how long should it take a marine mechanic to service your outboard?

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southkogs

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Another thing to toss into the equation - a marine tech who's pretty backed up, might be a REALLY good marine tech. It's hard (in my opinion) to find a good, honest and reasonably priced tech. Sometimes a couple minutes bringing over a few donuts and chatting about the biz and yer' boat for a few will tell you a lot of what you need to know ... in my area, there is currently only one marine shop I'll let work on my boat (and that brother is a bit "rough around the edges").

I'm like you on one side of wanting to be pretty specific about timing and pricing. I work in a deadline driven industry so, time is actually the primary driver. BUT I'm also doing art work ... which is really tough to predict or price. Every business has it's quirks.
 

smokeonthewater

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You obviously have no problem asking how long.... You simply, for some reason, refuse to ask the right people....

Ask us and you get days of conversation but you know absolutely nothing about the actual answer to your question.

Ask them and within a minute or so you have the answer..... Better yet the folks at the shop may realize you are in a hurry and the answer could be along the lines of "I'll see if I can squeeze you in this afternoon"

Believing, assuming, wishing, or willing vs ASKING..... Only one of those has any chance of getting results.
 

David B.

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I did ask them, I said I called and even stopped by a few times. I know a week ago they said they were going to start on it that day but it still hasn't been touched. So what do you all think is the normal time to wait for such a small job? months? years?
 
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jbcurt00

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No, thats ^^^ the 1st time you said they gave you an ETA, and that they failed to meet an eta they gave you.

Time to pick 1 of the 3 options I posted earlier.
 

OldLRRP

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This business doesn't care one way or the other if they have your business. It doesn't sound like a place that I would have working on my engine. I would find another shop and take it there.
 

jbcurt00

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David, you clearly arent listening to anyones opinion other then your own, and didnt provide ALL the relevent info until your last post.

Nor have you acknowledged several excellent recommendations of how to proceed.

As before, several times by multiple posters, move on.

I suspect if you had followed up w early suggestions on Fri, you could have gotten the boat back yesterday, put the impeller on today and be boating tomorrow. Instead you'd rather ignore the suggested advice and complain about the shop.
 

smokeonthewater

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Yep so there you have it...

If you have communicated with the shop as clear as mud like you have with us there is no telling what they'll be doing or when.

At this point the only decision left is whether you will continue to wait or whether you will pick up your boat and go a different route...

It's absolutely AMAZING to me that this has taken this long to get to this point....

You were repeatedly told to ask them and instead of instantly saying "I DID ask and they said...." Your constant reply was that you shouldn't HAVE to ask how long.... Up until this afternoon when you finally decided to tell us you had asked them already....

Nothing about this thread has been "normal".
 

GA_Boater

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Nothing useful is being gained by leaving this thread open any longer.

To the OP - You vented, we responded. Now you should feel better. Live and learn. Don't expect any better results at the start of next season or any other time if you don't ask when dropping the boat off. Your choices of places to take the boat are limited unlike pizza joints or Starbucks.

:closed_2:
 
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