Just need a schedule to plan.....Too much to ask?

[dsamford]

BAD COMMUNICATION from Heartland.


Well I've been lurking on this group for sometime while waiting for delivery of a new Heartland Landmark 365.
Not wanting to be a pessimist even before we take delivery of our new rig. However, reading other peoples experience will hopefully will help us navigate through the process.

... Now to vent......
Now setting at 12 weeks after placing an order and a sizable deposit, with a reputable RV dealer, on a new 2018 landmark 365, we ordered our new home.
Then we sold our home (after a yr on the market & even sold our 36' BigHorn 8 weeks later.
(Yea, I know. Should have held onto the BH, but it had severe frame issues & had a "permanent site" buyer and a good price)
The initial build time was estimated at 10 weeks.
With repeated & continued ( last one was 2 days go with Heartland sales) contacts and emails to both our dealer and to the Heartland sales rep starting at week #8, Heartland has been keeping us in the "dark" on the status of our new trailer. No VIN or any guess at a shipping date. Only that he will ask and get back with us. never clear answer.
I was told that by the LM rep that "the factory is very busy getting ready for it's open house" REALLY? What about your customers you currently have?
Currently we are sitting in temp housing (weekly rental) and the lack of any Real communication with Heartland has been disappointing.
All we have heard for the past three weeks has been that it is out of paint and in the final stages.
You would think, three weeks later, that the "final stages" would have been carried out, and our unit approaching delivery.
We are very frustrated with Heartland.
All we are asking for is some reasonable build/delivery schedule that we can work with.
I understand we may not like it or even able to make the delay "fit" our schedule. But at least we would have some idea how to plan.
We were full-time RV years, this is our home. And we still both have jobs that we work out of our RV.
Contemplating canceling the order and going to the Dallas RV show this weekend to buy our new home. (And it wont b a Heartland)


Googled and called Heartland his am an left a VM for the sales GM.
Lets see if I get a return call.

Shame on Heartland for such a simple fix to prevent the loss of a $100k unit sale.

Very poor business practice.

Already brought up our timeline & additional living expenses & any other relative facts. But they don't care. REALLY???

Hope someone can share this with someone at Heartland that gives a $h!t.


This is unnecessary BS.




All Im asking for is a VIN and the ETA timeline now that we are 11+ weeks into our projected 10 weeks.

 

[danemayer]

Well obviously someone is not doing enough.

Call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Ask them to get you the VIN # and current status.

By the way, I think Heartland faxes the build confirmation to the dealer, with VIN #, just before the trailer gets built. So your dealer certainly should have had this for some weeks now if the trailer has been built and is through the paint shop. Maybe you should discuss this with your dealer.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

On the "agree with you" side....yes, you should get communications. Even an answer of something like..."it will be at least 2 more weeks" would be helpful.

Now the other side. You said the original estimate was 10 weeks. That is in fact an "estimate". Things happen...perhaps some of Heartlands vendors were impacted by Harvey and Irma. A LOT of companies have product delays and equipment destroyed during these Hurricanes. BTW....our Bighorn estimate was 10 weeks...took them 13, but we were in no rush.

Would you still be this upset if you hadn't sold your Bighorn prior to getting the Landmark and therefore you still had a place to live with having to move into a temp location?

I'm not trying to point fingers at you....Heartland needs to communicate an updated time line with your. However, I think some of your frustration rests on the fact it appears you counted on the 10 week estimate as commit date and you planned around that.

 

[danemayer]

I was told that by the LM rep that "the factory is very busy getting ready for it's open house"

Don't be surprised if your LM 365 comes with mid-year changes and has some puts and takes that you weren't told about. Some changes you may view as improvements. Some you might view as takeaways. But this is the time of year those mid-model year changes happen. Heartland usually wants to show off the mid-model year changes at the dealer open house. Part of your delay may have been a result of those changes.

If that's the holdup on your coach, hopefully you'll find the changes a benefit, perhaps offsetting the aggravation of the delay.

 

[Rooster58]

BAD COMMUNICATION from Heartland.


Well I've been lurking on this group for sometime while waiting for delivery of a new Heartland Landmark 365.
Not wanting to be a pessimist even before we take delivery of our new rig. However, reading other peoples experience will hopefully will help us navigate through the process.

... Now to vent......
Now setting at 12 weeks after placing an order and a sizable deposit, with a reputable RV dealer, on a new 2018 landmark 365, we ordered our new home.
Then we sold our home (after a yr on the market & even sold our 36' BigHorn 8 weeks later.
(Yea, I know. Should have held onto the BH, but it had severe frame issues & had a "permanent site" buyer and a good price)
The initial build time was estimated at 10 weeks.
With repeated & continued ( last one was 2 days go with Heartland sales) contacts and emails to both our dealer and to the Heartland sales rep starting at week #8, Heartland has been keeping us in the "dark" on the status of our new trailer. No VIN or any guess at a shipping date. Only that he will ask and get back with us. never clear answer.
I was told that by the LM rep that "the factory is very busy getting ready for it's open house" REALLY? What about your customers you currently have?
Currently we are sitting in temp housing (weekly rental) and the lack of any Real communication with Heartland has been disappointing.
All we have heard for the past three weeks has been that it is out of paint and in the final stages.
You would think, three weeks later, that the "final stages" would have been carried out, and our unit approaching delivery.
We are very frustrated with Heartland.
All we are asking for is some reasonable build/delivery schedule that we can work with.
I understand we may not like it or even able to make the delay "fit" our schedule. But at least we would have some idea how to plan.
We were full-time RV years, this is our home. And we still both have jobs that we work out of our RV.
Contemplating canceling the order and going to the Dallas RV show this weekend to buy our new home. (And it wont b a Heartland)


Googled and called Heartland his am an left a VM for the sales GM.
Lets see if I get a return call.

Shame on Heartland for such a simple fix to prevent the loss of a $100k unit sale.

Very poor business practice.

Already brought up our timeline & additional living expenses & any other relative facts. But they don't care. REALLY???

Hope someone can share this with someone at Heartland that gives a $h!t.


This is unnecessary BS.




All Im asking for is a VIN and the ETA timeline now that we are 11+ weeks into our projected 10 weeks.

Oh do I totally understand how you feel. Although the unit I ordered wasn't nearly as expensive as yours and I'm not full timing. I was promised delivery the first week of August. The lack of communication was terrible. I came close to just canceling the order too. I finally got the call yesterday that my unit was at the dealer and I have an appointment at 9am Thursday the 21st to take delivery. It should be perfect since they had so much time to build it. Haha.


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[Oregon_Camper]

Oh do I totally understand how you feel. Although the unit I ordered wasn't nearly as expensive as yours and I'm not full timing. I was promised delivery the first week of August. The lack of communication was terrible. I came close to just canceling the order too. I finally got the call yesterday that my unit was at the dealer and I have an appointment at 9am Thursday the 21st to take delivery. It should be perfect since they had so much time to build it. Haha.


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You can download my Pre-Delivery Inspection document, by clicking on the link in my signature below.

This document will take you about 4 hours to complete (don't rush it) and will ensure you understand all the operations of the trailer as well as having you inspect the trailer. This will help you find all sorts of "gotcha" stuff that might not pop up until later down the road (ie...when your 100's of miles from an RV shop).

No matter what the dealer says, their PDI is will never cover everything. Complete this PDI and get dealer to fix all issue before paying for trailer...that way the dealer is very motivated to finish.

 

[Rooster58]

You can download my Pre-Delivery Inspection document, by clicking on the link in my signature below.

This document will take you about 4 hours to complete (don't rush it) and will ensure you understand all the operations of the trailer as well as having you inspect the trailer. This will help you find all sorts of "gotcha" stuff that might not pop up until later down the road (ie...when your 100's of miles from an RV shop).

No matter what the dealer says, their PDI is will never cover everything. Complete this PDI and get dealer to fix all issue before paying for trailer...that way the dealer is very motivated to finish.

I've had your PDI checklist printed days ago. Lol. Also downloaded to my Dropbox. Thank you so much.


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[Oregon_Camper]

I've had your PDI checklist printed days ago. Lol. Also downloaded to my Dropbox. Thank you so much.

No problem...hope it all goes well for you during the PDI.

 

[esscobra]

the factory closes for week or 2 during a ug and dec to clean/re-tool/adjust for mid year changes etc- order went into heartland during dec break so nothing started on getting it into system until factory re-opened- but by now you should have had vin a more info at least- I would expect delays in shipping from suppliers as well right now- ad heartland does not keep all the items to build units in stock- when unit is ordered they order the items for it - such as chairs, furniture doors glass etc- so there are numerous places for delays to occur- btw were there some special order options that you got that necessitated a build? if you are willing to go to dallas to buy at show- pretty sure you could find a landmark in stock- the dealers in texas here lots of them and selling well under 100k

 

[TravelTiger]

I will tell you if you want to buy at the Dallas show, the only dealer with Landmarks will be ExploreUSA. They are a large volume dealer with numerous locations up and down the I-35 corridor. Many (including us) can tell you their stories about service issues and less than stellar walkthoughs. The sales folks are great at sales. But just know it won't be a piece of cake getting a 100% ready unit from them.

You can look on their website and see all their units. They typically order them all with the exact same features, only difference may be color of decor and paint. They can get you ones from their other locations, they do it all the time. However, they may sell the unit right from under you if it's at another location, so don't fall too hard for that shell game.




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[esscobra]

there are also many other dealers not far away with units in stock and better service and pricing

 

[Cholo]

I'm so sorry to hear this. My experience, about the same timeframe last year, was much better. I agree with some responders that your dealer should have your vin. My dealer gave me every document Heartland sent him, (one of which had my VIN), and I was emailing at least once a week. My big issue was the end of year changes. We ordered and was not sure which changes we would get. I kept up with them but, I saw some units that only had part of the changes and none had all the "announced" changes. I was lucky and had good communication with the rep and he kept me posted. We are very happy with our Newport and hope that you will be happy once you get your Landmark.

 

[TravelTiger]

I hope you were not planning to attend the Dallas show and make a purchase. We attended today, and there were no Landmarks on display.


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