Factory questionaire !

1231ChaseB

Well-known member
I have a subject that everyone can chime in on ! Why wouldn't Heartland send out a questionaire to all owner's of their product about what problems their experiencing with their unit's (RV's) As much as i like the fifth wheel i have it has been a work in progress ! It appears I'm not the only one who talk's about quality from the factory ! Is it possible they don't care ??? Seem's like this would be a good way to nail down common problem's and eliminate them ! Something new for everyone to discuss !
chaseb
 

gmc

Reitired - California-Central Chapter Leaders
I agree. I have had nothing but good luck with my 08 B/H.A questionaire would be a great idea. I'm not talking about complaining, but ideas for improvement, what you like don't like or things you would like to see or not see. I think the consumer could be a great tool for hearland to use. Maybe other brands could look into this also
 

newbie

Northern Virginia
In my opinion, and I mean this as a honest assessment, not necessary criticism, I am pretty sure they already know their shortcomings. They are trying to win sales in a highly competitive market and have a good strategy. To make their price point they build these things as fast as they can. I am sure they have QC to an extent but not at the sacrifice of production.
I guess the bottom line is we all want a luxurious RV with all the whistle's and bell's but still want it for under 60k. I think Heartland's position is they believe they are offering an attractive, contemporary RV at the lowest price possible. If your rig would have cost $5000 more than a competitors model sitting right next to it on the dealers lot and the average consumer can't SEE the difference, they would lose sales.

I think at the end of the day it is all about looks and price which equals sales. Quality control falls behind the first three. Not that they are building junk, I just think there is a fine line as to what you are going to get for the price you pay.

Based on my ownership experience, I believe they are doing a pretty good job. But there is always room for improvement :)

But if filling out a survey post card gives you a sense of satisfaction, I bet the marketing department would be all for it.
 

1231ChaseB

Well-known member
I watched for many year's as GM put quantity OVER quality and we all know what happened to them ! Now they stress getting it right so people DON'T have to take it into the dealer to get something done that SHOULD have been done at the factory ! Rv dealer's are NOT local and that makes it even harder to deal with ! Anyway it's bound to catch up to them sooner or later ! Just saying !!!!
chaseb
 

DMitch

Well-known member
I agree with 1231ChaseB 100%. But what is really funny when you read these forums is that people will put up with all kinds of quality control issues when it comes to a toy. On the other hand when they buy a new car or pickup they would not put up with one bit of it. Funny part is they pay way more money for some of these RV's than they do cars and tow vehicles. There is no where near the complexity in manufacturing or the technology involved when building RV's as there is in manufacturing vehicles. I have seen the dealer blamed, the person who bought the RV blamed for not doing a proper inspection. I think in most cases these problems you read about should not have left the factory. Oh well, just my two cents.
 

noobee

Well-known member
I agree with 1231ChaseB 100%. But what is really funny when you read these forums is that people will put up with all kinds of quality control issues when it comes to a toy. On the other hand when they buy a new car or pickup they would not put up with one bit of it. Funny part is they pay way more money for some of these RV's than they do cars and tow vehicles. There is no where near the complexity in manufacturing or the technology involved when building RV's as there is in manufacturing vehicles. I have seen the dealer blamed, the person who bought the RV blamed for not doing a proper inspection. I think in most cases these problems you read about should not have left the factory. Oh well, just my two cents.

You've hit the nail on the head!

CS
 

ultrafarmer

Well-known member
If HL would just use good quality parts, not china bombs and other cheap stuff I'm sure people would pay a little more for good trouble free RVing.
 

flameon

Active Member
I feel for what were paying for these rigs now should include trouble free RVing, as many people say that HL makes the best in the business. isn't that's why we bought them in the first place?
 

Bobby A

Well-known member
In my opinion, and I mean this as a honest assessment, not necessary criticism, I am pretty sure they already know their shortcomings. They are trying to win sales in a highly competitive market and have a good strategy. To make their price point they build these things as fast as they can. I am sure they have QC to an extent but not at the sacrifice of production.
I guess the bottom line is we all want a luxurious RV with all the whistle's and bell's but still want it for under 60k. I think Heartland's position is they believe they are offering an attractive, contemporary RV at the lowest price possible. If your rig would have cost $5000 more than a competitors model sitting right next to it on the dealers lot and the average consumer can't SEE the difference, they would lose sales.

I think at the end of the day it is all about looks and price which equals sales. Quality control falls behind the first three. Not that they are building junk, I just think there is a fine line as to what you are going to get for the price you pay.

Based on my ownership experience, I believe they are doing a pretty good job. But there is always room for improvement :)

But if filling out a survey post card gives you a sense of satisfaction, I bet the marketing department would be all for it.

Good observation and comments, what seperates and puts Heartland above the rest is the outstanding customer service.
 

Wharton

Well-known member
The DH years ago always insisted upon America built cars, I liked foreign. For a period of about 15 years we had American built cars(had 3 different brands), each one spent an inordinate amount of time in the shop for all sorts of stupid problems. My little foreign car kept on chugging. We do have an International truck for towing(best "American" made truck we have every bought) but the other cars are an 18 year old Mazda and an 11 year old Toyota. We have had not problems with either other than regular maintenance. We stopped looking at American made cars and no matter how much they have "improved" would never consider them again.

Once you lose a customer it is for life.

I honestly believe that Heartland, for the price we pay, is a good trailer. But so much is dependent upon the dealer and his PDI. Our dealer was great. It take him about a week do his end of a PDI. He runs everything, including filling the tanks, dumping the tanks etc. I asked him how ours checked out and from the factory and he said there were a few problems, not many.

I agree a tighter quality control is always in order. Remember, there are a lot of people out there that have Heartlands that are not on the forum so I assume they have no or minimal problems. We only see the problems here.

I have always thought Heartland should do a survey of the Quality Control and also a survey of the dealers from the customer perspective. Weed out the bad dealers, reward the good dealers.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
A questionaire would be nice. I have had perhaps a dozen production issues with my 3010 that should have been caught either by QC at the factory or by the dealer before I picked it up. I can tell you with a great amount of certainty that the list with the Cyclone was much, much shorter than the list I had with my previous trailer made by another manufacturer. That one ran two pages on the first warranty return.

In addition, I have been very pleased with the response from Heartland. They jump right on top of the issues that I have contacted them about and make them right.
 

DW_Gray

Well-known member
I understand your point. But honestly, why wait for a questionnaire? Clearly everyone here knows how to write. So get out your pen and paper or use your computer and write a letter to Heartland and mail it to them. I think a few hundred letters will get more attention than any questionnaire.
 

1231ChaseB

Well-known member
Writing a letter would be great BUT if it we're them sending out the questionaire it would mean that they we're showing an interest in what is going on out here !
chaseb
 

traveler44

Well-known member
I disagree with Newbie that people wouldn't pay more if they were getting better quality. We all know that if any company uses a better product or has a better way of doing anything, they advertise it as a selling point. I would think for reputation sake alone that they would be way ahead using parts and supplies that didn't need replacement by the consumer. When you look at the cost to the consumer of paying for something and then having to pay again to upgrade and sometimes labor cost. The consumer winds up paying three times as much in the long run. Figure in possible safety issues and the inconvience of having your unit fixed after blowouts and YES I would pay more to start with. Somebody advertised that an informed consumer was their biggest asset so maybe we need to be smarter consumers. Tom M.
 

tmcran

Well-known member
IMO HL does not need to send out a questionnaire. They already known they have a number of QC problems. It appears to be easier to slap them together as fast as possible and let the dealer and consumer catch as many problems as possible. Then rely on a good customer policy to take care of any additional problems. Not another R V company could stand with HL if the Goal was QC instead of just kick them out with all haste. I for one would pay more if the materials were better and some pride was shown in workmenship.
 
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