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Boat service opinions

JimFromTN

JimFromTN

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
3,154
Location
Nashville, TN
I recently bought a 1982 bass tracker with a 60hp mariner. I got a really good deal on it because the previous owner was having idling problems so he had a buddy come out to fix it and the guy took the carbs off left and never came back. I could not find any good mechanics around that were not working for a boat dealership. I hate taking my boats and cars to dealers to work on unless under warranty. Anyhow, I ended up taking it to a dealership. They said it would be 2 weeks. I called them up a week and a half in to see if I could pick it up that weekend. The guy said he was scheduled to start work on it that friday and he would call me. Friday came and went so I called saturday afternoon and he said warranty parts came in and warranty work comes first so it would be monday before he could start. He also said it might be missing parts. Did not hear anything so I called wednesday to see if it was going to need parts. He said he still had not gotten to it. I got a call friday saying that he finally cleaned the carbs and got them put together and no parts were missing. Said he would get it put on the boat monday and take it to the lake to test it. Monday came and went and no word. I called wednesday. He said the carbs were on the motor now and all he had to do wa take it to the lake. I asked if it would be ready that weekend. He said he hoped so. The weekend came and went and I finally got a call yesterday that it was done after almost 5 weeks. My point is that I have never encountered anything like this before. I have been buying and selling boats for the last 35 years, all of which had to be taken in for work at one time or another. In every case, I brought it in and when it was my turn my boat was worked on until it was complete unless parts were needed and it took a little longer. They only worked on it in between other boats that came in after mine. Its like every boat that came in after mine was more important to work on. Is this the new norm? I have a water pump that needs replacing on my mercury 150 but I don't want to take it to them because it could take them the whole summer to do a 30 minute job. This is one of the many reasons I hate taking anything to dealerships for repairs.

On an ironic side note. The mechanic said it had an idling issues that could not be fixed because it was an old motor.
 
Do the water pump yourself. It may take a little more than 30 minutes but it will be on your schedule. Youtube search and you will find videos on how it is done.

I did that just yesterday placing a new impeller on my outboard motor. Took me longer than a pro but I got it done and didn't have to haul my boat to someone and leave it.

Here is a link for yours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19CRViZbl64
 
30 minutes is how long they said it would take them. That usually means a half a day for me. I have watched those videos before and they make it look really easy. I may consider it as the weather gets hotter and I am not going out every weekend. I thought about trying to put the carbs back on but they were in pieces in a box and not having taken it apart would have been a nightmare trying to get it back together. Ironically, I figured I would get it done quicker and be able to use it this spring if I took it in and had someone else do it.
 
Your story reminds me of our body/paint guy growing up. Excellent work, usually ran over the deadline that he gave. He got into insurance repairs for a auto dealership. That became his bread and butter. Let's hope he wasn't working on your vehicle if the dealership brought an insurance job. Needless to say we don't use him anymore.
 
If a dealership has a customer who has spent $10,000 to $80,000 on a boat with them, you're usually going to be behind them if you didn't buy your boat from them. You can't really blame them since we all love customer service after the sale.
 
SilverFox":21wlifqf said:
If a dealership has a customer who has spent $10,000 to $80,000 on a boat with them, you're usually going to be behind them if you didn't buy your boat from them. You can't really blame them since we all love customer service after the sale.
Click to expand...

At the same time, my job was a 3 hour job. They could have made those other people wait an extra 1/2 day for their boat instead of making me wait an extra 3 weeks and they would not have lost either of us as a customer not to mention all the referrals I would have given them as well as the future business they stand to lose if I post my unhappiness with them on every site on the internet I possibly can.
 
If you think complaining about them not fixing your boat right away is going to hurt them, consider the owner of the $50,000 boat that's under warranty complaining. Which do you think would hurt them worse? What if they had been waiting 6 weeks on warranty parts? I understand you not being happy with the deal but you also have to look out for people who have bought and will probably buy again in the future before a one time customer.
 
No one said anything about fixing it right away. I put my boat in at the end of the line of boats to be worked on. I understand that my boat will be worked on in the order in which it came in. Thats the way every other mechanic works whether you are talking boats or cars. Thats pretty much the way it works anywhere you take anything to be repaired. My 3 hour job would not have made anyone wait more than a half day longer to get their work done where as I was expected to wait an extra 3 weeks on top of the 2 weeks which I had already waited. I also understand waiting on parts. I would not be complaining if the issue was that they were waiting on parts. That is out of their control. As for a one time customer, they made me a one time customer. I own 2 bass boats that will both need work in the future, one in the very near future. Now that I have my smaller one going, I am actually looking at replacing my larger bass boat and it won't be brand new so it will probably need work within a season or 2 of purchasing it. If they only want to work on warranty stuff, they should make it known so people like me don't have to wait an infinite amount of time to get our stuff worked on, but they won't tell you that when you bring your boat in.
 
I can tell you're not going to see my point. Maybe you should have picked your boat up and taken it elsewhere when they told you 2 weeks in that warranty work was a priority.

I'll say that if I was in the market to buy a boat, I'd give the dealership you're talking about a good look. What you described shows me they take care of their loyal customers. Service after the sale. It's a lot better than where I bought from... Morristown Marine... they had the parts for my boat and told me it was raining and they wouldn't pull my boat inside to replace a trailer axle. I worked in the rain to buy their boat but they can't pull a wet boat inside to fix it. This was after they were well overdue on the date they promised me.
 
I don't think you are seeing my point. They did not tell me until after my boat was in the shop for 2 weeks that warranty work took priority and then they kept telling me they were going to work on it the next day every time I called. They did not make that known up front.

By the way, loyal customers are earned and also as soon as that warranty runs out, you get bumped back with the rest of us low lifes so you need to buy another new boat from them as soon as the warranty runs out if you want that great service for being a loyal customer.
 

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