Folding Chair Collapsed

Quilter

Full Memeber
2014-05-01 22.50.01.jpgI was sitting in this chair tonight at my desk in our 2014 Bighorn 3610 when it collapsed with me in it scraping my legs and cutting them. After my husband picked me up off the floor, we looked at the chair and all the screws had fallen out of the hinges where they attached to the seat. Pretty shoddy workmanship! Besides being dangerous. I am not that heavy to have caused this to happen.

We are also having trouble with our recliners. They look great but will not stay reclined when my husband sits in them. The footrest just falls back down. This happens in both chairs. If I recline them the footrest stays up. Has anyone else had this problem?

I am very disappointed in the furnishings that came with our 5th wheel. The workmanship and materials just doesn't seem to be quality nor are they holding up. It's like Heartland just goes to the vendor with the cheapest price.

For a company that is supposed to be one of the best, we have been very disappointed. This is our 3rd 5th wheel (the other 2 were Montanas) and we have had more problems with this one than either of the other two. For what we paid for this unit, I expected much better quality. I try to stay positive and figure there are always a few things which go wrong with something new, but this is getting very old!!!

I would love responses from other Heartland owners and Heartland itself.:(
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Quilter,

I can't speak to or explain the issues you're having with your coach other than to apologize that they are happening. I do urge you immediately open a dialog with your selling dealer or Heartland Customer Service (877-262-8032) and get these issues resolved so you can begin to enjoy your investment.
 

sengli

Well-known member
We have the same problem with our recliners. So we went to the furniture row stores and replaced them with a theatre seating reclining unit.... and we replaced the couch too with a joshua series. Much nicer, and much more comfortable. Same approximate size so it fit nicely. Have heard several other stories here on this site about the folding chairs failing, so we just dont use ours. Glad you didnt get hurt.
 

Hunter11

Well-known member
We are leaving early tomorrow morning for Indiana to pick up our new Landmark on Monday. After seeing several post lately about quality issues in the Bighorn/Landmark lines I am wondering if we made the right choice. We plan to go over the unit with a fine tooth comb but it appears a lot of issues start after owners get them home and begin to use them. We are not new to RVing and you would expect the basic systems and furnishings to work correctly at this price point. Our list of things to check continues to grow.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
Hunter 11...for every one of these types of stories, there are MANY more of us who have had no issues, and use our units daily as we fulltime. Make sure you do a thorough PDI and check things over closely.

We recently replaced our recliners, not because they didn't work, but because I did not like the rocker, swivel function of the chairs. Theater seats worked much better for us. We replaced the mattress upon delivery, as we have used a sleep number for years and move it from rig to rig...purely preference. We have had several drawer bottoms come loose, but it was a VERY simple fix that I did myself...didn't even need DH's assistance....

My point, will you find some issues...maybe, but don't sweat the small stuff. I'd still have a Holiday Rambler Alumascape if the axle didn't shear off at 10 months of age. Give me the small stuff ANY day!! I have seen these small issues in RV's in EVERY price range....actually saw a New Horizon, which cost over TWICE what I paid for my Landmark with a cheap $50 sliding closet door that cracked the first time it was moved. Another New horizon had the cabinet door in the kitchen island break into two pieces before it was two months old...and don't even ask about some of the serious issues I watched these two friends have with their high-dollar rigs!!

My advice...pick up your new Landmark, go over it well at delivery...then ENJOY it!!
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi Hunter11,

Reading the forum can be a little like reading a newspaper. "All the news that's fit to print" is usually all the bad news. On the forum, people don't post questions when everything is working right and they're having a great time.

Browse the EVENTS tab and read what people post on rally threads. That may provide some balance to the overall perspective.
 

Majestic

Well-known member
Hunter11

i have to agree with the forgoing, we found pages of little stuff and a couple larger issues when we picked up our unit a few months ago. I was frustrated and annoyed that i bought a top of the line unit and still had the same issues of my Cedar Creek, a lower priced unit.

i read a comment about no matter what unit you own, you need to have a screw driver in your pocket to check things over every trip. Since i started that way of thinking and tightening up the odd screw and just looking at the unit as just another piece of equipment I own, using my brain instead of my heart, so to speak, i am starting to unwind.

Sure it is upsetting, but put it into prospective, is it worth the stress. Sitting outside yesterday, enjoying a bottle of wine, looking and being thankful for what we have, all the little things are falling behind. I didn't want to have things to fix, but now with the mods we are doing, i am enjoying the time to bring the unit to MY standard, even if it costs me a little money and time.

Think positive, it has change my outlook. Get your unit and have fun with it!:)
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
I ordered the folding chairs and when I got them I was sorry I did. Now they just take up space in the garage.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Hunter11, congrats on your new 2015 Landmark.
If you can afford the time, there is the Indiana Heartland Chapter Rally just a few miles from Elkhart that starts next Thursday the 8th.
It would be a great opportunity to connect with a bunch of other Heartland owners, check out your rig and be close enough to the dealer should anything need attention.
A factory tour is available to us on Friday. And Rise and Roll Bakery is just a few miles away, Cinnamon Caramel Doughnuts, mmmmm.
It's a long way from Texas so a good opportunity awaits you.

Peace
Dave
 

dave10a

Well-known member
My chairs have collapsed as well--- I had to add more screws and glue and braces to beef them up so they would not do that again-- I hope. Fortunately when my chairs gave way no one was hurt. This is simply another area Heartland cut corners. Saying that other mfg's are not any better unless you have a higher end price point trailer. I would think that they would not cut corners in areas that could actually hurt people-- just saying--

BTY it has taken me a little over a year to eliminate or minimize the corner cutting engineering. If I added up the over-all estimated cost to do that it would be under $400. I would have paid Heartland if they charged $1000 to include a corner cutting delete option :)
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
And Rise and Roll Bakery is just a few miles away, Cinnamon Caramel Doughnuts, mmmmm.


mmmmmmmmm X2 X3 X4
 

Hunter11

Well-known member
Folks, let me just say that we do not sweat the small stuff and I am fine making a few small adjustments or repairs myself. I did that with our current unit but did also take full advantage of the 2 year warranty it came with. Like I said we have been through this a few times. I personally hope we pick the unit up and never have to deal with warranty work but I realize that probably won't happen. My wife and I always try to stay positive and we will be doing the same on this trip.

Thanks for the invite to the rally but we will not have time on this trip. I can pretty much get time off when ever I want and a lot of it but my wife has to plan hers more carefully so all she could get is a week to get to Indiana and back from Central Texas. I use to organize a yearly rally for the current RV manufacture we own so I know how much fun they are and we will be trying to attend some as we can.
 

Quilter

Full Memeber
Just wanted to let you all know. My husband called Heartland today and spoke to Greg. After inquiring about my health and if I was seriously hurt, he said they would send us a new chair with no hesitation on his part. I am very pleased with the response that we have gotten and hope that this is the last of our issues. We are enjoying the layout of this model and most of the time are happy with it. We will take one of the other poster's advice and carry a screwdriver with us at all times.

At some point we will probably replace either one or both of the recliners and will look into theater seating. We are also planning on getting a sleep number bed. We have had a sleep number bed at home for years and it is definitely in our plans to replace the mattress as soon as we can.

I would really like to attend one of the rallies. They just don't ever seem to be in a convenient location to where we are camping as we workamp and don't always have a lot of time off to travel a great distance. We are presently in Western Carolina just north of Charlotte so if anyone knows of any rallies that will be nearby please let us know.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
In October there is a rally at Cane Creek Park just SE of Charlotte. In a couple of weeks there is a rally in Seiverville, TN. If you look at the Forum Portal Page there is a list of all rallies that have been scheduled. Some for next year are already on the list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Not that anyone should have to do this, but I want to say that I did repair my own folding chairs when one let go on me. I felt the screws used by the maker were too short. I replaced all the screws on both sides of the piano hinges and added Gorilla glue to the holes before adding the screws.

I'm pleased to hear that Heartland is sending out replacement chairs. Be sure to carefully compare them to the old ones at the hinges to gain a comfort level with them before using them. It's my hope that our supplier has corrected this and replacement chairs can be used with confidence.
 

Quilter

Full Memeber
Folding Chair Collasping Update

Just wanted to let you all know. My husband called Heartland today and spoke to Greg. After inquiring about my health and if I was seriously hurt, he said they would send us a new chair with no hesitation on his part. I am very pleased with the response that we have gotten and hope that this is the last of our issues. We are enjoying the layout of this model and most of the time are happy with it. We will take one of the other poster's advice and carry a screwdriver with us at all times.

At some point we will probably replace either one or both of the recliners and will look into theater seating. We are also planning on getting a sleep number bed. We have had a sleep number bed at home for years and it is definitely in our plans to replace the mattress as soon as we can.

I would really like to attend one of the rallies. They just don't ever seem to be in a convenient location to where we are camping as we workamp and don't always have a lot of time off to travel a great distance. We are presently in Western Carolina just north of Charlotte so if anyone knows of any rallies that will be nearby please let us know.

Just thought I'd post an update about our chair issue. Heartland decided that we should buy our own replacement chair for the one that collapsed and reimburse us. We did this back in June and submitted the receipt as requested plus returned the broken chair (at Heartland's expense). We are still waiting for our reimbursement check. We have been told that the check will be issued and the last person we talked to was surprised that the check hadn't been issued in July but said it would be issued when checks were cut on August 5. Here's hoping we get it soon.

On another note about warranty work - Why does it take so long to get repair parts after a warranty issue has been approved? We have several minor issues and one major issue that our local RV Repair person has had approved by Heartland but we are still waiting for the parts to be sent for the repairs and it has been over a month since they were approved. The major issue is a leak in the slide which holds the dining table. Every time it rains the floor near the side wall of the slide gets soaking wet. This is not good for the floor or the carpet and I am very worried about mold/mildew forming. We get it dry each time as fast as we can. The issue is the seal for the slide that was put on that side was too short and allows water to enter at the bottom of the slide. This is MAJOR and needs to be fixed ASAP but we are still waiting on the part to fix it. To top it all off, the man we were dealing with in the warranty department has either been moved to another department or has left the company so we have now deal with someone new. I am very disappointed in the Warranty Department at Heartland. I was told when we bought this unit what a great company Heartland is but if this is the way they treat their customers, I don't think so. I doubt we will ever buy another Heartland product.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I am very frustrated with the entire process!!!!!!:mad:
 

Hunter11

Well-known member
Re: Folding Chair Collasping Update

Quilter, we can certainly feel your pain. I guess you have been dealing with the same person we have on all our warranty issues because I got an email from him this week saying he was moving to a new department and someone new would be taking over our warranty issues. He was great to work with and kept me informed and now I guess I have to start over again. We have had many warranty issues which were taken care of and we have two issues pending and one major one roof related I have not reported yet because I have not been contacted by the "new" person taking over our account. It took four tries to get the right bedroom slide seal shipped to us that needed to be replaced. I reported our Level Up jacks popping and jerking two weeks ago and after our POC talking to the powers that be at Heartland and Lippert I was ask to send pictures of the front jacks and to see if the mobile RV tech was comfortable replacing them. I sent pictures and told them he could change them out and I am still waiting while the jack issue gets worse. We were awakened this morning at 4:05 am when our Lippert alarm clock went off and the whole trailer moved. I sure hope this does not get worse and we have a complete failure.

I guess they are lucky in a way that people like you and I are not out bashing Heartland on other more main stream RV forums, instead we hope that they will live up to their reputation of great customer service after the sale and get our issues worked out so we can finally enjoy our units we paid so much money for. Good luck with your issues and hopefully soon we both get to relax and enjoy our units.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi Quilter,
Why does it take so long to get repair parts after a warranty issue has been approved?

I've had Heartland ship me parts a number of times, both under warranty, and not under warranty. My general experience is that things happen very quickly at Heartland. I've had 2 direct with Heartland experiences where things took longer. Both involved getting the parts from 3rd parties. In one case they had to order a TV, receive it in Elkhart, and then reship it to me. Took about 5 weeks. In the other case, the Heartland rep dropped the ball and I had to follow up with him to get things moving. Took 7 weeks. If I had chased it earlier, it would have been resolved sooner.

My experience with dealers ordering the parts from Heartland is that the dealer often adds 1 or 2 weeks to the process at each end. The order often is actually placed with Heartland much later than you would expect, and the part often sits around at the dealer for longer than you would expect.

I don't know whether my experiences are similar to yours, but I would recommend follow-up phone calls at least weekly to make sure the order hasn't stalled somewhere. And if you're waiting on the dealer, a call to Heartland will fill in the blanks on when the parts were ordered and when they were shipped to the dealer.
 

Quilter

Full Memeber
Finally got our reimbursement check for the folding chairs this past week. Still waiting on the parts to arrive to our repair person to get our warranty issues resolved. The most important one if the slide seal. Really worried that the water is going to cause dry rot in the flooring. We soak it up as it comes in but if it's at night, the towels used sit on the rug until we get up. Same when we are away from the trailer. Wish they would hurry up and get us the parts.
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
We had no furniture problems, other than not liking the recliners and sofa, so we replaced these with what we did like.... Hind site, I would recommend in the future to simply buy trailer without chairs and sofa and purchase what suits individual taste. This what many do anyway. What would credit $$ be for deleting dining chairs, sofa, and recliners?
 
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