Howaboutnow wrote: It is really good to hear that Open Range gives such good customer service. And they should be rewarded for it. In our case however, with a different brand, the customer service was pretty good but the number of problems we had and number of times we had to make the 2 hour trip to the dealer to get the problems taken care became overwhelming. Good custmer service ended when we asked for our money back.
We would have much preferred to not learn how good their customer service was and purchased a 5th wheel that had been built properly to begin with.
We are going to replace our present 5th wheel after 6 years and many, many miles. Can you direct me to a brand that will be properly built in the first place and will have no problems...I got to have one of those.
spadoctor wrote: Word has it Open Range is affiliated with KZ
The story I heard was that Randy Graber was an executive with KZ before wanting to start Open Range. And KZ was closing a facility. So it worked out that KZ offered Randy the use of that facility so he could start up his new company. But they are separate companies.
This is the story I have heard from several different sources, and at different times, so it might have some truth to it in some way.
Incidentally another story is that Randy's wife said. "OK so you want to build RV's? I'll give you my support as long as I can have the rights to design the kitchens and interiors." That could be why you see so many nice designs, drapes, woodwork and fabric selections.
'12 F350 SB, CC, SRW, 6.7 PSD, 3.55 RAR, 6 spd auto, Ultimate Lariat pkg
2011 Open Range 393RLS 14,250 GVWR
Pullrite Super Glide 18K
I am close to pulling the trigger on an OR 399 BHS however I have read of several having frame flexing issues and gaps caused by the frame flexing. You can read a few of these issues on the OR owners forum.
Overall I have heard good things about OR and their customer service but this frame flexing has not been resolved. There are owners with 2009 models and owners with 2011 models. They are having frame flex issues that OR has yet to resolve. I am very concerned because a couple of the units involved are the 399 BHS which is what I am after.
Is there any RV.net member experiencing frame flex issues with their Open Range?
07'Duramax dually,12'Open Range 399BHS
Hawkshead TPMS,Hensley BD3,Killerbee exhaust brake
Blue Ox Bedsaver,air bags w/compressor
Arvika pin box bike rack,Bak Flip tonneau cover
5500 Onan LP,EMS-HW-50
14'Porta Bote w/8.0 Nissan
Vu Cube 2000,Splendide 2000S
Bought an Open Range a few years ago. Thought I was trading up when I traded it in and bought a Holiday Rambler Presidential. This was not the case. The Open Range had it all over the HR. Especially the service received from Open Range. Of all of the RVs I have owned over the years, this was the one I enjoyed the most. The HR was easily the worst.
Good to hear OR is doing such a good job, we don't hear much of the positive on this forum! We have an Arctic Fox that has been off warranty for 1 year, we are having a problem with the kitchen faucet. I talked to the head of service at Northwood and his comment to me was "well we need to fix that, take it to your nearest dealer and send us the bill!" Nice that there's some good company's still around.
1 husband 2 grown kids
2010 F-350 Lariat King Ranch, CC, diesel, short box
2009 Arctic Fox 27T
One area where I think Open Range could improve is answering email inquiries. They were usually answered in a day or two but the answers were short and curt. Not much info in the responses. So I called Customer Service and had the excellent results posted above. With email being used more and more, it is important to have talented folks staff the email and phone.
Its interesting whats happening with how customers are seeking support and assistance from the companies they purchase from.
In today's customer service delivery model, the following modes of communication are present (or are becoming more present).
Voice - the mainstay, but declining (typically companies have a tried and true strategy for how to handle a phone call - call centers, help desks, 800#s, etc.)
Email - 2 to 3 people responsible for managing an "in-box" that is fed by formatted inquiries from the company website (form-filer). Typically manual, very little reports or metrics, or automation for a smaller company like Open Range. Interestingly enough, email is becoming a laggard compared to other mediums of communication when dealing with customer service.
Web - Becoming the king avenue of customer self-service. Sadly, the "contact us now" or "click to chat" is missing - and customers are right back to the telephone 800#. Those who are offering call back or click to chat are seeing a pretty strong up-tick as the perception of fast response exists.
Social Media (like this forum) - If you can't get support from the manufacturers, get support from like-minded users... And, many companies are now looking at how to monitor and analyze and prioritize these social media mediums (Forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc., etc., etc.
Translation - email is losing ground to other mediums - but the phone still makes that annoying ringing sound when you call it... :-) Pick up the blower and make a call seems to be the rule here for a while... I'm willing to bet smaller companies like Open Range will move right past email and into Web-chat/Social Media as the web and its customer-facing nature is so prevalent!
2007 Dodge 6.7L Mega Cab CTD
2010 Open Range RT303BHS
Equalizer Hitch
Honda EU3000
Animal Planet makes some good points. Communication is changing rapidly in all forms of daily life.
We toured the Open Range factory a week ago and perhaps one reason that they're a little slow to answer emails is that they are swamped! Someone on the tour told us that there is now a six month wait on some models! The Open Range office is still small and they're probably experiencing some growing pains but all in all they're doing a very respectable job when it comes to customer service and turning out quality rigs. The employees we talked to are very excited about the company and that's a good sign!
I would recommend patience and the willingness to either try again or go through another venue to get questions answered. The Open Range Owners forum is an excellent place to get questions answered. Open Range Owners Site You don't have to own one to join or read the forum.
Peg
2012 Open Range 345rls
Dave and Peggy
2012 Open Range 345RLS
2012 Ford F350 6.7L turbo
Animal Planet wrote: Its interesting whats happening with how customers are seeking support and assistance from the companies they purchase from.
In today's customer service delivery model, the following modes of communication are present (or are becoming more present).
Voice - the mainstay, but declining (typically companies have a tried and true strategy for how to handle a phone call - call centers, help desks, 800#s, etc.)
Email - 2 to 3 people responsible for managing an "in-box" that is fed by formatted inquiries from the company website (form-filer). Typically manual, very little reports or metrics, or automation for a smaller company like Open Range. Interestingly enough, email is becoming a laggard compared to other mediums of communication when dealing with customer service.
Web - Becoming the king avenue of customer self-service. Sadly, the "contact us now" or "click to chat" is missing - and customers are right back to the telephone 800#. Those who are offering call back or click to chat are seeing a pretty strong up-tick as the perception of fast response exists.
Social Media (like this forum) - If you can't get support from the manufacturers, get support from like-minded users... And, many companies are now looking at how to monitor and analyze and prioritize these social media mediums (Forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc., etc., etc.
Translation - email is losing ground to other mediums - but the phone still makes that annoying ringing sound when you call it... :-) Pick up the blower and make a call seems to be the rule here for a while... I'm willing to bet smaller companies like Open Range will move right past email and into Web-chat/Social Media as the web and its customer-facing nature is so prevalent!
Whether it's direct email, fill-in forms or responding to a post on a Facebook wall, it's =all= electronic communication and =all= deserve a proper and courteous answer. On a social media site, not all answers should be posted in public and, if the poster hasn't given their PM address, they should be asked for it; if they send a PM right off the bat, that solves the problem, but it's still the equivalent of an email. The company needs good people to answer the phones =as well as= other forms of communication. A good phone person may not be the right one to answer emails/Facebook messages, especially if they can't write properly. IMO, =nothing= shows a lack of professionalism like poor writing skills, with poor speaking skills not far behind. FWIW, part of my job entails answering phones, emails and messages from other web sites (that come through as email) all day long. I've always striven to write with proper grammar, spelling and clarity and take pride that I do so. When I see some of the posts here, that are barely readable or make no sense, I just ignore them; I simply don't have time to waste in trying to decipher the nonsense.
Lyle
* This post was
edited 10/05/11 01:37pm by laknox *
2002 GMC Sierra 2500 HD Duramax Crew Cab 4x4
Banks Bullet Tuner and Monster Exhaust
B&W Turnover Ball with 5th Wheel Companion
2004 Komfort 25FSG Fifth Wheel
1936 John Deere Model A
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