It's a natural step of logic to understand that complex systems mean that you need more thorough documentation. And this is not my first rodeo, although it is only my second Heartland unit. I shopped lots of other units by lots of other manufacturers. As with most shopping expeditions, you find qualities and features that you like better on one unit than another. It's part of the decision making process that leads to a purchase.
I'm not sure I fully understand your position here. Are you employed by, or contracted by, Heartland? If so, I understand your defensive attitude of any criticism. My criticism is well founded and factual. It's a fact that many of the features of my 2013 Bighorn 3570RS are not documented anywhere in the pile of literature that I was given when I took delivery. Perhaps our perspectives are different. You may enjoy having to do a trial-and-error shakedown of your new car or new boat or new airplane or new RV. I prefer to be able to actually use the great features of my Bighorn from day one. I'm not a huge fan of the the "what does this button do" or "where is the button that makes this work" manner of discovery.
I love my new Bighorn. Like most things mechanical or constructed, it has a few issues to be sorted out. As an engineer I understand that, but sorting those out would, in many cases, be much easier if there was a proper manual. Many of the great tips and insights found here would be easily placed very cheaply into a model specific addendum to that pile of manuals in the blue Heartland bag. And I would think that Heartland would embrace the idea of being able to provide all the new owners with a higher level of knowledge for a very, very small price.
So while you see that I could innovate these on my own, I see that Heartland could also do so. In the worst case scenario they would be able to use it as a selling point vis-a-vis other manufacturers at a nominal cost. Perhaps even a slogan that "We care that you know about your new RV". In this way Heartland takes the dealer at least partially out of the education business. It would go a long way to ensuring that Heartland buyers are able to utilize all the features of their Heartland RV irrespective of the dealer's level of dedication to the walk-through, irrespective of the fading of time of that walk-through, enhancing both safety of the owner, safety of the RV and it's systems and the functionality of the unit for its owner. I don't believe it would come as a surprise to Heartland (and every other manufacturer) to know that some dealers are more interested in and better at the walkthrough/education process. As many dealers carry multiple manufacturer's lines with multiple models in each line, it is highly likely that some features will get left out or be improperly explained.
My final statement on the subject.
