Heartland Customer Service Disappointment - fading Greystone caps

Wow! I didn't see this day coming. I bought a Heartland product (2012 Greystone 27RK) in Dec 2011 because everything I read as I researched RV manufacturers said that Heartland had a solid product and stood head and shoulders above in customer care and service.
First let me say that I understood my warranty period and that my problem is "post-warranty"... but after buying new and owning my Greystone for less than 2 years, the gel-coat paint on the front cap simply began to fade and disintegrate. it became dull and looked as if the paint had turned to chalk.
When I contacted Heartland to discuss, the customer service rep asked if I could send a photo, which I did. A few days later I received an email with no acceptance of responsibility and a blunt, flat, "cash-out type" offer that doesn't cover half of what it will cost me to have the cap re-painted. I've had a couple of shops and another Greystrone owner all say "it's bad paint".
I guess you get what you pay for, let the buyer beware, etc. but I truly thought Heartland would back it's product and workmanship a little better than that...!
My only recourse is to never buy another Heartland product ...and to make as many RVers as possible aware on every blog and social media outlet I can find, to beware!
Very disappointed Heartland Greystone soon to be ex-owner!

Re: Huge Heartyland Customer Service Dissapointment!

Hi tkkmcjo,

If I understand your post, Heartland offered to pay for painting the cap but your estimate is more than they offered. Have you tried shopping around, or perhaps asking Heartland to point you to a place that can do the job for the amount offered?

I learned something here today.
I always thought the Greystone cap was simply a tinted fiberglass, not actually a painted finish.

Trace

We have a Big Country that was made during the years (2011, 2012) that Heartland was buying the front and back caps from a third party. The third party wasn't or didn't put the uv inhibitor in the paint, thus after a couple of years, some fading started happening. It is only cosmetic. Yes we had the problem and was offered a settlement from Heartland which didn't cover the total cost of repaint but was close and we were satisfied. I did shop around cuz some bids were way out of the ball park but finally found someone who would paint both the front and back caps like we wanted it to be, not what they wanted to do. We love our coach and would have Heartland products on our list when it's time to upgrade or trade.

I have seen similar on other brands. There's one (SOB) in the storage lot where I keep my 5ver, newer than mine, looks terrible.

Here's a quote from one of the other brand's forums: "Hey gang... Original poster here. I again want to thank all of the contributions to this thread. As has been stated before, looks like all of us including dealers are stuck with the fading issue. Sad as you'd think KXXXXXXX would want their products looking good as they are rolling advertisements. I got a real sharp 2012 RV until you see the front... Looks like it is 10 years old."

I would be glad to get some kind of compensation from Heartland, because it sounds like other companies are NOT standing behind their product.

Erika

I have the same issue with front cap fading on my 2011 Big Country. The fading only started this year. I contacted Heartland customer service. They have no interest in solving this problem. TravelTiger makes a good point. Would you want your product going down the road looking like this? It is hard to recommend Heartland RV's when there is problems like this and no factory support.

DIESEL33 said:

I have the same issue with front cap fading on my 2011 Big Country. The fading only started this year. I contacted Heartland customer service. They have no interest in solving this problem. TravelTiger makes a good point. Would you want your product going down the road looking like this? It is hard to recommend Heartland RV's when there is problems like this and no factory support.

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Hi DIESEL33,

Heartland has been supporting people with faded front caps. You should call back and ask why you've read on the forum case after case where Heartland is paying to repaint caps that have faded.

I have a 2010 Eagle Ridge that has many bubbles in the laminated siding. After contacting Heartland all I get is a very generic "improper maintenance no coverage" They actually told me it should be re-caulked every year. I may be trading it for a smaller Aruba fifth wheel that is 5 years older. It has never been re-caulked and looks as good as new. I guess we also got what we paid for. It was funny because I sent a picture of some of the bubbles to Heartland and they said from the pics you could tell it was bad caulk. The real funny thing is that in the pics you couldn't even see the caulking! No more Heartlands for me.

tkkmcjo said:

My only recourse is to never buy another Heartland product ...and to make as many RVers as possible aware on every blog and social media outlet I can find, to beware!
Very disappointed Heartland Greystone soon to be ex-owner!

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Fair enough, Please remember to include the rest of the story.

tkkmcjo said:

First let me say that I understood my warranty period and that my problem is "post-warranty"... When I contacted Heartland to discuss, the customer service rep asked if I could send a photo, which I did. A few days later I received an email with no acceptance of responsibility and a blunt, flat, "cash-out type" offer

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I understand Your not happy with being offered "cash" to resolve your problem but others might. Especially the one's who have SOB'S and weren't offered anything.

Best of luck with what ever you end up with.

jmaguire said:

I have a 2010 Eagle Ridge that has many bubbles in the laminated siding. After contacting Heartland all I get is a very generic "improper maintenance no coverage" They actually told me it should be re-caulked every year. I may be trading it for a smaller Aruba fifth wheel that is 5 years older. It has never been re-caulked and looks as good as new. I guess we also got what we paid for. It was funny because I sent a picture of some of the bubbles to Heartland and they said from the pics you could tell it was bad caulk. The real funny thing is that in the pics you couldn't even see the caulking! No more Heartlands for me.

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Regarding delamination, the caulking is to be checked every 6 mo, it probably stated this in the owners manual. If you admitted you never did the maintenance, it unfortunately makes it hard for HL to be responsible.

If a car's recommended oil change is every 3k miles, and we never changed it, then start having engine troubles, do we blame the car manufacturer?


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I always looked after my camper. If there were bad caulking areas I would have noticed them. Besides I have contacted the window manufacturer and they told me those windows did not need to be caulked if they were properly installed. My windows have rubber gaskets around them and somewhere around the windows is where the de-laminating is occurring. If you were to check the caulking you would agree that it looked fine. I have also re-caulked many seams on my camper as I have seen fit.

jmaguire said:

I always looked after my camper. If there were bad caulking areas I would have noticed them. Besides I have contacted the window manufacturer and they told me those windows did not need to be caulked if they were properly installed. My windows have rubber gaskets around them and somewhere around the windows is where the de-laminating is occurring. If you were to check the caulking you would agree that it looked fine. I have also re-caulked many seams on my camper as I have seen fit.

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If you've done what you're supposed to to maintain the coach, i suggest getting a professional's opinion. Get an independent repair shop (not a dealer) to remove a window to see if it was installed incorrectly. They also can tell you if the delam was caused by water or a defect. Take lots of pics. Then contact Heartland again. They may be more responsive to helping. I paid $150 to do this, an HL stepped up for the repair.


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The Big Country faded caps appear to be an incredible Public Relations (PR) disaster for Heartland. In my travels this summer I have talked to several Big Country owners with the faded cap problem, and of their settlement with Heartland to have the cap(s) painted. One guy stated that Heartland paid all but $700 of his $2000+ paint job. The sad part--for Heartland--is that the faded, peeling, caps are smack-dab in the center of their marquee decals and are clear indications of which brand has this sub standard cap. However a common thread, among the owners I talked to, is that Heartland was very gracious in supplying new decals to highlight the new paint job.

My local service center did send Heartland an e-mail stating what I told you. Still nothing. That's O.K. I am the customer. They will never get any more of my money! I am getting ready to buy a new camper and I assure you it won't be a Heartland. I can and will repair the damage that has occurred and re set the windows myself. I will also use caulk that will not turn to dust in 4 years. I have learned. I now know what quality to look for in an RV. By the way, I am glad you have had good experiences with Heartland and I hope you never have any of the issues I have had. I think there are probably a lot more happy Heartland customers than unhappy, but I will be done with it soon.

jmaguire said:

My local service center did send Heartland an e-mail stating what I told you. Still nothing. That's O.K. I am the customer. They will never get any more of my money! I am getting ready to buy a new camper and I assure you it won't be a Heartland. I can and will repair the damage that has occurred and re set the windows myself. I will also use caulk that will not turn to dust in 4 years. I have learned. I now know what quality to look for in an RV. By the way, I am glad you have had good experiences with Heartland and I hope you never have any of the issues I have had. I think there are probably a lot more happy Heartland customers than unhappy, but I will be done with it soon.

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I understand your frustration. I would ask your dealer for the pics and send yourself. When dealerships act on a customer's behalf, the customer usually doesn't get the whole story.

Deal direct with Heartland with photos and professional reports, you might have a different experience.

I hope you find what you are looking for, good luck!


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Second the dealing with HL directly. Immediately after we got out BH we had some warranty work that had to be done. The service at the dealer stated it would "probably" not be covered, so we called HL from our cellphone then & there & got it straightened out. You have to be your own advocate these days in ALL purchases.

If you haven't spoken with HL directly, do so before you buy SOB.

Hi Danemayer
So i got hold of customer service again and got a agent named David. I explained my problem and was told flat out not their problem. The period of time to assist with the front caps issue is long past. I stated that the problem only appeared this year. He stated that it was past the time line and no assistance would be given. I asked if this was how they wanted the product to appear on the road and would explain to anyone who asked that the product was flawed and customer service is not great. All he replied was "that was fine". So all I can say is Heartland has fast become heartless. Good luck to all that have this problem and hopefully you get some compensation.

DIESEL33 said:

Hi Danemayer
So i got hold of customer service again and got a agent named David. I explained my problem and was told flat out not their problem. The period of time to assist with the front caps issue is long past. I stated that the problem only appeared this year. He stated that it was past the time line and no assistance would be given. I asked if this was how they wanted the product to appear on the road and would explain to anyone who asked that the product was flawed and customer service is not great. All he replied was "that was fine". So all I can say is Heartland has fast become heartless. Good luck to all that have this problem and hopefully you get some compensation.

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Did they have anything to say about the many reports on the forum where Heartland is helping with this problem?

Here's a recent thread where three 2011 owners were helped.

To the OP. It's unfortunate that this happened to you. For the record, this is only happening to Heartland products that have gray end caps from around the 2011 model years. Those owners and others that told you it was because it was from "bad paint" don't know what they are talking about. There is NO paint on the gray end caps. It is finished with gel coat, not paint. Often those that claim to be "in the know" get people all stirred up using bad information. I was among those that had your same problem. My front cap was repainted and clear coated and yes, Heartland did help me out with it. That being said, it wasn't just that easy. It required me shop around after finding some places that had a shop large enough to fit my rig. I was quoted over $6,000 by one shop. They aren't going to give out a blank check and allow some crook to rip them off. Heartland knows what this should cost. It required only about 1 qt. of base coat and 1 qt of clear to complete the job. Heartland furnished new decals. I am willing to bet if you shop around and look at places that refinish big trucks and equipment not just RVs you will find a place that can do this work withing your budget. I did. Good luck...Don

Under $1300 to have my front cap redone at a local RV repair that has the large booth and equipment for RVs. The highest quote I received was $4K which was from an auto dealer who handles large trucks. Besides the price advantage, the RV dealer has done several of these so knows what to expect. Whipping up froth over this really does not accomplish much. If you do not like it, fix it, otherwise move on. JMHO