Advisory group

caddojay

Tired and Retired member
Please pardon my question if it has been addressed previously. As an avid RVer for 21 years, I've owned some great units and some not-so-great units. One commonality, that is always present, is the people that are RVers like to talk about upgrades, problems, and wish lists. I've really found the forums to have insightful and helpful answers to many questions and discussions are usually very similar. It appears that many RV mfgs. are faced with issues that are common to the industry, as a whole. The tire issues, wheel issues, frame issues, roof issues, etc. are on all of the forums. Is there a possibility that Heartland would be interested in having an advisory committee that brought some of the issues to them and would the issues be addressed? The last unit for us was the Doubletree. When we toured the factory in 2004, they stated they were going to do this for the betterment of the companies product. It never happened and the product, while very nice, continues to have the same issues. They have spent LOTS of money to repair and replace defective or bad products.
As the end users of reasonably expensive units, the factory should be interested in saving money by hearing the complaints and implementing controls to eliminate them. It seems that every RV has some problem. Yes, many are easy to fix by the owner, but the major things that could be eliminated before purchase, should be the companies goal.
Maybe it's "pie in the sky" thinking, but it would seem that Heartland would want to have the reputation of constantly improving the product through an advisory panel. It would be nice to see a young company continue to climb the ladder to number one.
 

BJ'sDad

Active Member
To be honest, I think Heartland already has one, this forum and our regional rally's.
Since there are factory reps and one of the owners that actively participate in this forum, they have access to more owners than most manufacturers do.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
BJ'sDad is absolutly right. When I was considering Heartland over a year ago, this forum was in place and there was a fair amount of negativity on it regarding issues with Heartland. Through the forum, members help others towards resolving their issues. In addition, the "Ask the Factory" sections are monitored by the factory and responded to by both members and factory. Over the last 16 months that I have been an owner I have seen less and less negativity and the factory uses the forum to make improvements and changes to design. We also attended two owners rallies and the factory was there to participate and listen. Minor repairs are even done at the rallies if possible. Heartland owners are the advisory group. In fact I'm surprised someone hasn't replied sooner. Must be the weather, or Football!
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Caddojay;

Your suggestion is a great one and as others have already replied, the owners at Heartland actively get involved in owner feedback and suggestions. At the national rallys, there are round table discussions where most of the owners are present and actively participate in the round table, asking questions, looking for problem issues, and giving us input. At the last two national rallys, they let us tour prototype models and then asked for our input and suggestions regarding what we liked and what we would like to see changed. As was previously mentioned, several of the owners, plus line supervisors, customer relations managers and specialist monitor the forum almost daily and many of the product improvements are a result of this activity. In the forum there are areas to make suggestions for product changes as well as the ask the factory to get direct answers to our questions. Yes, they are very interested and do listen very intently. Thanks for your input.

John Morgan
Forum Moderator
 

caddojay

Tired and Retired member
Good to hear that they are interested enough to realize that the people "on the street" have the experience and understand the issues. I hope we can make the rallies when we're close. I'm looking forward to the new unit and crawling through it.
 
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