Picked up our new 2011 305 rw

Well we recieved our new unit on saturday and was very unhappy with the dealers service and interaction with us. The unit was not prepared for us. The PDI was not complete.The dealer tried to charge us $ 2,000.00 for the PDI. We refused to pay.Dealer said it was required by Heartland for the warranty to be activated.Did NOT pay anyway.This should be free to buyer. We are very pleased with our choice of the 305 rw. Adding two 6 volt batteries today. This will be our first trip with the new unit. Already having problems with water heater, water leaking under unit, still waiting on ladder to be ordered, one set of keys, others on order, etc. Its a same these units are not checked at the factory before they leave. Where are the quality control inspectors. These units are not cheap !!!! I can only hope it gets better from here. It seems that the Heatland community is a GREAT group of people and looking forward to many years of interaction with everyone....

Congratulations on the new toyhauler!
Looks fantastic!!
Hope all yer issues are small - there is some great advice & tips to be had on this forum.
Happy Camping!

Chris & Carol, Help me understand this. You went to pick up your new rig and the dealer basically hands you the keys and you hook up and go? They didn't do a walk through and test the functionality of the trailer and it's components? No PDI?
I think if I were in your shoes I would be on the phone to Heartland Customer Service ASAP. I've heard of dealers charging a nominal "set up fee" of a couple hundred bucks but what you experienced is ridiculous. Hopefully you'll be able to take care of some of the minor issues that would have been found during a PDI. I'm sure things will be fine in the end. Remember, we're here for ya!

A dealer saying that $2000 is required for the PDI so the warranty will be honored is an absolute lie! We spent over half a day going through every nook, cranny, and operation when we picked up our rig and there was no charge what so ever and we have had no issues with Heartland honoring warranty requests. They even sent me parts directly when I called them with a couple of minor issues. That being said, hope you enjoy your new rig. There will be small problems and possibly a few larger ones as your rig ages. Afterall, we are dragging these houses around on some not so great roadways. The more maintenance you can do yourself, the more you will learn and the more enjoyable your ownership experience will become. Yes, the factory QC/QA process could stand a little improvement, but that could be said for every RV manufacturer.

Hey Ray! We need to go into the business of performing PDI's for customers, when I show up with the shotgun and a couple of cattle prods just to get the dealers full and complete attention we could start the inspection. And trust me it probably would take all day and I could almost say for certain that the unit would not leave the dealers lot that day. They would have about a weeks worth of QC items to correct.
This dealer wanting to charge $2k for some BS made up charge is just mind blowing, get your money back and go find a real dealer that actually wants your business>

After they charge you the 2k, they turn around and charge heartland the hourly service rate for all the repairs. Who was the dealer so I can steer clear of them!

Brett

I think we should start a Heartland dealer hit list, the good, bad and the ugly.

I would rather do my own PDI. I think all my PDI consisted of was a quick wash on the outside and putting a hand full of the dealer stickers all over they outside. As is often the case, the guy showing us through the unit when we took delivery, knew less about it than we did. I'm sure the smoke screen they put out works on many customers. I have no plans to ever go back there. I too would like to see a "Dealer to avoid hit list" but it wouldn't be fair to Heartland. They also have to work with who they have. We don't always get to choose our dance partners...Don

ccupton said:

Well we recieved our new unit on saturday and was very unhappy with the dealers service and interaction with us. The unit was not prepared for us. The PDI was not complete.The dealer tried to charge us $ 2,000.00 for the PDI. We refused to pay.Dealer said it was required by Heartland for the warranty to be activated.Did NOT pay anyway.This should be free to buyer. We are very pleased with our choice of the 305 rw. Adding two 6 volt batteries today. This will be our first trip with the new unit. Already having problems with water heater, water leaking under unit, still waiting on ladder to be ordered, one set of keys, others on order, etc. Its a same these units are not checked at the factory before they leave. Where are the quality control inspectors. These units are not cheap !!!! I can only hope it gets better from here. It seems that the Heatland community is a GREAT group of people and looking forward to many years of interaction with everyone....

Click to expand...

First off, welcome to the Heartland Family and congratulations on your new rig.
Secondly, cudos to you for standing your ground with the Dealership. It is unfortunate that some dealerships out there have to turn what should be an awesome experience into a very bad day filled with frustration and possibly regrets. I hope you get everything worked out and can spend your time camping and making happy memories.

Mark

Chris, just who is the dealer?? As your "fearless leader" as Trace (TANDT) calls me. I would like to know and I hope its not who I think it is. Anyway welcome to the HL family and to the Socal Chapter. If you ever need help...we are all here for you and Carol. If you ever need my help, send me a PM or email. Bob and Pat

Thanks everyone for all of the support. The first two letters of the dealer is MC. They said the manufactures do not check through the coaches like car dealers do. Thankfully we debated the 2k and didn't have to pay. But, I have the paperwork that would be worth sharing with Heartland as commented above. Great idea! I love the other response to go into business of PDI inspections. I actually laughed out loud on that one. I would never want Heartland to have trouble dealing with companies. From what I've seen on here they rock! I can't tell you how really nice it is to have all of you who care and share your solutions and excitement for the RV family. We solved a few of the issues on our RV on our own thankfully. Quite a few of the comments on here really helped us to know what to look for and fix the situations. We had our maiden voyage out in the coach and just relaxed. It made the best place to have a birthday party with the family and friends. I look forward to meeting many of you. Thank you again for all the comments. Chris and Carol

It's good to hear everything worked out to your satisfaction. Enjoy the new rig.
Also check out opportunities for Heartland Owners Club goings on. California has a couple of Club Chapters that hold rallies for any Heartland Owner. You don't have to be an owners club member to attend but it does have it's advantages.

Congrats on the new toyhauler. Y'all will really enjoy the 305 model. We bought our 305 RW almost 2 years ago and have enjoyed every trip in it. As a matter of fact, we just got back yesterday from an 8 day camping trip (Spring Break). If you have any questions about it, just fire away and i'll be glad to help with answers.

Your dealer told you another fib. HL does pay the dealer to PDI a coach before the consumer takes delievery. MC is not Giant RV who is the dealer in our area. You can post the "real" name of the dealer so no one else gets burned. As to Socal rallies, we will have one later this year at Pechega Casino. SO.....stay tuned.

OK its Mc Mahons RV of colton. Also keep us posted on the rally in socal. We will be there. I need a date as soon as possible so I can set my calender from work....

Chris, will do. McMahon's...that figures. They told me my 2500 would pull a 16K coach and be legal too. Never went back.

FYI about General RV Centers...they pretty much 'make' you stay the night at their facility...all roped off, separated from the public...and they go through EVERY system with you. They want you to take a shower, make meals, work all the systems THERE so any issues are discovered before you take off down the road. This was one of the many reasons we chose them. Since we have to travel 3 days to pick up our coach (RW 405) and won't have a 'local' dealer if we have any issues. They are also working with Camping World to install our W/D and every single step of this adventure has been excellent. They kept is 'in the loop' from day one on our status (we had our built, since we couldn't find one for sale). I'm so sorry to hear you had such bad customer service.

We all chose Heartland for their integrity and commitment to quality...too bad all the dealers out there don't abide by the same code. Heartland owners are the most informed owners out there...we all took the time to research the company we chose to buy from, scoured this site top to bottom, and expect any dealer to have the same philosophy. Maybe some other owners out there would let something like this slide, but not a Heartland owner!! GOOD JOB on calling their bluff! Welcome to the family!!

This is a good link to relay both good and bad experiences with dealers.

http://www.rvservicereviews.com/Index.asp