Question:
it's my first boat. My only experience with a boat repair
facility is with the dealer who sold it to me. It's been in the shop
4 times in 3 years. My current experience is just like the others in
frustration level.
I made an apointment two weeks ago. When I made the appointment they
ordered the parts. I asked if I should call before bringing in my
boat to make sure the parts had arrived. They said "no", they would
call me if the parts didn't come in.
Yesterday I arrived on-time with my boat. The people started looking
at each oter asking where my parts were. I got the impression they
were not experienced liars and all knew damn well the parts hadn't
arrived.
15 minutes later they told me they had talked to the supplier and the
parts were due within a couple of hours for sure.
Six hours later I phoned. . .out to lunch.
Two hours later I finally reached the service department. Turns out
the parts were shipped the day before yesterday from "south". What
the hell does that mean? San Francisco is one hour "south". Rio De
Janero is quite a few hours "south". I asked if they expected the
parts on Friday. "A Definite Maybe" was their reply. Makes me wonder
why I busted my but to get there, towing my freshly waxed boat in the
rain anyway. . . . . .
Everytime I deal with these folks I get delays and contradictory
statements. They once took 5 days for a repair when they had all
the parts in stock already!!! My boat has never once been ready on
time. The only plusses are that the work has always been good, and
the price hasn't been too high.
Being new to boating I wonder if the boat repair industry is just a
laid-back bunch of people who get work done when they damn well feel
like it and not before, or if I just found one shop that runs on its
own clock.
experienced boaters; what do you say?
Answer:
-Sounds to me like it's time to find a new dealer to service your boat.
If this happened once I'd say give them another chance, but if this is the
3rd time in 4 years, give up.
In defence of the good dealers that are out there, I've been in that
sitation more than once. No matter how hard you try EVERYTHING goes wrong.
I've been trying to get a seat from a well known seat manufacure since Sept.
1997! The person I was dealing with quit, one seat got lost in shipping,
they were out of the model I needed, etc.
Luckily the customer is a friend of the shop and is very understanding.
-The toughest thing in the world is "how to find a great boat dealer with
a great repair shop" especially when you purchase your first boat!
I'd look for another repair shop and plan on paying more for the better
service! When you find a good one . . . buy your next boat from him
instead of price shopping!
