Our First RV Experience: A Cautionary Tale

[mhepekiz]

Last November, we embarked on an exciting new journey by purchasing our first RV. The thrill of exploring the open road and the freedom to travel at our own pace was a dream come true. However, this dream quickly soured as we encountered persistent issues with the RV's refrigerator.

The Refrigerator Saga​

From the moment we took possession of our RV, the refrigerator never worked properly. Despite our best efforts to troubleshoot and resolve the issue ourselves, we were left with no choice but to seek professional help. Two months ago, we decided to leave our RV at FunTownRV for warranty service, hoping they could fix the persistent problem.

The Waiting Game​

Our frustration grew as weeks turned into months with little to no communication from FunTownRV. For almost 1.5 months, they did absolutely nothing to address the issue. We felt abandoned and ignored, our calls and inquiries seemingly falling on deaf ears. The situation reached a boiling point when, 10 days ago, they finally informed us that they had created a warranty file to replace our faulty refrigerator.

The Cost of Inaction​

This delay has highlighted two major problems:

1. Wasting Warranty Time: Our warranty period is only one year. With the RV sitting idle at FunTownRV for over two months, we have lost valuable time to identify and report other potential issues covered by the warranty. This tactic of delaying repairs works in the service provider's favor but leaves customers like us at a severe disadvantage.
2. Lost Time and Enjoyment: Our RV has been out of commission for more than two months. This is not only inconvenient but also unfair. We purchased the RV to use and enjoy, but instead, it has been parked in a service yard, gathering dust.

Taking a Stand​

As customers, we deserve better. We are now exploring all possible avenues to file complaints and seek redress. The lack of service and communication from FunTownRV has been unacceptable. We are determined to hold them accountable and ensure that other customers do not suffer the same fate.

A Change of Heart​

This experience has also influenced our future purchasing decisions. Two months ago, my wife suggested upgrading to a Toy Hauler and specifically mentioned wanting a Heartland model again. However, after this ordeal, we have decided to look elsewhere. We cannot in good conscience continue to support a brand that has caused us so much frustration and disappointment.

Moving Forward​

Our first RV experience has been a tough lesson in the importance of reliable service and customer care. We hope that by sharing our story, others will be more informed and better prepared when dealing with warranty issues and service providers. The open road awaits, and we remain hopeful that our next RV adventure will be smoother and more enjoyable.

 

[rhodies1]

Just to advise you. MOST RV brands are owned by Thor. All brands have issues and all lack a subject known as Customer Support. Everything goes down hill once you buy and leave the lot. Good luck in your search.

 

[mhepekiz]

Just to advise you. MOST RV brands are owned by Thor. All brands have issues and all lack a subject known as Customer Support. Everything goes down hill once you buy and leave the lot. Good luck in your search.

We need better regulations like vehicles have. Such as Lemon Law..

To be honest since this is related to replacement of the Refrigerator I want to completed it under warranty (Which is normal) other than that, I fixed many things on my trailer. It's a trouble to go to service.

 

[travelin2]

Sorry to hear you’re disheartened regarding your RV purchase.
Sounds to me you should be sour on the dealership for their lackluster service after the sale
We are on our second HL fifth wheel both of which had issues immediately after purchasing that required a return trip or two for resolution. Our dealer was easy to work with, claims were submitted and approved promptly, and corrective measures were made timely.
Yes and since then we’ve had some failures and operational issues but 99% of those were components that HL used in assembly, the same components every builder purchases and installs. That refrigerator could have been installed in a Grand Design unit but by the luck of the draw it ended up in a HL
Good luck on your replacement search and I’d recommend you avoid FunTownRV

 

[david-steph2018]

Sorry to see this situation for you.
Not defending the RV dealership.
But this is how RV dealers work, you make an appointment to drop-off the rig. It sits on their lot; they work it into rotation to look at the rig. If they determine it is a warranty repair, they submit the claim to the manufacturer. The manufacturer either approves or denies it. Once the dealer gets an approval, they order the replacement parts or equipment. Meanwhile your rig, sits there waiting.
Now when the parts come in, your rig is put into rotation to get fixed.
Changes need to be made to the repair process.

One way to try to avoid this, is to see if the manufacturer will give a PRE-APPROVAL for a mobile tech to come to you for the work. But if this happens, you generally pay for the service call. The upside, the rig is fixed quicker, and you can still have it in your possession.

 

[2019_V22]

Although the Heartland brand, and many Thor brands have a proven track record of poor quality, provided your RV purchase was a new model, The manufacture's warranty for the fridge trumps the manufacture warranty by the RV maker. Although there are many flaws throughout the industry, your warranty/replacement actions are probably coming from the fridge manufacture.

 

[Torque Man]

The RV industry is the only industry that gets away with this kind of crap. Although our two RV purchases have had no major issues, I see lots of others that have major problems. I can fix it myself, so I do. Saves a lot of unnecessary stress and heartache.

 

[taskswap]

It's probably because there are so few actual manufacturers since so many brands have merged/consolidated over the years, and they sell into markets and at price points where sales volume matters more than individual-unit quality. Think about it, there are tons of posts here about Heartland's quality and they don't even bother to reply to them. They had a post a month ago asking people for positive reviews on Google that got nothing but negative responses and there's nothing but radio silence in response. There's no consequence for them so why would they improve anything? They're just focused on getting the next unit out the door, and what sells campers isn't quality, it's jumping on the next fad for "farmhouse style" cabinets and being sub-$60k on XYZ features.

This same thing happens on Amazon all the time. Go find a product from your order history from like 2 years ago in a high-volume consumer category that a. gets a lot of reviews to move a product, but b. isn't dominated by "big brands", like patio awnings, home brewing equipment, or closet organizers. (Skip things like tools where we all know Dewalt vs. Milwaukee, or consumables where "quality" isn't the deciding factor in a purchase, like a school textbook or a pack of markers.)

Now look at the pattern. Something I've noticed is that if you go back more than a year, none of those products are still sold. You can get an identical-LOOKING patio awning or homebrew pot but it will be a totally new listing. Why? All the fake 5-star reviews start getting drowned out by real people unhappy with something specific, and it starts affecting sales. Rather than fix the problem, these folks just "rotate" the listings - making a new one and starting over.

The RV industry works sort of like this except there are no Amazon-marketplace reviews to deal with up front. Not many folks join owners forums before buying an RV - what little research they might do probably comes from watching Youtube videos of "Matt" (who loves everything he sees, because he sells it) hustling up a ladder to show you a roof, and tsk-tsk'ing over the size of a closet you know isn't going to move your needle anyway.

I guess it's sort of the nature of the beast. RVs exist in this donut-hole. They aren't purely volume-driven like screwdrivers where if you don't like your screwdriver you don't fix it, you buy a better brand (and there are lots of brands to choose from). With those, the consumer decides: am I going to use it as a hammer or lose it anyway? Maybe I'll get the $3 bargain-bin import special. But with the other end, like houses, they're so expensive that quality dominates the process. Most mortgage companies require home inspections as a pre-purchase condition and those inspectors can be quite thorough - our last one gave us a 45 page report with tons of detail. And there are codes, enforcement agencies, home inspectors, warranties (where the repair person always comes to you, because houses don't move...) and so on. So you sort of get the worst of both worlds in one product...

 

[mhepekiz]

I couldn't understand that. Houses have regulations and vehicles as well. Why is the RV industry like an industry lost in space and has no regulations on it?

If there is something like Lemon Law, they should produce better units and also will have to provide higher quality after-sales service.

From Heartland Perspective. I see marketing activity on their end, on social media, etc. But they lost their current customers with this weird behavior. Ignoring customers is free.. But when you lose a current customer, you have to spend $$$$ to get a new one. They're doing this, which is odd.

 

[travelin2]

All the folks that replied need to read the original post…”encountered persistent issues with the RV's refrigerator.”

The refrigerator isn’t a heartland product. Everyone has one of the same brands INSTALLED BUT NOT BUILT BY the respective RV manufacturer

I’m not sticking up for heartland although our two rigs have been “relatively” trouble free. But why bash heartland? Why not the manufacturer of the refrigerator? Why not the dealer for “dragging their feet” in pursuit of correcting the problem? And lastly as an owner, I’d have been like a freaking burr up their *** about what’s happening and why it hasn’t been fixed.

As I posted in a previous reply, our dealer submitted and had a response from heartland within days for several warranty issues so it’s all about the integrity of the service department to make things happen

You all are shooting arrows at the wrong target. My opinion. Carry on

 

[mhepekiz]

But our purchase agreement with Heartland. Not with the manufacturer of the refrigerator. We can't follow the manufacturer of each screw and each floor equipment and bathtub. If your thoughts are correct, Heartland couldn't approve the warranty request of service for the refrigerator yesterday.

Should we go to the manufacturer of the RAM if we have a problem with our Macbook Pro? (Most of them are Samsung)

 

[travelin2]

But our purchase agreement with Heartland. Not with the manufacturer of the refrigerator. We can't follow the manufacturer of each screw and each floor equipment and bathtub. If your thoughts are correct, Heartland couldn't approve the warranty request of service for the refrigerator yesterday.

Should we go to the manufacturer of the RAM if we have a problem with our Macbook Pro? (Most of them are Samsung)

Frankly that’s exactly what I’d have done. You should have received all of the installed components warranty information. We did.

Case in point…We lost a Dometic AC while under warranty. My dealership was 150 miles away.
I called a forest river dealer 6 miles away. Had a new AC installed in a week. DOMETIC covered 100%.
The issue isn’t heartland. It’s between your dealer and the refrigerator manufacturer!
Your dealer’s service department sucks!

 

[Bogie]

Sorry you have had a bad experience with your purchase.

There are many factors that can affect the experience of buying a new RV. As already stated, most people don't do any research before buying.

All manufacturers build them pretty much the same way. Employees have a specific job and a specific number of units on which to complete that job each day. If they finish early, they can go home. That's why you get 3 screws where 6 are required and improper installations. Still, some are better than others. My personal experience with Heartland has been a good one. That's not to say no issues at all, but nothing I would complain about. There does seem to have been a down turn in quality since Covid. There was an ENOROMOUS backlog in the RV industry after Covid was all over. I'm not sure they have caught up yet. But, that push to fill orders i"m sure has had a negative effect on quality.

I personally know someone who bought a very high end Tiffin Class A Motorhome. Cost of nearly $300K. The build quality was horrible. They had nothing but problems and sold it within 1 year.

So the only thing that would make manufacturers do a better job is if people stop buying until the manufacturers clean up their act. That isn't going to happen, because everyone's "I want me" desires are too strong. In addition, a higher quality level will introduce more cost and higher prices. Would you be willing to spend double the amount for your trailer?

Beyond the manufacturer though, you really have to get a feel for the dealer you purchase from before you buy. Not just go on price. In my case, the dealer was great! They allowed me to take all the time I wanted to inspect the trailer (4 plus hours) before any paperwork was signed of money changed hands. They let me stay overnight in their lot to further test things out. They fixed nearly everything the next day before I hit the road. Finally, for the onething they couldn't do right away (re-paint the front cap), they scheduled me back and took the RV in on the appointed day and had it back to me 2 days later.

Conversely, another dealer I was negotiating with at the same time was evasive and not forth coming with the information I wanted. Though the salesman was trying hard, his management wouldn't cooperate. I gave them the bums rush and told them why.

If you hang around different RV forums enough, you can see that they all have issues. Plus, they develop more issues as they bump and rattle down the road. So unless we all stop buying or are willing to pay a lot more, things are unlikely to change very much.

One final note. Your refrigerator was not made by Heartland. It was made by another manufacturer with it's own warranty. I was in a similar situaton with my water heater. I contacted the manufacturer because the warranty for the water heater was from them, not Heartland. At first they tried to send me to a local authroized facility. That place couldn't even look at it for a month. Through persistance, I convinded them to let me buy and install the part (circuit board) and be reimbursed for the part cost by them. Sure, I had to do the labor, but I didn't want to be in a situaton like you expressed where the warranty is ticking away and you can't use the RV. You might want to contact the refrigerator manufacturere directly.

 

[mhepekiz]

So, I have the same question for you, @Bogie Should I contact Bridgestone if I have a warranty-related issue with my tire on my Silverado?

 

[Bogie]

So, I have the same question for you, @Bogie Should I contact Bridgestone if I have a warranty-related issue with my tire on my Silverado?

Yep. Every new car I have ever purchased has had a separate warranty brochure for the tires that is separate from the vehicle warranty.

 

[mhepekiz]

But the question is different. You have a warranty brochure but do you go directly to tire manufacturer? Or your car's service? That's the question.
I'm a software engineer and I never heard anyone went to Samsung for a Macbook RAM issue.. For example I have a BMW GSA1250 motorcycle. And I don't think to go to Bosch for any ECU problem. Because I'm a customer of BMW, BMW is a customer of BOSCH.

 

[Bogie]

What you say is true. But not all industries operate in the same manner. I was just trying to give you another viable approach.

I can't speak for today, but in 2018 when I purchased my current trailer, one of the documents from Heartland was regarding Factory Direct Customer Support. At the top it states:

"In an effort to offer the best customer service, we are providing you with the warranty phone numbers of our most common vendor partners so you may work directly with them to more quickly handle service issues. Check the brand name of the product to determine the correct vendor"

Then it goes on to list more then 25 vendors.

If you want to put a stake in the ground and stick with a dealer that isn't doing you justice, that's your prerogative. I would be taking a different route.