Any advice?

[bant6m5]

Hello - looking for some input from veteran boat owners.

My wife and I bought our first new boat from a dealer\marina up in Alton Bay. We also rented a slip for the summer from the same dealer.

During the 'sea trial', I noticed the speedometer didn't work. Minor detail - but brand new boat. Over the course of the summer I kept reminding the dealer of the inoperable speedometer and he kept saying they would get to it. Mid August, I pulled the boat to go to another lake for a week. He looked at 'a fitting' and told me to check the speedometer while on vacation. I came back and told him it still wasn't working (with an email to prove it).
End of season, he winterizes the boat. I hold back $100 from that bill to cover my expense of getting the speedometer fixed\replaced.
He sends me an email stating that I am in the wrong and to pay the bill plus interest.

Does anyone have an opinion on how I should have handled it differently? Would you pay the bill in full??
I guess lesson learned is I should have been more of a jerk rather than being a nice guy and giving 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances.

We love the Larson and my family had a great summer on the Lake. Needless to say, we would loved to have stayed at the same marina, and might have even looked to go up a size or two....but we'll move on elsewhere.

Opinions\advice appreciated. How many months til ice out??!!

Thanks!

[secondcurve]

Sounds like you handled it correctly. Can you tell the forum the name of the dealer so folks can avoid it?

You can sometimes complain about price with these guys but most of the time you can't complain about service. For instance, I used Goodhue Hawkins for my boat for years and they were expensive. However, their service was unbelievable so I always considered myself a happy and satisfied customer because of this fact. I looked at it as the price of being on Wolfeboro Bay...you get what you pay for.

[SAMIAM]

It's unbelievable.........that dealer should have been at your dock the very next day to make that repair. In this economy, every customer should be treated like a king.
I would make a formal complaint to the Chamber of Commerce, BBB as well as the manufacturer of the boat that you bought, so that they will know how they are being represented..........and send a copy to your dealership.

[brk-lnt]

*technically*, I think you are in the wrong for holding back $100 from the winterizing bill.

You have two separate transactions here, and they just happen to be with the same seller. The first transaction would be the boat purchase, with the expectation of all parts in working order. The second transaction was a request to winterize the boat, which has nothing to do with the sale of the boat. It sounds like the winterization was fulfilled successfully, meaning you would owe them full compensation for that work.

I understand your logic though, but I'm not sure you actually have a defense here.

My recommendation would be to talk to the dealer in person and hash this out. Tell him you'll pay the winterization bill, but you also want a signed acknowledgement that the speedometer has never functioned properly and the yard agrees to fix it to your satisfaction in the spring. Additionally, there should be some kind of statement to the effect of if it's not fixed then you will be compensated $250 (or some reasonable value of your choosing), or perhaps you will have the right to have the boat repaired to your satisfaction at a facility of your choosing, and the dealer will agree to reimburse all expenses within 30 days of your submittal.

The dealer sounds like the kind of place I wouldn't want to deal with, and if he is so inclined he could probably create a real hassle for YOU over this $100 issue. I don't recommend you try to play that game with him.

[NoBozo]

[QUOTE=brk-lnt;145083The dealer sounds like the kind of place I wouldn't want to deal with, and if he is so inclined he could probably create a real hassle for YOU over this $100 issue. I don't recommend you try to play that game with him.[/QUOTE]


I agree with the above totally. If the boat is still on the dealers property, PAY the bill without comment, and REMOVE the boat from his property. The $100 is in no way worth the trouble that the dealer can ..and will give you if he feels inclined. A "Mechanics Lien" gives him ALL the leverage. That just means he HOLDS the boat until you pay, and charges you interest and possably even dailly storeage fees while the boat sits there.. :eek: NB

[Belmont Resident]

Send a letter to the manufacturer explaining the whole story. Your better boat manufacturers will care and get back to you.
I would also remind the dealer that feedback goes both ways and remind him of this web site in a, none threatening way of course.
Of course I’ve done just that on this web site and been castrated for saying the truth about a boat dealers service department on this lake. Apparently those who have had nothing but great experiences with a dealership are against any negative feedback towards their dealership.
Good luck. I’ve had problems with speedometers and they are actually very easy to troubleshoot and fix. It runs on pressure and usually is a crimped, open or blocked tube around the lower unit.

[boat_guy64]

I had a similar issue with my Searay and Irwins. I was burning oil in my new boat at a very high rate. I asked them to check it 5 times. Five times they said they did and that the oil burn was normal and that everything was fine. (1-2 quarts every 5 hours) Even the woman at the MVYC store couldn't understand why I was buying so much oil.

After 2 years of knowing it wasn't correct and knowing that my warranty was about to expire, I finally called Searay. They lit a fire under Irwins and got them to pull the boat that day and gave them an action item list. Within 5 minutes they found a leaking oil line. They tightened it up I haven't added a drop of oil since. That was 3 years ago.

Bottom line is that many of the marinas are understaffed and don't do anything unless they get a serioius prod. The manufacurers don't like consumer complaints. I should have called much sooner.

[dpg]

Never should of taken delivery of the boat without it working properly.

[ThePlut]

I have to agree with DPG, you shouldn't have taken delivery of the boat with something broken out of the gate.

I delivered a boat to a couple once, on site at the dealership, and then followed them to a gas station to fill the boat with gas for them, and noted that the gas gauge was broken. They were ok with, "dealing with it later", but I insisted, as did the owner, that they bring the boat back. They called out a couple of techs to start working and proceeded to take the customers to lunch at a local restaurant for their trouble, while apologizing profusely for the delay.

Since that's water under the bridge at this point, I too, would probably pay the $100 for the service you had performed. I would talk to the dealer and try to work out a plan to get the speedo fixed. Calling the manufacturer sounds like a good idea, but could also cause issues for your relationship with this dealer down the road...

This is a real shame... Something so simple turned into a problem of this magnitude...

[AC2717]

Am I missing something here?
wouldn't this be under manufac. warrenty if it was a new boat?
and if so, shouldn't the marina just fix it over the winter cause they would get paid for warrenty service from the manufac?

Agree have to pay the $100 but I would pay in person after a conversation with the marina owner/manager

Then after that I would rent a slip and winterize somewhere else and find another authorized dealer to service from now on


I feel like I am missing something

[bant6m5]

Folks - first thanks for all of the valuable information. Very helpful.

The payment for the full winterization went in the mail last night, based on feedback I realized I couldn't hold that back.

Dealer called me today - very apologetic he never saw the last email (mid August) that the speedo was not working. He said it would have been taken care of during winterization.

He offered to come onsite with a new speedo and line and fix onsite at my storage location asap. Since (dare I admit) I am in the over taxed state to the south - I told him to ship me the gauge and line - I will replace this winter and test in spring. If there are still issues, he agreed to look into it himself. I will follow-up with an email just to be 'on record'.

Overall - if it was something more significant, I would have handled it differently (ie; not accepted delivery). Given it was just the speedo, and the fact the boat was going to be at his marina for the summer - was hoping it would not have gotten to this point. ThePlut had a great line.....that it was a shame that something this simple was blown up so big....

So - at the moment - I am a happy boater. Thanks again for the chatter - all good stuff. Stay well!

[rider]

I'm getting a chuckle over this, and you still went back to the dealer? You ever hear the saying "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? FYI, fixing it as simple as making sure the pin hole in the outdrive isn't obstructed, the hose is connected to the outdrive and the other end is connected to the speedo and it can be tested by blowing compressed air into it. If they can't fix something that simple, go somewhere else. Would you trust them winterizing the boat if they can't even fix a speedo?

[NoBozo]

I wonder if the boat dealer reads this forum..?? :look: Even if the dealer was never named, it wouldn't be hard to figure out which one it is. :D NB

[robmac]

Well lets see, boat dealer in Alton Bay who could it be.

[fpartri497]

Well lets see, boat dealer in Alton Bay who could it be.

50/50 since there are only two dlrs.

:D

[TiltonBB]

50/50 since there are only two dlrs.

:D

The boat is a Larson. You still think 50/50 on which Alton dealer it is?

I could take a wild guess that it is...................

[fpartri497]

The boat is a Larson. You still think 50/50 on which Alton dealer it is?

I could take a wild guess that it is...................

Oh, wait let me guess

;)