Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

300sflyer

Chief Petty Officer
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As some of you may recall, I repowered our 31' Chaparral with two new Mercruiser Mag 357 engines.

http://www.mercurymarine.com/repowe...ruiser-products/plus-series/357-mag-bravo-4v/

My 1 year factory warranty is nearly up, and I recently looked into buying a 2 year extended warranty on both engines. My local Merc dealer quoted me just under 3K with tax for both motors. Seems like a lot of $$$ to me...

I have had a couple of minor issues with the engines this past summer, and the warranty has been used to fix the problems. They are now running great, and knock on wood, they will continue to, but you never know...

After doing a bit of searching on the Merc site, I come across this.

http://www.mercurymarine.com/promotions/#plus-series-promotion

I call up Merc product protection, and the girl there tells me sorry, but that is only for US residents. [I am in Canada] You will notice in the link it does say valid in the US only, however when I first found the link, it made no mention of that, and I pointed that out to the girl at product protection, and I printed it off. A few days later, the site was changed to the way it is now...

What the heck is going on here?!?! Does Brunswick Corp not value its Canadian customers as much as its US ones? Is our money not as hard earned or somehow less valuable than in the US? Why should I have to lay out 3K for and extended warranty, when Merc customers just 50 miles south of me on the other side of the border, are getting that same extended warranty for FREE?!?!

Not a happy boater today... :mad:
 

Bluestream

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Its their choice where to offer the warranty.
 

Fireman431

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

It said the promotion was valid in the US only. It didn't say valid for US residents only. Drag your boat south of the border and get it fixed for free.
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

True, however to change the wording in the advertised promotion to exclude Canada, AFTER I stated I wanted the free extended warranty as advertised, is underhanded at best...

Needless to say, its also my choice as to what engine manufacturer my next boat will be powered with.
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

It said the promotion was valid in the US only. It didn't say valid for US residents only. Drag your boat south of the border and get it fixed for free.

Tried that approach... They said they would not register the extended warranty for anyone without a US address.
 

Beefer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Of course, you could always do what many residents here do to avoid certain taxes... get an apartment in the States for a couple of hundred bucks for a couple of months, then qualify for that promotion. It would be cheaper then $3k.

Not that I condone that sort of thing...:rolleyes:
 

Summer Fun

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

For $8 you can get a PO Box or You could use my address , Cousin 300sflyer. :D
 

Dave1251

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Mercury free extended warranty in the US in not without cost to the selling dealer. These cost are pass along in the selling price of the boat/motor. The consumer ends up paying for these cost in the US. Most of promotion in the market today have dealer contribtions in the small print.
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

For $8 you can get a PO Box or You could use my address , Cousin 300sflyer. :D

Somehow, I doubt that will work when the engines are already registered with a Canadian address. But thanks for trying. :)
 

QC

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Where do you see that this promotion is available for a retroactive purchase? Also poorly worded, but I don't see why they would "give" this free to anyone who bought an engine prior to the beginning of the program. Maybe a better way of putting it is, why do you think your engines would qualify if you were located in the US?
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Where do you see that this promotion is available for a retroactive purchase? Also poorly worded, but I don't see why they would "give" this free to anyone who bought an engine prior to the beginning of the program. Maybe a better way of putting it is, why do you think your engines would qualify if you were located in the US?

I was told they would, but because I live in Canada.... well you know the rest.
 

Fireman431

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

See if they will work with you and give you a discounted rate to get in the program.
 

Alpheus

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Internal combustion engines don't last long in Canada because of all that maple syrup all over the place. Plus the Mercruiser guys (on a field trip to Canada) didn't appreciate the real sugar in their Mountain Dew opposed of the high fructose corn syrup they put in ours here in the U.S...:D
 

Brewman61

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

This is part of a promotion on sales of new engines. Not uncommon to offer extended warranty coverage on a new purchase in lieu of some other form of incentive, like a rebate or what have you. You already bought your engines, and got whatever promotion (if any) was in place when you purchased.
It's not at all uncommon for promotions to be only offered in certain geographic locations, either.
Not sure what your complaint is- that they're not going to give you two more free years of warranty? You got what you bargained for, really.
 

MTboatguy

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Normally warranty coverage is determine based on the dealers participating, it is very unusual, but even with cars you run into the occasional dealer that does not participate in the warranty programs, and then it can be a real pain in the but to get service.

Warranties are offered by the manufacture, but it is not a requirement for the dealer to participate..Also, I know with many products, if I live in the US and purchase from a foreign dealer, such as camera products, I don't have a warranty, I can't buy a new camera in Canada and get warranty service in the states, I have to send it to a Canadian dealer.

When I lived in WA, I purchased a car in Canada, and then had to take it to Canada to get any warranty service done on it.. It has a lot to do with the government regulations on where the product is sold..

Also normally to get the free promotions, no matter what country the product has to be purchased during the promotion period.

But as was suggested, I would give them a call and see if they will negotiate a better deal with you than what the dealer quoted, they really don't want mad customers out there, no matter what country they live in, you might be surprised at what they will do..
 

mike343

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

The thing I find interesting is that the Merc warranty is only one year. My VP warranty was for three and I got a 3 year extension for $700, marked down from twice that by the dealer. That was eight years ago.
 

JoLin

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

This is part of a promotion on sales of new engines. Not uncommon to offer extended warranty coverage on a new purchase in lieu of some other form of incentive, like a rebate or what have you. You already bought your engines, and got whatever promotion (if any) was in place when you purchased.
It's not at all uncommon for promotions to be only offered in certain geographic locations, either.
Not sure what your complaint is- that they're not going to give you two more free years of warranty? You got what you bargained for, really.

I'm not sure what the OP's beef is, either. If I buy a car, I get whatever promotion is being offered at that time. Maybe I got a free nav system or something. If they offer 0% financing, or a free extended warranty the following year, I can't very well demand that they give me the same, retroactively. My cable company offers special deals to new subscribers all the time. I'm not eligible for them. I'm not a new subscriber. So what?

My .02
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

My beef is that this promotion was in effect when I bought my two engines, but because I live in Canada, I was never informed or told about free extended warranty, despite the fact the promotional add did not state Canada was excluded at that time. The add was only changed to read "US only" just last week. I paid just as much for those same engines, as those in the US who are getting it for free.
 

QC

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

That combination leads to a valid concern. I'd be pizzed that they changed the add after you asked!!! My comment earlier assumed that the program was not in place when you bought them. Very different.
 

300sflyer

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Re: Mercury Warranty Promotion / USA Only!?!?

Here is a scanned image of the promotion. Notice the date, and the fact that there is no mention of "US only".

Scan_Pic0001.jpg
 
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