ATF: Greystone - Greystone - Seat Tech Sofa

RJW993

Member
I bought a Greystone 29MK last March and immediately found that the Seating Technologies sofa that came with the trailer has serious design issues. When it is opened the head end of the bed is 3 inches lower than the foot end. The dealer has tried working with Seat Tech several times and the only change they could recommend ends up tilting the seat forward when it is closed up, making it very uncomfortable for sitting. They are not offering any more help at this point. Do you have any suggestions?
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
I think I would get HL service involved. Give them a call and discuss the issue with them.
 
J

Jim_Hickey

Guest
I apologize for the inconvenience. I have taken your concern and forwarded it on to our purchasing and warranty departments. When they reply to me as to how to proceed, I will let you know.
 

RJW993

Member
Thanks for the quick reply. I looked at the 2012 models and they have a different model of sofa, possibly to address this issue.
 
We had the same problem, but I looked at legs where the fold out portion rests on the floor, and found a large stack of spacers. So, I removed them to make the bed usable. We have a 2011 Greystone 29MK also.
 

JJnLilly

Well-known member
I had the same issues and Seating Technologies "fix" was to put risers under the legs of the couch to raise it to meet the level of the folded out part. This was nice, except it made setting on the couch very uncomfortable. It is for certain that a furniture designer did not have a had in the original design. We finally gave up and I removed the risers and if we need extra sleeping space, the air mattress goes on the floor. We are looking at completely getting rid of the monster and putting in a more useful piece of furniture. (See my other posts on this problem)
 

Mandotar

Member
Good morning. My dealer and I have been waiting for a response from Heartland warranty on this same sofa issue. Please let me know what you all have learned on the issue since posting several months ago.

Thank you.
29MK Greystone 2011
 

JJnLilly

Well-known member
Probably too late for me, but would like to know what Seat Tech comes up with. From what I can tell it was not a furniture designer/engineer that put this thing together.
 

relocator

Member
I bought a Greystone 29MK last March and immediately found that the Seating Technologies sofa that came with the trailer has serious design issues. When it is opened the head end of the bed is 3 inches lower than the foot end. The dealer has tried working with Seat Tech several times and the only change they could recommend ends up tilting the seat forward when it is closed up, making it very uncomfortable for sitting. They are not offering any more help at this point. Do you have any suggestions?

I have the same problem with a 2011 32RL I just purchased this winter. My question is: Did Jim Hickey ever get back to Anyone with a solution??
 

Mandotar

Member
Since there's been no further word from Mr. Hickey on the forum, I left a voice message with him about 6 weeks ago, but to date have received no response. My dealer included the sofa problem on a warranty work order to Heartland about 2 months ago and he told me they've had no response on this particular issue. My unit is still within the first year of warranty and it would be helpful to know how to proceed. By now, after about 5 months, we should have heard something back from Heartland.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
If I were you, I would give Heartland a call. Explain the situation and ask how to precede in getting this resolved.
Have your VIN handy.

Peace
Dave

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 

relocator

Member
If I were you, I would give Heartland a call. Explain the situation and ask how to precede in getting this resolved.
Have your VIN handy.

Peace
Dave

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Just got off the phone with my Heartland dealer and he's still waiting for a call back from his rep. If nothing comes of that, I'll call Heartland directly. Thanks for the response.

Mandotar: If you hear back with a solution, please let us know. Thanks.
 

flattrack

Member
I cut off 2" from foldable metal piece on end of bed and redrilled the holes. This lowered the end where it sat even for my son to sleep. You'll be on social security before Heartland fixes it so this is the best I could come up with.
 

JJnLilly

Well-known member
Seat Tech's response was to have one and a half inch blocks attached to the bag legs of the sofa. This did the bed just fine, but when you sat on the sofa you were in a constant forward lean - not comfortable for certain. I removed the blocks so the sofa now is better to sit in and if we need to use it as a bed, I carry 1/4" plywood to span from the area over the drawer to the back. Not a pretty thing but it works. Too bad Heartland didn't have that Lippert owned company come up with a real fix...like replace the sofa.
 

RJW993

Member
I never did hear back from Mr. Hickey.

I finally received some adjustment from Seat Tech on this sofa. It took quite a bit of work by the dealer's warranty person. The problem is that the sofa is really not designed so that it can be confortable to sit on and also comfortable to sleep on. After extensive negotiations, Seat Tech paid the replacement price for a different sofa.
 

JJnLilly

Well-known member
RJW993, you are a lucky one. I tried and tried but couldn't get Heartland or Seat Tech to do anything but put blocks under the legs. I just gave up. I even sent pictures to Seat Tech and had no satisfaction. I think these were Lippert's(they own Seat Tech) first attempt at sofa's and from the way they are put together, not much thought went into the design. The only good thing is that the air mattress inflates pretty fast, but I'd rather have a good sofa than a fast filling air mattress. Apparently Heartland was using Flair for the sofa but they had leak problems. Sure wish they had stuck with Flair - at least they made a good sofa.
 

RJW993

Member
Heartland is putting a different sofa in the newer models. It is also a seat tech model, but it is clearly better designed. I also saw a flair sofa in the process that works well, and has a regular mattress. I guess the idea of the air mattress is to make it lighter and more comfortable, but the model used in the 2011 is terrible. Lippert's customer service reputation throughout the industry is not very good. I think I just got lucky, but the dealer put a great deal of effort into a resolution. Heartland should take note of these consistent issues.
 

AnnR

Active Member
I'm really surprised to read all these problems. I'm not sure of the brand of my sofa/air mattress (it's in a 2011 Sundance 3200FK - not a Greystone) but I'm surprisingly happy with it. A few weeks ago I forgot to pack clean king sheets for our real bed, so we ended up sleeping on the queen sofa bed for the first time. I was amazed at how easy it was to set up, and also how comfortable it was. In fact, my DH and I both think that (except for the size) it is way more comfortable than the mattress on the regular bed. Much better than the fold out couch with an iron bar across the middle in our old SOB. I even said "One more reason to love our Heartland!" I understand the principle of the complaint, things should be manufactured correctly, but if the only available fix is going to make the sofa uncomfortable, couldn't you just sleep with your head at the other end? (I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, just trying to find an easy solution for now.) :confused: Or could you buy a body pillow (the very long pillows) or foam wedge and slide it under the head end of the bed to raise the mattress, then remove it when it's folded up as a sofa?
 
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