new boat 20 hr checkup

[roffey]

So here's what happened¦. My boat was due for the 20 hr check. I pulled it out of the water and dragged it 70 miles back to œthe dealer. I called them on Monday to ask if I could set up a time to get the check completed and ended up with dropping the boat of on Thursday morning. I asked if the boat could be looked at sooner than later as this is really just an expensive oil change. Thursday evening the boat had not moved, bummer. Friday morning I call and ask if the boat could be ready by the afternoon as I work shift and if I don'™t get the boat on Friday I will have to wait 2 weeks before I can put the boat back in the water. After I hang up the phone I call another dealer and he is only too happy to do the check and will do it a day. I called back the dealership I bought the boat from and state I am picking up the boat at 3 weather its ready or not. The dealer says no problem as my boat is next in , keep in mind this is 11 in the morning. At 3 I show up and it still has not moved, Monday is a stat holiday. I get mad and say this is just taking too long and the service manager says he has up to a week to look at it. I say no you don'™t it my boat see ya.

My question am I over reacting, I paid $40k for this boat, set up and appointment and still the boat was not serviced.

 

[Watermann]

Guess you know what to tell people about the stealership you purchased the boat from. That's a joke and I guess they don't want a repeat customer or good word of mouth. 40k

 

[oldjeep]

Time to learn to service your own boat. 70 miles is pretty crazy for an oil change. Dealers get busy in the summer, although they should have a better handle on their schedule if they said it would be done.

 

[roffey]

I do all my own stuff for the most part. I have all the stuff at home. I was thinking as it was so new and I paid way more than I ever thought I would. I would take it to the dealership for warranty.

 

[roffey]

.... and that's the frustrating part. I bet I could change the oil and filter along with changing the gear oil in my driveway in less than 15 min. and these 'professionals' can do it in two days, LOL. Well I glad to hear I was not over reacting...

 

[oldjeep]

You haven't got 20 other boats that got to your driveway first either

 

[roffey]

Nope I understand what your saying. I am a computer guy and had my own business for years. I would fix the easy ones first and save the head scratchers for last. I did not get paied until I delivered the systems or fixed the issue and doing the fix in the agreed on time was important.

 

[tpenfield]

The dealer that you bought the boat from is scheduling challenged. That is all they are trying to tell you without actually saying those words.

As stated, you can do the maintenance yourself, or give that other shop a try. Probably with a new boat and the associated warranties, you want to start off with documented maintenance, so best to figure out the shops that have their act together.

The service manager that you spoke of does not seem to be customer focused, and therefore justifies his deficiencies as internal procedures. I bet if he told you up front that his policy is to take up to 1 week to look at a boat, you would have gone elsewhere from the outset.

 

[MH Hawker]

i have been flat out lied to over having a boat serviced like that, they figure once the boat is there owners wont get it and take it to another place.

 

[riptide09]

If I just showed up as a "walk in" then I can't say much. If I setup an appointment ahead of time then I expect the work to be done.

 

[airdvr1227]

I can see both sides of this situation. Holiday week...everyone wants their rig fixed now. My best intentions are to get everyone's repair done in a timely fashion. After all, I don't want to turn away customers. And the factory pays me good money for that 20 hour check-up. But things rarely go as planned and this week has been the week from hell. Service tech gets sick or injured. Repairs turn out to be more complex than if first appeared. Sometimes hard choices have to be made. Fix your rig or fix the guy who has been buying and trading in with you faithfully from the beginning. Either way someone is going to be mad.

 

[roffey]

I understand with the holiday weekend and all but as I said I gave them notice I was bringing it in and gave him 2 days to complete it. If I were him I would have put the extra effort in. Having said all that the new dealer I am going to use is closer as in 10 miles from the cottage and is eager to do the work and get new business. I was more concerned I was over reacting by hooking up my boat and taking it to a new dealer.

 

[Maclin]

Do they sell $80k+ boats? Maybe you were in line behind some higher rollers.

 

[roffey]

I think mine was not the bottom of the line. 80k for a boat is nothing nest step up from mine was 70k. Having said that I have never paid this much for anything other than mu house. This boat runs perfect, it has a ton of upgrades and runs like the wind. The sales people were great and the people behind the service desk were great to deal with. My boat is the coolest boat and on my lake people know the boat before they know who I am,LOL, not really but you know what I mean. I think it was more the service rep was trying to teach me a lesson by telling me, I don't tell him when the boat is ready, he tells me... LOL

 

[bassman284]

I can see both sides of this situation. Holiday week...everyone wants their rig fixed now. My best intentions are to get everyone's repair done in a timely fashion. After all, I don't want to turn away customers. And the factory pays me good money for that 20 hour check-up. But things rarely go as planned and this week has been the week from hell. Service tech gets sick or injured. Repairs turn out to be more complex than if first appeared. Sometimes hard choices have to be made. Fix your rig or fix the guy who has been buying and trading in with you faithfully from the beginning. Either way someone is going to be mad.

I understand what you're saying, air, but this was not a case of "fixing" something, this was basically and oil change and maybe diagnostics. Maybe an hour job tops, more likely less. If you can't schedule that to be done the same day, you can't schedule much of anything. I've been going to my dealership for 13 years, mostly routine stuff, and I might have to wait a week or more to get my boat in, but when they give may a date to bring it in, I can count on getting it back the same day. It doesn't seem to be that difficult for them. Certainly some things end up being more involved, but if you can't tell the guy when he brings it in that there might be a delay, you should at least call him up and tell him when it becomes obvious to you that the job is going to take longer. Not really that difficult.

My car mechanic does the same thing. He generally schedules planning to do the job that day. If something comes up where it will take longer, I know by mid-morning that I need to make plans.

Taking on a job and then squatting on it for week or two with no communication is simply unacceptable.

 

[lg260ss]

Is this a sterndrive powered boat? If so, neither Mercruiser or Volvo Penta require 20 hr services anymore. IMO the 20 hour service is just a ploy to get you back to the dealer.

 

[ricohman]

My Mercruiser 4.3 20hr service was done in my driveway. I changed the motor and leg oil, did all the checks. Done in under 2 hours. I got 30 hours now and although I'm under warranty Mercruiser has no problem with me doing the work. Saves a ton of time and cash.
My dealer is 3600 km away so I have to do my own work.

 

[drrpm]

Lately I've been underwhelmed by dealer service with issues ranging from lack of communication and jobs not finished when promised to outright lies about special offers and trying to gouge me on prices. I have not had any bad experiences with my marine mechanic but I wouldn't expect a 2 day turn around approaching a holiday weekend. On the other hand if it was promised I'd expect it to be done.