Burned by Heartland Support

[Ladiver]

I have been thrilled with my Cyclone and the service and support received from Heartland...until now. As my one year warranty was coming to an end, I opted to have the final outstanding items fixed. We had a warped wall between the bedroom and living area, which two shops looked at and feared a major construction project ahead. I had one leg in my 6-point leveling that would drop on its own and there was popping in the system. I was having issues with the battery charging and there was a loud buzz while plugged into shore power.

Back in January I had an issue with awning lights and had it repaired. Since the repair was only about 5 minutes longer than the troubleshooting and there were not replacement parts needed, I had it repaired and submitted for reimbursement. That process was smooth. So in May, I took the trailer back to the same shop to get everything fixed.

They started with the hydraulics. Contacted Lippert and were told to perform various tests, which they did. All tests appeared normal. Then Lippert asked to them to send a part in for testing. If it was found to be bad, then it would be replaced, if not it would be returned. Well, it tested OK and was returned. Lippert then said there was no problem and denied all claims. When asked about the popping, they refused to discuss it. The shop found the bulletin from Lippert addressing the popping issue, so that is what they followed. After all the testing, disassemble and reassemble, and fluid replacement, all seems better. No popping and no leg drop. SOMETHING was fixed and Lippert refuses to acknowledge that. So I figured to take that to Heartland.

Second up was the warped wall. The door would not completely close because the frame was warped. The shop said the easy fix would be to notch the door enough to let it close, but that is not the proper fix. The feared that the bathroom sink/cabinets/counter had been placed too far over, causing it to push the wall out. The proper fix would be to shift the entire bathroom over 1 inch. Well, that would be way to costly for the benefit. So, they made a compromise, which I agreed on. They would remove the door frame and thin the bowed piece of wood. Then they would reassemble the door frame and it would work. PERFECT, it looks good and is 100% functional!

Finally, they looked at the buzz and the charging and said everything was normal. OK, did not make sense that battery was not charging, but they confirmed they could charge it.

All repairs were fixed and the trailer was ready to pick up. Knowing how everything worked in January, I went to the shop, paid $1250 in repairs and was out the door happy that my trailer was safe and functional again. On May 12, I contacted the same Heartland Customer Service person with my paperwork. It took until today (June 27) for Heartland to deny 80% of the claim. They pointed to Lippert saying that it was denied because there was nothing wrong ($470.76), they denied the buzz and battery charging issue ($130) because the tech even stated nothing was wrong and they felt repair of the warped frame ($650) was only worth $200, or 2 hours of labor! So, for $1250 out of my pocket, they are covering $200. WOW, thanks for the generosity and doing the right thing!

There are parts of their denial that I am OK with. I am OK not having the buzz and charging issue not covered ($130). I am OK with not covering the shipping costs of sending parts to Lippert ($35.93). I am NOT OK with them denying that ANYTHING was wrong with the hydraulic system. I am NOT OK with them thinking that a warped wall can be repaired properly with 2 hours.

I guess I am just using this forum to vent my frustration and disappointment in Heartland. Thankfully, I am happy with the trailer, I have a good shop that can do the repairs right, and I have the ability to pay for them. Now that my 1 year warranty is over, I guess I no longer need to deal with Heartland Customer Service for the little things. Hopefully nothing major happens as we move forward.

 

[bob34787]

the only thing i can add is what heartland told me about independent shop repairs, 1. identify the problem, 2 what caused the problem 3. how do they intend to fix the problem, these must be addressed prior to doing the work and authorized, if not you take your chances with who is going to pay and how much, pretty much the same with all RV manufacturers.

 

[Ladiver]

EXACTLY!

The only thing that went wrong was that there was no written pre-approval. The shop had been in contact with Heartland and Lippert, but I am not sure what all was discussed and/or agreed upon.

That is life. At least I am not still sitting here waiting for Heartland to authorize anything. I got the repairs done and have been able to enjoy the trailer. I am sure we would have just now gotten some measly approval and had to wait for the shop to figure out how to do the repair in two hours and have it still be acceptable to me, then another couple of weeks for the work to be done. Sometimes efficiency costs more.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Ladiver,

Something to keep in mind in the future - Heartland doesn't provide the warranty on everything in the coach. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't reimburse the Hydraulics bill because Lippert provides the warranty on that. If it had been something that everyone agreed should be reimbursed, I'm pretty sure they'd point you to Lippert for reimbursement. And if the servicer isn't approved by Lippert, who knows what they'll do.

Furnaces, water heaters, air Conditioners, microwaves, brakes, axles, frame, hydraulics etc. are warranted by their respective manufacturers. Any future work where you pay out of pocket should be discussed in advance with the company providing the warranty coverage.

I understand that no one wants to be in the middle of all these warranties. That's why Heartland points you back to an authorized dealer. The dealer handles the warranties without involving you in the details. But when you go to an independent, it may work differently.

A lot of people look at the warranty model used with cars and expect the same with RVs. But it's more like the warranty you'd find on a new house. The builder fixes construction issues. The appliance manufacturers cover the appliances.

Hope this saves you some money and aggravation in the future.

 

[TandT]

Jeff,
Sorry to hear you ended up in a jam.

FWIW, I had a warranty issue fixed by an independent repair shop.
They called HL to explain the details as described by me, before starting any work.
HL agreed to let them investigate under warranty. Had HL not felt that was appropriate, I feel they would have advised me in another direction.
The problem was fixed and the repair facility was paid directly from HL. I was kept out of the loop.
I was never, at anytime asked to prepay anything.
If I had been asked by the shop to pay the bill up-front,
I may have looked for a "plan B". Trace

 

[Sunset4k]

Jeff, I too am sorry for the issues you faced. It is frustrating to spend the amounts of money that these RV's cost only to have to spend additional money for what should be covered under warranty. Having said that, our experience was quite different. Our 2013 ElkRidge has been in twice for over 45 different repairs... Everything from trim coming off to our shower drain pipe not being connected to the shower drain. We did take it back to the original dealer, and Heartland authorized and paid for every repair. While we were very upset that out Elkridge was out of commission, Heartland did take care of us. Since our one year warranty expired in May, we will be dealing with the individual providers if anything else happens.

I would love to see the RV industry step up in quality control. Heartland is one of the better ones out there to some other IMHO. .

 

[Ladiver]

Sorry for "venting" but I was just a little pi$$ed when I got the reply from Heartland. They have been really easy to work with in the past warranty claims (also done by same shop) and I had been fully advised about using third party shops. I will say that even getting stuck with this bill, it is better than having to deal with any of our local dealers!

I know it was fixed right, regardless of Heartland or Lippert's acknowledgement of any problems. Thankfully these issues are not enough to worry about, as the trailer is still creating much happiness and relaxation. No need to sweat the small stuff. Life is too short!

 

[Sunset4k]

Jeff, I think we all understand about venting! !! Heaven knows I did enough of that with the monumental issues we faced the first year. I'm still majorly ticked that I just had to put new tires on the Elkridge and we have only had it a year. The good news you are still enjoying your trailer. It is easy to get discouraged!!!

 

[JohnDar]

Sometimes venting gets to the right person. Back a few years ago, I "vented" about a component problem on this forum and got an apologetic call from the supplier a couple of days later. This was after "his" customer service dept. gave my mobile tech a ration of crap.