Heartland RVs QC Program - A Review

jbeletti

Well-known member
As many of us know and understand, recreational vehicles are very complex units, consisting of many of the same systems we find in our residential homes (i.e. plumbing, heating, electrical, audio/video, cabinetry, flooring, furniture, appliances, etc.). On top of that, the majority of today’s RVs have multiple rooms that mechanically slide out of the main body of the coach. With all of this lumbering down the road, over hill and dale, our coaches are going to take some punishment.

What will set our Heartland coaches apart from other brands is the engineering that goes into it (frame, suspension, walls/ceiling/roof and all other systems). What will ensure that the best laid plans (the engineering) are followed during the construction/assembly of our coaches is a robust QC program. As Heartland has grown, so has their QC program.

On November 7, 2006, I met with Heartland’s Manager of Quality Control, Rich Egnor. The purpose of my visit was to better understand Heartland’s current QC program, see it in action first-hand and ask questions about it.

Below are my observations and comments.

Summary:
It’s real! Heartland does have a rigorous written QC program and a QC Manager with a team of 13 inspectors. The team “can” halt the line and is the final word on “OK to Ship”.

Detail:
A few days prior, I contacted Scott Tuttle, Heartland RVs VP of Marketing and told him I would be in the area for business and would like to stop over at Heartland’s main plants after my business and meet with their QC Manager and go over their QC program. Scott agreed to this readily.

On the afternoon of November 7, 2006, I stopped at Heartland’s Bighorn/Big Country plant and asked for Rich Egnor. Rich met me at the reception desk, we donned safety glasses and entered the plant floor.

We began a walking tour/discussion in the corner of the plant where the frames come in. Here, frame VIN numbers are confirmed with expectations on paperwork. The frames are also evaluated to ensure they meet specifications. One of these tests are for frame squareness. During the frame evaluation, they also rotate the frame side-to-side, 360 degrees using specialized equipment that allows the frame to be lifted and rotated.

One cornerstone of the QC process is the indoctrination process the inspectors go through, learning the written program and working on the line with seasoned inspectors before working on their own.

While I did not obtain a copy of the written QC program, the sense I gained was that it is broken down into two primary areas. One area is cosmetic and the other is systems.

Cosmetics would include fit and finish of all types and varieties, inside, deep inside (unseen areas) and outside.

Systems would include the electrical, plumbing and hydraulic systems on the coach. Inspections include running, pressurizing and using these systems to ensure proper specifications and operations are met.

A colored tape marking system is used to mark actual problem areas on a coach and a checklist on a clipboard actually travels with the unit. Units on the line actually move or roll sideways on the line and are moved 2 to 3 times per shift with the last move being out the door and onto the plant lot for shipping. In that only 2 or 3 line moves are made per unit during its construction/assembly, workers actually perform many steps on a unit while that unit is stopped in one of the 2 or 3 spots on the line. The entire time units are on the line, QC inspectors are crawling in, over and around them.

At the end of the line, it is the responsibility of the QC inspector to certify a unit as OK to Ship. If it’s not yet ready to ship, they call in any and all departments to make any and all corrections required to make that unit ready to ship.

Conclusion:
I just want to say that I witnessed first-hand that Heartland indeed has a QC program with a host of inspectors and supervisors. This QC program plays an integral role in the construction of the coach. That said, we’re still talking about trailer built with human hands and inspected by humans. Expectation of a perfectly built trailer is unrealistic. An innovatively engineered, well appointed, well built, sharp looking, very serviceable trailer is what you should expect, and I believe more often than not, Heartland delivers. And I think most of us have experienced Heartland’s dedication to customer service should anything go wrong with your coach.

Jim Beletti
 
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Ken Washington

Guest
Hi Jim,
What a nice review of the QC at Heartland! Thanks for letting us know what is going on at the plant. I think that a lot of people think that these units are just slapped together with no regard for QC. I was in QC at Sherwin Williams for 37 years and I know what it takes to get a good product out the door!

Ken
 
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Chulinw

Guest
The problem I have Heartland when you write a letter and they never respond to you then I called and left a voice message and still did not receive any response. This is also part of the QC that is not taken place.
I have had so many problems with my RL3400 and the dealer and try to get help from Heartland and they don't even try to give you any type of acknowledment then what do you do.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Chulinw;
I can attest the the fact that Heartland has responded to my letters and e-mails any time that I have written them. I have dealt with a lot of different companies and manufacturers in my sixty nine years and I find that Heartland has been at the top of my list as far as responding and answering my questions and request. Just my own experience. By the way, didn't you read Scott's answer to you two days ago? He gave you a phone number and name to contact. Why don't you try that and see what happens.
John
 
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ontheroad

Member
Heartland has answered all my questilons and solved all my problems in a short period of time. My hats off to them. over-the-road
 

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
Heartland has responded to my email very well. They have even phoned me twice to answer my questions. I have used bussiness type language and made my point without any garbage in it. Being as professional, no matter how upset you are, does get things done. Proper composure and spelling goes a long way
 

gawelsh

Well-known member
Jim - thank you so much for the QC review. It's excellent. Another point we'd like to compliment you on and thank you for is your role as moderator/administrator for this forum. It's VERY well done - informative, fun and a great way to exchange ideas. We've learned so much from it. We'd also like to say that Scott at Heartland has been very responsive to the couple of emails we posted on Ask the Factory. I'm convinced that they are very customer-oriented as a company. That's the kind of company we try to do business with.

On another forum (RV.Net), I've posted a few messages about Landmark and Heartland. One fellow is headed to Safford RV in VA today to hopefully place his order - I'm keeping in touch with him along the way....once it's ordered, I'll encourage him to join us at next year's rally!

Anyway, my point is really to say THANKS to Jim for all the work he does on our behalf.
 

DougLynne

retired Alberta Chapter Leaders
One of the reasons I did order (and since pick up) a Bighorn is the quick response I got from Scott on questions I had. One of those was QC and Scott assurred me they were working on it. We have a couple of issues that the dealer is to remedy, the last time I talked they said they were waiting for parts. Our unit came in without too many issues and we were impressed.

I also want to say what a good job Jim does with the Forum and all of you that continuously add to the Forums usefulness.

GOOD JOB HEARTLAND & Jim..../Doug
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Howdy, although I have been frustrated with a few issues, I must concur that HL has taken care of my problems, notwithstanding my dealers shortcomings, in a timely professional manner. My neighbor and good friend had my wife sell his house and he has put down a deposit on a 3670RL with a contingency on the close of escrow. They want to wait out the market in a BH before buying a new house. Maybe I should be an RV salesman, has to be more fun than lumber.............UR
 

JoeW4300

Member
Well Jim,
I see the cheerleading continues unabated. Some things will never change. It seems that perhaps the QC has improved. All well and good for future owners but for owners with older, defective, poorly made units like mine, we are on our own. Some efforts were made to fix this lemon but it can never be made into something I will be proud to own. We have had too much heartache with Heartland. After one thing is fixed, another problem developes.
The good news though is, that after owning this lemon for 19 months we will soon be rid of it. We have ordered a new RV, our ninth, and will soon put all of this behind us. This has been by far (there is no second place) our worst purchase in over thirty years of RVing. Actually, this is our worst purchase ever in 41 years of marriage. I have pages of documented deficiencies on this unit. Many were minor which I repaired myself and many were major, most of which are still deficient.
So, good luck to all, check your tire pressure often in those Chinese tires, watch out for defective axles and wheels, make sure the slides stay retracted, be careful with the black water valves, check your fresh water tank should you actually want to put water in it as it is likely to fall out, watch out for hot to cold and cold to hot in the plumbing system (nothing quite like hot water in the commode), be carefull the vinyl doesn't get pulled up when you retract the slide, try to keep up with the rain water leaks if you can, hold on tightly to the drawers as you open them as they may never close properly again, watch out for the slide hitting the ceiling fan as you retract the doorside slide, check that you don't have anythng under the hydraulic pump as it will get wet when the pump leaks, make yourself a latch for the door that separates the bedroom from the living area as the door will come unlatched with the first bump in the road you hit. I'm sure I will see some Heartland products on the road as I travel. I will be forever grateful that I no longer have one.
In fairness, Dave Partin made great efforts to make things right as did Randys successor. The dealer was great with sales, abysmal in service. Needless to say our new RV will not be a Heartland product nor was it purchased from a dealer which carries Heartland products. Was my experience as bad as I make it out to be? No folks and Jim, it was way worse. This is an industry sorely in need of regulation. A lemon law for RVs can't be too many years away.
Jim, you have been a cheerleader for Heartland all along. I can't help but wonder what the real connection is. You will not have the opportunity to ban me from the site as you did Wildwood as this is my last post and my last visit.
I can't tell you how happy I am that this will soon be a distant, bad memory.
Get real, get right, get rolling. Do the right thing and make Heartland take care of these problems so no one else goes through what we have.
Gone forever,
joew4300
 

Cooper

Well-known member
Good luck with your next coach.
Sounds like your dealer is a joke I understand that. Heartland has always responded to my questions. I did not get all my issues solved by Heartland or the dealer from my point of view but, I still like my Golden Gate.
You mentioned tires and wheels 99.9% of RV have foreign made wheels and tires. I know I have searched for wheels that where American made and ended up just replacing the tires. ALCOA was the only wheel MFG that came close but no luck.
So good luck with your next dealer and coach but, how do you know if their any better.
 

elwaller39

Evans & Lana
I wish Joew4300 all the best of luck in the future and happy camping also. To You, Jim and Scott, we could not have better people on this form to inform us as the two of you have. I know yous have round shoulders and this well roll off in time. Keep up the good work and may 2007 be a great year for all of us. Evans & Lana
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
Let me echo the comments from Evans and Lana. 99% of us appreciate the fine work on the forum and Jim's and Scott's timely information.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
I had an 06, 3055RL and had a lot of the problems that you read about on this forum. Particually in the quality of workmanship. Did I broadcast it to everybody I saw and post it on every forum? No. But working with my dealer and dealer working with Heartland people, I was made happy. Would I have another? You bet. I just took delivery of an 08 model 3055RL. :D Do I like it? You bet!! :D The changes are a great improvement. And the quality of workmanship is greatly improved.

If Heartland will continue to back their dealers and maybe be a just little more selective of their dealers based on service satisfaction and not just sales volume, then Heartland will build a better public image in the RV industry.

There will always be someone that is never happy. I just hope JoeW4300 is not putting all his eggs in the same basket.

Just my 2 cents worth.:)

Jim
 
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Chulinw

Guest
I agree with you Jomtoo and would purchase another Heartland. If I could get a deal on the Landmark I would move up. They have made improvements in the product and I really like one of the new colors they came out with for the 08 model. Yes I have had problems with my Bighorn but I see that they are make greater improvements and they did prove to me that they do care about their customers because they took care of me even out of the warranty period. So with that I will be seeing them in the Tampa RV show.
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
Chulinw

When is the Tampa RV show you referred to, where is it located, what are the hours and how much is it?
 

ct0218

Well-known member
The show is Jan 17-21, at the Tampa Fairgrounds, US 301 and I-4. They have 1 day and multiple day passes, and you'll need several days. Try the sponsor, the Florida RV Trade Assn website, flrvta.com, and email or call. They should be able to tell you everything you want to know. Last year there were at least 2 Heartland dealers there, plus about every mfg in the business.
 

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
I too echo Jimtoo's post. Our 3055 has a defect list of over 100 issues. 95% were small and would not be noticed by most people. I just looked at everything with a fine eye. The salesman handed me a roll of masking tape and said "tape what you want fixed". The inside turned green with tape. Could you get me some more, please?? Heartland stood behind everything. The dealer fixed everything. I had to stand on the dealer a few times, but all is fixed, except some gelcoat that has to be redone, because the sub trade hired to do it could not get it right.
I could have put all of my problems on the forum, but choose not to, as Heartland did thier part. Thanks to Scott, he answered emails and phone calls promptly and thanks to Chris LaPaz for phoning to see if things where getting done properly
Yes I would buy another Heartland!!
 

ct0218

Well-known member
We had some issues, but then again I've had issues with every RV I've owned. Just symtomatic of the industry in my opinion. Doesn't make it right, but what company wants to be the first to spend the extra time required to make everything right and have to raise their prices because of it? You get what you pay for in most cases, and I believe it is true here. I think Heartland is a very good value-you get a lot for what you pay-and usually the trade off is the little annoying things that should have been caught and corrected at the factory. I have fixed a few things and so has the dealer but it is no big deal. Gives me something to do! I realize that some have had some major problems, but, that happens. I believe that RV's are no different than automobiles or most other products that are assembled from a variety of parts made by a lot of different companies. Sometimes one gets put together and it is nothing but one big mess. Overall, I am very happy with my Landmark and would buy another. I knew going in to this that a new company building a new product is likely to have some problems, and especially with quality control. I think anyone that believes a 1-2 year old fast growing company will have no problems is kidding themselves. What sold me was this forum, forum members helping each other, Jim's committment and esp. Scott's/Heartland's involvement and responses directly to customers.
 

trdeal

Past North Carolina Chapter Leader
We agree with everything Clark said.We have had some problems,but our dealer and Heartland have worked to make it right. I have fixed some things myself. I have let our dealer handle some. We looked at alot of other companies before we bought our Landmark. There were none that had the features and the quality of the Heartland. Alot of people commit on the paint and design on the outside of ours. There are very few 5th wheels out there that look any nicer than the Heartland. We would buy another Landmark again, no questions ask.
 
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