Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

[nexus]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Thanks guys. I'm sure in the end they will support their product. Thats the general impression I get of them. In fact that impression is largely why I purchased the product in the first place. <br /><br />Anyone have any further thoughts about the zinc/composite requirements? Should I still use the zinc on the bracket because the brackets themselves are metal or can I skip it altogether with the composite tabs?

 

[umblecumbuz]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Nexus<br />Give the guy a chance huh? Mistakes happen. It's the way they're handled thereafter that sorts out the men.<br /><br />And when I say handled, I mean - as I'm sure most guys here also agree - it's the way the CUSTOMER handles them as well as the manufacturer that does the sorting.

 

[nexus]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

I am giving the guy a chance. I ordered a product. It wasn't as it should have been when it got here. Since they dont have 24 hour telephone support and generally speaking I dont have any time during the day to spend on the phone, especially lately, I went to their website. It's broken and doesnt tell you anything. So luckily I knew that NautiJohn frequents this forum and I came and posted here figuring eventually he'd see it and follow up. <br /><br />Time will tell. If I ever get out of this damn server room before the like 7pm I'll try calling him but that wont happen this week. <br /><br />As I keep saying, this is not an attack, just some persons account of their experience with the company/product. It is what it is.

 

[JB]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

". . .this is not an attack. . ."<br /><br />Sure coulda fooled me.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Originally posted by nexus:<br /> I went to their website. It's broken and doesnt tell you anything.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the website. I've tried it numerous times since your complaints started. Sounds like the problem is on your end. But then it sounds like you're a guy who thrives on problems even if you have to gin them up to satisfy yourself.

 

[nexus]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Originally posted by JB:<br /> ". . .this is not an attack. . ."<br /><br />Sure coulda fooled me.

Tell me about it. I try to share my experience, albeit a negative one and was met with nothing short of a rude flaming.

 

[cuzner]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Hey Toolboy... since your origonal question, I'll do my best to help. I have never had them, but I know people who do. They love them. I don't know anyone with them on an inflatable though. In John's defence(nautijohn from nauticus), he does post on the forum and supports people with problems. Seems to me to be exellent customer service. Nexus people around here tend to stick up for the regulars. John has been posting and helping people for a while, not just ****ing his tabs. He deserves our support, its what makes the forum a great place to hang out.<br /><br /> Jim

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

nexus,<br /><br />i'm glad you posted your honest and personal experience. it helps us see the other side.<br /><br />i didn't go looking for your other posts, just don't care or have the time. but i see your point to doing it. there always seems to be atleast 5 threads about tabs going on around here. heck, iboats forums has become the unofficial sponsor of smarttabs, whether we admit it or not.<br /><br />but you have to see the problem with the multiple threads. it looks like whining. but i'll drop it.<br /><br />i will say i have to agree with your observations. i ordered smart tabs from iboats. i was equally disappointed in the box of loose parts i received. i also was discouraged with the adaptability for us salt water boaters. "here's a picture of how zincs look like installed, have fun." i returned the tabs to iboats.<br /><br />and ignore anyone that mentions post counts. they're the ones that slap a on every joke thread in ntdwb. not a measure of anything.<br /><br />and to anyone who is actually still listening- nexus never once commented on the performance of your beloved smart tabs. he may still become a supporter. he simply posted a rant on a bad experience. now wait, i think i've read plenty of those around here...<br /><br />i do hope you enjoy the tabs if you decide to keep them. good luck.

 

[Snowdrggn]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Nexus,<br /> Unless you are leaving your inflatable moored in salt water, I wouldn't worry about zincs beiing put on your tabs. I would worry more about you motor! The tabs you have, if I can follow the thread are in fact composite, which is non conductive. The reason you install zincs on things in salt water is to provide a material that is "sacrificial" The purpose of the zinc is so that due to electrolysis (the galvanic reaction caused by dissimilar metals being in close proximity to each other immersed in an electrolyte like salt water), which causes the metals to be eaten, will be reacting on the zinc. IE: the zinc gets eaten instead of your motor and prop. <br /><br />If you are in fact mooring your inflatable in salt water, I would be far more concerned with barnacle growth causing millions of tiny holes in the tubes causing leaks that can only be repaired by putting a complete layer of fabric (really BIG patch!) on the whole bottom of the inflatable boat. <br /><br /> As far as John and Nauticus goes, I have found the customer support to go far beyond any company large or small that I have dealt with. His product performs even better than claimed on small inflatables. Larger boats I can not attest to Smart Tabs performance as I have no first hand experience with those applications. <br /><br /><br />If you do keep the tabs and take the time to set them up properly I know you will more than realize the positive difference they make to the personality of your inflatable. I am in the process of setting up a new inflatable for this season and would not even consider doing so with out Smart Tabs!<br /><br /> If you would like to see actual pictures of Smart tabs in use on a small inflatable, let me know your email address and I will send them to you, or post them here. <br /><br /> Cheers,<br /> Snow

 

[rwidman]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

And if you decide that you need zincs on the tabs, buy a pair, drill two holes, and install them. How hard is that?

 

[Jdeagro]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Nexus;<br /><br />You have our sincere apologies. There is nothing more frustrating to me than to start a project and find that there are wrong or missing parts. I know exactly what went wrong, and you can be assured that I will print this entire thread for our employees to read.<br /><br />What also concerns me is that you were unable to contact us. Did you get all of the instructions with the kit? On all instruction booklets and supplemental instructions we print our address and telephone numbers including our toll free number (which works in Canada as well). There should also be a fax number. As for the web site, I receive e-mail's every day. The address is -info@NauticusInc.com. or you can contact me directly at - john@NauticusInc.com <br /><br />Please call and let me know what we can do to make this right. The old saying is that "you only get one chance to make a first impression" so now we are swimming up stream.<br /><br />To Matttt25;<br /><br />I am also concerned about your "loose Parts".<br /><br />We do not assemble the product, but we separate the hardware into three heat sealed plastic bags A,B,& C. Each bag has the necessary hardware to assemble the particular parts. If you received a bag of parts, loose then this kit was not factory sealed.<br /><br />The question then is why we do not assemble the kits. There are two reasons; one, it would add labor cost which would increase the end user cost and two, the unit carton would grow in size resulting in other additional costs such as freight. We also feel that the consumer becomes more familiar with the product and it's function if they complete the assemble themselves. That said, I always look for the Barb B Q that is the floor sample ready to go. But the Tabs are not that complicated. By the way none of the other manufacturers assemble their Tabs either.<br /><br />If you got a set that was not new I would like to know about it.

 

[John_S]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

I purchased two sets of smart tabs this winter. One set for a 14' Alum Starcraft, and another for a 20' bowrider. Both sets were new, purchased off Ebay. One had the original box, while the other didn't. In both cases all the hardware was in the original stapled bags and clearly labeled. The original instructions were included, but I had downloaded the latest install instructions from John's website, prior to purchase. I had read the instructions, so I knew zincs are not included along with a manual retracting system (pulleys and cord). <br /><br />As far as pre-assembly goes, the only candidates would be the bracket to the tabs and the hinge to the tab. If the hinge was mounted to the tab, you might find yourself removing it to line up the marks for drilling. The bracket if pre-mounted would require larger packaging. For myself, having to mount them is not an issue. <br /><br />For some buyers, maybe having an optional kit for zincs would be nice. Not everyone wants to go find alternate sources, even though it is not hard to find these. <br /><br />I would like to see pulley kits for retraction, available. The current documents give specific supplier and part number, but I've found it hard to find someone that has all the parts. I am not complaining, it would be just nice to have. <br /><br />In both of these cases, it is not something that everyone is going to want to have and everyone shouldn't be expected to pay in the original price. <br /><br />FWIW, I have not had any website issues, and I have accessed it numerous time and have read and downloaded numerous documents. I do use IE though. I gave in an have accepted it is a Bill Gates world! ;-) <br /><br />I look forward to installing and testing them this spring.

 

[Jdeagro]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Nexus;<br /><br />I forgot to mention that the composite plates (for Roll-up inflatable boats) do not require anodes, only the stainless steel version. I suspect that you stow your boat rolled up at least during the winter.<br /><br />And for anyone else, anodes are most often used when the boat is in salt water, and then they are a necessity to avoid corrosion from electrolysis, not rust.

 

[Regal-89]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

After reading all these posts, all I have to say in nicely done Nautijohn. I was reading post to get more familar to your tabs. With just your ease at settling the remarks, I know that the customer service can help with any questions that may arise. Long story short, nice job done!

 

[Snowdrggn]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

John,<br /> My hat is off to you! <br /> I have had first hand experience with your customer service ethics, and as always they are first class!<br /> Cheers,<br /> Snow.

 

[Jdeagro]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

I truly appreciate the support, and will appreciate the oportunity to fix the problem for Nexus, but I entered this industry because it is a fun and happy place to do business. Now lets move on to something fun and enjoy our toys.

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

john- i understand the reason for the 3 bags of parts. no, not too hard to do. just nice to open a box and see what you are installing.<br /><br />john_s brings up my biggest gripe. my boat sits in the water all year, where i think boats should be (trailer, what trailer?). i'm sure i could figure out what size anode to attach, where and how to attach it, etc. but as a consumer, i don't feel like it. this was one reason i returned the tabs. i wasn't prepared to go looking for zincs and drilling, mounting, etc. i actually did look for the round zincs shown in your manual and couldn't find them at boat us or west marine. if you offered a zinc kit with instructions, there's even more market and profit for you.<br /><br />i didn't mean to bash your product. i've read the posts, i know the deal. i was more sticking up for nexus. he had a bad experience, and he posted his thoughts. it happens here on iboats all the time, you know that. and because you're a regular favorite, he got bashed. if someone bashed me or my product, i wouldn't be mad, i'd want to make things right. you did just that. but your loyal followers resorted to bashing a frustrated new member. i don't like that.<br /><br />anyway, not much else to say. hope it all works out.

 

[nexus]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

NautiJohn: Thanks...we've already settled in email but thought I'd post here again, as promised. Thanks.<br /><br />SnowDraggn: junk @ donia.org should reach me okay. I think I have a pretty good idea what it should all look like, but it never hurts to see more pics.<br /><br />matttt25: Thanks for being a decent rational person. <br /><br /><br />---------------------------<br /><br />I'm eagerly awaiting delivery of the remaining parts that John has promised to send out right away. I'm guessing I'll see them early next week as it should take a few days for them to make their way to me. Should be interesting to see what this does for the inflatable.... Motor is freshly serviced with a nice new clean prop installed. I just ran a can of SeaFoam through the motor and now I'm ready to install the smart tabs. I'm definitely looking forward to getting things wet.<br /><br />ack....waiting....

 

[Jdeagro]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

Matttt25;<br /><br />Until recently we did not sell zincs because they are readily available on a local basis, and since we would be buying them from the same source as West Marine (for example) our price would end up higher to the consumer. Reason for this is that we would be marking is up to our dealers then again to the consumer. Anyway, this past year we desided to add them in as a convenience, and bought a large quantity in bulk to get the price down so that the consumer price was reasonable.<br /><br />As a matter of information, West Marine does cary these round zincs but they are usually in bulk. The next hard thing is to find someone who knows where they are located.

 

[BillP]

Re: Smart tabs?? Are they worth it??

You could eliminate adding zincs by running a wire on the inside of the transom from the tabs to the motor mounts and use the motor's zinc (if it uses one). It's called bonding and sop in bigger boats.