Hats off to Heartland.......

CPDDet

Active Member
Here’s the story on our new 3100 CK and how Heartland saved the day for us.

After almost a year of searching different floor plans we discovered the 3100 CK, which fit 98% of our checklist. Midway RV in Grand Rapids MI had a 2016 on the lot so we took the 4 hour drive to have a look. This was back in the fall of 2016 and we informed Ryan Kramer, the sales rep, we wouldn’t be ordering the unit until the late winter of 2017. He was very professional and told us to stay in touch if we had any further question. He advised ordering the unit 12 weeks before our desired June 1[SUP]st[/SUP] delivery date.

So on March 9[SUP]th[/SUP] we returned to Midway RV, plunked down some money, and placed the order for the 3100 CK with our desired options.

All was quiet until May 4[SUP]th[/SUP], four weeks before our delivery date. That day I received a call from Mike Zoren (?), a regional sales manager from Heartland. He explained that the designers and engineers had made so many changes to the 2018 3100 CK that the model number had been changed to 273 RK. The floorplan we had fallen in love with was not going to be built. Mike was very apologetic and said he was shocked that Heartland wasn’t going to honor our purchase order (turns out we were the only ones caught up in this change). He offered us 3 option; he would purchase a 3100 CK back from a dealer and have it to Midway by June 1[SUP]st[/SUP], we could choose to go with the new 273 RK but it wouldn’t be available until the end of June, or we could go with the Sundance 2980 and have that delivered by June 1[SUP]st[/SUP].

After some discussion we decided to stay with the 3100 CK so I notified Mike of our decision. He informed us he had found a unit in Texas with the 2017 upgrades, the interior color we wanted and all of the options we wanted except for the dual pane windows and the 4 point leveling system. The unit also had a TV which we didn’t order but Heartland would throw that in at no cost to us. He said he would have the unit brought back to the factory, have those 2 options installed and have the unit at Midway RV by June 1[SUP]st[/SUP].

On May 15[SUP]th[/SUP] Mike called again and said the engineers decided that tearing out all the windows and replacing them with dual panes wouldn’t be in the best interest of the units integrity and the decision was made not to do this. He wanted to know if we would still accept the unit without dual pane windows. After more discussions, and one again looking at other Heartland, as well as other manufactures floorplans, we again decide to stick with the 3100 CK.

One week before our deliver date Mike called again. He explained that the level system needed to be installed at the Lippert factory in Elkhart, IN. He had been in touch with Lippert and was trying to get a date from them for install. It might be a problem getting it done in time as this was one of the busiest times of the year for the RV industry and Lippert was already backed up. I informed Mike that if the level system couldn’t be installed by June 1[SUP]st[/SUP] I would need something in writing from Heartland noting the install needed to be done. Mike agreed this was a good idea and that Heartland would cover my cost of returning the unit to Lippert for the install. Midway RV would bill us for the level system after it was installed and, of course, deduct the cost of the dual pane windows form the original order.

When we arrived at Midway RV to pick up the unit Mike had made the drive from Elkhart to Grand Rapids to meet us. He had the letter form Heartland committing to the leveling system install, an install date of June 20[SUP]th[/SUP] at Lippert and a $250.00 prepaid Visa card to cover my expenses for drive to Goshen. Midway agreed to be left “holding the bag”; paying Heartland for the leveling system and waiting until the system was installed before receiving payment from us.

Last week I took the drive the Lippert in Goshen IN and had the level-up system installed. Have to say I very pleased with not having to place block under tires anymore.

While things didn’t go as planned with our purchase, we felt Mike, Heartland and Midway RV had gone the extra mile, at their own expense at times, to right a bad situation.

We have spent 13 nights is the camper this month and all seems well. Sure there were a few loose screws and such but hey, it’s an RV.

Dave & Ronna
 

terribruce

retired Oregon Chapter Leaders
Loved reading your story. Good things do happen to good people. And being apart of this Heartland family is just as rewarding.
Congratulations!!! Hope you have many more adventures in your new Heartland trailer.

Terri
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Dave and Ronna - thank you for sharing your story. Your patience too is incredible.

Floor plans come and go and it happens often that when a shopper is ready to pull the trigger, the floor plan has been retired. Or in your case, retired after the order was place but before it was built.

Happy to hear of your happy ending and kudos to you guys for being flexible enough to allow it all to work out. Sounds like you had a great sales team that really stepped up.
 
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