Quote:
Originally Posted by brk-lnt
Here, I'll try to phrase it more directly for you:
Old boats tend to be a lot of work and can have a lot of hidden costs and problems.
Marine/marina mechanics don't have all the answers, and may try troubleshooting things via seemingly random approaches, lie to you, skip steps, or otherwise do things that end up costing you more than they should.
You would be well served to know the basic systems on your vessel, and be able to do diagnostics and repairs on your own. At the very least, be able to approximately diagnose some things at least to the point you can tell if the mechanic seems competent or not.
There is "nothing amazing" about this story in that thousands of boat owners across the state, country, or world, could probably tell you similar stories.
Sure, you can call out the marina if you like, though diagnosing problems like this can be less than straightforward, plus we would probably still only have 1 side of the story.
In hindsight, it certainly could have been handled better on both sides.
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Just curious, how could it have been handled better by the boat owner? Doesn't sound like he's a marine mechanic. He relied on one, put a lot of time relying on one, paid for it, etc. At the end of the day, he invested a lot of time and money for a problem that wasn't fixed by someone claiming to be certified in the field. He did what he needed to on his own and didn't even get an apology. He didn't slander the mechanic or marina by even calling them out, just sounds like a vent of frustration and you can't rationalize with that? If something like this hasn't happened to you then I have some ocean front property in Nebraska I can sell you.
I'm in a service field. I claim to be an expert in the field and I should be held to a high standard. My time is worth money just like everyone else's. However, I can't get comfortable charging clients/customers for work where I didn't provide a service to the customer, or worse, provide them a disservice. I don't claim to be perfect and I make sure my team knows that they're not expected to be perfect. When you make mistakes you try to make sure they're not material mistakes and further learn from them so they don't happen again. When providing a service though in exchange for money, you bet there should be some frustration if I was the customer and didn't receive the benefit of what I was being charged for.