Continued Errors by Heartland

[DocFather]

Ya know, I love my 4100, but it is wrong to sugar-coat poor quality. Fruit or oil burners!

 

[SeattleLion]

I didn't think I would need to say this, but apparently I do: I am definitely a fan. Our new Bighorn is our second RV and one of the biggest purchases we ever made. We love everything about it. That doesn't mean we blindly accept quality problems. Because I am a fan of the company and its products, I want to see it held up as the finest in the industry. My suggestions were offered in the spirit of helping. Nuff said.

 

[Greengas]

I find it quite funny that all the post regarding poor quality of RVs are always related/compared to the auto industry as to "how things should be done". It's an apples to watermelons comparison unless you are basing it on cost or the fact both have tires on them. RVs should always either be compared in quality to houses or nothing at all. Heartland makes a good quality product for the price point they are shooting for, there are other manufacturers that use higher quality components and build standards but most will not pay 200K for a trailer. Which I find funny because those same people have no trouble dropping 60-65K on a tow vehicle.

For what it's worth I trust Heartland's quality way more than I do Ford which I got burned twice on F350's and was told so sorry your out of the 12K warranty period.

Since I am the OP on this one, the comparison to a car was made based on $$$ spent and quality expected for that amount of $$$. Do I expect a house being towed down a road (RV) to be the same as a car? No, that would be crazy and while I may be a lot of things, crazy I'm not. I am talking about initial quality at delivery. I understand that upon delivery, if the dealer did not do their own solid PDI, there might be some lose pipes, etc. No problem. But, when things are just put together wrong at the manufacturer's end, that is just not acceptable. I also realize that HL builds a ton of RV's and by comparison, only a small number have major problems. I get it. But that does not make it ok. Maybe, the entire dealer network set up needs to change. Face it, you really only have a few core company's like Thor and Jayco. Maybe they should set up their own dealership network. Or, maybe as another posted suggested, we need some competition from other countries just like the automotive industry had. Look what that did for their quality of product. I really don't have an answer to the problem other than to say something needs to be done and it starts with us, the owners.

 

[javankrona]

Hunter11: I'd be very interested to hear of your experience with Great Lakes RV when the day arrives. I have a Heartland factory tour on my pre-purchase bucket list, followed by a visit to Great Lakes RV who seem to stock a nice variety of Heartland units; they are on my "watch list" for dealer purchase. Cheers.

 

[Hunter11]

I will be glad to share our experience when we get back. We are hoping to put the trip off until the second week in May although I think the unit will be ready a couple of weeks prior to that. I am going to see if they will store it a couple of weeks before we head up there.

 

[JohnD]

I've had good luck with our Bighorn and have been pleased with it for seven years. Am I a cheerleader? Sure why not? It's been to a dealer twice. Once for a reefer cooling unit which isn't really Heartland related and an awning alignment when it was new. It was at the factory several years ago for a frame issue that is a combined Heartland/Lippert issue. So overall, quality has been fine. Is it currently good? I don't know. Being on the forum daily, I have to say I haven't seen any more issues than any other brand.

Ours was in five times during the warranty period for warranty repairs.

And they only fixed half of the problems.

The other problems they didn't bother to fix are now on me to pay for (according to my dealership) now that the warranty is up.

Apparently Heartland could give a rat's behind about who sells and services their products under warranty . . . as long as they sell the product!

Any other business that kind of thinking would put them out of business.

 

[Kbvols]

I have to chime in here. It is NOT the customer's responsibility to discover quality problems. It is up to the manufacturer and, by extension, the dealer. I am not an expert at RV's. I am someone who likes to travel with one. I paid a lot of money for my trailer. I have every right in the world to demand that what I get is perfect, not sorta ok, but perfect. Heartland, Thor, and the entire industry owe me that.

I think that someone, hopefully Heartland, will institute buyer surveys. When I bought my Fords, I got two J D Powers surveys to complete: the first was on the buying process; how I rated my dealer's sales cycle. The second came about a month later and asked a lot of questions about my satisfaction with the purchase and the quality of the delivered vehicle.

If either survey came back less than excellent, the dealer is penalized. In the case of my Ford dealer, less-than-perfect satisfaction results in Ford allocating popular, hard-to-get cars, like my Mustang to other dealers. It's harsh, but the point is that the first step is to assure that the customer: you and I, get a defect-free RV.

For the record, I asked the service managers at my dealer how many RV's (all kinds) are delivered without needing warranty work. The answer was None! Not a single RV no matter how expensive is delivered defect-free. Ok, there is a problem. I also asked the Heartland customer service supervisor how many RV's they deliver with no warranty claims. I was told, "very few". I asked if it was fair to say that more than 90% of Heartland products have warranty claims. He said "Yes."

Ok, we can't cure the factory issues since we don't buy the products directly from Heartland, but if Heartland, like Ford, GM, Toyota and the rest of the car industry, would institute satisfaction surveys, then Heartland can start taking control of initial quality. They can force the dealer to clean up their mess. That's ok with me. I don't care who catches the problems, just so long as it isn't me.

I think you are spot on for Heartland or for that matter any RV manufacture to initiate a post purchase survey. Survey data could be used to improve product quality as well as dealer experience. Rather then penalize faulty dealers Heartland could incentivize the good ones by assigning satisfaction ratings etc. It seems to me the RV industry relies on floor plans, gadgets, add ons and the like to differentiate between competitors. A commitment to quality a focus on customer satisfaction including dealer experience to me would be more of a competitive advantage than safe in the closet or hidden storage behind the TV. The expense of a survey would be almost nothing as they could be completed electronically even the owners forum could be leveraged to administer the survey plus would drive new owners to the site and perhaps become members.

 

[iawoody2]

First I'm retired from John Deere marketing division. For many years now we have sent a survey to customers right after purchase, at 6 months, and at 1 year. Also shortly after any warranty work. These surveys went to corporate headquarters, then to division(tractor, combine, planter, ect) and then to dealer. And many times a follow up with customer. Our goal was to earn a customer for life.
John Deere products are highly reliable and hold a great resale value.

 

[Kbvols]

This is not an issue since we ordered with disc brakes, upgraded axles and 17.5 Goodyear G114 H rated tires

We live in central Texas and are buying the Landmark from Great Lakes RV Center in Indiana so we will have a pretty good trip to pick it up. They have told us we can stay a couple of nights on their lot to make sure everything is okay before we head back. I tried to buy local from Explore USA but the two locations near us never found the time to give us price. They were always going to get back with me but never did. It cost them a sale.

I don't want to sound like I am knocking Great Lakes RV but I would recommend you verify the delivery/PDI date with them a couple times as well as allow yourself a few days to stay on their lot or nearby and don't sign any delivery papers until satisfied. When I bought my RV from them I set a date to do PDI and pick up in 2 weeks. I am in the area frequently so I stopped by a week prior to delivery to ensure everything was set. I e-mailed the salesman 2 days prior to and was assured everything was set. So when I pulled up on time at 9am day of delivery and still seen the RV in the storage lot I knew it was not going to be a good day. Needless to say I was not happy and the PDI was half *** at best. Unfortunately I had to work the next day otherwise I would have stayed and ensured a more through PDI. With that said that particular salesman is no longer there. The folks that work there are all very nice just not overly organized in my opinion. Plus their pricing is generally pretty competitive.

 

[caissiel]

We are on our 3 RV and never once returned to a dealer. They were all bought on price and picked up at the dealer with a hookup and go.
The 2nd one they did the hookup, and I did check their work for my safety, complete waist of time.
The friends run to dealers all the time and it's a none stop trail with all kinds of problems.
On our first old unit I made a point to learn how to maintain it. I even tighten screws all summer 5/10 minutes at a time. It seam screws were always getting loose. I knew it was the nature of the beast.
The next one lasted 12 years and with more problems but every time improvements were made. It was better then when I bought it after 12 years.
The last one is the new BC now 5 years old and solid as a rock. Not without needing fixing but I know it's the nature of the beast. Actually it has been our best so far.
Any 40 ft unit with 2 in walls 11 ft high will get old fast if not maintained. Specially with the roads I have to ride on.

As a maintenance coordinator in the 80s and 90s, I had to maintain a whole mill with 25% the original crew in the 70s.
We did it by learning to do the job right the first time. The standards for our work had to be elevated all the time by using the right man on the right job.
We are caught up in a big RV explosion since the 90s and numbers out the door has been very important. Like the auto industry of the 60/70s. It never made any difference what went out the door. I know I owned 2 in that era. 71 model had 85 issues and was great. The 76 had a bad engine and everything else fell appart and junk after 7 years.

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[Hunter11]

I don't want to sound like I am knocking Great Lakes RV but I would recommend you verify the delivery/PDI date with them a couple times as well as allow yourself a few days to stay on their lot or nearby and don't sign any delivery papers until satisfied. When I bought my RV from them I set a date to do PDI and pick up in 2 weeks. I am in the area frequently so I stopped by a week prior to delivery to ensure everything was set. I e-mailed the salesman 2 days prior to and was assured everything was set. So when I pulled up on time at 9am day of delivery and still seen the RV in the storage lot I knew it was not going to be a good day. Needless to say I was not happy and the PDI was half *** at best. Unfortunately I had to work the next day otherwise I would have stayed and ensured a more through PDI. With that said that particular salesman is no longer there. The folks that work there are all very nice just not overly organized in my opinion. Plus their pricing is generally pretty competitive.

Keith,
We have planned a 10 day trip to go get our unit since it will be a 1300 mile drive to get there. I was told we could stay onsite for a couple days to make sure everything is up to par and we intend to do just that. Now if we drive 1300 miles only to find our unit is not ready things are going to get ugly.