Heartland Warranties

[RanCarr]

I didn't know where else to post this.... We just called the dealer who is supposed to honor our warranty on our BRS28 here in TN, and immediately ran into problems. Since we didn't buy it from this place in TN, they really don't want to work on our Heartland TT. We picked this BRS28 up in Indiana, from a dealer near Heartland itself. They say Heartland wont honor it's warranty and they lose a lot of money. Where does this leave us? The TT has some minor issues that she doesn't think HL will honor, so we will be billed for them. What's going on here? We can't take the TT hundreds of miles back to Elkheart IN. Now what? All suggestions are welcome.

 

[jayc]

If you call Heartland customer service they will direct you to another dealer that will service your unit.

 

[JohnDar]

Call Heartland for the location of a dealer near you that will honor the warranty. Give them your VIN and a description of the problems. Non-selling dealers coming up with reasons to not honor the warranty is nothing new.

 

[ncc1701e]

Not sure exactly what part of TN you are in, but if you are anywhere close to Knoxville look for "RV for Less" ( http://rvsforless.net/ ). I'm from western KY and have had similar issues finding a Heartland Dealer. I've actually had to take the trailer to Cincinatti twice now for repairs. A 4 hour trip one way. Like you, I bought our trailer out of state, Iowa actually. I had the pleasure to meet the folks from "RV for Less" at a rally and they seem to be pretty good folks.

 

[wdk450]

RanCarr:
Did you know that you do NOT have to have Heartland Warranty work done at Heartland dealers? You can use ANY RV servicer YOU choose. You just need to call Heartland service and get PRIOR authorization. Heartland also keeps a lsit of 3rd party servicers they have worked with in different areas. This is one of the things that Heartland does that other RV manufacturers don't do!

 

[TandT]

Some of these dealers will "cut off their nose to spite their face", because you didn't buy from them.
I find this practice annoying and bad business. IMHO, if they are an authorized factory dealership the factory should lean on them to help any customer, if they are qualified.
If they refuse, pull the product from the dealer. There are plenty of dealers willing to service products bought at any dealer. Trace

 

[bkdance]

We are on the road in the Santee/San Diego area and have need of a good RV service shop. We've called several places and all but one were unwilling to do Heartland warranty work. Then we discovered they had several bad reviews on Google. I then perused this thread and decided to call Heartland service. Eric, nice guy, gave me the name of a dealer which was the same as the one I had already found by searching the Heartland site. They didn't want to do Heartland warranty work either. Eric wasn't able to offer any specific dealers that were guaranteed to do warranty work for non-buyers. He did assure me that anyone could do the work if a bid was submitted and approved before the work was completed.

We are hoping to find a mobile repair company that comes highly recommended. We will check with the campground hosts today. If anyone can suggest a good company, that would be great!

Bob and Kim

 

[slmayor]

Quite simply, the dealer that said Heartland won't honor it's warranty is lying. We're an independent service center and I've been working with Heartland on the service side for over a year. They have great communication, prompt responses and we have had ZERO issues dealing with them. They have procedures that must be followed, but they are simple and reasonable and have offered prompt approval of needed repairs. I am cc'd on all corrospondence so I know exactly where the parts are and who's responsible.

By the way, take Bill's suggestion and call for an independent service facility that is closer to you.

 

[TandT]

We are on the road in the Santee/San Diego area and have need of a good RV service shop. We've called several places and all but one were unwilling to do Heartland warranty work. Then we discovered they had several bad reviews on Google. I then perused this thread and decided to call Heartland service. Eric, nice guy, gave me the name of a dealer which was the same as the one I had already found by searching the Heartland site. They didn't want to do Heartland warranty work either. Eric wasn't able to offer any specific dealers that were guaranteed to do warranty work for non-buyers. He did assure me that anyone could do the work if a bid was submitted and approved before the work was completed.

We are hoping to find a mobile repair company that comes highly recommended. We will check with the campground hosts today. If anyone can suggest a good company, that would be great!

Bob and Kim

Bob,
Giant RV in both Colton & Murietta has been very good to me on HL warranty issues.
Temecula RV sold me some parts and they seemed like very knowledgeable friendly people, who could also probably help you. An independant with alot of high falutin rigs in there, so I would guess they do good work.
Both Murietta and Temecula are fairly close to you. We are staying in the Temecula area at Lake Skinner. Trace

 

[Bob&Patty]

Bob, call and ask for Bill at Temecula RV. the PH# is 951-894-2347. He is my service advisor. Talk to him about doing warranty work thru HL. If they can't maybe he knows someone that can. PM sdgirl, she lives close to you and has had warranty work done in San Diego.

 

[frumbawa]

PM sdgirl, she lives close to you and has had warranty work done in San Diego.

La Mesa RV on Miramar Road in San Diego is a Heartland Dealer and does service. There is a also a new place, RV Solutions I think that also sells Heartland bu I'm not sure about service. Next closest would be GiantRV in Murrieta as previously mentioned. I'm not sure if the place sdgirl went to is the place I referred her to but unfortunately, they are out of business.

Good Luck.

Frank

 

[wdk450]

Check out http://www.rvservicereviews.com

 

[olcoon]

Last Dec. we were in FL, and had an elec. problem. I didn't know where a dealer would be near us, and called Heartland & they directed me to a local dealer. I contacted them and they were great, got the problem taken care of in a timely matter, and they figured out the problem when our local dealer couldn't!

 

[RanCarr]

Thank you for all the advice. We called Heartland to explain the problem, and they in turn called our closest service place here near Nashville TN. The woman sung him a different tune and will work on our North Trail. Now in all fairness to the Dealer/Service place, I don't know if it was the same woman the HL man talked to that spoke to us, but they will work on our NT. It was explained to us what happens, who pays for what etc. so we are again happy campers.

The last issue is the flattening poor quality seats at the dinette. HL doesn't warranty them so we have to find out who they get them from and go from there. The Service place will take pictures and advise us what to do next. BTW, we are not large heavy people. Even if we were, the seats should not be flattening.

I'm going to be honest about this NT. We love the layout but if you want "quality" inside such as good seat cushions, quality curtains that don't look like they came from John's Bargain Stores, a comfortable sofa and *GROUND CLEARANCE*, do not buy a NorthTrail. We paid $19,000 for this TT and had hoped it would have a better quality interior than it does (sofa, seats etc). And if you camp or drive anywhere other than almost totally flat ground, you will destroy the levelers as we already did, or grind out your spare tire which is too close to the ground. It should be attached to the rear of the TT as it was on our Zinger and Sunline - safely out of the way. The rear bicycle tray that slides out will hit bottom/drag on the slightest incline, even with the heavy duty dolly wheels we installed on the TT's frame. Since we do most of our camping in State Parks and COEs, not muga-buck ultra-level RV resorts, this NT isn't really doing too well. Because of the lack of clearance, we've had to replace the two rear stabilizers and add heavy duty dolly wheels at our own expense, plus have our driveway re-graveled for several hundred dollars to keep from destroying the spare tire or the front stabilizers or rear tray when extended. At the dealer's lot we never noticed how close to the ground this unit is.

We now use the manual stabilizers kept in the cubby, as if we replaced the originals in the rear, they would quickly be destroyed.

Has anyone moved the spare tire to a better place on the BRS? Where to, and how did you move it?

 

[RanCarr]

If you call Heartland customer service they will direct you to another dealer that will service your unit.

We did call Heartland and they called the closest place. This will be worked out to everyone's satisfaction I believe.

 

[RanCarr]

Some of these dealers will "cut off their nose to spite their face", because you didn't buy from them.
I find this practice annoying and bad business.

Yes, that was part of the problem. We didn't BUY the TT from them. But if they would advertise more locally, we would have gone there to look at TTs. When we looked on their lot about 2 years ago, they didn't have what we wanted. So we honestly didn't think of them when we realized we needed something larger than the 19' Zinger.

IMHO, if they are an authorized factory dealership the factory should lean on them to help any customer, if they are qualified.
If they refuse, pull the product from the dealer. There are plenty of dealers willing to service products bought at any dealer. Trace

They came around after talking to the man from Heartland.

 

[lorax]

In side the cabinet door over the sink of our new Prowler is a list of phone numbers to call if you have a problem. My hope is that these numbers will give the proper authorization for repairs. My dealer told me to call them and they would find a place to get the work done. This is our third Travel Trailer and the first Heartland, I'm encouraged by all that I see and hear. I hope that that continues.
Ted

 

[Sandpirate69]

Thank you for all the advice. We called Heartland to explain the problem, and they in turn called our closest service place here near Nashville TN. The woman sung him a different tune and will work on our North Trail. Now in all fairness to the Dealer/Service place, I don't know if it was the same woman the HL man talked to that spoke to us, but they will work on our NT. It was explained to us what happens, who pays for what etc. so we are again happy campers.

The last issue is the flattening poor quality seats at the dinette. HL doesn't warranty them so we have to find out who they get them from and go from there. The Service place will take pictures and advise us what to do next. BTW, we are not large heavy people. Even if we were, the seats should not be flattening.

I'm going to be honest about this NT. We love the layout but if you want "quality" inside such as good seat cushions, quality curtains that don't look like they came from John's Bargain Stores, a comfortable sofa and *GROUND CLEARANCE*, do not buy a NorthTrail. We paid $19,000 for this TT and had hoped it would have a better quality interior than it does (sofa, seats etc). And if you camp or drive anywhere other than almost totally flat ground, you will destroy the levelers as we already did, or grind out your spare tire which is too close to the ground. It should be attached to the rear of the TT as it was on our Zinger and Sunline - safely out of the way. The rear bicycle tray that slides out will hit bottom/drag on the slightest incline, even with the heavy duty dolly wheels we installed on the TT's frame. Since we do most of our camping in State Parks and COEs, not muga-buck ultra-level RV resorts, this NT isn't really doing too well. Because of the lack of clearance, we've had to replace the two rear stabilizers and add heavy duty dolly wheels at our own expense, plus have our driveway re-graveled for several hundred dollars to keep from destroying the spare tire or the front stabilizers or rear tray when extended. At the dealer's lot we never noticed how close to the ground this unit is.

We now use the manual stabilizers kept in the cubby, as if we replaced the originals in the rear, they would quickly be destroyed.

Has anyone moved the spare tire to a better place on the BRS? Where to, and how did you move it?

RanCarr,
If there's a large truck or HD trailer shop, maybe they can install a 3"-4" steel blocks under the leaf packs to raise your travel trailer. Plus it will give you more space in between the trailer & wheel wells. Those steel frame casters are great for cement or black top, but not for gravel or soft ground. As you have already experienced.