Heartland I have been let down

Need to vent. Sent my rig back to the factory for flex at the hitch pin on my 2012 Sundance 277rl. After having it for a month I went to pick it up today at Explorer USA in mesquite. My first problem was simply that I was told that it would be washed and ready at 9am. Get there around 9:45, not ready and not washed. Oh well, a miscommunication, so I'll wait for it to be washed. Next I hook up the rig to find that 2 out of the three running lights on the front cap are not working. Tech comes to check it out and finds that one light is burnt out, but the other has no wires connected to it and there are none to be found. The front cap was removed at the factory and upon reassembly the wiring has fell somewhere down inside. Next I notice the caps are off my bumper and the sewer hose is missing. Oh well, this was a aggravating but the service guy said he'll call the factory and see what they'll do about my sewer hose and my light problem.

The big deal starts after I get home. I open the slides and storage bins to load my stuff back in and find tons of bodyshop dust in the bins and all over the slideout seals, windows and such. This making me suspicious, I started looking closely at the off door side, front of my rig. I notice that 5 ft from the front going back is very shiny and new looking. After that it looks very dull and lots of overspray. Then I realize that the decals have been removed and replaced and there are white streaks where the original decals were removed but not replaced in the original position. I cant believe that my rig was somehow damaged and then an attempt was made to repair it without ever hearing a word from them. In fact I made several calls while it was there to check the status and nothing was ever mentioned. I am beside myself to think that there was an attempt to deceive me in this manner.

I took pictures and sent to the dealer and they're going to try to find me some answers as to what on earth has happened to my rig. They assured me this did not happen at there location and that it had to have happened at the factory. If the intent was to repair it and hope I would not notice, you would think they would have tried to do a flawless job. I am extremely upset ********** *************************************.

It's great to have a place to vent. Best of luck with your issues and hopefully they will be resolved soon.

Keep us advised please


Current: 2006 Forest River Forrester 2861DS
Wanted: 2013 Cyclone 4100
Toy: 2011 Yamaha Stryker 1300 "Blacked Out"
Full timers in AZ

wrgrs50s said:

Sent my rig back to the factory for flex at the hitch pin on my 2012 Sundance 277rl. .

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Just curious. When you say you "sent" it to the factory, how did it get there?

Was the dealer responsible for hauling it? Was there a transportation company involved?

Maybe the damage was caused by a third party? Just wondering aloud.

In any case, hopefully your issues will be resolved in a timely fashion. Trace

We just bought a new rv from that exact dealership/location and did our walk-thru this weekend.

We also had issues with sawdust after a kitchen repair and the brand new unit being dirty, the service manager was complaining to the service guy when I mentioned it. They both seperately said they are trying new cleaning products and they aren't working so well. *sigh* I swore ours hadn't been washed except for the windows had lots of lint and watersheds everywhere.

I had lots of complaints during my walk-thru and in a lot of ways they have exceeded my expectations but in others I feel scammed. The service guy had 90% of my complaints fixed by 11:30am the next morning and we left with him at closing on Friday.

I was told the dealership has to call in a paint person to do even minor paint repairs. Our rig had about a 2" scratch and they couldn't fix that themselves and when they tried they made it worse by over-buffing but did pretty good fixing a bumper that had been spray painted. Ugh. They said "we aren't a body shop." But they are calling in a paint person before I even suggested it.

I don't know if I was much help but can you call Heartland and see who ordered the stickers for your unit? It should be on some sort of warranty file right?

Also, we meant to ask but never remembered: a service tech told us he takes pictures of everything that could potentially be a future warranty claim, to help with making claims. At least that's what they told us. This was regarding a new unit so your case might be different. I might ask if they have a file of repairs or pictures to keep for your records in case of a problem when your traveling.

I hope they get you sorted out quickly, they have been really helpful to us but our unit seems to have lots of odd issues. You can look up my posts about the service dept if you are interested.

I'm interested in an update on your rv!

I thought the factory had to remove the sidewalls about 5 feel back from the front cap to get to the areas that need repair? This might explain the new paint and decals.

Can you post pics?


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They repaired the broken sidewall welds caused by the frame flex....

TandT said:

Just curious. When you say you "sent" it to the factory, how did it get there?

Was the dealer responsible for hauling it? Was there a transportation company involved?

Maybe the damage was caused by a third party? Just wondering aloud.

In any case, hopefully your issues will be resolved in a timely fashion. Trace

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Heartland provided transport to and from dealer. Even if damage was caused by third party I dont understand why I was not contacted? That's the most shocking part. I should have been in on the repairs and exceptance of the work performed.

Update : I got a call today from the factory and was told that my rig had not been damaged in an accident of any kind. He said that they had to cut into the sidewalls at the front of my rig to get to the aluminum frame to reweld where it had broken loose. They repaired the area, repainted and put on new decals. He agreed after viewing the photos I sent, that there was overspray and the decals were not positioned correctly. To resolve the matter they are offering to pick up the tab for me to take to a bodyshop of my choice to buff out the overspray and replace any decals necessary. I was on my way to, and arriving at my Dr's office so I didnt have much time to discuss the matter further, but I feel that this would be a fair resolution.

Had any of this been explained to me during my follow up calls, and I was in on the process this whole matter would have been viewed differently. Again though, had the job been completed flawlessly I would never have known the difference or cared. I wish Heartland would spend more of it's time and money on quality control, reviewing each job as it's completed (or trailer being built) before shipping out the door. It's great to stand behind your product when there's a problem but ultimately the customer doesnt want problems to start with. Especially new ones that occur when you bring it in for repair. I still have to address why there is no wire to one of the running lights in the front cap, somehow it has fell down into the front cap during this repair and cannot be seen. Another trip to the shop!!!

Heartland, please consider that the customers time is valuable and every trip to the shop cost money and time, and much frustration, even if the repair is free.

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear it wasn't damaged but you could have been saved a lot of worry. Ugh.

I hope you get it fixed soon.

At least your rv gets a free facelift, not that a 2012 needs it. :b

FYI when they do that frame flex repair it usually entails removing the sides back to where the frame is broken. I was at Elkhart when they fixed mine and was amazed they were able to get it back together and looking as good as it does after what they had to do to make the repair. Also it is almost impossible to get the decals back in the exact position and there may be some discoloration due to the sun fading the part not covered by decals. Glad you are back in the RVing mode again.