Working Hard
Friends, Folks, Heartland Owners, Prospective Heartland Owners, and those who just like to sit around on their computers and talk because they can...
Some of you have mentioned that I needed to "get out" of the Ask the Factory Section and monitor these other discussions, so here I am. I want you to know that while we are human here at Heartland, you can always be sure of one thing, we do CARE about our owners. We don't ever want a screw to be missed and end up coming out of your vent, but it does happen. I know it grinds you when you have to deal with less than perfect workmanship. Believe it or not, it grinds us too.
And YES, we continue to strive to eliminate any defects or problem areas that are identified in our coaches. When I recieve photos of issues you as owners have identified, I take them to the quality meetings and share them with the production leaders and inspectors. I can assure you that we will not settle for pretty good or better than most quality. We want ALL of our owners to have absoultely trouble-free camping experiences. And though a lot of you have had great experiences with Heartland fifth wheels, obviously, some of you have not. While we can't go back in time and double check the torque used on a specific screw that holds a hinge in place - even though it worked fine during it's walk-through here and at the dealership - the fact is, that when it fell down in a particular owner's coach, that owner has the right to feel that he was slighted.
So then what do we do? At Heartland, we stand up and take the tongue lashing we deserve, we apologize for the inconvenience, we admit to the error, we repair the problem, we learn from it and we move forward doing our best to never repeat the error again.
I continue to remain very positive about where we are as a company and where we are going. Every day I recieve untold emails and phone calls from people who have just discovered the Heartland product and they are excited about what they see. Just about every day now, I enjoy the privilege of taking someone through our production line who has also gone on other plant tours (competitors) and we get first hand updates on how we are stacking up against the compeition. I'm telling you, we are looking pretty good. We incorporate a very solid construction underneath all of the luxurious interiors in our coaches and as we continue to improve in the area of fit and finish, I remain very optimistic about our future.
By the way, Trailer Life and Lifestyles (Canada's number one towable magazine) have both just printed reviews of our Bighorn fifth wheel and both articles were VERY POSITIVE. They will be reviewing the Landmark soon and reporting on that.
FYI
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
ST
One of the partners here at Heartland