10 hr Service at Bad Dealer Location + Bonus Damage....

[YamaHog]

Well my boat was due for it's 10 hr service and I got it into the dealer at 10.3 hrs. I'm not going to call out the dealer here specifically, but I took it in for service at pretty much the only Yamaha dealer in my state (they have several different locations across the state, I went to the Central Arkansas one). I was less than pleased with their customer service skills. The people working at the location I went to have no people skills and should most definitely not be customer-facing. I knew taking it in for service that it was going to sit on their fenced in lot for a few days so I installed the wake tower shipping brackets to lock the tower and covered with the factory shipping cover.

They were able to get to it within 5 days and called to let me know it was ready. When I asked to confirm they were open until 6 PM the service manager that called me responded real aggressively and condescendingly "Yeah, we walk out of here right at 6." I didn't really know how to respond. It's not like I asked them to stay late and wait for me to get there or something crazy like that. So I go to pick up the boat around noon the next day and the guy at the service counter was inconvenienced because I had a couple of questions about the service and what was done and he had to stay in his chair, pickup the phone and page the service manager. lol Paid about $300 for the service which from what I've read here on the forum is pretty good or average. Seems to vary wildly from state-to-state, region-to-region. Of my entire experience at this dealer location, the best customer service came from the two high school/college kids operating the tractor pulling boats in/out of and around the yard. I fully expected them to just drop the boat for me to hook up, but they actually offered to help get it hitched up and were the friendliest people at this place. Maybe they should hire another to answer their phones!

Anyway on to the damage...........so I get home and uncover the boat and find some damage to gelcoat from where the shipping cover strap that runs under the middle of the hull has rubbed and cut into the gelcoat. This is the area just near the plastic buckle on that strap. My guess is that whoever was uncovering the boat at the dealer did some pretty serious pulling trying to get the cover to come off before they realized that strap was there. I'm not super happy about it but there's no way I can prove they did it. It's not really visible unless you look from the bottom of the hull, but just wanted to be sure there isn't anything I need to do to it before putting the boat back in water. I found a few places that do gelcoat repair and I'm sure this wouldn't be a huge deal to fix. Just a little fill and polishing. I just don't know how much it would cost. Since this is a brand new 2020 boat I'd probably want to fix it if the cost isn't just insane. What do you guys think? Should I let it be for now? As long as the fiberglass isn't exposed I should be just fine right? It's just cosmetic.





For my 100 hr service I will not be going back to this dealer location. The dealer has another location this about an hour away from me, but gets much better reviews. We will see.......I wish we had another Yamaha dealer in the state.

 

[motomandan]

Wind is my guess

 

[YamaHog]

Wind is my guess

That's an interesting thought! We did have a nasty storm come through the day before I picked the boat up. I guess it's possible the cover could have gotten some strong wind catching under it moving it around. I don't see how it could have happened towing the boat out to the dealer as I had the shipping cover on the the proper way. There actually is a felt covered tab that hangs down under where that buckle snaps. With that said I did not check the tie downs on cover when I picked the boat up from service. I just look to be sure they had zipped the ratchets back up safely in the felt covered pouches.

 

[WiskyDan]

Is bad customer service more the rule than the exception with boat dealers? I tried buying Yamaha’s at two different (large) dealers in Wisconsin and the experiences were awful. The third dealer - Team Winnebagoland in Oshkosh, WI - has gone above and beyond and I’m picking up my second boat from them this weekend - both in less than a year.

 

[tdonoughue]

Yeah, that looks like some constant rubbing. Not a one time pull. They would have had to pull on it all night for something like that. That looks more like a storm or that the cover was not tight when it was taken on the highway or something. Not to defend your dealer, but I don't think that part was probably them.

That looks cosmetic to me. I only see white in one little spot (and not the telltale beige of glass), so you are fine. I would take this opportunity to order some gelcoat paste from Spectrum (they have color matched stuff in a nice little jar) and learn how to fix those little nicks and scrapes yourself in the off season. Lots of writeups here on how to do it, and it is very doable. Takes a little patience and 2 days (it cures overnight), but very doable.

 

[mkbcaptain]

Concur, looks like wind wear over time damage.
I would for sure repair that, hard to tell but (seems) the gel coat has been removed and left raw fiberglass. You don't want water getting in there and causing all kinds of issues.
You could repair this yourself for much cheaper than some one else would charge. Ive seen a few good posts on here with recommendations. Good luck, and sorry to hear about the shit dealer. That's rough man!

GO GATORS!

 

[jmargo]

You tow with the cover on ? Looks like wear not tech damage.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

I just don't know how much it would cost. Since this is a brand new 2020 boat I'd probably want to fix it if the cost isn't just insane. What do you guys think? Should I let it be for now? As long as the fiberglass isn't exposed I should be just fine right? It's just cosmetic.

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For my 100 hr service I will not be going back to this dealer location. The dealer has another location this about an hour away from me, but gets much better reviews. We will see.......I wish we had another Yamaha dealer in the state.
[/QUOTE]
@YamaHog ......to be honest I am appalled by the service you have received. What shocks me the most is the number of other purchasers of new boats who seem to be getting the same service even after purchasing a brand new boat! It's almost unbelievable. I wish I had not heard similar things from local friends but I have. I expect better from Yamaha because their company videos go on an on about their "culture" of getting it right!

I think your dealer should take your word for it and agree to repair the damage at the end of your boating season. If you paid someone else to have it done I would say about $500.00 would cover it. BUT - it is a NEW boat - if your dealer values your business at all they should do this no problem at all!

10 years ago I bought a really nice bow rider with many options: engine up-grade, trailer up-grade etc. I go to pick it up after its 20 hour service. I gave them several days to do it as they knew I was going on a trip with it and it had to be ready. I go to hook up the trailer. The safety cable is missing, worse it has been torn out of the brake housing - which is damaged. They said It "must have come in like that". The tech I know points over at a dealership yard truck. There is my cable hanging from its tow assembly. I take a couple of pictures and go to sales.

It gets waaay better. Ooops they acknowledge their mistake BUT say you don't need that safety cable anyway so we'll just disconnect it and you can go on your trip. I can't believe my ears. I call my insurance agent who is one of our best friends. He gives them a blast of $hit and saying my insurance would be void. They don't seem impressed. I put my lawyer on the phone. They say the same thing, he replies no problem I recorded the conversation. If his trailer comes loose and there are claims I'll own your dealership - I always wanted to get into boating!

Now there's a flurry of action. They take the entire housing off a new trailer and install it on my trailer. An hour later we are on our way.

They call me at the 100 hour service interval to remind me to come in. I replied and this is a quote: "It's already been done. I took it to someone who actually gives a $hit." I never went back there.

BUT - I was lucky the other was dealer was nearby. Many of us - particularly with Yamaha who seems to spread their dealer network out to avoid dealer competition and pricing competition - don't have a nearby second dealer choice and would have to drive hours to switch dealers. Very , very sad as these boats cost a lot of money and that's "after tax" money!

 

[YamaHog]

You tow with the cover on ? Looks like wear not tech damage.

Yes. Towed it with the shipping cover on about 20 mins out to dealer and 20 mins back. I bought the boat from a great dealer down in Ft. Walton Beach, FL and towed it all the way back to Central Arkansas with the shipping cover on with no issues with that strap and buckle. I'm wondering if the wind from the storm that came through could have done it while it was sitting in the dealer yard. My only other thought is that the strap could have been over-tightened causing it to rub harder when I was towing the boat.

 

[YamaHog]

Concur, looks like wind wear over time damage.
I would for sure repair that, hard to tell but (seems) the gel coat has been removed and left raw fiberglass. You don't want water getting in there and causing all kinds of issues.
You could repair this yourself for much cheaper than some one else would charge. Ive seen a few good posts on here with recommendations. Good luck, and sorry to hear about the shit dealer. That's rough man!

GO GATORS!

I think I'm going to order this patch kit and give it a go repairing myself since it's not in a highly visible area.

EDIT: I probably need to contact them about this kit as it says it's for 2015. They don't appear to have a kit listed for Suede Gray for 2020.......

Spectrum Color Yamaha Suede Gray 15-21 Boat Gel Coat

<p><h3><strong>*This item is non-returnable*</strong></h3></p><p style="font-weight: bold"> Gel Coat Patch Paste Repair </p> <ul> <li>Patch Paste is the factory gel coat color made into an easy-to-use paste </li> <li>Kit includes: <ul> <li>2oz gel coat paste </li>...

www.iboats.com

I do have some minimal experience with wet-sanding as I've painted and polished the engine cover on my 2011 Camaro (although I'm sure with the gelcoat its slightly different process. I'm planning to take the boat out tomorrow and am not sure if there's something I should put over the damage just to ensure the fiberglass is protected (although I'm not certain it's been exposed in that white area).

And yeah in regards to dealer I'll be visiting a different location next time. If I had their attitude at my job I wouldn't be employed long!

 

[Babin Farms]

Here is the link to what I do on long trailering trips to prevent any more scratches that are already there

https://jetboaters.net/threads/mooring-cover-and-road-trip.27787/post-458020

 

[drewkaree]

Is bad customer service more the rule than the exception with boat dealers? I tried buying Yamaha’s at two different (large) dealers in Wisconsin and the experiences were awful.

I'm not shy about calling out who you are referring to. You should have asked me, I'd have told you that Skipper Bud's sucks. The only good sales experience I had was with one of their Oshkosh salesmen, but Oshkosh is also where I had all of my terrible service and storage experience. Unless they are the exclusive distributor for a boat you want, I wouldn't go to them again.