ihsolutions
Well-known member
Monday morning I drove down to Elkhart to pick up my new 2011 BH 3670RL from RV Capital Wholesalers (aka Great Lakes RV). This is the same unit I went to look at last week as it came off the line, and had a significant cabinetry issue which was addressed after I pointed it out. Link to old thread
The plan was to perform the PDI at 10AM in the morning, be finished in the early afternoon, and spend the night parked on the dealer's parking lot "campground" which was just a place to park with an electric hookup. Only about 5 minutes into the PDI, I discovered another serious issue: the coach did not have the upgraded axles (8k instead of 7k) nor did it have the correct hubs (easy lube instead of never-lube as ordered). Also, all four shock absorbers were...MISSING! I immediately got on the phone with Heartland and, to their credit, they jumped all over this and sent a truck down to the dealer to pick the unit up.
While waiting for Heartland to arrive I began testing systems and found other defects that would be easier fixed at the factory, and created a punch list. A cabinet face needed changing out, and I needed a new microwave, as Heartland had damaged the existing one when making the cabinet modification the week prior. The shower leaked terribly where the glass meets the shower pan on both sides.
Heartland arrives around 12:30 to pick up the unit and I figure it's a good time to go to lunch. Afterwards, I begin making calls to my dealer, to Heartland, and anyone else I could bother to make sure they knew I needed the unit back the same day...as I had to stay in it that night. I finally got a commitment out of Heartland to have it ready for pickup by end of day.
I got the unit back around 6:30 that evening. Now I'm exhausted, and my PDI process is nowhere near complete and the dealer's technicians are all gone for the day. That's fine, I can do the PDI myself. It's starting to get pretty cold out so I focus on testing systems from inside the coach. Everything seems to be going OK. The shower leak was no more. Some minor issues, like the fantastic fan did not respond to t-stat input. Life is good, I thought. The pump seems to be spitting a mixture of water and air, which I know not the way it should work, so I write it on my punch list for the next morning. Finally, it's time for bed. The furnace quits. It would come on for about 10-15 seconds but the burner would not ignite and it would shut off. Did I mention it's only 35 degrees outside at this point? I tried everything I could think of, with no luck.
The next morning the dealer quickly resolves all the issues. The furnace had a loose connection on the circuit board. The fantastic fan t-stat was also bad, which he replaced. The microwave was changed out for a new one. The pump had a lose connection and there was about 1/2 gallon of water in the basement. This one freaked me out, so I unscrewed the access panels and opened everything up to dry out and continue testing that there are NO leaks.
Another long story ensued, not pertinent to this post related to my Superglide hitch and the universal capture plate not fitting. I'll omit these details for now.
Around 2PM and everything was fixed, time to go home. I get hitched up and the dealer sends me off. Driving about 1/2 mile down the road I get a red light. I hit the brakes and there are NO trailer brakes. I nearly plow right through the intersection, but managed to stop BARELY in time. Fortunately I was not going that fast.
Back to the dealer. He says, "Back already?" I told him about the brakes and he looks at me like I'm an idiot. Then asks if I have a brake controller. Then, says "your brake controller must be bad". Now I'm getting angry. I've pulled several trailers with this truck and brake controller before, and never had an issue. I explain to him that, after dragging the brakes manually for about 1/4 mile, it felt like I had ONE wheel out of four trying to stop. He gets down on the ground and feels the drums. All are cold, one is hot. He says "Seems like only one is working". Gee, where have I heard that before?
Three drums were way out of adjustment. Once that was fixed, I headed back out. Much better now!
So now to the point of this thread... why am I posting all this? Hopefully, Heartland is reading this. I am very disappointed with the lack of quality control on my unit as it left the factory. To keep this story as brief as possibly I have left out a lot of minor issues that Heartland also could have caught. To install the incorrect axles, incorrect hubs, NO shocks whatsoever, and the myriad other issues I experienced is, in my opinion, inexcusable. To their credit, Heartland really stepped up and addressed these problems quickly and correctly. The customer service was great.
Now as I understand it, Heartland pays the dealer to fix all these issues that come up during the PDI and after the sale, when they are fixed at the dealer. I'm sure this is not cheap. So many of the issues I had were 100% preventable with a little time and effort spent going over things before it ever leaves the factory. I fully understand stuff will break, come loose, etc AFTER the sale but I think that, as it leaves the factory, stuff should work, have the correct options installed, not leak, etc, etc.
Why doesn't Heartland hire a couple of guys testing these things out once thhey come out the factory door. Sort of like going through a mini-PDI? With a simple checklist, many issues could be caught on the spot. Paying a couple full time guys would have to be cheaper than paying dealers to fix a lot of this stuff. More importantly, and the REASON I'M POSTING ALL THIS... the perception of quality would be much higher if the customers never saw these issues in the first place. Certainly the end-result is the same either way... eventually everything gets fixed...but I have a much different impression of Heartland quality than I would if I had never SEEN the leaky shower, incorrect axles, missing shocks, etc, etc.
I realize it's never as simple as it seems, but from where I sit, there must be a better way. As the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. For now, I'll just be grateful that the stress of those two days is over, and I can finally begin enjoying my new coach. The kids are begging for a night of driveway camping, which we have scheduled for tonight!
The plan was to perform the PDI at 10AM in the morning, be finished in the early afternoon, and spend the night parked on the dealer's parking lot "campground" which was just a place to park with an electric hookup. Only about 5 minutes into the PDI, I discovered another serious issue: the coach did not have the upgraded axles (8k instead of 7k) nor did it have the correct hubs (easy lube instead of never-lube as ordered). Also, all four shock absorbers were...MISSING! I immediately got on the phone with Heartland and, to their credit, they jumped all over this and sent a truck down to the dealer to pick the unit up.
While waiting for Heartland to arrive I began testing systems and found other defects that would be easier fixed at the factory, and created a punch list. A cabinet face needed changing out, and I needed a new microwave, as Heartland had damaged the existing one when making the cabinet modification the week prior. The shower leaked terribly where the glass meets the shower pan on both sides.
Heartland arrives around 12:30 to pick up the unit and I figure it's a good time to go to lunch. Afterwards, I begin making calls to my dealer, to Heartland, and anyone else I could bother to make sure they knew I needed the unit back the same day...as I had to stay in it that night. I finally got a commitment out of Heartland to have it ready for pickup by end of day.
I got the unit back around 6:30 that evening. Now I'm exhausted, and my PDI process is nowhere near complete and the dealer's technicians are all gone for the day. That's fine, I can do the PDI myself. It's starting to get pretty cold out so I focus on testing systems from inside the coach. Everything seems to be going OK. The shower leak was no more. Some minor issues, like the fantastic fan did not respond to t-stat input. Life is good, I thought. The pump seems to be spitting a mixture of water and air, which I know not the way it should work, so I write it on my punch list for the next morning. Finally, it's time for bed. The furnace quits. It would come on for about 10-15 seconds but the burner would not ignite and it would shut off. Did I mention it's only 35 degrees outside at this point? I tried everything I could think of, with no luck.
The next morning the dealer quickly resolves all the issues. The furnace had a loose connection on the circuit board. The fantastic fan t-stat was also bad, which he replaced. The microwave was changed out for a new one. The pump had a lose connection and there was about 1/2 gallon of water in the basement. This one freaked me out, so I unscrewed the access panels and opened everything up to dry out and continue testing that there are NO leaks.
Another long story ensued, not pertinent to this post related to my Superglide hitch and the universal capture plate not fitting. I'll omit these details for now.
Around 2PM and everything was fixed, time to go home. I get hitched up and the dealer sends me off. Driving about 1/2 mile down the road I get a red light. I hit the brakes and there are NO trailer brakes. I nearly plow right through the intersection, but managed to stop BARELY in time. Fortunately I was not going that fast.
Back to the dealer. He says, "Back already?" I told him about the brakes and he looks at me like I'm an idiot. Then asks if I have a brake controller. Then, says "your brake controller must be bad". Now I'm getting angry. I've pulled several trailers with this truck and brake controller before, and never had an issue. I explain to him that, after dragging the brakes manually for about 1/4 mile, it felt like I had ONE wheel out of four trying to stop. He gets down on the ground and feels the drums. All are cold, one is hot. He says "Seems like only one is working". Gee, where have I heard that before?
Three drums were way out of adjustment. Once that was fixed, I headed back out. Much better now!
So now to the point of this thread... why am I posting all this? Hopefully, Heartland is reading this. I am very disappointed with the lack of quality control on my unit as it left the factory. To keep this story as brief as possibly I have left out a lot of minor issues that Heartland also could have caught. To install the incorrect axles, incorrect hubs, NO shocks whatsoever, and the myriad other issues I experienced is, in my opinion, inexcusable. To their credit, Heartland really stepped up and addressed these problems quickly and correctly. The customer service was great.
Now as I understand it, Heartland pays the dealer to fix all these issues that come up during the PDI and after the sale, when they are fixed at the dealer. I'm sure this is not cheap. So many of the issues I had were 100% preventable with a little time and effort spent going over things before it ever leaves the factory. I fully understand stuff will break, come loose, etc AFTER the sale but I think that, as it leaves the factory, stuff should work, have the correct options installed, not leak, etc, etc.
Why doesn't Heartland hire a couple of guys testing these things out once thhey come out the factory door. Sort of like going through a mini-PDI? With a simple checklist, many issues could be caught on the spot. Paying a couple full time guys would have to be cheaper than paying dealers to fix a lot of this stuff. More importantly, and the REASON I'M POSTING ALL THIS... the perception of quality would be much higher if the customers never saw these issues in the first place. Certainly the end-result is the same either way... eventually everything gets fixed...but I have a much different impression of Heartland quality than I would if I had never SEEN the leaky shower, incorrect axles, missing shocks, etc, etc.
I realize it's never as simple as it seems, but from where I sit, there must be a better way. As the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. For now, I'll just be grateful that the stress of those two days is over, and I can finally begin enjoying my new coach. The kids are begging for a night of driveway camping, which we have scheduled for tonight!
