Disgruntled Customer? (janjane thread on RV.net)

Please don't think me a "jerk". I really want Heartland to be a great unit because I want to order that Big Country in January! I keep finding this stuff.

If you are interested...check out this thread from RV.net Somebody is venting about their Sundance. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23439731.cfm

No one thinks your a "jerk". Problems will come up, but there are ways to handle them. If you go about asking for help in a decent way, (not saying she didn"t), but we do not know all the facts. There are no pictures posted, dates or anything other than a single post.

You're not a jerk at all. Is she a member here? Did she voice her complaint to her dealer? The factory?

Too little information.

SJH said:

Please don't think me a "jerk". I really want Heartland to be a great unit because I want to order that Big Country in January! I keep finding this stuff.

If you are interested...check out this thread from RV.net Somebody is venting about their Sundance. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23439731.cfm

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Heartland is a great unit and company. we have a big horn 3670, have had a few issues, but Heartland has been there to remedy the problems as have their suppliers.

As I responded to you in your PM to me, you have to take some of the posts with a grain of salt.

The information shared on a forum by a poster is very rarely the complete story. You never know how the unit was used (or abused) or how they went about seeking assistance.

Has Heartland built a lemon??? Who knows but my opion is yes. Will they stand behind it?? I can only judge them on my personal experience with them, and yes they will. If you start out asking the right questions to the right people, IMO you will get the help you need.

Does any one make a perfect coach. NO. Does any other manufacturer respond on an open forum?? Maybe but I have not seen it. That in itself should indicate what kind of company Heartland is.

If you go on other forums about different things, you will find that Dodge, Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan etc. etc. all appear to have lemons out there. Guess what?-nothing is perfect.

Follow these simple rules and you will put the odds in your favor for a great rig.

Buy the floorplan you like from the whatever manufacturer you like.

Don't dwell on some of these negative posts, make up your own mind. Some of these posts are designed by the OP just to get a rise out of people.

Believe what your eyes are telling you when you look at different units.

After you have bought, if problems arise, deal with them in a mature and courteous way. Dont beat a dead horse on forums because you think your unit should be trouble free and perfect.

Most importantly, if and when you buy, ENJOY the rig. One way of doing this is buying with in your budget. Sometimes I wonder if people get in over their heads financially so they take it out on the forums and vent they bought a peice of junk.

Good luck.

Well put Larry. All I can add is "What he said!"

Keith

I agree......Larry did a great job in answering the post!

The information and ideas that he expressed can and should be applied to many if not all areas of life. I think if you follow this kind of thinking when dealing with people......you will come out ahead in the long run!

Randy

Great Post, Larry!

Larry:
In regard to "After you have bought, if problems arise, deal with them in a mature and courteous way. Dont beat a dead horse on forums because you think your unit should be trouble free and perfect".
I can only add: MAKE A FINAL POST TO THE THREAD WHEN THE PROBLEM IS RESOLVED! Let people know that most of the time Heartland and the subvendors DO come through for their customers. I see many warranty problems encountered threads with no indication of the final resolution. Make that final post - even if it is many months since the initial post. Don't leave a negative feeling about Heartland and the vendors in other owners/potential buyer's minds by not telling the WHOLE story!

I agree with all the comments above especially Larry's. We purchased our Bighorn back in April and we love it. Yes we had some issues. Became complicated because our dealer went out of buisness and this can happen to all brands. However, Heartland has come through for us. I have not had to fight with anyone to get issues resolved. Just expalin the situation and they have taken care of it. Their customer service is first rate. In addition, they have one indvidual (Jim Beletti) whose position is Director of Owners Interests. That's his only job. Don't think there is another manufacturer that does that.

My 2 cents.

Ted

Before actually taking possession of our unit (we had already bought it 5 months prior), I also read the negative posts and started shaking in my boots. The fears were unfounded.

Without rehashing old posts about my minor trials and tribulations, I'll just say that I'm a happy Heartland customer and they, along with my dealer (General RV, Birch Run, MI), have not let me down. I would not hesitate to buy Heartland again, from the same dealer, if we were to ever replace the 3670.

Larry hit the nail on the head, though.

Thanks guys.
What Bill (wdk450) pointed out is just as important--Make final post when the issue is resolved.. Good advice Bill. Thank you for pointing that out.

Larry, "you hit the nail on the head". As to people buying something they cant afford. I have witnessed this over and over again in the auto industry. 45 years of it by the way. They want an Escalade (can barely afford a Tahoe) because their neighbor has one. These are the people that scream the loudest about a problem they have with it. Its is normallly about the time the payment is due.

As a side note...I was watching the news while I was typing this. It was story of some baby getting burned by hot water out of a fauset. The mother was being interviewed. This an exact quote" nobody ever told me that hot water from a fauset would burn my baby". WHAT..HUH....did I hear that right?????? What a MORON. So these are the people that are going to be running this Country I wonder if she is related to Nancy Pelosi. Heaven help us. Bob

Bob&Patty said:

Larry, "you hit the nail on the head". As to people buying something they cant afford.

So these are the people that are going to be running this Country I wonder if she is related to Nancy Pelosi. Heaven help us. Bob

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Can't help but agree with the Nancy Pelosi comment! I do fail to see the connection between people who have issues with their rig and those that buy something they can't afford! Enlighten me!

SJH, if you have ever worked in a service type industry you will know what I am talking about.

1. I buy a nicer vehicle than my neighbor because I can. He's jealous, comes over to look at it and picks it apart. True story.

2. New Escalade $70K....$1200.00 a month
New Tahoe $40K...$450.00 a month

3. People that can afford higher priced things tend to be a little less aggressive if something goes wrong. They will calmly explain what is wrong and expect it to be repaired.

4. People that buy something over there heads are not. They come unscrewed when something goes wrong. Rant and rave about it. Threaten to sue everybody. They are very rude to the people that can help them. They stand in the middle of the showroom or service drive and yell as loud as they can that what they bought was a big piece of crap. So now the owner is mad, the managers are mad, all the people that will repair it are mad. Here we are now, no one wants to deal with this person or their problems.

5. There is 1 person that we have as a customer that is not the normal person with money though. Everytime he comes in for service he gets out of his car and yell's "Im a doctor and need someone to help right now". Well this is how it works for him. Everybody laughs at him and walks away. Even the owner and managers ignor him. There is some justice in this world.


I wish I could tell you all the stories that I have witnessed in my life time. It would take a novel to do it. The moral is, be nice and someone will try to help you. Be a jerk and stand with empty hands just wanting. Bob

Oh, how true Bob!!! I've seen it this way in the boat world for over 30 years. The squeeky wheel, most of the time, should have never even had the bicycle. As such, they ALWAYS get put to the end of the line in MY shop.
I guess I'm getting a little cranky myslelf.

Gary, the regulator came yesterday. Its brand new..whats up with that?? The best story is the guy that bought a new '68 olds. He did not buy it from our dealer. At that time you could tell a customer that you need to take it back to the selling dealer. It made him mad...............so... he kept parking in front of OUR dealer with signs and lemons all over it. One day the the owner of OUR dealer called the tow company that we used and had it towed away. Lemons and all. Boy was he mad when he came back to get his car. We told him the cops had the car. NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN.

Bob&Patty said:

2. New Escalade $70K....$1200.00 a month
New Tahoe $40K...$450.00 a month

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40K X 6 year @ 7.25 % is $700/month
70K X 6 year @ 7.25% is $1225/month

I think either payment is beyond ridiculous to pay for a vehicle, but everyone has their own priorities and reality.

Build it faster and cheaper. The new American way how sad is that.

Geez...glad I never had to work in the service industry!! Good luck with that...you must be a very patient person!

Bob&Patty said:

SJH, if you have ever worked in a service type industry you will know what I am talking about.

1. I buy a nicer vehicle than my neighbor because I can. He's jealous, comes over to look at it and picks it apart. True story.

2. New Escalade $70K....$1200.00 a month
New Tahoe $40K...$450.00 a month

3. People that can afford higher priced things tend to be a little less aggressive if something goes wrong. They will calmly explain what is wrong and expect it to be repaired.

4. People that buy something over there heads are not. They come unscrewed when something goes wrong. Rant and rave about it. Threaten to sue everybody. They are very rude to the people that can help them. They stand in the middle of the showroom or service drive and yell as loud as they can that what they bought was a big piece of crap. So now the owner is mad, the managers are mad, all the people that will repair it are mad. Here we are now, no one wants to deal with this person or their problems.

5. There is 1 person that we have as a customer that is not the normal person with money though. Everytime he comes in for service he gets out of his car and yell's "Im a doctor and need someone to help right now". Well this is how it works for him. Everybody laughs at him and walks away. Even the owner and managers ignor him. There is some justice in this world.


I wish I could tell you all the stories that I have witnessed in my life time. It would take a novel to do it. The moral is, be nice and someone will try to help you. Be a jerk and stand with empty hands just wanting. Bob

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I would have to say that there are those type of people out there that are never happy money or no money. I use to work with many millionaires and big buisness booking trips for them on private jets and they can be even worse. They expect everything and when something that goes wrong out of your hand ie the weather, they expect you to play God and fix everything now.