QC Discussion - General Dis-satisfaction

[Midastouch]

With all that being said ...

I was happy with my final decision before I ordered the Grand Canyon ... I'm still happy about my decision, taking delivery soon and looking forward to being part of the family! Hoping to be at the 2007 Rally!!!

 

[dieselengineer]

I have been at a number of campgrounds and at everyone, people come up and ask where we have purchased the good looking coach. After a short discussion, they always go away in amazement what a great deal the heartland products are. We have had a number of coaches in the past, however this is the first one that is always the center of attention at the campground. Heartland, keep up the great work!

 

[arisce]

Thought I might add a few words here also. We also have been approached by people in campgrounds asking about our BH unit. They are impressed by the styling, the design, the layout and solid workmanship inside as well as the large storage areas underneath. Our 3600RL has 4 slide-outs and people are amazed to see that many. It also looks good coming into a site or once set up-imposing in a good way. We always speak positively about Heartland and explain about the Rally we went to-most people have never heard of a company getting together with owners of their units and sharing stories, both good and bad. We love our unit, especially the bedroom/wardrobe but the new 3670 looks interesting also.
One other big difference we both noticed was the fluidity of the unit on the highways. Our other 5th wh was 28', aluminum with fiberglass caps on both ends, with wood construction. We did a major trip to New Orleans in 2005 and kept gas records to see what our mileage was. When we bought the 38' 3600 RL, we were concerned about the gas mileage, but to our surprise, we did the SAME MPG on the trip to Florida, hauling 10 extra feet of living space. (same tow vehicle-GMC 3500 Dually) We were really impressed with that fact and this shows that Heartland builds a good unit. We also felt the BH rode more solidly over the highways with no sway from passing trucks. Despite its length, it travels very well and even I feel confident driving it on the highways. Right now it is still in for repairs-blowout and damage but we are hoping to get it home soon.
Looking forward to Rally 2007.
Bon Soir from Montreal!
Karen & William

 

[ChopperBill]

I guess I am getting mixed views on this post. Mostly because how do you know if you are a "good guy" or an "bad guy"?
I made a post that my sani-flush hose was not attached and for others to check theirs out. This was a MAJOR error! Think of the consequences if I had not caught it! Good guy or bad guy?
Lots of posts about A/C not blowing air. TimK has a fix. Good guy or bad guy?
Water tanks blowing out of the frame work. TimK has a fix. Good guy or bad guy?
Mention that the vac does not exhaust to the outside like the Eureka manual says it should. Did my fix and made a post on how. Good guy or bad guy?
I was madder than a hornet when I found out the vac and converter breakers were miss labeled. If I hadn't had an inverter installed I probably would have never known this. Dealer should have caught it. Factory should have not done it. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?
Many posts on satellite not working. Good guys or bad guys?
I mentioned that my Big Horn is almost error free on the outside and in the living quarters. Hope that makes me a good guy!
I mentioned that my purchase was the right decision. Makes me a good guy to me!
I mentioned that one of the largest Jayco dealer sales manager said we had the best floor plan and colors. Guess that makes him a good guy to me, maybe a bad guy to Jayco
Quite frankly I spent a quite a bit of time in the service bays moving things around and making them to my liking. Did a **** good job I might add! I really did enjoy messing with the rig. Yes I am also one of those guys that doesn't like someone else working on my stuff. Not only did I put things to MY liking but learned a lot too.
Personally I don't care if Heartland has been in business one week or one hundred years or what there status is in national sales. I did a great deal of research and spent a GOOD deal of money on mine and I am as happy as a pig in poop!
Looks like I have been posting a lot around here. Some may think I am babbling like a goose with the sh*ts! I generally tell it like it is. Good or bad.
Tell me what ya all want to hear as I am confused.

 

[jpmorgan37]

Chopper Bill,
To you I will comment, not to some of the others. You tell it like it is and when you find a problem, either ask for a solution or come up with one. You substantiat your findings with fact and that, in my book, makes you one heck of a good guy. I have followed your postings since day one and you asked many questions prior to receiving your Bighorn. After you got it, you sang it's praises and delt with your problems (and I must say) fixed a lot of them yourself, afterwhich you passed the information on to the rest of us. You, my friend, are a good guy. Keep it up.
From a happy Heartland customer,
John

 

[arisce]

Bravo jpmorgan37, could not have said it better myself.
Nuff said.

 

[JoeW4300]

I have too much on my plate to get into a p****** contest with you. Mean spirited has to be directed at someone else. A veiled threat is still a threat. Do as you must. This stuff they sell is a lesser qualitiy, of that there is no doubt. People have a right to know the good and the bad. You don't like to admit the bad.
I invite you to look at all the problems I have had. It is really amazing. You won't have a forum in five years because Heartland will be defunct.
You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. A. Lincoln.
It will all bite Heartland in the butt sooner than you think.
Joe

 

[HappyKayakers]

Amen to better QC at the factory. My BH still had sawdust and woodchips under the television and DVD player. The wiring for the telephone wasn't connected properly (2 independent wiring runs that terminated in mid-air). Fittings not tight on the sani-flush that caused water to leak through the unit the first time I used it.
Having said all that, I appreciate the way the factory and the dealer service dept took action to repair my problem list. It also helps to have this forum.
I've seen and heard a lot of worse horror stories, from all makes.

 

[nhunter]

One of the major reasons I bought a Heartland was because of this forum and the factory participation and I think it is of great value. We know a couple with a Cardinal that has had nothing but trouble. We quite frequently give people tours of our Bighorn 3600RL and are amazed at the oohs and aahs. People will walk up to you on the street and ask about it. I just hope everyone calms down and the board does not become a p*ss*ng contest because that ruins a good board fast. Now everyone make up and fight nice.

 

[Fordsd250]

Wow, I have the only perfect BH3500. Sure I may have had a few too many screw put in to hold the TV in place and maybe 3 of these screws may have went into the TV circuit board, but factory sent a new TV. Oh yea, I may have had the kitchen drain break, but factory has contacted me to get it fixed. I had to put in 3 screws on the outside, clean up some sawdust and left over building stuff.( But I found several screws that has been put to good use or added to my fixit box.) My Fantastic fan use to stick, my air didnt blow as good, had trouble with oven and on and on. Most all have been fixed because of this forum. After we purchased our 3500, I started reading this forum, and must say I became very concerned we had made a mistake. However, I remembered that this was not our first 5th wheel.(its our 3rd) Now thanks to ALL of the post to this forum, we have been able to make ours the perfect RV. My wife loves it, so that makes me love it. I know after I pull it down the road again I will have something to fix. Thats what RVing is about sometimes. If you are not fixing something, your not doing maint. on your rig. I am just happy my DW lets me pull her BH and we are able to enjoy it. I love this forum and read it almost everyday.

 

[JoeW4300]

For all.
I guess I have had more than two cents worth. Yes, I know who I am!
Toilet seals and Fantastic Fans are certainly minor problems. I don't think I would bring that up actually. Fantasic Fans resolves almost all their problems immediatly. I have never heard a negative comment about Fantastic. The toilet issue was resoved satisfactorily, but not without heartache.
It is all well and good to be fixing these defects if you want to and you are able to. Many people cannot repair these things themselves and shouldn't have to. Many of you have written about your unit being out of service for weeks or months. That is common in the industry. Common but not right. I like to compare myself to the best, not the worst. Saying they all do it is a cop out and you know it. These are vehicles and vehicles to my knowledge are meant to move down the road not remain stationery.
Last Saturday morning while leaving the house I looked under the BigHorn and the underbelly was collapsing. I guess I should be fixing this too to gain the insight and share it with everyone else.
One of the signs of idiocy is to repeat the same procedure over and over and expect a different result. I won't buy another Heartland product as I don't qualify for idiocy just yet although some would certainly say I do.
The sweet taste of low price is soon forgotten when you taste the bitterness of poor quality.
In fairness I do learn a few things on "Jim's" site that are worthwhile.
One other item, I have a 2006 BigHorn 3500 RL. The wonderful model with the sliding kitchen and sink. Anyone could see the drain hose would fail. A small piece of radiator hose placed around the "flex" point could help. The manufacturer promised me a new, better hose months ago but that must have been lost too. I have the improvised fix and it seems ok so far. The newer models have a stationery sink, no flexing. Get it fixed while under warranty or your out of luck unless a trip to Indiana is in your plans.
Not normally quite so vociferous in my complaints but I have had way too many problems.
Not a newbie,
Joe

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I think I have to agree with most of what you have said. I've been doing this RV thing for about 35 years and have had few RV's other than tents that didn't need some attention due to what I would call a lack of concern from an assembly line worker.
We picked up our 2007 3400RL last Thursday. While overall appearance is great, there are many things that lack attention to detail. Both from the manufacturer and the dealer. I will say the A/C is working great though. So far we have bad audio/video wiring, day/night shades that need adjustment, an awning bracket (upper next to the entry door) that has nothing behind the laminate wall for the lag bolts to hold into. A loose toilet flange that the dealer fixed once but I think I can get it better. Once we pull it in some serious weather, I'll know how the bottom seals on the slide outs work.
Again, these are issues I can manage but at what price point can we get an RV that comes from the factory needing nothing but general set up by the dealers. I anticipate we'll end up happy campers but it will take some time to get this rig into what I feel is great shape.
I also have to add the both in and out, fit and finish is **** nice.

 

[jbeletti]

Joe,

I am glad that you have learned a few things from this site. I am still hoping you will be giving input that will help other owners.

What I do not understand is the goal of your continued posts as it relates to other Heartland product owners. That said, I am getting private complaints sent to me.

I respectfully request that you participate in this forum for the purpose of learning more about the product, learning more of the tweaks, mods repairs done by others and for sharing same with the rest of us. This is the goal of the forum.

Thank you in advance for this consideration going forward.

Jim
Admin

 

[nscaler2]

Jim,
I realize that you are somewhat unhappy with Joe's response to some of the quality issues that have appeared here on this forum lately. However, even if he is not giving direct corrective action or help to the specific problem presented, at the time, he is continually making Heartland aware that they STILL have numerous QC problems, mostly due to what appears to be employees that don't care. This in fact may help future owners by bringing the awareness of the company to the forefront. When it comes to quality, I too am not the happiest camper here.

 

[jimtoo]

I also think that these problems need to be answered in a public forum like this. Heartland has too many ongoing problems that are not being corrected by the plant. I have numerous problems, most of which are being corrected by my dealer, but if the problems were corrected before the unit left the plant it would be less expensive for Heartland. I think that prospective buyers should be aware of these ongoing things. A lot of people do not have the knowledge or cannot do the repairs themselves. I, as of yet, have not posted any thing negative about Heartland other than to acknowledge that I have the same problems as so many others and the quality control is nil, or so it seems.

My unit number is 1788 and what are we up to now, 4800 or there abouts and we are still seeing and hearing of the same complaints. You would think that in production of over 2000 units these issues could have been resolved on the production line.

 

[jbeletti]

nscaler2,

Thank you for your post. I do get your point. And I do agree that Heartland needs to listen up - and they are listening.

What is getting to me is when I see continued posts of the same general nature by the same person. The point has been made but continues to be reposted. Continued reposting will not help the same poster's issues and the first post will get the attention of prospects.

nscaler2, this is not directed at you, I am just using this post to step onto my soapbox for a moment.

For all users that may read this post, as the owner/adminstrator of an online forum, it is up to me to state the goal of its existence, make the rules, set the tone etc. It is not always an easy job or a fun one but I do it because I have a genuine interest in RVing and in the Heartland brand, being a product owner.

When I ask a user to tone it down (their delivery), I in no way wish to change someone's feelings about their coach or their issues with it. A person's feeling cannot be taken away - it is an entitlement. Sometimes people just need to vent. And I get that. But if the vent turns into a rant that never ends, then I step in. There are other places online that people can continue their rant.

This forum will never satisfy everyone's needs in an online setting. I have seen other forums (small like this one) that have little to no moderation that for the most part, have totally devolved to a forum that provides little real usefulness to a product owner trying to gain insight on their coach.

I'd like to have the forum that provided some real useful information the userbase. Where that useful information was provided by other product owners based on their own experience. Owners truly helping owners.

And while it still works, I want to continue to be able to provide a bonafide Ask The Factory forum. Where a prospect or product owner can ask legitimate questions of the factory that they would like to see answered in a open forum. If we devolve to a point where the factory feels we are no longer a legitimate concern, we will lose that connection. And we're not ready for that.

Again, nscaler2, this was not directed at you. I have merely hijacked your post to make my open reply to all.

Thank you to all 1,024 members of which 304 of you are active (logged in within the last 30 days). Let's continue to share with each other in a constructive manner. Let's continue to lend each other a hand. Let's continue to let the factory know what is working and what is not working. Let's do that in a clear, concise, constructive and non-mean spirited manner. When you really feel compelled to totally rip the factory, please give them a phone call and give it to them personally.

Jim

 

[Ken Washington]

Jim,
After your comments, I hope this is put to rest! I was getting tired of it and I know others were too. I really enjoy this fourm and keep a close check on it two or three times a day and I learn so much. I don't know anyone on this fourm but I fill like part of a group of good people helping others. Let's keep this fourm what it is suppose to be and have fun with our RV's.
Ken

 

[bob hyder]

Jim,

I to want to say that this is a great forum and that I've learned so much, and have been able to use many of the great ideas that people have come across in their experiences. I'd also like to note that I think you are doing a great job of moderating this forum. Keep up the good work, I'm sure many appreciate your good work. And even though some people are very displeased with the QC of their RV, they seem to still be here on the forum looking for more info. I agree with Ken, I hope this topic does see a final resting place. As for me, I'm a very happy owner of a Heartland Cyclone. After spending almost a year researching toyhaulers, I feel I've made the right decision.

Thanks to all for all their great ideas,

Bob

 

[arisce]

Bravo Ken
Nuff said.

P.S. I too have a lot of problems. I just e-mailed the company. I want to keep this forum for the members benefit. This was the intended goal and should remain the intended goal. Jim is doing his best to maintain this (his) forum as an exchange of ideas, mods, repairs, etc. All this should be done in a positive spirit. If we lose this forum then we lose. Not just the suggestions by qualified people but the frienship and family atmosphere that we have. As the "visa" commercial states:Heartlandowners.org-priceless. Nuff said.

 

[busted2341]

Nuff said...good site Jim. I hope you "maintain" the professionalism that has been within this site. I know I have passed on information as well as received lots. At least the factory responds to this site, just go to a few other brand name forums and see the repsonses and you'll see.......