Interesting question - C-Dory Warranty

I have a new C-dory 22 Angler. It has been in the water three weeks. I have been told by everyone I call, NO WARRANTY .... bummer if you ask me. Seems that everyone is passing the buck. In the mean time we the consumers seem to have been taken! Everyone wants to sell them, but nobody wants to claim them after the sale, what's with that.
 
Ve are still thinking of a boat name for when retiring current name of previous owner, looking at "Orphan Anne" pretty hard as a possibility! :roll:
Martin
 
Hi

I want to second a comment I read. This is getting ugly with the back and forth. I too believe that Jeff Lindhout should take the final step and let us all know what he plans to do. Dealers, owners and future owners would like to know what is going to happen. I still think that there is some middle ground that would accomplish a lot of good, make this a "win-win" for all Jeff. Step up and offer something and put this mess to bed.
 
Hank and others,

I wouldn't call it ugly quite yet (it is getting there), but without a doubt the very best thing that Sea Sport could do is honor repairs that are covered under warranty. I have sold just with my own comments and recommendations of the C-Dory products a number of boats. I have given courtesy rides and brought people along just to see what they are about. Without a doubt, many of you guys have too. As you aptly put it, somebody needs to step up to the plate with a little communication of their intentions (Sea Sport). Or if they don't, buyers are going to go buy something else. And that is not good for Sea Sport or C-Dory. As of right now, I endorse our wonderful little boats as they are great, but I would not recommend that anyone buy one until the proverbial dust settles as there is just too much money on the line for the average Joe. Time will only tell where this all goes.......

Tim
 
When I bought my first 99 c-dory it did not have warranty but knowing how well these boats are built I was not worried .I then sold the cruiser and bought a cape cruiser (06) in 08 knowing again no warranty . I did have a few problems but sorted them out with friends and c-brats help

Now if someone buys a c-dory 05-09 The eng ,trailer ,elec all come with warranties . Usually the Hull is not the problem The buying experiance come s down to having a good survey and hopefully buy a newer model that has warranty on engines and electonics. This is a Great time to buy a C-dory boat Have a Good survey done and enjoy. Life is to short to have an ugly Boat
 
It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. I'm two years into my hull warranty on my 22 but as far as warranty goes little things that have come up (which were few) I have fixed myself. My dealer is Wefing and Marc but they are 250 miles away so unless I had something really serious I wouldn't have bothered them. Since joining the group I've only heard of one real hull failure. Here on the south east coast pilothouse boats aren't all that popular. Unlike many I actually feel the molded interior is better and less likey to have problems as there are very few holes in the interior hull (no L-brackets) plus it really stiffens the hull. When I got my first 16 after looking at them for 3 years people would come by my boat lift and ask "what kind of boat is that?" Now they come by and say "Thats a nice C-Dory!" I think C-Dory's popularity is really growing in the SE. There's a Cape Crusier in my area and the owner had a 22' and 25' C-Dory before purchasing the 23' CC. I asked him if he wasn't concerned about a warranty and he said he was so confident about the quality of construction he wasn't worried about it. While it would be nice to hear something from Sea Sport I understand their reluctance but surely this problem was addressed during the purchase negotiations?
 
Ve think most warranty fears are unfounded as many have stated their confidence in these hulls. Ve are in the camp of those able to "do it ourselfs".
If you are not handy or a craft person maybe now would be a good time to befriend one who is!
When one looks at the very few incidents recorded you can see the warranty as simply something else to discuss, much like porta pottie or
proper anchoring!
Sea Sports see this for sure, you think they want to buy boat company riddled with grief. Not very wise to shoot your own foot in this business climate.
Go for boat ride and find something to enjoy!
Martin
 
Just my .02 which is only worth .01 in this economy....and likely worthless in this topic line.

I think it's asking a bit much for the new builders of C Dory to warranty boats that they didn't build. Having said that, I think it would be great if they DID cover NEW boats that are still in dealer inventory, built by FM. This may help the top notch dealers to continue being C Dory dealers, or at least not add to what they are already having to deal with due to the economy. The sale of FM assets has likely done more financial damage to dealers with new inventory than it will to those that lost warranty on a well made boat.
Even if Sea Sport doesn't do this, they are not to blame, it's business!

There are 3756 members in this forum, I'd like to know how many owners have EVER had warranty issues with their hulls.
 
snal":2ownrs5z said:
There are 3756 members in this forum, I'd like to know how many owners have EVER had warranty issues with their hulls.
Click to expand...

There is a poll (currently unused) on the home page -- maybe Bill or Mike will set one up for you.

Warren
 
hank heise":pjvlc60m said:
I too believe that Jeff Lindhout should take the final step and let us all know what he plans to do. Dealers, owners and future owners would like to know what is going to happen.
Click to expand...

I think he already has:

Art,

I am not sure how your dealer and Fluid marine are choosing to handle warranties. We cannot warrant boats that we didn’t build. My recommendation is that you contact your dealer with that and see what has been worked out.


Jeff Lindhout

President

Sea Sport Boats, Inc.

4654 Guide Meridian

Bellingham, Wa 98228

(360) 733-3380
Click to expand...
 
I am not sure how your dealer and Fluid marine are choosing to handle warranties. We cannot warrant boats that we didn’t build. My recommendation is that you contact your dealer with that and see what has been worked out.
Click to expand...

That is interesting?!?
 
Oops! :smileo Was that a verge we just went over? :)

I have to say now, however, that based on the third party disclosure of Sea Sport's apparently unequivocal position, the new owners have not put their best foot forward. I don't see how it was in their best interest to sit on the sidelines, or to play coy, when the level of concern and growing agitation on this forum and in this thread in particular should have prompted a straightforward statement early on. I guess asleep at the switch may be the most charitable explanation.

Bill
 
NORO LIM":fdavubap said:
Oops! :smileo Was that a verge we just went over? :)

I have to say now, however, that based on the third party disclosure of Sea Sport's apparently unequivocal position, the new owners have not put their best foot forward. I don't see how it was in their best interest to sit on the sidelines, or to play coy, when the level of concern and growing agitation on this forum and in this thread in particular should have prompted a straightforward statement early on. I guess asleep at the switch may be the most charitable explanation.

Bill
Click to expand...

Well, I'm getting up off my hands for this... :roll:

Much of what has been discussed here is "what if"... and people saying SS "should" do something. It seems to me that SS has responded to people with a direct question to them regarding warranty. Should they be held to a different standard than the past two producers of C-Dory boats? Their participation here was certainly lacking.

If people are angry, they need to direct that towards the offending party. Sea Sport hasn't done anything TO any current C-Dory owners. Your warranty contract was with the Reynolds or Fluid Marine - THEY are the ones who have dumped on you. Certainly that is not something they wanted to do... part of the purpose of having a business is making sure that business continues. Maybe they could have done a better job of controlling expenses? Maybe they could have anticipated the downturn in the economy and reigned in production sooner? The fact that they could not remain in business is a tragedy to them as well as the customers who no longer have a warranty. There is no winner in this situation.

Now, back to Sea Sport. Some feel they should eat the cost of warranty work on products they didn't produce... apparently for "the good will." Business wise, that just doesn't make sense. If you have never owned/run a business, you may be over-estimating the value of "goodwill." It doesn't pay the bills. It is carried on a balance sheet as an asset, meaning you either payed for it or earned it. How much would anyone here pay for that "goodwill"? If you are a smart business person - nothing. How much liability would you be willing to accept (carried on your balance sheet as warranty work to be paid out) as part of any purchase? And there is no way to accurately estimate that potential liability.

Anyone here willing to be the goodwill person? Of course not. Then why are we not angry with Sea Wolf Joe, Starcraft Tom, or (insert any C-Brat here)? They didn't accept that responsibility. Just like Sea Sport didn't accept that responsibility. It sucks that the Reynolds C-Dory and the Fluid Marine C-Dory isn't viable to honor their side of our warranty contracts. It sucks for them and it sucks for us. But, it is what it is. We have to take our lumps and move on.

And Sea Sport? Hopefully, they will come up with a solution for their dealers who are currently holding inventory. If not, those dealers are in a world of hurt, through no fault of their own. This is happening all over the country in many industries. If you own the machine shop making Pontiac emblems, you have one customer... and they are going away. Again, that sucks. If you're a motorhome manufacturer and the dealers tank, some states have buy-back laws, requiring the manufacturer to buy back that motorhome from the dealer. Talk about a house of cards. :disgust

Be angry at the greed... the greed of the oil speculators who drove the price of fuel up while the rest of the economy was tanking... almost insuring the demise of many of the big ticket item manufacturers. Be angry at the Wall Street types who made terrible investments. Be angry at the bankers who encouraged bad loans and the people who took out those loans. Be angry at our dim-witted politicians. There's plenty of blame to go around for the current situation. But, Sea Sport isn't the bad guy here. Some folks said they (SS) SHOULD do whatever. But asking them to accept someone else's liability just isn't realistic. Just like asking anyone here to accept that liability isn't realistic. Could they have told us their position earlier? Maybe. Did they respond to people who contacted them directly? Sure seems like it, according to what we read here. Where's the injury they inflicted to anyone here? Like it or not, there isn't any.

So, like many people in our society who have bought cars, boats, RVs, and homes, the builders are gone and we are on our own. The warranty reimbursement I received from the Reynolds C-Dory since I've owned this boat was less than 1% of what I paid for my boat. I did the work myself, and I'm not the handiest guy around. We can learn, we can fix, and we can help each other with advice if/when necessary. This forum just got even MORE important with the current situation.

I will cut Sea Sport some slack, knowing they did me no harm. I have a great boat. I will use it. Some stuff on it will wear out or break. I will fix it. If it's a warrantable item, I will grouse about it (mostly to myself). And I truly hope Sea Sport is savvy enough to be profitable with these boats where others haven't. I hope they will be smart enough to learn from the C-Brats and make a good boat even better. I am loyal to my boat, not the C-Dory factory (whoever owns it); there are a LOT of people here on this forum who have earned my respect, and I am loyal to them.

I have learned a lot with my purchases in the last few years... promises of "we'll be here for you" aren't carved in stone. Any manufacturer who shows regard for its customers is someone I want to do business with. Any manufacturer who ignores customers, doesn't return phone calls, doesn't follow through on what they say they will do, and generally shows indifference will NOT get my money. I don't care if it's a boat, a bicycle, or a piece of gum.

And, really, that's all I have to say about that.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Jim

Have wanted to respond to this thread, but couldn't think of a way to say it without doing more harm then good so thanks to you for saying what many of us are thinking so well :thup :cigar

Jay
 
Jim B., Right on!

Lest anyone misunderstand any of my posts on this thread, let me reiterate: I've never suggested what position Sea Sport "should" have taken on the warranties. I don't know enough to have an opinion. It does now appear, however, based on information revealed indirectly in this thread, that Sea Sport does have a position. All I'm saying is they may have put their foot in it deeper than necessary by not responding directly to the thread when it started.

I really like my boat.
 
Although I am a proponent of a company standing behind its product, and when mergers or purchases occur, that the selling company ensure that its contractual obligations are assumed by the purchasing company. That didn't happen here, and while it is disappointing, in most cases it's not going to impact a lot of us.

I suggest that if someone has a serious defect, that they make a request of Sea Sport to assist. The worst that could happen is Sea Sport could say no. On the other hand, they might just step up and help a CBrat out. It might not be total coverage, but you never know. If they did step up, it would be a public relations "atta boy" for Sea Sport. It never hurts to ask!

Steve
 
Back
Top