Un-Happy Camper-Warranty

I purchased my brand new 32BUDS in January, have only made 1 payment on it. Second trip out, the water heater springs a bad leak at the housing. Tightened everything up.....still leaks. I called it into the dealer on March 2nd. They schedule me in for Today (March 16th) to have it repaired. I called them this morning to ensure all was good before I make the trek up there.....Surprise Surprise, they are still waiting on "Authorization" from the factory to replace my brand new water heater.

I dropped a good amount of cash on this brand new rig. Part of the reason for choosing Heartland was them selling me on the service and quality of the manufacturer. I am starting to feel bamboozled. If this is the service and quality that I can expect, I would have prefered a cheaper option and risked it.

If this was the only broken item on my brand new rig, I wouldn't be as upset. The outdoor shower handle was broken, stabilizer was bent, a piece of wood trim is missing from the dinette, the weather seal around the front cap came flapping off 20 miles into my drive home from the dealer after delivery, the entry door strut was busted (been fixed by me), the turntable rack in the microwave was snapped in two, the kitchen faucet leaks all over the sink cover and the light over the dinette appears to have some short of intermittent open in the circuit as it likes to flash on and off randomly....not really looking for a disco dinner when I am camping.

Has anyone else had these type of issues on a brand new rig? Am I just whining about dumb stuff?

If someone from the factory happens to read this, I would really like to know what I am doing wrong with this warranty process.

Begrudgingly signed,

Hi dghofstee,

Sorry to hear about your problems. You should call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. They can tell you precisely what's going on. It may turn out they haven't actually been contacted by the dealer at all. I say that because warranty authorizations don't usually happen before a tech even looks at the problem - even if you're quite sure of what's wrong.

Also, the water heater is typically warranted by its manufacturer. So if the water heater itself is defective, Suburban or Atwood would typically be authorizing the dealer to replace it.

Normally owners take their trailers to the dealer and the dealer manages the complexity of the warranty process without you having to get into the details. But since things are moving slowly, you may need to become directly involved.

By the way, it's pretty unusual for a brand new water heater tank to have a leak. Any possibility that it was stored with water in the tank during a freeze? Trailers are winterized before leaving the factory, and usually stay that way until you take delivery, at which point the dealer de-winterizes. If that all happened in January, and you left the tank full, you could have freeze damage in multiple places in the trailer.

DaneMayer,

Thanks for your reply. I just got off the phone with Heartland and now know the real story. My dealer didnt submit the warranty claim until today. I will be calling the service manager about this shortly.

I am in Southern California, there hasnt been temps below 45 in 2 years around here (luckily).

dghofstee said:

DaneMayer,

Thanks for your reply. I just got off the phone with Heartland and now know the real story. My dealer didnt submit the warranty claim until today. I will be calling the service manager about this shortly.

I am in Southern California, there hasnt been temps below 45 in 2 years around here (luckily).

Click to expand...

Donald:
A piece of information EVERY owner should remember, no matter where he/she lives, is that the Heartland Factory is in Elkhart, Indiana, with all the midwest snow, sleet, and low temperatures. EVERY unit is winterized (all year round I believe, because the factory can't know how long the unit will sit on a lot, either in Elkhart, or at the selling dealer). Every unit built in the colder months will probably get towed to its destination through icy roads with salt on them, through rain and freezing weather, until it reaches the selling dealer.

BTW, we hear a lot more gripes about service disappointments from the Dealer service department than from Heartland Service. Always be aware that it has been Heartland's policy to let you get your repair work wherever YOU choose. Many of us prefer the independent (no RV sales), small businessman, RV servicer. They have a business self interest in getting the repairs done quickly and right, so that they get income quickly, and you spread the good word about their service/business by word of mouth. All it takes is a phone call to Heartland Service BEFORE you take the unit in for servicing. It seems to a lot of us that Dealer Service is a poor stepchild of the RV sales operation most places.

WDK450,

I hear ya. I thought I had to stay with the original dealer that I purchased it from. I am going to look around my area and see if I can find a Heartland Authorized service center. Thats great information.

With the few warranty issues I did not want to tackle myself I called Heartland first and got authorization. Once that was done I made the appointment to get the work done. I seem to be the exception in many cases but the dealer I use was on time, and called at least once a week to give me progress reports. I am very happy with them to say the least.

That is great info. I have actually found another local shop (in the last 10 minutes) that does Heartland work. Once this whole thing is over, I will be going there instead

Donald. Temecula Valley RV here in town does HL warranty work. BTW, How is next month after Easter looking for a quickie weekender to Lake Skinner?

Bob,

Great to hear from you again. I actually found a service center much closer to me that will do my work from now on. I just have to get Giant RV to finish this job.

Lake Skinner sounds great. How does the 10th-12th look for you folks? My wife wanted me to ask if you might be able to bring some of your grand kids. Ive got 5 kids ranging from 6mo-11yr's old. 4 boys and a girl (youngest). I looked into those dates. They dont have any grass side spots available, but plenty of 2nd row pull thrus.