Dealer Rant

[Millhouse2020]

I have a rant regarding my local dealer and was looking for advice from anyone who may have been in a similar situation.

 

 

Ok, so I bought my first boat this year, a used 2006 Crestliner with a 60 HP Evinrude E-Tec on it. I had planned to have it serviced at the end of the season because the mfg recommends it ever 300 hours or 3 seasons and the motor had been giving me a problem stalling. Long story short, I needed a new fuel injector which was covered under the extended warranty. In addition to the service, I asked for a steering friction kit to be installed on the motor. The rig sat on the dealers lot for about 4 weeks because before doing the warranty work, I had to arrange to have to warranty transferred to me from the previous owner.

 

 

When I picked up my boat Wednesday of last week I noticed that the canvass boat cover was left full of snow and iceand also that the portion of the canvass to cover the engine was left lying onthe main canvass and had frozen into the ice. I was not able to remove itwhen I picked up the boat and I was not impressed with the condition it wasleft in, but I was in a hurry to return to work as I picked up the boat duringmy lunch hour. As such I did not raise this to the dealers attention at thattime. Last Friday night when I get to work winterizing the unit I see that the ice thatwas left to collect on the canvass had torn a 2” hole due to the weight. There was a very large amount of ice on the canvass, up to 7” thick or more inthe center of each piece. I was able to remove some after taking the unitindoors for a few hours and letting the ice melt however the rear portion wherethe engine cover has frozen into the ice will have to be left overnight to thawmore completely. The cover was in fine shape when I left the unit for service and repairs.

 

 

Also, upon closer inspection ofthe steering friction unit, it doesn’t look like the units I saw on the enginesin the showroom, which is what I asked for. It looks to me like a barwith a wing-nut for which I paid $265 plus labour and taxes to install. The delaer never explained to me what I would be getting. I was led to believe Iwas purchasing a steering friction kit like the ones on your showroom engineswith an adjustable lever under the tiller handle. Also, the way it was installed, it scratches the transom when turning right and if the motor is trimmed up enough, it does not turn right at all as the bar digs directly into the transom.

 

This is not what I expect from a platinum certified BRP dealer that charged me $670 for the service and friction kit install. They also billed the warranty company $780 for a new fuel injector for a motor with 226 hours on it. I have contacted the dealer daily since Friday and they do not get back to me. I sent them pics of the ice and damage as well.

 

Has any anyone had an experience like this? How did you get it resolved? What recourse do you think I have here? Personally, I would like them to pay to fix my canvass and I would like the friction kit replaced or removed with one that works correctly and doesn't damage my boat. I would have preferred the model I saw in the showroom with an adjustable lever under the tiller, not what I got...

 

I appreciate your feedback. I may be completely ignorant here since this is my first boat but I have never had service like this from any other vehicle repair shop or dealer. I have submitted a complaint to BRP as well today but no word back from them yet.

 

Millhouse

 

 

 

[Skipper D]

I don't think i want ta touch this one , but then again i'd like to help , i think some times we do it to our selves til we learn to shop smart . Stay on the phone and good luck .

[aplumma]

I am assuming that it is the original cover for the boat so a 6 year old canvas cover is not in prime condition. The damage was done under normal weather conditions I would not expect them to remove ice and snow from all of the boats on the lot. With that in mind I feel you will not make any headway as far as having them accountable because they were not negligent. Their is a sign somewhere that says in effect "Not responsible for any items damaged or stolen on property left here for repair."

 

I personally feel for the job contracted and the end product it should be the correct unit that does not damage the boat and is installed to manufactures specs if their is not a way for them to correct the unit then you should get your money back. They can then locate the unit that has more bells and whistles that fits your boat for a new price to do the job correctly. Don't expect them to remove this one which has less features than the one you wanted and put on the Deluxe model for the same price. Be realistic with your requests and I know if they are interested in keep your business they will make things fair to both of you.

 

 

Art

[wkrp]

sounds like you have been dealing with a "Monkey Palace". Lots of those in the boat business.

[Billy Bob]

OK....when you say you have contacted the dealer daily since Friday, you mean almost a week now...right...and when you make contact who is it that you are talking to that they need to get back to you....

 

My BEST advice and hopefully you did this (paid by credit card) is now contact your credit card company to stop payment...as this takes time...then get back to the dealers place of business in person and see who's in charge there....tell them you are asking your credit card company to stop payment because of your concerns....the credit card company will actually reverse the charges once the dust settles....but the place of business WILL NOW pay attention to your concerns....and don't back off if you believe you are right in your demands. But you must be reasonable with the cover because it's not a new one....but they should pay to have it repaired.

 

Let us know how this works out for you.

 

Bob

[ecmilley]

If you paid by cc just phone a stop payment in, this will get there attention and i am sure they will return your call within 24hrs

[TJQ]

If you paid by cc just phone a stop payment in, this will get there attention and i am sure they will return your call within 24hrs

 

Sounds reasonable to me.

[cityfisher]

Sounds reasonable to me.

+1

 

Lots of boat dealers are complete scammers, delt with 1-2 in the past

[jimmer]

I hear way too many stories like this. That's why I will always attempt the repairs myself. I understand the warranty issue, which I went through a month after buying a brand new motor. Now I'm looking at having to replace a bunch of seals since they are leaking now from probably not being installed properly. I will not bring it in to get this work done, I just don't trust that the right guy/gal is working on the motor.

I wish you luck.

I didn't have any luck when I contacted the manufacturer, not even a reply.

[tb4me]

I too have ran into the same crap with Dealers..There is an unnamed dealer in Simcoe (The town not the lake)that also gave me quite the Bull runaround on my 9.9 4 stroke tiller..Wont even go there...Needless to say they alone turned me off of dealer support..I went and bought the factory repair manual for my motor..Enough is enough

[irishfield]

I'm gonna play the other side of this..

 

You bought a used boat PRIVATELY???.. took it to a dealer trying to get warrantee work and they told you that you weren't covered? It sat in their yard the entire time that you tried to straighten that out privately and then you came back in proving your were covered and then they did the work under warrantee?

 

I'm surprised they didn't add storage to your bill as well.

 

As for the friction lock... were you SPECIFIC at what you wanted installed? If so you have grounds to have the item they installed removed at their cost, not yours. If you just said you wanted a friction lock, they probably tried to sell you the cheapest thing they had in stock (or maybe the most expensive - I don't know the shop). As for it not working properly or clearing items.. that is THEIR issue to fix.

 

The top... an act of god my friend, absolutely not their responsibility. Not sure why your top ripped. GBFisher's as well as my own Lund have been out in some pretty nasty snow coverings, GB's especially, and our tops are still going strong after many years.

Edited December 15, 2011 by irishfield

[Billy Bob]

If you paid by cc just phone a stop payment in, this will get there attention and i am sure they will return your call within 24hrs

 

Have you ever called a credit card company to stop payment....if so then you know it's not that easy to do.....there are forms to fill out...then they must contact the merchant for their side of the story....that is why I said to get the ball rolling with the credit card company and then in person pay the dealer a visit and go from there.

[ecmilley]

Have you ever called a credit card company to stop payment....if so then you know it's not that easy to do.....there are forms to fill out...then they must contact the merchant for their side of the story....that is why I said to get the ball rolling with the credit card company and then in person pay the dealer a visit and go from there.

yes it's easy as a call, been on both sides of it and it's the merchant that has to do the paperwork and that get's there attention pretty quick

[smally21]

would the snow and ice caused the same damage wherever the boat was sitting? i suppose it could have been exaggereated by the cover not being on properly, but most tops will get smoked by ice and snow if you dont build some sort of support underneath, you know, a small frame or something to insure water, then ice, cant collect.

dont really see that being their fault. and having the boat for a month wasn't their idea.

 

it seems this warranty transfer comes up fairly often, the common part being it doesn't get dealt with at the time of sale, it gets dealt with at the last minute..

[strik]

If you would like your cover fixed they should charge you a daily rate for inspection,cleaning and storage

 

However no way i would want somethign on my boat that did not work and scrached it. I find it weard that they even let it out of the shop like that

 

Good luck

[moparhawk]

I know I live in the states but a boat dealer's a boat dealer anywhere. I think the repair shop was careless with the cover and what was sold. Was the cover left off the motor? I mean they couldn't stretch it back for him? The service writer has the burden to make customers aware of whats being sold and also this man's satisfaction at completion regardless if he bought the boat somewhere else. Lets hope the dealer is a good one and corrects the problems.

[BillM]

I find it odd the owner never actually checked the work before he took the boat from the dealer. I knew he said he was in a hurry, but that would have taken 30 seconds. If he wasn't happy with it, he doesn't pay until he gets what he paid for.

[bigbuck]

I hate to tell you this but you really should have checked EVERYTHING before you even left. That way you could have pointed out the deficiencies (damaged boat cover especially). As for the work they did, they will have to make due on it because that is definitely their fault, they can't argue that it happened after the fact. You can try to fight them to repair your boat cover but your chances are pretty slim, BUT still give it a shot. Good luck!! It burns my biscuit when I hear stuff like this happening, people don't take any pride in their work any more but still expect a bigger paycheque. I'm just ranting and don't want to start anything with that comment.

Edited December 16, 2011 by bigbuck

[craigdritchie]

Sorry to say Millhouse, if you saw problems at the time you picked the boat up, you should have pointed them out right there and then. In a hurry or not, you have to take time to ensure the work you asked for was done to your satisfaction. Once you hitch it up and drive off the dealer's lot, you're on much thinner ground. Now, they can dispute where and when any damage to your cover actually occurred, and it's basically their word against yours.

[Millhouse2020]

Thanks everybody for their input. This has been a learning experience for me to be sure and I won't make the same mistakes again...

 

 

I finally spoke to the service manager yesterday. He feels he is not responsible for the cover, althought I disagree, he said he would address the issue of the friction kit. I told him I could take it in now if he insisted/preferred but since the boat is now winterised, I would prefer if I could take it back in April provided I could get something in writing confirming our understanding here. He said that would not be a problem. I'm still waiting for the written confirmation though.

 

Why I disagree regarding the cover is, although they accoomodated me with leaving the rig on the property while the warranty was sorted out, I asked specifically if leaving it there would be an issue since I didn't want to get hit with storage fees etc. I said I would pay for the service work and friction kit and would come back later when the warranty was transferred. They said not to worry about it and since I planned to winterise and store it as soon as the work was done I left it there... The boat is a tiller unit so the cover sits relatively flat, hence the reason it collects water if left unattended. When I picked it up, I gave it a quick walk around but couldn't see the motor very well with how the cover was frozen into place. Next time I will check more thoroughly and maybe even have them do a walk around with me. (I have pictures of the damage, chunks of ice and the friction kit but they seem to be too big to upload or I would show you for comment).

 

The quality of the work burned me as well since, if the technician who installed it tested it by just turning the tiller handle back and forth and trimming the motor up at all, you could clearly see it didn't work correctly. I'm an accountant and I can figure that out . I wanted to take it to a profosseional for service. I did my research on the BRP website for authorized dealers in my area and there were only 2 registered. This one and another who my fiance and I visited twice while we were looking to buy and could get no service, or bad service at best so I ruled them out. Plus the dealer I took it to was registered as a "Platinum Certified Dealer" which to my understanding was the highest level that BRP offered meaning its technicians were certified to work on BRP equipment. Obviously I've learned this means little...

 

 

At this point I'm just waiting for the confirmation in writing that I can return next year and get this resolved once and for all. I don't like the kit they installed but if its my only option, I will keep it in the interest of safety if they can get it work properly where it doesn't scratch the transome and it operates with the motor trimmed up. I just wish this had been explained to me better when I was there ordering it. I just feel that for the price, it should be expected. I was even going to have them winterise the engine for me since they were accomodating me with waiting for the warranty, but they wanted $100 to change the gear oil and more money to run the winterisation procedure on the engine. This just seemed excessive to me so I opted to do it myself. The gear oil and kit cost $30 and the engine winterisation took literatlly less than 2 minutes, 15 seconds at 1/2 throttle, 15 seconds and idle, then another minute at 1/2 throttle and the engine fogs itself and shuts itself off. At least the E-Tec is easy to winterise...

 

 

Thanks to all for your input. Good fishin & Happy Holidays!

 

 

Millhouse

[hirk]

As for the unit they installed is it what you asked for? They may have had to use a different model due to compatability but if you were general in your request and they installed the proper part called for then the only issue is the installation which the could possibly correct with some adjustment. Regarding the cover it is unrealistic to expect a dealer to baby sit your boat by draining/adjusting the cover while in their yard, it would be your responsibilty to cover it in a way to prevent rain pooling issues or stop by there to drain the cover after heavy rains. What if they adjusted your cover and it ripped? See the issue,they dont touch em, no different than any other dealer. No you know what to do next time it sits outside at a dealership anyway.