Well, I just talked to customer service and the guy said that I need to find a shop (he suggested Camping World) and have them take a look and contact Heartland with the info. He told me that they don't pay for service calls on warranty work. Then he basically hung up on me. No interest in seeing pictures or hearing about what the problem was.
Since we are living in the RV down here in GA, 700 miles away from our NC dealer, I guess I'll just have to ask the park office if they have someone they recommend, pay for the site visit / service call myself, and wait for the parts he requests to come to him… if he thinks he can repair it. If the whole slide floor needs to be replaced, then I guess we'll have to get on some shop's schedule and hope they can get it done in a day or two, since we will have to find a place to live, with our dog, while it is in the shop.
Erika,
Sounds like the customer service rep didn't communicate as clearly and completely as he might have.
Warranty requires you to take the trailer to an authorized dealer, but Heartland will usually authorize non-Heartland dealers, independent service shops, and mobile service. They do want to validate the servicer's credentials before agreeing to pay. Reimbursement doesn't cover the travel time charge for mobile service, and it only reimburses the warranty claim if you have prior approval to use a given service outlet, if it's not a Heartland dealer.
The mobile service guy will probably not file the warranty claim directly with Heartland; rather he'll expect you to pay for both the travel charge and repair costs and seek reimbursement from Heartland. So if you call a mobile servicer, you MUST get prior approval to use that particular servicer.
Beyond that, I seriously doubt that many mobile servicers are going to be able to do much in the way of repairs beyond what you could do yourself. That may be one reason why the rep directed you to a dealer.
I'd suggest you make a short-term patch to start with. Take a piece of plastic or cardboard and tape it to the side of the slide to divert water away from the damaged area. Give it a day or two of not getting wet. Then use a hair dryer to dry it out. Apply clear silicone to the damaged area to prevent additional water intrusion. Before the silcone cures, drive in a few screws from below to compress the wood back together.
This should keep the problem from getting worse until you can get to a location that is qualified to do a better repair.
If anyone has a better approach for a short-term patch, please jump in.