Don't get hit by Omar

[philwellman]

We picked up our Big Country in Ashland VA in Jan 2014. We went FL and returned March 17 when Omar lost control of his car and hit our new Big Country doing $12,000 damage. It has been at the dealer since then. Omars insurance has paid the claim but the dealer says there are still parts on order. Repairs have not begun after almost two months. Either parts take too long to receive or the system is broken! Don't have a accident with your trailer and expect a quick repair! Phil Wellman

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Phil,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I would suggest you have your VIN and call Heartland and ask when the parts were ordered for your unit. Quite often the dealer does not order as they say they do... also the dealer may be trying to get some after market parts cheaper so he can make more money since it is not warranty.

Check and let us know what you find.

Jim M

 

[jmgratz]

Sometimes it is cheaper to order the parts yourself, have them delivered to you and then take the parts to the dealer to have them installed. We have done that and got it fixed much quicker. Normally once ordered the parts arrive within a week.

 

[philwellman]

Jim, Thank you. I did call Heartland and was told the parts order will be shipped May 9th Friday. We'll see how long the repair takes. thank you Phil Wellman

 

[jimtoo]

Good info,,, now stay in contact with repair shop.

 

[boatto5er]

I assume your rig is at Rolling Hills in Ashland. Be sure to stay on top of them. We had a satisfactory landing gear repair done there on our previous Sundance five yrears ago, but we have friends who had numerous issues with minor repairs to their Class A motor home there.

 

[philwellman]

I assume your rig is at Rolling Hills in Ashland. Be sure to stay on top of them. We had a satisfactory landing gear repair done there on our previous Sundance five yrears ago, but we have friends who had numerous issues with minor repairs to their Class A motor home there.

The sales dept at Mc George isvery good but service dept is not good at communicating. I hope the service work is better than the counter people. Thanks for your note P Wellman

 

[philwellman]

Omar is his real name! No, he has no carpet but it would have done less damage to our Big Country. Travelers insurance did pay for Cruise America rental for a few weeks. Omar got a reckless driving ticket. Phil Wellman

 

[wdk450]

FYI:
It's been my mantra about RV service, that to most dealers service is something they HAVE to do to keep their RV selling franchise, and they don't consider it a source of significant profit. Then there are the INDEPENDENT RV servicers (no RV Sales), for whom service is ALL they do, and the ONLY source of their income. Guess who has a bigger incentive to get the job done quickly (so they get paid quicker), and to your satisfaction (so you will come back to them and tell your RV friends about them)??? Remember you can take your Heartland to the RV servicer of YOUR choice for warranty work, just phone Heartland service in advance.

I have also had a significant insurance claim done by my independent RV servicer, with RV Dr. George working with the adjuster and getting the work done quickly and professionally.

 

[olcoon]

Well, the good point of this whole thing is that Omar DID have insurance, and they are paying for it. A few years ago, a good friend of mine stopped at an accident with snow & ice on the ground. Your Omar's cousin came diddly bopping down the road, hit some ice, & hit my friend. The end result was that my friend got his leg amputated, and Omar's cousin had no insurance. He got a 6 month insurance policy so he could get license plates on his car, then didn't pay the premium after the 6 months was over.

 

[ParkIt]

FYI:
It's been my mantra about RV service, that to most dealers service is something they HAVE to do to keep their RV selling franchise, and they don't consider it a source of significant profit. Then there are the INDEPENDENT RV servicers (no RV Sales), for whom service is ALL they do, and the ONLY source of their income. Guess who has a bigger incentive to get the job done quickly (so they get paid quicker), and to your satisfaction (so you will come back to them and tell your RV friends about them)??? Remember you can take your Heartland to the RV servicer of YOUR choice for warranty work, just phone Heartland service in advance.

I have also had a significant insurance claim done by my independent RV servicer, with RV Dr. George working with the adjuster and getting the work done quickly and professionally.

Oh so true, Bill!

This time of year is really tough because everyone is pulling their anything rolling units out of storage and getting them prepped at the dealership where they bought them. Parts can be long time wait too, totally not fun.

My independent service only RV shop is 121 miles from me but I had my BC towed there for repair (after it sat on a local dealership lot for a full month with no repairs) who got the job done with all new parts in one week. They did all the work our Omar damage had done as well as checking everything for road and living ready. It was really nice to have a service shop who had the most common damaged parts and awesome technicians get the work done properly if not a little better than factory.

Insurance covered it and paid direct, all I had to do after one week is go pick it up, take it to my summer site and ready to rock and roll

 

[philwellman]

Bill That's good advise but here in the East there are few independent dealers. Would an independent dealer get the same cost on parts as a dealer? One member suggested ordering the parts myself from Heartland, would I get the same cost? I'm looking at 10,000 in labor at 125 per hr. Thanks Bill!! Phil Wellman

 

[wdk450]

Bill That's good advise but here in the East there are few independent dealers. Would an independent dealer get the same cost on parts as a dealer? One member suggested ordering the parts myself from Heartland, would I get the same cost? I'm looking at 10,000 in labor at 125 per hr. Thanks Bill!! Phil Wellman

Phil:
I looked around on RVServiceReviews.com and did not see anyone that obviously stood out (by name) as an independent in your area. Chesapeake RV Solutions (a Bighorn dealer) had all very good reviews - are you dealing with them?
As to parts prices to dealers, I think that this is something Heartland keeps pretty close to the vest. You know HOC members get a 10% discount by asking for it.