Okay, please share your opinion

[dean51267]

Here is the deal, I sent my boat to the manufacturer (do not ask names, I will not share it), it is an expensive boat, 31’, twin BB engines, it was to have a LOT of work done, almost $14K total. Work included interior, "painting exterior red" (which would remove all graphics), a new red interior with white highlights, and adding yellow/orange graphics to the hull, plus other items.
My understanding was boat was due a full paint job, complete cockpit interior, and misc other work. Invoice signed prior to work being done was for "paint exterior red", add yellow/red graphics, and "new interior". Of the $14K this was more than $10K of it.
When I got the boat back the rear deck, seat bottoms (seats with drop out bottoms) seats, and rear bench seat was redone, no carpet or other interior items, and the hull was painted from the rub rail to about 2/3 to bottom of keel, no where near the whole exterior. There are spots above the rub rail that DEFINITELY need immediate attention. No orange or yellow graphics existed, a grey vinyl pin stripe was added.
The rest of the work was done in accordance with the signed work order.
Manufacturer says this is what he thought we agreed to, but upon seeing the boat my wife cried, we both expected so much more. I believe the manufacturer thought he did what we agreed to and spent some time working on the boat.
Now I am stuck, how do I deal with this, I paid via credit card, could protest charges, but this is a reputable boat manufacturer, if I called the name you would know it. My attorney (a friend and business associate) says the work was not done in accordance with the work order. I could protest and demand a refund. No one wants that crap, and I do not want to cheat a man if he earned his wages.
I am at a complete loss, am not happy, and did not get what I thought I paid for, but manufacturer says I got a great deal for what I paid.
Tell me your thoughts; this will help me determine what to do, I have always thought airing a disagreement in public is one of the fairest ways to settle a disagreement among good men. Thanks in advance for your opinion.
Background, boat was delivered (I paid for delivery) in the middle of the night, )block was drained, but Sea pumps were froze), new today cost about $120K.

[Turbojack]

If quote says exterior red then the whole exterior should be red. I would not let them off the hook. If they did not mean to paint the complete boat the quote should have said that. What was there reasoning for not installing the yellow/orange graphics?

[Havasu_Dreamin]

If the contract/work order was for a red exterior, that would include the whole exterior, not only part of it. Ask them to abide by the contract or you'll seek other avenues of resolution.

[Squirtin Thunder]

I am at a complete loss, am not happy, and did not get what I thought I paid for, but manufacturer says I got a great deal for what I paid.
The above statement is the most important to me. The contract or work oder says what it says not half. And you explained to him what you wanted. Then I would take it back and ask him to complete it the way it is writen. If at that point he chooses not to do the work then I would go to the credit card co and see what they can do. If they can not then it turns in to a court case.
Have fun but give them the chance to make it right.
Jim

[Mrs CP 19]

Sounds like you are not looking for a confrontation here. However, I think you must be very firm with this manufacturer and restate to them exactly what you are dissatisfied with and tell them to get it right. They know you are unhappy and do nothing to try to work it out? Telling you that you paid a great price for what you got sounds like they are trying to justify thier incompetence and want you to go away. Stick to it and get what you BOTH agreed to...they got thier part (money) right? Make them fulfill thier part of the contract. Period!

[Mrs CP 19]

Also, be sure to put your disatisfaction, request for them to complete contract, etc. IN WRITING. Go ahead and do it verbally, but back it up in writing and keep copies. Sometimes this alone is enough for them to take you more seriously.

[LilHarley]

I know you don't want a confrontation, but you did not get what you asked for, "great deal" or not. Try discussing first, but always realize, the work was not what you agreed upon, "great deal" or not. Good luck/ :boxingguy

[upsman105]

take the invoice and the boat to another dealer, and ask him if this is what you would have gotten with that invoice. Preferably not the immediate competition, but as un biased as you can find.

[Sane Asylum]

If you have a written contract explaining EXACTLY what work was to be completed............Should be no issue......
At the risk of sounding cold and heartless there seems to be a serious mis-communication. Should have spelled it out on the work order............(and the dealer should have called)
Just my .02 cents worth..............
And BTW..............I would discourage airing in public........Makes your boat worth a LOT less........ :(
Let's hear who it was..............Why does it matter if you feel you got screwed. (unless you're still trying to work with the guy)

[welk2party]

My best advice would be to talk to the company and explain that you are not happy with the end result and the work was not done to your expectations. I would go out of my way to not be confrontational about it. I would ask to try and see if we can come to some agreement as to the scope and quality of the work and a mutualloy beneficial remedy. Other than that, it sounds like it may get ugly. Explain that you like the comany and what to be happy like they you know they want you to be. Appeal to their customer service side and your ability to praise them if so deserved. Hope this helps.

[Keith E. Sayre]

I am very impressed that you haven't ground their name into the dirt on the
web and that you truly seem to want to make sure that the guy gets paid
fairly. A bit unusual in today's crazy market. Most would go for the throat.
I would agree with what Squirtin Thunder said about making sure that the
manf. gets the opportunity to fix it to your satisfaction for the agreed upon
price. You can always get it fixed somewhere else later if you have to and
sue them but they'll usually work with you. Common sense states that
they can finish it in their own shop for alot less that what they'll be charged
if it gets done elsewhere. I'm also thinking that it would be good to get other quotes. Maybe the amount of work that they did was a fair amount
for the money that they charged and that you and him just didn't communicate effectively.
Sounds fishy though. Maybe he underquoted because he needed the work
and then found out that the cost of red paint or gelcoat is significantly
more expensive than the other colors.?? Lots of possibilities. I commend
you on not blatantly blasting them on the web. You can always do that
later if you determine for sure that they are thieves and crooks. Good luck.
Keith Sayre
Conquest Boats
Lake Havasu City

[welk2party]

Like Keith says, try to give the company a fair shot at making you happy. In my experience, A happy customer that cost my company a little money is better than an unhappy one with ill gotten gains in the pocket. This is a small community and I would like to believe that they are going to try and make it right.

[bigd1]

You just misunderstood. When he said "great deal for the work done", he was talking about him not you. Unfortunately I've gotten to the point that I expect to be on the receiving end of an attempted screw job on every deal anymore.
I always drop in unannounced to check on the progress of the work if it's going to take a while. Then if things aren't going well, you can call 'em on it right then. If they don't know you're coming they can't rush around and make it look like they're busting ass on your boat when it's really been sitting in a corner gathering dust for a week.

[Dave C]

This all depends on the exact wording of the invoice, plus your instructions to them. Eventually someone would have to determine a "reasonable" interpretation of the work order. If they were going to do partial work on items they should have spelled it out. Otherwise it would be reasonable to assume "complete" work would be done.
I would argue that a reasonable interpretation of the work order is as follows:
"painting exterior red" means paint the entire exterior unless it explicitly says otherwise. However depending on the striping the manufacturer could argue that they would paint over the strips and not the whole thing. So its hard to say without seeing a picture.
Add yellow/red graphics: this is clear so if they are missing or the wrong color the manufacturer has a problem. Also this leads me to believe that the red mentioned above was a base color to be painted over the entire boat and the yellow and red were graphics.
New "interior" means the whole interior such as carpet, etc. New "upholstery" or "seats" means just the upholstery (i.e. seats).
Maybe you can get another estimate on the cost to paint the "entire" boat. If its much different that what you paid, maybe you can offer him more $ to make it right.
good luck.
Work included interior, "painting exterior red" (which would remove all graphics), a new red interior with white highlights, and adding yellow/orange graphics to the hull, plus other items.
My understanding was boat was due a full paint job, complete cockpit interior, and misc other work. Invoice signed prior to work being done was for "paint exterior red", add yellow/red graphics, and "new interior". Of the $14K this was more than $10K of it.
When I got the boat back the rear deck, seat bottoms (seats with drop out bottoms) seats, and rear bench seat was redone, no carpet or other interior items, and the hull was painted from the rub rail to about 2/3 to bottom of keel, no where near the whole exterior. There are spots above the rub rail that DEFINITELY need immediate attention. No orange or yellow graphics existed, a grey vinyl pin stripe was added.

[coolchange]

Sounds fishy though. Maybe he underquoted because he needed the work
and then found out that the cost of red paint or gelcoat is significantly
more expensive than the other colors.?? Lots of possibilities. I commend
you on not blatantly blasting them on the web. You can always do that
later if you determine for sure that they are thieves and crooks. Good luck.
Exactly what I thought, 14k to basicaly redo your whole boat? 10 of which was paint and interior. Just cant see a 31' painted with new interior for that. Unless they had patterns for that interior it should have run 4-6k.

[CJ]

I think one reason the mfgr. is not taking care of it to your liking is because you haven't made it clear. Sounds like the invoice had everything in writing which is important. Sucks how clear you really have to be.
When I ordered my new boat, I told my sales guy that I wanted it in writing that my boat fit into my garage with specific measurements. This was after several had said there was no problem. By the way, it fit with a foot and a half to spare due to the wonderful craftmanship of Extreme Trailers in Corona, CA!
And the only thing I did not specifically map out was the instruments. I wish I had planned that part of the build as a couple of things were not placed where I wished. Not bad, just could have been better.
I hope all that read your post remember to get EVERYTHING in writing. Your message adds to that in saying MAKE YOUR INTENTIONS CRYSTAL CLEAR. Unfortunately with some builders not having the integrity to admit a mistake this is necessary.
Great luck with your boat. I hope the answers here have given you some strength and direction to bring this to the attention of the builder. There are a few out there who would make it absolutely right without a second thought. If they do, make sure you tell everyone so others know the integrity your mfgr. has.

[Kilrtoy]

Ok what do you have, I have narrowed it to a
31' American offshore cat
or a
31' profile v bottom
Sounds like a cheap job (i dont mean quality wise) for all that work, I know someone who is having half of that done here in cali and it way beyond that price.....

[dean51267]

interior - $2500 to match what was done exactly
Paint - $5500 for the ENTIRE exterior, with the flames in yellow and orange as I orginally wanted.
This particular estimate was the higher of the two, but comes the paint comes from someone with something like 12 cars that make the front of hotrod/muscle car, etc magazines, and the interior is a complete match, which includes carpet, kick pannels, and flooring.
Guess I am going to have to protest the credit card.
P.S. Kiltroy - sounds like the prices in Cali are a lot higher than in Westen KY.

[upsman105]

got a second opinion hmh, wish i had thought of that. :shift:

[dean51267]

For those who helped with your advice..........
I explained to the manufacturer how displeased I was, he offered a significant refund and to send free carpet for interior back in early December, I hated to create a stink, so I agreed.
But a couple days ago I get a message that they want a signed work release, and asking if I wanted to order carpet.
I filed complaint with credit card company, sad, so very sad.

[Slider]

Take some pics.

[PowellScooter]

"I am at a complete loss, am not happy, and did not get what I thought I paid for, but manufacturer says I got a great deal for what I paid."
It should be clearly stated on the signed work order what was to be done. If both of you have doubts , perhaps the instructions werent clear...Id try to work it out amicably with them first...