the photos above, taken before the dealer attempted any repairs, you can clearly see the insulation sitting above the floor.  In the photos taken after the repair, that insulation is no longer visible.  The dealer removed the upper portion of the insulation but left the wet, damaged insulation beneath the floor untouched.

Following the dealer’s warranty repairs, we conducted our own inspection using a fiber‑optic camera to look beneath the RV’s floors in the storage area.  The insulation was still saturated, and mold was present.  These conditions clearly indicated that the underlying issues had not been properly addressed.

Mold is extremely dangerous to those with immunosuppressed immune systems.  Those who have or are going through treatment for cancer will have weaker immune systems, the effects of breathing in mold can be much worse for those with weaken immune systems and can potentially lead to death.  We explained this to the Keystone RV company and Sunrise RV and Truck in several e-mails we sent to both companies.

One of the oncologists, which treated Alan for cancer, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, wrote a letter of concern for both companies to read and it was sent to both of these companies by Melissa and Alan via e-mail.  The oncologist advised against living in the fifth wheel RV that was flooded as it could have mold.  The flooding and the mold found inside this Montana fifth wheel is a result of these companies own negligence in failing to properly test their water systems in these manufactured RV's, prior to selling their RV's to the public.  There really is no excuse for this incompetence.

Insulation and OSB manufactures both warn companies who use their products to build RV's, homes, and other products about the potential effects of mold should their products get wet.

The RV Manufactures and dealers should both be doing their jobs of understanding building product service warnings and Material Data Safety Sheets, prior to building or servicing any product were habitancy of humans will dwell.

In the picture below, you can see that the insulation manufacture warns about their products getting wet and the only solution to repair it, if it gets wet, is to replace it.  This picture was taken from a bag of rock wool insulation, which is water resistant, unlike the type of insulation that is installed the Keystone RV's.  We asked Keystone and Sunrise to replace the OSB floors and the insulation that got wet, due to the RV manufactures defect of the assembly of the PEX piping.

When we arrived to pick up the RV, we immediately found black mold on the wall near the washing machine, and the floors were soft and still not repaired. We checked the moisture in floors and they still had too much moisture in the floor, so the dealer never dried the unit prior to picking this unit up.

We also discovered new exterior damage to the fiberglass on the front cap of the RV, screws were also missing or half way screw out the frame and fiber glass front cap.  It appears they did something to the front cap or someone was doing something to the cap. Even the emergency brake cable near the fifth‑wheel hitch was severally damaged.  This may suggesting the dealer may have removed or tampered with the front cap of the RV, possibly this may have been related to the new damage to the RV and was part of the brake cable issue. WE WILL BE POSTING PICTURES AND VIDEO! Please check back.

In earlier photos we took in March 2023 using a fiber‑optic camera, you can clearly see darkened OSB wood beneath the floor.  We sent these photos—and others—to Keystone RV Company and Sunrise RV and Truck.  Both the dealer and the manufacturer did not respond, it was complete silence.

UPDATED: July 29, 2024: As time has gone by, the floor in the kitchen near the bathroom where flood water was now has ripples in the material as its delaminating.  The floor in the storage area was real bad and the dealer stapled the floor laminate to the OSB.  It just plain looks awful, the work is so below subpar it is not even funny.

UPDATED: August 30, 2024: After hiring attorney Mr. Testa and waiting more than a year for the dealer to finish their so‑called warranty repairs, which they never completed, including the floors.  Mr. Testa finally told us we had to pick up the RV by April 30, 2024.  Sunrise RV and Truck were threatening him with $40‑per‑day storage fees, if we didn’t retrieve the RV.  By then, we were furious.  It was obvious our attorney had no intention of filing a lawsuit.  He had done nothing to pressure the dealer or the manufacturer, wasted months of our time, and nearly let the statute of limitations run out.  When we confronted him and asked what his plan was, he admitted he didn’t want to file suit.  That was it.  We fired him on the spot and demanded a full refund of all remaining funds. We also reported him to the Bar Association after involving the Attorney General, who did little besides forwarding documents from Keystone RV showing the attorney had them on the ropes and close to settling.  I’ll be posting a full story about the attorney, the Bar complaint, and the Attorney General’s response in a separate section under attorneys.

OSB and insulation manufactures have put out a technical bulletins on mold, which states that almost all building materials are susceptible to surface mold formation under certain conditions and the key to eliminating mold growth on surfaces is by controlling the moisture.  The Structural Board Association states that OSB is manufactured very dry with the average moisture content in panels leaving the warehouse have less than 5% moisture content. The Structural Board Association states that OSB in not waterproof or mold resistant.

The Structural Board Association warns that prolong high moisture or wet conditions there is a potential of mold growth.  When we had the dealer pick up the fifth wheel to fix the defect and do the warranty work it was near the end of January 2023.  After the defective Pex pipe was fixed and the warranty work was supposedly completed it was March of 2023.  Please see the technical bulletin located here.

UPDATED: July 29, 2024:  Outside the Fifth wheel RV, there is tag that shows the RV was supposedly inspected by the Department of Labor and Industries.  These inspections should included the electrical and plumbing system, besides a road worthiness inspection.  Supposedly the Department and Labor charges for these inspections on the RV's.  Yet, there is a defective PEX pipe in the wall and none one seems to notice it.  The factory, the dealer and Labor and Industries all should had done testing on the pipes to see if they leak.

The testing on checking for pipes leaks could have been easily done using compressed air and a gauge to see if the pipes are leaky.  This obviously was never done by the factory, the dealer, or by the folks who are suppose to be inspecting these RV's, which is job of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries that demand manufactures testing of these pipes and electrical systems.

Note the picture below, which is of the inspection tag and how the Manufacture was required by law was to do an inspection under Revised Code of Washington 43.22.340, RCW 43.22.360, RCW 43.22.390 and RCW 43.22.434 for the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries.  No inspection was done, because if one would have been done, they would have found the leaking PEX pipe and fixed it, so this is nothing short of fraud and it violates consumer protection laws.

On top of this tax payers are paying for this inspection fraud.  Yet, State of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson office did nothing to cure this issue either, when it was reported to them.  At the very least the State of Washington should had fined the manufacture several hundred thousand dollars for breaking the law, but this never happened.  We are wondering if Attorney General Bob Ferguson got a nice campaign contribution to run for Governor from the Keystone RV Company instead?

Recall Notices from the Manufacture.

There is a also other stickers on the side of the RV just above the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Inspection Tag, these are false advertising decals which states that this RV is a four season RV and the RV Industry Association claims the plumbing and electrical was inspected too, which is a lie, because if it was there would have been no leak and no safety recall notices.

UPDATED: October 01, 2024 - Safety Recall Notice. Click on the image to view the PDF document.

One of the reason we bought this RV, so it can be used in the fall and winter, beside summer time and spring.  With the dealer removing the wet insulation from the RV and then not replacing the insulation, the RV is no longer a four season RV, like the decal claims.  The RV Industry Association are nothing but con-artist who are lying for the manufacture.  No one should ever give RV Industry Association any credit, industry authority, or trust whatsoever.

Warranty Work Done by the Dealer on Montana 3761FL

UPDATED: May 06, 2024.  The warranty work on the RV done was sub par at best.  The issue's with the gas stove LED Knob light is now worse than it was before we took it in for the warranty work.  In fact, after we picked up the RV we received a letter from Manufacture, which the NHTSA made the manufacture send to its customers, issuing a recall on the gas stove in our RV.  This letter came 2 days after the LED lights started acting up again after turning on power on to the trailer.  The reason for the recall in the Suburban LED back lighted printed circuit boards (PCB) are not fully coated.  The lake of adequate coating in the connection passages's between the layers of the PCB can cause a short circuit resulting in failure of the PCB board, which could become overheated and melt and possibly causing a fire.

In March 2023, we went to the dealer's location where the trailer is still there today at the dealers location, whereas it was supposed to be fixed.  The dealer stated that they have fixed the defective PEX pipe and supposedly completed the warranty work that was needed on the fifth wheel trailer.  When we arrived at the location, we checked and inspected the floors to see if the delaminated floor was replace in the storage area.  What we found when we got there and then did an inspection of the fifth wheel, we found that the floor in the storage area was warped, delaminated, and still wet after a couple of months of sitting at the dealership waiting to be fixed, after being picked up by the dealer in late January, after Alan went to the hospital to have surgery.  We also found that the kitchen and bathroom floors were also still wet and the OSB wood was soft when you walked on it.

We use moisture meters on the floors and walls to check for moisture. We found that the moisture content was as high as 99% in the floor and insulation.  The alarm on the meters were going off on both moisture meters we used.  We used two different moisture meters to make sure the moisture content readings were consistent and not wrong.  We also used a fiber optic camera to look below the floor in the storage area and we found the insulation under the floor was still wet.  We also found mold underneath the OSB wood floor panels.

It appears the dealer tried to cleaned the mold off on the inspection panel and bathroom wall inside the storage area.  The dealer also removed some of the wet insulation from around the pipes in the hole located in storage area.  When we tested the OSB wood, the OSB wood tested as being very wet with some readings roughly 50 times higher then the moisture content of when the OSB was originally made by the structural board manufacture.  This moisture testing we performed was done several months after the water damage had occurred, so this proves that the dealer and manufacture did not even try to dry out the wood and insulation after doing the defect and warranty work, whatsoever.

In the pictures below we used two different meters to positively confirm our moisture readings were correct.  In picture of the Klein Tools moisture meter there was a reading near the pipe of 30.7%, which was 6 times higher than dry OSB that has 5% moisture content.

As seen in the other picture, the other meter reading near the same area of the pipe hole was 22.5%, which is roughly 4 1/2 times what the moisture content should be in this OSB wood.  The Kline Tool moisture meter was also used to test further away from the pipes and pipe hole, which is closer to the storage entrance door or exterior door opening into the storage area.  This moisture reading was at 16.1% in this photo, which is roughly 3-plus times that of dry OSB wood, according to the structural wood manufacture.

Below the door opening and floor in the storage area is a black and grey tank area for dumping the waste water tanks. This area is below the storage door and floor on the exterior side of the RV .  We took a moisture content readings with the General Moisture Meter and according to the meter the moisture content was 22.7%, whereas this reading is more than 4 1/2 times of what a dry OSB wood floor should read.

This is a moisture content reading we took in the pipe hole where the insulation is located.  As you can see in the picture that the moisture content is at 99.9% and the alarm is going off on the moisture content meter.  This moisture content reading is roughly 20 times higher than dry OSB with a 5% moisture content.

This is a moisture reading near the back of the RV, where the RV was not water damaged. This is what dry OSB sheets should look like that come from the factory.  Note, the moisture content reading in the RV of the dry OSB is at 2.8%.

Keystone, the RV manufacture, stated and told Alan that there was nothing wrong with the fifth wheel RV as everything was fixed by the dealer, but the dealer Sunrise RV and Truck outlined in their warranty repair report that there was water damage to the floors of the RV in the storage area.  Dave Wakefield, Melissa More and Alan Hoffer went to Sunrise RV on March 4, 2023 to look at the defect, water damage, and warranty repairs on the Keystone Montana RV.  What we found after driving to dealers location to check on the repairs done by Sunrise RV that the RV floors were not repaired.  The floors were delaminating and were also soft to the touch.  The dealer told us the work to repair/replace the floors and damaged wood was beyond the dealers ability to fix and it would need to be repaired by the RV manufacture, (Keystone RV Company).

This is the warranty repair invoice that Sunrise RV and Truck sent to us and Monique Blackburn of the Keystone RV Company, CLICK HERE for the full documents 

Melissa and Alan were way more concerned about the water damage that was done to this new RV.  In the e-mails between the Keystone RV Company, Melissa, and Alan, you can see that Keystone RV Company was told about the water damage by the dealer Sunrise RV, after the dealer completed the warranty work.  The Keystone RV Company even wrote an e-mail to the dealer to trying to get the technician to restate that there was no issue with the floors and insulation from the water damage.

Below is the e-mail of the dealer stating the floor is damage.  Tyrel Swezey who is the General Manager of Sunrise RV, admits to the damage floor, but calls it minor.  See the string of e-mails.  Monique Blackburn of Keystone RV Company after being e-mailed a copy of this e-mail from Tyrel Swezey states, "what we have presented to us in the pre authorization does not indicate there is damage.  If there is damage that we aren’t aware of;"

This is the e-mail that Monique Blackburn received, CLICK HERE for the full documents. 

It states, as plane as day, that there is damage to the RV floor, but Keystone totally ignores this e-mail and continues to ignore the damage, while we are paying high payments for a unusable damage RV, due to a defect that the Keystone RV Company made in the PEX pipe, which caused the flooding in the RV.

In the video below, you can see the damage and the wetness in the floors and insulation.  The moisture testing that was done and verified by a third party and Alan, show that they checked the floors and insulation and found moisture in the floors and insulation.

In the video you can hear from a third party (Dave Wakefield) that the kitchen, bathroom and storage floors are soft, spongy, warped, and damaged because of the water damage from the leaking defective PEX pipe in the wall, which was the cause of flooded the Kitchen, bathroom and storage floors in the new RV.

A direct link to the video can be found here...

Both the manufacture and dealer are refusing to repair or replace the OSB floors and the insulation.  Sunrise RV and Keystone RV are also refusing to refund us our money for the RV, since they don't want to fix the issues.  Keystone RV Company offered us $1000.00 for the extensive damage to the floors, walls, and insulation, whereas this would not fix anything of this magnitude.  It is completely obviously that Keystone RV Company and the Sunrise RV and Truck doesn't honor their warranties on their products that they make and sell.  The manufacture calls their fifth wheel's legendary.  We call these fifth wheel RV's very expensive legendary pieces of shit with epic defects.

About the Financiers and Credit Card Company.

The financier Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU) was contacted immediately about the issue and should have acted in their best interest, not just for our sake, but they too failed to take any action against the RV dealer and manufacture.

We then contacted our credit card company Capital One and did a charge back on the deposit we paid Sunrise RV.  We told Capital One about the defect issues and Capital One recovered our deposit money.  We were then asked by Capital One to provide them information showing them our claim about the defects in the RV.  We sent Capital One this information we posted here on this website and more, which shows the water damage to floors and the wet insulation, and also including a statement from the dealer (Sunrise RV) who stated the floors are damaged.  We sent all this information to Capital One's on-line file folder by uploading the files to their servers that Capital One created for us.  We provided the all this information, pictures, and more than what's posted on this website in timely manner as required before the submission date deadline.

We then confirmed with Capital One that they had received all the information we had sent to them.  Capital One said they would take it from here.  Capital One then supposedly failed to sent any of our response, pictures, dealer statement, and the video to Visa Card disputes in a timely fashion.  We then were again re-charged for the deposit after successfully disputing the defective merchandise with the credit card company.

We called and spoke with the Capital One representatives about the charge back multiple times and on January 30, 2024, the Capital One representative stated for the second time they had screwed up and the company would make good on the mistake.

After fighting with Capital One to get the money back for about a year, Capital One finally said to us, 'tough luck' about the money, claiming this was lemon law case.  We told the Capital One representative that this was not a lemon law case as the RV doesn't have a motor in it.  We told Capital One that this was a consumer protection issue.   We also told the supervisor that we will stop using their credit cards and she said no biggy.  Since then we have stopped using our Capital One Visa card and we are now in the process of closing our bank account there too.

We don't recommend anyone to use Capital One for the purchase of merchandise, as you too may get screwed over by Capital One too, just like we did.  We've been banking with Capital One, since they bought out ING Direct, whereas we had many years of never having any type of issue with doing a charge backs on bad products or services.  Since Capital One took over, they no long have your back, so make sure you don't have this card in your wallet when you buy something!  So much for Capital One and WSECU protecting their customers and stopping predators like Keystone RV and Sunrise RV from robbing their customers and in this case also a cancer patient!

We ended up submitting complaints to the Better Business Bureau and the Washington State Attorney General's Office about Keystone RV company and Sunrise RV and Truck.  So far, neither company has responded to the complaints filed with the BBB.

Sunrise RV and Truck did reply to the Attorney Generals Office, basically threw Keystone RV Company under the bus.  Sunrise RV and Truck sent information back to the Attorney General Office stating that Keystone RV Company appeared wanted to do a buy-back of the RV in June of 2023 and have Sunrise RV and Truck resell the RV, but nothing ever came of this.

Both parties (Keystone RV Company and Sunrise RV and Truck) have refused to do anything about the RV.  Keystone RV Company completed failed to respond to the BBB and the Attorney General's Office inquiry and Bob Freguson's Attorney General's Office, which said there is nothing they can do at this point and recommend for us to contact an attorney.

Updated on December 18, 2024: After Sunrise RV and Truck threaten us to pick up the RV or face storage costs of $40 per day, we paid a person to transport the fifth wheel trailer back to Kent, WA., while our attorney was trying to get Keystone RV Company and Sunrise RV and Truck to return the RV, because the dealer and the manufacture refused to return the RV and repair the floor in storage and kitchen area, after both promised to return the RV after supposedly fixing all the warranty items and the PEX pipe defect in the wall, and the water damaged floors.

If you read the e-mail above that the Attorney General sent us, you can see Tyler is mad at us because we posted this on the internet for the world to see, because after a year, both the dealer and manufacture were suppose to fix the damage and complete the warranty work as they promised us, but did not so that is why we post this.

To reiterate, we bought this RV for my cancer rehabilitation and it was not ready as they promised it would be and then after the flooding, the manufacture asked the dealer to fix it, but it was way beyond the dealer's ability to fix, as we told the manufacture.  The dealer was suppose to return the RV after the work was completed too, but that never happened and our lawyer at the time called them out on this.

We are on a fixed income, because of my cancer disability and my partner recently lost her job in a so-called layoff, which we believe was over the medical cost and the FLMA she took.  When we went to pick up the RV at the end of April of 2024 while I still was recovering, prior to May 1, 2024 deadline of the threats by Sunrise RV to charge us storage cost, when they still had not repaired the RV.  We just did not need another issue with this RV to deal with, so we have decided to pick up the RV and we are now planning to sue the dealer, the manufacture, and others who are involved.

After getting a person to transport the RV back to Kent, Washington with the little money we had and also having to drive several hundred miles to Sunrise RV and Truck, just after shortly after going through a radical cancer surgery in February of 2023, and not totally being full rehabilitated, just in order to make sure that there were not going to be any other problems with the dealer or manufacture that they were going to cause us when we picked up the RV.  The long traveling to and from the site, I ended up suffered extreme pain from the surgery affects, then having to deal with secretions, having to make several stops to clean myself, dealing heaviness of my head during the long travel, and the needing to do skin stretching while traveling.  It wasn't a pleasant drive to say the least, but I made it.

When we arrived on site, we found things in the storage area of the RV were all torn apart and not put back together, we found screws removed and loose on the front cap of the RV, which we never complained about any damage or anything being wrong with the front cap of the RV, so we don't know why the dealer was doing work on the front of the RV cap and had left screws undone and loose.  There were other problems we found, but we could not check the water pipes, the stove, and other things while on site, we took pictures and video of what we were able check and had to depend on their word that they fixed things like the pipes and the stove.  It was obvious the floors still were not fixed.

While on site, we did find damage to the emergency brake cable in the front of the RV underneath the front cap.  There was also now more damage done to RV, as it appears that someone had run into the front of RV and damaged the fiberglass cap.  We immediately took pictures and then reported the damage to Matt, who is the service person at Sunrise RV and Truck, and we asked about the loose screws on the front of the RV.  Matt replaced the emergency brake cable and tighten up the screws, and then offered a sticker to us to cover up the psychical damage on the front of the RV's cap.  This was just unbelievable and it made us even regret the purchase of the RV even more.

The floors were never fixed and now there are a bunch staples in the storage floors laminate covering on the delaminated OSB wood floor.  In the kitchen/galley the floors laminate is rippled and the wood below is warped, soft, and the wood below the laminate appears to be delaminated.  The stairs in the back that lead to the bedroom now creek and make noise, because the floor is soft underneath the stair case.  When we checked the gas range LED light issue that we complained about, this was still not fixed as another one was one on and less than a week later other lights started coming on the stove while the gas range is off.  A day after this we received a letter dated, May 4, 2024, from Keystone stating that there is a recall on the gas range and not to use it.  We called the manufacture, but the manufacture would not send anyone out to fix it.  We called and made a complaint with NHTSA and they asked us to call and make a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, but still no one has fixed the gas range and nothing has been done by the government, which according to NHTSA and Keystone the stove is a fire hazard.  We currently have no way to transport it to a dealer, we also are living in it on as we said a fixed income, and we need to use the stove to cook with.  We have asked the manufacture to send us the parts to fix the stove and they have refused to do so.

After we got the RV back to our property, one of the hydraulic jacks that level the RV in the front of the RV was not working, so we could not disconnect the RV from the truck.  What it appears that happened is the hydraulic jacks were not properly primed after Sunrise RV and Truck replace the bent hydraulic jack.  We also found the hydraulic fluid reservoir tank was not full either.  We had to go to the auto parts store and buy Hydraulic fluid to fill the reservoir.  After several hours of diagnosing, filling, and priming the hydraulic jacks we got the right front jack to operate and was able to get it off the truck.  The gentleman who transported the RV was such an understand person and he said it was a rotten way for Sunrise RV and Keystone RV Company too do business, especially a person going through a rough cancer surgery, which has left Alan disabled.

We connected the RV to power and hooked up the gas to the RV.  We then checked the stove and another light was on the stove knob.  It appears they fix the light on the far left, but now another light is on one of the middle knobs on the left side of the stove is on constantly now.  On May 04, 2024, Keystone RV company sent a Safety Recall Notice letter, which we received on May 06, 2024, about the Suburban Stove LED back-light printed circuit board (PCB) not being properly coated.  It states that the PCB board can be overheated and possibly ignite, causing a fire.

We have contacted several RV dealers in the fall to get an appraisal on the RV without mentioning the unit had flooded and then we mentioned flooding of a defective pipe in the wall.  Once the RV dealers found out RV had flooded, they were no longer interested in buying the RV.

We will be adding more to this to this review, including more pictures, moisture test results, video's of the defects, defective work, e-mails and documentation from the BBB, Attorney General's Office, and our former attorney in order to show all correct dates, information, and correspondence to help others to avoid being ripped off.

In the mean time, in order to protect yourself from predators like Sunrise RV and Truck, the Keystone RV Company, Dometic, Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU), and Capital One, find yourself more reputable Manufacture, Dealer, and Financiers to buy and finance your RV, because this manufacture and dealer will not honor their warranties and the financier will not help you get the dealer and manufacture to abide by the terms of their agreement or warranties.  Also make sure you document everything, even keep the envelopes from the letters that sent to you.  These things are so important to have, if you should ever needed to file a complaint in court or with an agency.

Another update on December 18, 2024, on the Keystone Montana 3761FL fifth wheel.  The furnace in the fifth wheel broke down the day before Thanksgiving, we ended up contacting the manufacture of the furnace, because its under a 2 year warranty and Keystone RV Company also still has not repaired our gas range after it was recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The RV has only been in use by us since May 10, 2024, whereas the RV sat in Omak, WA for over a year to repair the flood damage, which was never repaired.

We also called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint about the recalled gas stove and still nothing has been done to date.  These government agencies are just a big waste of taxpayer dollars and DOGE needs to tell President Elect Trump to get rid of them.

Anyhow, the company who made the furnace product is called Dometic and can be found at Dometic.com.  It appears to be a $34 sail switch part that is the problem.  They won't cover the cost of the part and want us to drag in the fifth wheel to a dealer to have it repaired.  I'm disabled and we are still waiting for our house to be completed, so we are living in the RV on the property.  We asked Dometic to sent out the part to us, but they will not send us the part, even though its under warranty.  Dometic wants to gouge us $34 for the warranted part, plus $70 in shipping cost to send us the part.  We went down to the another dealer and bought the part and I installed it myself, so this is another warranted item that was not warranted.

It seems like almost every other day its something breaking down in the RV and I have so many medical bills from the cost of having cancer, its not even funny.  This RV is serious lemon and it appears we are going to need to file a lawsuit against the manufacture, the dealer, and the manufactures of stove and furnace too.

If these are complaints and issues are not rectified or resolved by January or February of 2025, by the manufactures we are going send a demand letter to the these manufactures and dealer as required by law, if they still at that point don't resolved the issues and our complaint, we are planning on filing a lawsuit against the dealer, manufactures, and financier asking for all our money back as well as “compensatory,” and “punitive” damages.  We have had enough!  If you are planning on buying an RV, think extremely hard before you buy one.  Believe me, Keystone RV's' are not worth the money, the headache and they install cheap made junk inside these RV's, which some of the these part manufactures will not stand by their products either.

An Attorney we Hired and Fired.

Updated on August 30, 2024: We ended up hiring an attorney Mr. Gregory Testa in Seattle (ByDesignLaw Law firm) in either March or April of 2023, to trying to get the manufacture to repair, replace, or refund our money for the flooding of the RV after we spent countless hours trying to get the Keystone RV and Sunrise RV and Truck address the defective PEX pipe, damage to the floors, and other warranty issues after the Fifth wheel was not being fixed.  This was a lot of stress to deal with after having a major surgery, so this is why we hired Gregory Testa at the law firm By Design Law.  This was another major mistake by us.

We paid By Design Law firm $3000 for retainer and then later found out that he never ever negotiated, spoke with, or sent a demand letter to Keystone RV's or Sunrise RV and Truck attorney.  We found out that he only spoke with Keystone RV staff and spent all this time working with the same corrupt people as we spoke with and had no luck to get the RV fixed, replaced, or our money refunded&.  We continued to make payments on the RV from the time the dealer picked up the RV for the manufacture in February 2023 to fix, until we picked up the RV at the end of April 2024.

Updated on August 30, 2024: We specifically told Mr. Testa that we did not want him to wasting his time and our money speaking with the Keystone RV management, as we had already tried to resolve this issue with the defective pipe, the flood damaged floors, and other warranty issue.  We also told Mr. Testa that we don't have a lot of money to waste on negotiations with the manufacture and dealer.  We provided Mr. Testa with almost all the documentation, e-mails, pictures and videos of the damage, which showed the leak in the RV.  Everything was very well documented by us to make this case easy to resolve. We told Mr. Testa that this was Tile 15 U.S.C. case, which would likely fall under the Magnuson-Moss act and this case would likely need to go to Federal Court to be resolved.  Mr. Testa stated that he could resolve this case in State court under contract law.  We stated that he was the attorney and he should know what he could do in what courts.

Updated on August 30, 2024, information received by the Attorney General: We later found out our attorney had just been using our money for talking to the manufacture, instead of Mr. Testa speaking the businesses attorneys to resolve these issues, after being provided ample information and evidence to prove our claim in any court of law beyond the ponderous doubt, Mr. Testa spent his time talking with employees of the firm and did not even speak with their attorney(s).

After questioning Mr. Testa about this at the end of 2023 what his intentions were, we decided not to move forward with a company that does mold testing as Mr. Testa sounded unsure of himself in going into a court of law.

Updated on December 22, 2024: On March 08, 2024, the dealer contacted the manufacture stating that they still had the RV in their possession ,and that they want it gone.  The dealer inquired if the manufacture had reached any agreement with us.  The manufacture replied on March 08, 2024 that they had not heard from our attorney for months and stated he was supposed to be coordinating with the dealer.  During this time the attorney still had not spoke with the manufactures attorney and had not even contacted the manufacture.

This e-mail obtained by the attorney general's office shows that our attorney had not spoke with the manufacture for months, right click on the document to enlarge.

Updated on August 30, 2024: In April 2024, we called back Mr. Testa to see if he had moved forward in any way with Keystone RV, Mr. Testa stated he had not moved forward and then told us that this claim would likely need to go to a federal court.  From our recollection of our phone conversation with Mr. Testa stated he doesn't do federal court work or is not well versed in federal court as he was not experienced in litigating in the federal court, this after we had hired him and asked Mr. Testa what he was planning.  We were extremely mad at this point.  We asked if he had spoken with Keystone and Sunrise RV's attorney and that's when we found out he had not spoke with the manufactures or dealers attorney.

At this point, I asked Mr. Testa to call the dealer and asked them to return the RV.  Mr. Testa called the dealer up and asked them to return the RV, but the dealer then refused to return the RV after supposedly making the repairs, which we later found out a lot of the warranty repairs were just rigged up and were never repaired, hence the recall items.  The dealer threaten our attorney that if we did not pick up the RV that they would charge us $40 per day for storage fees, if we did not pick up the RV by May 01, 2024.  Even though the dealer and manufacture had not repaired the floors and replace the wet insulation.  Our attorney did not even advise the dealer that this was illegal, but he did tell the dealer that they had agreed to return the RV, but that did not seem to affect the attitude taken by the dealer.

We don't recommend using attorney Gregory Testa at By Design Law, as we feel we were deceived and he misrepresent himself on his capabilities and talents in consumer protection.  We were advised, if a attorney won't take a well documented case on contingency, its likely that attorney is not a good attorney and maybe unsure about their capabilities as being attorney.  This is what we were told by another attorney, after the fact.  We will be doing a review on Gregory Testa after filing a complaint with the Washington Bar.

Other Reviews on Keystone RV Company by other Folks.

We will post more reviews on Keystone and other types of RV's on this site  These are video reviews on why you should never buy an RV from this manufacture.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution: Alan Hoffer | Author(s): Alan Hoffer  | Article Updates: From February 5, 2024 to December 22, 2024 | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: Alan Hoffer & Melissa More

Hotels: Our Review of Richland Homewood Suites Hotel by Hilton

Know Before You Go.

Price was $252.86 for a King Room with a view of buildings.  The furniture and curtains had a somewhat outdated look and the furniture was mismatched for the price of the room.  The room had a small couch that appeared to have a Herculon fabric.  The rug appeared to be clean, but it had an outdated 1970's look to it as well.

There was a small kitchenette with a two burner stove and there were dishes to use in the cupboard. The dishes were clean. There was a full size fridge in the room, which was clean.

What We Liked.

The room was good sized and had a walk in shower, which was clean. There was a lighted mirror in the bathroom with a vanity, this too was clean.

The room had two good sized LED TV's in it, (one in the living area and the other in the bedroom).

We liked the fact the room had a kitchenette, which saves you money, rather than eating out at expensive fast food restaurants while on the road.

The hotel also had a free breakfast, which we had scrambled eggs, waffles, juice, potatoes, oatmeal, and fruit, the food quality was ok.  The floors and counters appeared to be clean. The room did have sanitizer towelette's by the TV remote controls on the dressers.

There were tissues and other toiletries in bathroom area.  The bed was comfortable and the sheets and linen appeared to be clean.  There was not much of a perfume smell in the room, which we really appreciated not having, as this sometimes can gag you and I have breathing issues with perfumes.  The room had internet access and it was not slow and was easy to connect to it.

Issues We Found at the Hotel.

The room was mostly clean with the exception of the beds head-board.  The head-board appeared to have something on it.  We were not sure if it was food or what it was, but we did not touch it.

The heating/air conditioner was making a lot of noise during the night.

About the Staff

We spoke to the maintenance person about the heating/air conditioner. The gentleman apologized for the inconvenience it caused during our sleep.  The maintenance person thanked us for alerting him, he stated it likely needed to be replace and that they would look at it.

The reception person was polite and asks us about our stay.

Amenities

• Two T.V.'s
• King Size Bed
• Kitchenette with full size refrigerator.
• Internet access
• Fitness Center - We didn't use or check for cleanness
• Swimming Pool - We didn't use or check for cleanness

Why we gave this rating.

We gave this rating because of the dirty headboard on the bed and the noisy heater/air conditioner, otherwise we would have rated this as 4 star hotel.

The fabric appeared to be outdated, but it did not look like it was actually old.  According to the price that Hilton was charging for the hotel room, it really should have more updated rugs, drapes, couch and chairs.  The colors in the room were to dark. The food was editable, but it could have been of a higher quality for as much as the hotel is charging on the per night rate.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution: Alan Hoffer | Author(s): Alan Hoffer  | Date: March 20, 2024 | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: Alan Hoffer - Room Photos, Richland Homewood Suites - Snapshot of hotel exterior website picture

Security Cameras: Our Review of the Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera

What To Know Before You Buy A Smart Home Camera.

UPDATED ON July 14, 2025 We have updated our views on Arlo camera monitoring as being two thumbs down.  We were a little skeptical about paying for the monitoring of the camera, but it was nice feature for the first year.  We then started to experienced a cost increase for having our cameras online.  In our last billing it went from roughly $180.00 to over $237.00 in the second year.  We contacted the company by chat and we started having problems right away.  We ended up being transferred to an offshore company who was handling the chat.  We asked why there was such a high cost of monitoring of the cameras, which only record events into the cloud and notify us when there is movement on the property.

The agents ignored our question and just said that our rate was $237.80 for the year and they wanted to bill our card for $475.00 for another new year as well.  We said what, why are you charging so much.  Then the agent asked if we would be using a credit card or debit card?  We said you have not even answered our question about the rate hike.  Then we where disconnected. We contacted them again and they would not answer why they increased the price and wanted to know if we were going to pay by debit or credit card.  We told them to cancel the service. 

After canceling the service, the next day, the company then started to trigger our cameras, while the service was off, we kept getting motion detector notifications on our phones.  Basically the company was screwing around with the cameras, turning them on and off to create notifications on our phones while at work.  We end up taking the cameras off the network totally, so these cameras are basically worthless, you can even use them without them going off every other minute and causing alerts.  We also noticed that company is using oversea agents and we thought this was stored in the cloud and if its being monitored, the monitoring was happening within the United States.  It appears, its not being recorded locally and its not being monitored in the United States, either.  We find this very concerning.

Previous Review from 2024 Image quality, low light, resolution, zoom and field of view are some really important factors to consider when having security cameras.  These factors will make a big difference in how effective your camera system is at facial recognition, vehicle detection, and detecting other types of movement like animals from a distance and at night.  Other important features are notification of motion and/or storage of the videos in the cloud.

A Little Bit How We Became Aware Of Arlo Cameras

We got some cameras for my birthday this year from our neighbor.  Are neighbors are some nice folks, we hope you have neighbors like this too.  We exchange little gifts on birthdays and holidays.  We also watch each others homes too.

A couple years back, we had a neighborhood burglar who was breaking into homes.  One beautiful morning, I got up early and was home for the day.  I went outside to enjoy my coffee and the sun.  Low and behold there was a man who walked up to my neighbors home and started to loudly knock on their door.  Not thinking too much about it, I sat and watched him quietly as I was drinking my coffee.  Then all of a sudden that loud knocking became loud kicks at the door and it no longer looked like the person was trying to get the neighbor to answer the door.  It looked more like a crime was about to be committed.  I had my cell phone on me, so I immediately called the police and let the police know that someone was trying to break into my neighbors home.

Long story short, the police arrived and arrested the guy after the burglar set off the neighbors alarm and then causally tried to walk away.  I provided the police dispatcher minute by minute details of what the man was doing and where he was going too, until the police got there.  Needless to say, after helping our neighbor we have been good friends ever since.

Well would it not be nice if everyone would have someone watching their home, so when someone comes around to rob your home and then starts trying to kick the door down, your neighbor calls the police for you.

Our Review Of A Wireless Cloud Based Camera.

Well, most people don't have neighbors that care that much or want to get involved with someone robbing your home.  Thankfully, today there are cameras that can and will notify you while you are away from your property and when someone has entered your property.  The camera technology of these cameras that we are reviewing here are amazing as compared to just several short years ago.

We are talking a high definition 1080p video with a wide angle view of 130º.  The features don't just end there either.  These cameras that we tested and then bought more of are also wireless, which makes them a snap for an easy installation without wires.  The cameras have an integrated spot light, so you can get colored video at night too should you need it.  The cameras have motion detectors, they directly connect to WiFi, and they have internal chargeable batteries, which can last up to six months, depending on the use.  Other options allow you to connect a small solar panel to the camera, so the battery can be constantly charged during the day time when there is sun.

The monitoring software allows you to blow up or magnify the video too, while watching live or after the video is recorded and your reviewing the video.  Depending on how close the subject is and the type of cameras you have installed, you can get a pretty crystal clear image of the person, vehicle, or subject you are video taping.

This is video of one of our camera's at night.  We were able to spot a person in our yard, while we where away from the home and we posted it on Facebook and Nextdoor.com.  People in another city recognized the same person who was walking in our yard was also prowling through their yards at night too.  We were able to get our neighbor to check the home, but the person already left the property without doing any damage.

Here is a snapshot of one of our camera's at night.

We liked that these cameras allow you to store the video in the cloud too.  No equipment needed.  This feature of course requires you to have a paid monitoring account, whereas the cameras can be monitored through a monthly or yearly plan.  The nice thing about these being monitored is you can get notified 24x7 on your phone when someone enters the monitored zones being watched by your cameras.  Also, the video is not kept locally on any equipment and can be downloaded or shared from the cloud without the worry of someone damaging the DVR or having recording equipment failure.  Paying for a account allows you to be notified in real time if something is picked up in the zone your camera is watching.  This makes it easy for you to call the police or even a friend, then explaining to that person what is going on your property.  You can easily provided the police a copy or share the video too.

This system also has options of a door bell camera, so you can monitor and/or speak with people who come to your home, while your away or there on the premises.  The cameras allow you to monitor packages that are delivered to your home too.  The monitoring cost is reasonable.  If you don't have monitoring then the cameras can only be viewed live and there is no saving the video to the cloud.

We have a local professional camera system that records the video to a DVR, but the problem is it can't notify you when someone is on the premise like this Arlo system can.  That's why we like it, plus it was easy to install and setup. Within a couple of hours, we had 3 cameras installed and setup.  Arlo then gives you a test account to use for several months for free too.  If you pay for monitoring for the year, its a little less expensive then buying it by the month.  Arlo has all kinds of different cameras available for all types of uses, either for an indoor or outdoor setting.

We are currently happy with our system, even though it requires you to pay for an account to get the live monitoring.  We're not fans of monthly bills, so if you don't want a monthly or a yearly bill, then this system is not a camera system for you.  For our use, this camera system works good for us and allows us monitor our home when we are not home.  We will provide a review later of the monitoring service.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution:  | Author(s): Alan Hoffer -  - | Date: September 19, 2024, UDATE on July 14, 2025 | | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: 

Computers: Our Review of Dell's 2 in 1 Laptop

Manufacture: Dell
Model Number: Dell XPS15
MSRP:
Recommendation: 
Two Thumbs Down!

We bought this computer online from Dell's website.  The computer has been sent back to Dell multiple times to be fixed.  When we first got the computer, the keyboard was not working properly right from the day we received the computer.  After troubleshooting the issue, Dell sent out a box to return the computer.  The computer was supposedly fixed.  We continued to have issues and had to contact support again.  After some adjustment the mouse started to work better.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution:  | Author(s):  -  - | Date: | | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: