Screws stripping out of cabinets

[elwaller39]

screws

Rosco; I 100 per cent agree with your coments about Quailty control. They have a great coach but someone needs to make sure the coach is build to the expectation of the factory and the customer. Well said!! Evans & Lana

 

[BluegrassMan]

So-So Quality

Hi Everyone:

I too have been reading the posts about OUR (Heartland owners) Quality concerns. I don't know if any of you are involved in production. I work for Volvo-Mack in MD. We are audited regularly for the ISO 9000 quality, which is a set of World Wide Standards.

ISO people come in and check EVERYTHING from our process (asking workers about their job and quality of it ). All tools are to be set to ISO standards I.E. Torques on bolts, plugs etc.

I just wonder if Heartland is ISO qualified ? It doesn't sound like it. I talked to a Heartland factory REP. at a RV Show. He really slammed other RV companies for thier lack of quality and BOASTED on their own.

But I found out that my Grand Canyon was NOT the Superior RV to be touted as the best in class, comparing to Tetons etc.

Actually just today I went past my local RV dealer, and saw the front of a Gold painted Landmark, they haven't been painting them that long. I beleive the trailer was traded in on a new Teton as the Landmark was in the Used- trade in row. It made me feel like I had wasted my hard earned money.

 

[cdbMidland]

When I visited the factory, I saw a couple of things as we went through the various stations and I pointed them out. I also asked about ISO 9000 and 9001 and found that they don't have any in place.

When we went out to a finished unit, there were things in there that I pointed out and Coley made a note of each. Now, this unit may have just been rolled out and needed final inspection, but there were already several red tags pointing out defects.

I did like a lot of features about Big Horn and it was a close decision between Big Horn and Open Road. I had seen so much negative in the RV.net forum about Open Road that I was gunshy, but every problem seemed to have been resolved.

I really would have gone with a Carriage Cameo LXI or a Hitchhiker, but neither offered both a rear den and a king bed, so Big Horn seemed to be the best choice for us.

Now I am really getting nervous. I've been told that my unit is scheduled for production on July 15, and I would certainly hope that someone from the factory is reading all of these posts and trying to get to zero defects. I don't want to be out all of this money on a product that isn't worth hauling around.

Just imagine if these posts were getting to RV.Net.

 

[Cheryl]

We got back today from a 3 day weekend, our first "real" trip since we got our Grand Canyon. So far so good. No problems at all. Had a great time in Amish Country. Can't wait - only 19 more days until our 3 week vacation!!

 

[mowmoney]

Hooray! We picked up our Grand Canyon on Friday and went out with it on Saturday (only one night this trip to test it out) It was great! No problems at so far, at least once we figured out the remote for the AC.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

 

[elwaller39]

Chuck & Saundra; Please do not think your coach is going to a mess. You have heard from all of us with some issues on our own caoch, but that is not to say you well have the same problems to deal with. You may get the coach that is trouble free and you well be able to enjoy you camping times. We have had a number of new coaches from different companies and they all have thier ups and downs to deal with. You have made good decission on the coach you want and you will be proud of it!! Evans & Lana

 

[Cheryl]

once we figured out the remote for the AC.

Same here. Silly me listened to the salesman. He told me you could take the remote back into the bedrom so the unit would work according to the room temp back there. After the first morning when we woke up a little colder than I prefer, I read the instruction manual. (Real women actually do that sometimes). It says the remote has to be located where it is able to send signals to the unit every few minutes. After I laid it on the dining table, it worked great!

 

[jayc]

I, like many others, have been lurking here and watching the forums for problems just such as this. I have been a huge fan of the Landmark line since it's inception, and had just about decided on the Monticello, or the 3655 Big Horn but now I am having serious second thoughts about buying anything from Heartland. These posts about cabinet doors falling off, and the other posts about slide out screws coming out or shearing off make me very nervous about spending this much money for a trailer that is this expensive. I understand that nothing is perfect and that all problems have been addressed by the dealer, but how much fun is it to say you spent big bucks for a trailer that sits in the dealer's shop?

Like someone said before, I would hope that someone from the factory reads these posts and will respond. If not, I guess that will tell me something. We will see.....

 

[Cheryl]

Like I said 5 posts up, we haven't had any problems. And, if you look at all the posts on here, you will notice that Scott (from Heartland) does try to keep up with the information and address it. I personally like the fact that if we do have a problem, we can call Scott and he will get back to you and not just pass the buck to a lower "minion" (sometimes it does take awhile - which is understandable).

 

[jayc]

Cheryl,


I am glad that you haven't had any problems with your Landmark and I wish you further good luck. I did not mean to run down anyone's unit. If no one else has a problem that would be great, but I doubt that will happen. These things are built by men and are subject to the trials of being on the roads under all conditions. It is really a wonder that any of them survive some of the roads out there.

Scott has been good about replying to posts that are on the "Ask the Factory" forum, but I wonder if he or anyone else from the company monitors other areas.

My thanks go to Jeff and Jim for founding this forum and the housekeeping necessary to keep it running.

 

[Cheryl]

These things are built by men and are subject to the trials of being on the roads under all conditions. It is really a wonder that any of them survive some of the roads out there.

Pretty much what I have been saying all along. But, that applies to every company - not just Heartland.

I am glad that you haven't had any problems with your Landmark and I wish you further good luck.

Thanks!None

 

[jbeletti]

Hey all,

I don't want to enjoin or foster any long debate on the last few threads but I did want to chime in to say that Scott Tuttle mentioned to me that he tries to read some of the other threads on the forum.

Also, when Jeff and I have visited the plants, we were amazed by how proud the folks on the line were to work at Heartland. So much so that they were offering us cash money to buy the Heartland hats, shirts and jackets we "were wearing".

Some of these same employees have joined the forum out of general interest. From an Admin perspective, this is something Jeff and I will want to keep an eye on. During the infancy of this forum (as well as Heartland's infancy), we are trying to be flexible online.

It is our hope that some of these Heartland employees who are members of this forum, read most of the posts and take some data back to the plants and use it for the benefit of Heartland and its customers (on-going quality improvement).

That all said, if you own a Heartland RV and are having difficulty with any part of it, while posting in this online forum is a great way to see if others are having the same issue and to share how you resolved your issue, I would like to add that from my own experience, for a factory response, Scott Tuttle is even more responsive by phone. 7 to 8 am CST have been the best times for me to reach him. My calls are not treated special in anyway as the receptionist does not take my name before asking me if I'd like to hold or leave voicemail.

In closing, I just want to say that it is no my intention to quash any discussion. I just want to remind everyone that the beginning to a cure to an ill could be a phone call a way. And I agree that prevention is even better and let's hope and trust that Heartland take all of our discussions to "heart".

Happy Trails!

Jim

 

[Jeff]

Heartland Quality!

Hello All:

I have been very reluctant to post anything about my adventures and experiences with our Golden Gate.

To date I have had more than 10 problems with my trailer, 1 very serious and the others minor and all of them (including the serious one) I fixed myself.

I live too far away from the dealer to keep hauling it back and forth!

So, from LP Gas problems to Screws falling out, or missing, to plumbing ISSUES! I have seen the run of things on this trailer.

While some folks want to chalk all this up to Nothing is Perfect, I chalk it up to Poor, Poor Quality Control! These are all things that should have been caught at the Factory early on and the factory shouldn't expect the dealers to catch all this stuff.

I have Landmark #035, one of the early models! Yet, I continue to read that models coming off the line in both the Landmark and Big Horn series continue to have problems.

I could easily post everything that has gone wrong with my unit, but it wouldn't do any good, since it has already happened and doesn't really pay to bring it up.

I know Scott says he is only a phone call away and that customers are #1, but; I look at things from an economic stand point. 10 problems over 2000 miles??? We have only used the unit 5 times and all but 1 time, we had to look for a Wal-Mart or K-mart to find parts, like screws and hardware to fix the things that fell off or broke. So, when we go on our next outing, I always wonder what I'm gonna find broken in or on the trailer. The Warranty runs out in September and Heartland will be totally off the hook for #035! And to date, with the exception of a replacement hub cap (that fell off) and a new gas line and fitting, Heartland has paid for none of the repairs! So, I'm sure they will be glad to see this warranty expire!

Jim and I started this Forum as a point of information. We were both excited to own Landmarks. I have since changed my mind totally about these trailers. And I'll leave it at that!

While some people may buy a new Heartland and have no problems at all, there will be those who purchase them and have nothing but problems, like #035.

Sorry to be so long winded, but it's very hard to just sit back and not say anything, while others seemingly like to spread Whipped Cream all over Heartland Products. It just isn't the case. And while I know there are over 600 units out there right now, we only have 160 members on this board, that leaves alot of other folks that are not members who have Heartland products, not saying anything about their units and it makes me wonder!

Scott already knows how I feel about my unit and I'll avoid using the "Colorful Adjectives", I've used in the past with him.

I just had to get this off my chest.

Thanks to all that have read this post.

Take Care.

Jeff

 

[Cheryl]

I hope your bad experiences haven't turned you against camping altogether. Hopefully you have found and fixed all the problems so that you can relax and enjoy yourselves.

 

[jayc]

This is exactly the kind of dialogue that I have been looking for on the Landmarks, the good and the bad. As I said before, I have been a big supporter of the brand since they were introduced and have not completely written them off. I am looking at other brands now and considering them. I have had very good luck with my Sunnybrook, and will certainly consider one when the time comes in about a year. I am also looking at other full-time units with the rear den floorplan.


Jeff, thanks for being honest about your feelings about your trailer.

Looking forward to seeing you on the road in the future.

 

[Cheryl]

jayc,
Your link for texasboomers doesn't work.

 

[jayc]

Thanks Nelson & Cheryl, the site has been down for a few days and I don't know what the problem is. There are lots of post about our group on the www.irv2.com website. This is where the group started, and we got our own website awhile back.


It's a fun group that gets together about every other month, although we've started a Houston area group that is meeting more often than the original Boomer group. Are you in our area? If so, I hope you will join us at one of our rallies.

 

[Cheryl]

No, I'm in the northern panhandle of WV, about half an hour away from Pittsburgh, PA. We are planning a trip to Texas either next summer or summer of 2007. We want to visit South Padre Island and the New Braunfels and San Antonio area. I did a little experimenting - if you take the www. out of your web address it works. But none of the members pics came up.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

Since I started this thread I feel compelled to update it. I took my trailer into the dealer today for these problems: Washer/dryer drain is leaking, warped w/d door (left side as you are facing it), furnace noisy, soft spot in the floor (thinks tile is not glued down properly), subwoofer fell off (service dept is amazed like I am on how this thing is put together) drawers coming open in transit, mirror door next to entry way screws are stripped as is the w/d drawers and one light switch fell apart. This is my second time into the dealer with problems. Unlike Jim I will not fix it myself if it costs money. I do have at least 1/2 hour drive to the dealer so that is not too bad but at the price of fuel and my time I should not be having to take my trailer in after every other campout. I called Scott yesterday and had to use his voice mail and I have not heard back from him. I think I screwed up when I called because the message I left was that I wanted to know if there was some kind of fix for the screwa stripping out and I also said that I was the one that started this thread. Maybe he is just very busy but I do know that when I called he was in according to the operator I talked to and that she had just talked to Scott a few minutes before I called. Hopefully the rest of you with no problems will continue to have none and the rest of us will just have to wait and see what happens next.

 

[Scott]

Working Hard

Friends, Folks, Heartland Owners, Prospective Heartland Owners, and those who just like to sit around on their computers and talk because they can...

Some of you have mentioned that I needed to "get out" of the Ask the Factory Section and monitor these other discussions, so here I am. I want you to know that while we are human here at Heartland, you can always be sure of one thing, we do CARE about our owners. We don't ever want a screw to be missed and end up coming out of your vent, but it does happen. I know it grinds you when you have to deal with less than perfect workmanship. Believe it or not, it grinds us too.
And YES, we continue to strive to eliminate any defects or problem areas that are identified in our coaches. When I recieve photos of issues you as owners have identified, I take them to the quality meetings and share them with the production leaders and inspectors. I can assure you that we will not settle for pretty good or better than most quality. We want ALL of our owners to have absoultely trouble-free camping experiences. And though a lot of you have had great experiences with Heartland fifth wheels, obviously, some of you have not. While we can't go back in time and double check the torque used on a specific screw that holds a hinge in place - even though it worked fine during it's walk-through here and at the dealership - the fact is, that when it fell down in a particular owner's coach, that owner has the right to feel that he was slighted.
So then what do we do? At Heartland, we stand up and take the tongue lashing we deserve, we apologize for the inconvenience, we admit to the error, we repair the problem, we learn from it and we move forward doing our best to never repeat the error again.
I continue to remain very positive about where we are as a company and where we are going. Every day I recieve untold emails and phone calls from people who have just discovered the Heartland product and they are excited about what they see. Just about every day now, I enjoy the privilege of taking someone through our production line who has also gone on other plant tours (competitors) and we get first hand updates on how we are stacking up against the compeition. I'm telling you, we are looking pretty good. We incorporate a very solid construction underneath all of the luxurious interiors in our coaches and as we continue to improve in the area of fit and finish, I remain very optimistic about our future.
By the way, Trailer Life and Lifestyles (Canada's number one towable magazine) have both just printed reviews of our Bighorn fifth wheel and both articles were VERY POSITIVE. They will be reviewing the Landmark soon and reporting on that.
FYI
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

ST
One of the partners here at Heartland