You know I thought about posting this for a long time... I have typed this up 10X and never hit the submit button. Last night I decided it was probably the best thing to do.
My reasoning behind posting this is to alert you guys of my experience with the service department at the aforementioned dealer.
Here goes:
The day I dropped the boat off I had issues with a flat tire, 2 dead batteries and I was by myself. So, after getting the boat finally on the trailer & on the way off the Island it was 4:10 PM. Well the head service guy said you better hurry we all leave at 5PM. I said are you kidding I am on the way he said well you better hurry! That right there just made me upset. Last thing I want to do is be in a hurry hauling a boat that pushes the limits of my 1/2 ton Tahoe. I called him 2 more times to alert him of my progress up Hwy 146 & he said he was waiting for me.
Well, I pull into the service area at 5:05 PM with the service guy waiting. Bad vibe from the word go. I told him all the issues and he said they'd get right on it. He didn't even offer to assist in helping me unhook it. He watched.
I left feeling uneasy and should have hooked back up to the SOB & hauled it off somewhere else. But, it was late in the day, most places were closed & the trailer needed some service so thought it best to leave it be.
A week passes and they call me about a few things before performing work etc. I finally get the word that it's all done. So, I go & pick it up on a Friday morning (take of work) and race it over to Breakwater for installation of a weather module that works with my Raymarine C80 early Friday morning.
The installation guy & I jump in the boat. It's filthy! We took it in completely clean, well that's understandable b/c of their stabilized yard at the dealership. However, there were wing nuts, cans of lubricant & parts missing from the boat (access hatch - the screw in kind that allows you to mess with wires under the helm)
I am pissed when I see this... I mean take some pride in your work being a long time customer this sent me over the edge.
I immediately call the service manager, "well Coe we didn't touch the helm" my thought was well I asked y'all to fix the livewell light & fuel sending unit, you told me it was under the helm. Heck, it was there when I dropped it off y'all obviously unscrewed it! Where is it?! He told me he would check around & call me back.... Did he ever call me back? No! I called him several hours later. What's the deal here I asked "Well we don't have it. Go buy a new one they are cheap or come by here & I guess we can give you one".
You have to be kidding me... so I leave Breakwater (excellent service from Derek & his crew BTW) & get the boat launched, look back at the jack plate (which we had them fix / service). They told me it was fine motor ran good it went up & down 400 times at the shop, they just greased it & said if it’s not broken how can you fix it. (the jack plate was sticking) Finally, some good news no need to replace an expensive part! However, there I am starting the boat up, I click the down button on the jack plate to put motor in optimal position & it doesn't even move. Neither up or down! I am pissed. Yes I should have checked it prior to leaving the dealer, but come on how about some quality control here guys?!
So, luckily the jack plate was only up 1.5" which didn't affect me running & put-putting through the canals back to the slip. On the way to the house I call up the service manager again. "Well Coe it was working fine", at this point I am just shaking my head.
Pressed for time to get to the Tails & Tunes Friday event I just put it in the slip & alerted my Dad to the issue. My parents were coming down there for the weekend & wanted to use the boat had friends coming down etc.
My Dad is no mechanic so having him hook up wires is just a no go, so I called & explained what they did. He was pissed! He doesn't get mad but I could tell he was ticked!
So over the course of the next 5 days maybe a week, I start thinking back to them replacing the batteries. I had noticed they didn't even hook back up our on-board chargers etc.
This past weekend I go down there & start hooking back up the on-board charger & then I noticed two wires that were not connected... Could it really be that easy? I hook them up & what do you know the jack plate is operational again.
I called & alerted one of the guys over there to what had transpired over the last 2 weeks. He apologized but I wanted to make sure they knew of our displeasure. I still have not heard from the service guy, no apologies from him, no phone calls to get me the part that I need etc.
I wanted to warn others as apparently quality control in their service department has gone right out the window over there. This is not the first time parts or materials have been left on the boat. This incident just pushed me to my breaking point.
We will be taking the boat elsewhere from now on.
I'm headed to Academy now to pick up a new hatch cover.
My reasoning behind posting this is to alert you guys of my experience with the service department at the aforementioned dealer.
Here goes:
The day I dropped the boat off I had issues with a flat tire, 2 dead batteries and I was by myself. So, after getting the boat finally on the trailer & on the way off the Island it was 4:10 PM. Well the head service guy said you better hurry we all leave at 5PM. I said are you kidding I am on the way he said well you better hurry! That right there just made me upset. Last thing I want to do is be in a hurry hauling a boat that pushes the limits of my 1/2 ton Tahoe. I called him 2 more times to alert him of my progress up Hwy 146 & he said he was waiting for me.
Well, I pull into the service area at 5:05 PM with the service guy waiting. Bad vibe from the word go. I told him all the issues and he said they'd get right on it. He didn't even offer to assist in helping me unhook it. He watched.
I left feeling uneasy and should have hooked back up to the SOB & hauled it off somewhere else. But, it was late in the day, most places were closed & the trailer needed some service so thought it best to leave it be.
A week passes and they call me about a few things before performing work etc. I finally get the word that it's all done. So, I go & pick it up on a Friday morning (take of work) and race it over to Breakwater for installation of a weather module that works with my Raymarine C80 early Friday morning.
The installation guy & I jump in the boat. It's filthy! We took it in completely clean, well that's understandable b/c of their stabilized yard at the dealership. However, there were wing nuts, cans of lubricant & parts missing from the boat (access hatch - the screw in kind that allows you to mess with wires under the helm)
I am pissed when I see this... I mean take some pride in your work being a long time customer this sent me over the edge.
I immediately call the service manager, "well Coe we didn't touch the helm" my thought was well I asked y'all to fix the livewell light & fuel sending unit, you told me it was under the helm. Heck, it was there when I dropped it off y'all obviously unscrewed it! Where is it?! He told me he would check around & call me back.... Did he ever call me back? No! I called him several hours later. What's the deal here I asked "Well we don't have it. Go buy a new one they are cheap or come by here & I guess we can give you one".

You have to be kidding me... so I leave Breakwater (excellent service from Derek & his crew BTW) & get the boat launched, look back at the jack plate (which we had them fix / service). They told me it was fine motor ran good it went up & down 400 times at the shop, they just greased it & said if it’s not broken how can you fix it. (the jack plate was sticking) Finally, some good news no need to replace an expensive part! However, there I am starting the boat up, I click the down button on the jack plate to put motor in optimal position & it doesn't even move. Neither up or down! I am pissed. Yes I should have checked it prior to leaving the dealer, but come on how about some quality control here guys?!
So, luckily the jack plate was only up 1.5" which didn't affect me running & put-putting through the canals back to the slip. On the way to the house I call up the service manager again. "Well Coe it was working fine", at this point I am just shaking my head.
Pressed for time to get to the Tails & Tunes Friday event I just put it in the slip & alerted my Dad to the issue. My parents were coming down there for the weekend & wanted to use the boat had friends coming down etc.
My Dad is no mechanic so having him hook up wires is just a no go, so I called & explained what they did. He was pissed! He doesn't get mad but I could tell he was ticked!
So over the course of the next 5 days maybe a week, I start thinking back to them replacing the batteries. I had noticed they didn't even hook back up our on-board chargers etc.
This past weekend I go down there & start hooking back up the on-board charger & then I noticed two wires that were not connected... Could it really be that easy? I hook them up & what do you know the jack plate is operational again.
I called & alerted one of the guys over there to what had transpired over the last 2 weeks. He apologized but I wanted to make sure they knew of our displeasure. I still have not heard from the service guy, no apologies from him, no phone calls to get me the part that I need etc.
I wanted to warn others as apparently quality control in their service department has gone right out the window over there. This is not the first time parts or materials have been left on the boat. This incident just pushed me to my breaking point.
We will be taking the boat elsewhere from now on.
I'm headed to Academy now to pick up a new hatch cover.


LIVIN THE SALT LIFE 

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