Lets keep track of Good and Bad Customer Service

Time to bring this back up. When I started this thread I said I would compile results and post them. Here they are, as expected in a group whose rule is "Just be nice" there were few bad reviews but let's get them out of the way first: (I tried to get locations by state but had to infer from where the poster lives so will not be 100% correct)

THE BAD SERVICE HALL OF SHAME:

Raymarine before Flir
Lake Union Sea Ray, WA
Master Marine, WA
Honda Corporate
Alan Marine, OR
Hope Marine, ID
Sportcraft marine, OR (NOTE: they got 2 good and 1 bad review)
Aris Inflatables, (Walker Bay)

THE GOOD SERVICE HALL OF FAME: (listed in order by no. of mentions, most have just one so are random.)

EQ Harbor Service, WA (11)
Garmin (6)
WestMarine (4)
Angola Canvas, WA (4)
Port of Bellingham, WA (3)
EZ-Loader, WA (3)
King Marine Canvas, WA (3)
Kitsap marine, WA (3)
Scan Marine, WA (3)
Fisheries Supply, WA (3)
Bennett Trim Tabs (2)
Sportcraft Marine, OR (NOTE: 2 good-1 bad review)
Pooder Metal Fabrication, WA (2)
Armstrong Brackets (2)
Wefings, FL (2)
Defender (2)
SIM Yamaha, WI?IN? (2)
Boatus (2)
Float-on Trailer (2)
Tom's Outboard, WA (2)
Redden Marine, WA (2)
Les Schwab Tires (2)
Mobile East Marine, NC (2)
Tom's Boat Shop, WA (2)
Diamond SeaGlaze, BC, Canada
Shakespeare Antennas
Standard Horizon Radios, BC, Canada
Diego's Upholstery and Canvas
Tern Boatworks, WA
Auburn Sports & Marine, WA
Attwood marine, IN
Moeller
Ingman Marine, FL
San Carlos Marine, FL
Raycor
BOE Marine
Boatlife
Ancor
Blueseas
Thetford
Jim Bennett Lifts and Seawalls, FL
Yardarm Boat Stands
Sail Rite
Surplus Unlimited
RAKA
Origo
Raymarine
Churchill Canvas, WA
Angler's Choice, WA
Gary Estes Mobile Trailer Repair, WA
Kenyon, Intl.
MinMar Marine, NJ
Lewmar,
Jean's Canvas, NJ
Bogan's Tacle Shop, NJ
NAPA
Rodger's Marine electronics, OR
Brown's Point Marina, NJ (NOTE: Destroyed by Sandy)
Twin Bridges marina, WA
West Coast Marine Services, WA
Gord Smith Marine, ONT, Canada
Bridge Yachts, ONT, Canada
Volvo Marine
Surette batteries, Canada
Insta_Trim Tabs, AK
Perko
Marine Beam, SC
A&M Suzuki Service, MD
Canvas Creations, MD
Plantation Yacht harbor, FL
Engel Coolers
Greg's Marine Wire
Whittaker Point Marina, NC
Goffrey Marine, NC
Virginia Canvas Works, VA
IBoats.com

Whew! Thats it. Lets keep this going with posts about service-good and bad. I'll try to continue compiling. Please give me location by state if you can.

Thanks.
 
Havn't had any experience personally but I'd like to add another check mark on the good side for Wefing Marine. I have learned a lot from their website and from Marc's posts here. I'm sure running a marina he has better things he could be doing than helping us.

I even learned more from their website about the Rosborough than from the company website here in Canada!

Regards, Rob
 
I'm sure we've all heard of Angie's List! This seems to be Barry's List! :mrgreen:

Great job, lets keep it up, maybe we can sell it to MS or FB and make a Brat Bundle!

Charlie
 
Robert H. Wilkinson":jmatozmj said:
Havn't had any experience personally but I'd like to add another check mark on the good side for Wefing Marine. I have learned a lot from their website and from Marc's posts here. I'm sure running a marina he has better things he could be doing than helping us.

I even learned more from their website about the Rosborough than from the company website here in Canada!

Regards, Rob
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I'd add another check to Wefings. I bought the trailer for my Tomcat from Wefings. Mark was great to deal with on all aspects from purchase to delivery and beyond.
 
Best:

Gary Estes Mobile Trailer Service, Issaquah, WA

Gary has done so much for us, does it right, fair pricing and won't let us drive away until he is satisfied everything is exactly right. We will feel lost when Gary retires, which I hope is not any time soon.

Excellent:

West Coast Marine, Bellingham, WA

Pete charges a LOT but his service is the best, Gator is the best service manager, anywhere, period. They take good care of us.

Triton Marin, Ferndale, WA

They may not be doing the same stuff any longer, but Scott Boysen has gone the extra mile taking care of Daydream, installing our Webasto, our washdown system, and fixing my screw-up opening up the vee-berth. Major kudos to Scott!

THUMBS DOWN:

King Saltwater Trailers, who won't take calls or talk to owners of their products. These folks do not deserve your business, buy a FloatOn or just about anything else.

 
Pat Anderson":78hizwgo said:
THUMBS DOWN:

King Saltwater Trailers, who won't take calls or talk to owners of their products. These folks do not deserve your business, buy a FloatOn or just about anything else.
Click to expand...

I had a similar experience with Magic Tilt (my 22 came with a Magic Tilt trailer). I wanted some specs information from Magic Tilt, so I looked for it on their website but didn't find it. I can't remember if this first time I contacted them and they said I'd have to contact a dealer, or if that info was on their website, but at any rate, I had to contact a dealer rather than talk with them directly. Okay, that's fine, I called one of their nearby, larger dealers, and though they were very friendly and helpful, they didn't know the answer to my question. They said they'd contact Magic Tilt and try to get the info (however they had that "Oh we've tried this before, don't get your hopes up" tone).

As it turns out they were not able to get the info I needed from Magic Tilt, so I called Magic Tilt and explained the situation, but they told me they don't talk with owners and I should contact a dealer. Hmph. Vicious cycle and frustrating.

The trailer itself is nice, and it tows well, so it's not that it's a bad product; but I would not buy (another) Magic Tilt due to the issue of not being able to speak with them if I need to (after I did the legwork of reading the website and speaking with a dealer twice).

Sunbeam
 
Sunbeam,

I looked at their website. No "Customer Service" department of any kind. Not a good sign I would say. No "Go to anybody".

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
Have to add our 2 cents to a huge thumbs up to Marc at Wefings Marine in Apalachicola, Fl. Spent 2 days there this week, talked boats, sat on boats for hours while he worked in his office [our choice to get the "feeling"] talked more boats, and went for a test ride on a FOGGY morning. Very nice CD-25, Airhead, heavy duty trailer, etc. Roy
 
Angola canvas was great both in pricing and service before and after the sale and fast delivery.

Greg from Triton's serice dept. He did my trailer repair, new lights and wiring, and installed new GPS plus motor serive.

West Marine usually good, but a miss delivery to the wrong address by Fed ex set off a very bad chain of events with their customer service dept, or should I say lack of customer service.

Thumbs up for Defender Marine, their customer service was first rate, both in special ordering rode and chain combo along with misc. parts to put the package together.

While I did not buy a boat from him, but Marc at Wefings was great in email response to questions.

Don
 
Levitation said:
BrentB, I am unable to locate Ingman Marine in Placida.
We will be there for the month of Feb and would like to know in case I need repairs.[/qu


See
http://www.ingmanmarine.com/

They have other locations too

At Placida they have discount coupons at front cashier for restaurant next door
Food and service were excellent
M2ce
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Anyone have anything good or bad to say about Hodges Marine?

I've found a few mentions of Hodges Marine purchases by C-Brats in various posts in other threads on this site. However, I haven't found any customer service reviews. In cases like this it's usually true that no news is good news. Nonetheless, before I pull the trigger on a fairly big ticket item I thought I'd ask for input from anyone with an opinion.
 
The source for the "Official C-Brat Calendar", Lulu, and I had a bit of an issue earlier this year. I ordered early on in the process, and apparently nothing happened. After several weeks of nothing I tried getting in touch. Worked great as long as i didn't mind getting automated replies that did nothing in the way of help. BUT, after a few exchanges, a real human finally responded and found the problem, Silly me, I didn't pay for the upgraded shipping, so no tracking ability, and no receipt of the product. Lulu advised me of that and then offered to replace my order, which I gladly accepted, and they shipped it out with trackable shipping, Fed Ex ground. It arrived in a week.

Not their fault the first one did not arrive, but they did (finally) step up to the plate and I got my copy of the 2013 C-Brat Calendar.

Thanks Lulu. Next year, I will pay the upgrade shipping.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
Like many before memy factory installed Lewmar 600 gave up the ghost last week. I removed it and found a lot of moisture in the motor, corrosion etc. One of the brushes was corroded in a non contact position. it was pretty much a mess in there. I bought a new V700 which according to the brochure also came with a built in rode counter magnetic sensor. I have a rode counter on the helm. After opening the box I found no "two small wires" for the sensor. I contacted the company and Josh responded that after he checked the stock he agreed that evidently the were not putting it on any longer. He had some in stock and is sending me one that just pops into a small port in the bottom of the unit. So Thank You to Lewmar for a quick response and remedy.
 
Decided to get the last of the LED lights for the boat. Two festoons for the cockpit lights, and two for the interior cabin that had not been replaced. (The only remaining lights that are not LED are the red/green running lights) I spent a little extra on one that goes on red and w/ a flick of the switch turns to white. http://store.marinebeam.com/red-white-dome-light.html This one went over the co-pilot. Got them all from marinebeam.com. Ordered them on Monday, received them on Wednesday!

Two thumbs up for marinebeam.com. :thup :thup
 
Tom's Outboard near Swan Town in Olympia gets the highest marks for service, integrity, large parts inventory, and knowledge. It is always a good sign when a local institution named Tom's is run every day by a guy named Tom.
Zeigler's Welding is another Olympia institution within walking distance of the waterfront. Staff is helpful, creative, detailed and pricing is very reasonable. They can build anything in alloy or stainless.
 
This might be the best thread for my recent problem. I have let my motor set to long this winter because I was flooded in one of last years hurricanes. Motor sat for about five months. My home was completely flooded. Now I cant get the engine to run with out the choke on. It is a 2005 Honda, carburated BF75. Engine only has 390 hours but I have never had it serviced. I have changed the oil and fuel separated filter but that is about all. It has always run very well.
I am requesting a local Honda repair station that you might recommend here near New Orleans.
450 miles is a little to far or I would gladly bring it to Weifings. But I am open to just about anything.

I have tried to contact Marc without success. I may have the wrong contact information.
 
Wefing's Marine Toll free 888-659-0467

That is a pretty good jaunt.


JGrider":3o7hpgsj said:
This might be the best thread for my recent problem. I have let my motor set to long this winter because I was flooded in one of last years hurricanes. Motor sat for about five months. My home was completely flooded. Now I cant get the engine to run with out the choke on. It is a 2005 Honda, carburated BF75. Engine only has 390 hours but I have never had it serviced. I have changed the oil and fuel separated filter but that is about all. It has always run very well.
I am requesting a local Honda repair station that you might recommend here near New Orleans.
450 miles is a little to far or I would gladly bring it to Weifings. But I am open to just about anything.

I have tried to contact Marc without success. I may have the wrong contact information.
Click to expand...
 
That outboard will most likely need a carb rebuild. I would start with draining out the carbs right now. Then look at this thread:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=127762&sid=0e58555ef53523b3f1d84a5bc997f3bb

I would at the least begin with then filling the carbs with cleaning solution. Let them set for a while and then drain. Put Sea Foam in new fuel, and then run that. Most likely there is gunk in the idle/low speed jets. This is the simple way--and probably has a 50% chance of getting things going. Next will be tearing down the carbs and blowing out/cleaning the jets--etc--not all that difficult to do. (and take less than the two day drive to Wefing's)

We have a couple of decent Honda shops here in Pensacola--but that is still a 3 to 4 hour drive. Metro Boating in Harvey LA should be able to do the carb job. There are also dealers in Slidell, Violet, & Waveland MS.
 
Thanks for the Link. I have drained the carbs twice now and have been running 16 ounces of Sea Foam in two gallons of gas for thirty minutes twice. No difference yet. I also noticed the second carb did not have fuel to drain and the second cylinder plug removal had no effect. I will try one more time before I seek professional help. Several threads mention it may be better to replace carbs rather than rebuild. Others mention upgrading to fuel injection. I thing I will trust the dealer but lean toward new carbs. I have no idea if I can afford the cost of an upgraded engine.


Thanks I will keep you updated with my outcome.
 
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