Love my bennington 21 slx but

[Steve21slx]

It just seems that some attention to detail did not happen. Before we even took delivery we already have several warranty issues. First one the dealer found and looks like we will get a new front bench. Then as we looked it over there was a small hole in the helm and some of the trim on the bottom of the helm was coming off or it was repaired wrong. Also the door to the helm does not seem to fit right. We also found a red dot stain on the captain's car. I understand this is a low end bennington but it is brand new boat.. Luckily it is under warranty. Also and this is the dealer not bennington but we upgraded to the bigger table and the dealer gave us just the table from another boat in stock and until we questioned it they would have let us think that was the table we paid 250$ for. I would think the new table would have the pedestal and mount for 250$, right? Also looks like the stereo should have a remote or at least the book says so but nothing was mentioned about it. I have not brought that up to the dealer yet but will monday when they open. Like I said I love my bennington but this was a bit disapointing. I understand that it is all covered under warranty but you would hope if warranty issues did come up it would be after you had it for a while not before you even take delivery. The dealer has pictures of most every thing so we shall see how this all works out. Hopefully the warranty service goes a bit better than the original build.

 

[BigKahuna]

It seems like the person who had the job to give your boat the final inspection dropped the ball. 


The dealer should make everything right but it seems to me a lot of your issues shouldn't  be issues in the first place!


How did you find out you got the wrong table?!?

 

[abypfcs]

A number of years ago, I purchased a motor home for approx $150K.  Upon delivery the dealer told me to write down the things that needed fixed.  I thought, wow, I just spent that kind of money and they admitted that there would be things not right.

 

[Steve21slx]

How did you find out you got the wrong table?!?

I asked him point blank shouldn't the table come with the everything to set it up? He then proceeded to tell us he took it from another boat.


To add to this we go to put the mooring cover on and half the back side does not have snaps on the rails to snap it in.  Not sure how bennington is a top rated pontoon because so far it has not been good. 


Upset is probably an understatement of how My wife and I feel right now!!! :unsure:

 

[goldnrod24]

I don't think the cover is supposed to have snaps. Rather a plastic clip that snaps under the rail.

 

[Steve21slx]

I don't think the cover is supposed to have snaps. Rather a plastic clip that snaps under the rail.

WEll the whole thing has snaps except that part and the cover has them but not the rail. This what they call a playpen cover and yes it should snap all the way around.


It's the little stuff just like the depth finder puck nut that was not tightened down. Luckily I didn't lose it. If you can't rmeber this stuff what else have they forgotten. Can I trust that the tubes are tightened down correctly? Just frustrating is all because it will be a pain to take it back to the dealer for every problem that it has.

 

[Landscaper2009]

Mine has snaps on the front and Quick Clips down the sides and rear. This in my opinion is better than snaps.

 

[Steve21slx]

this has snaps all the way around and yeah straps on the back but guess what one of those are missing too actually and also I think part of the strap is missing as there is no to tighten it down.

 

[JTaylor]

You are right, there's no excuse for just that section of snaps to be missing. Sorry to hear you're not getting the quality delivery that should be expected and that you definitely should be getting. 

 

[BigKahuna]

That's a shame! Hopefully everything will be fixed to your satisfaction!

 

[Steve21slx]

That's a shame! Hopefully everything will be fixed to your satisfaction!

Let's hope so. I guess the snap part was the last straw. It was just like come on how do you forget something like that. We leave on vaca tomorrow for a few days. We are going to call them in the morning then visit them later this week. Lucky for them we will have a few days to cool off!!!

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

Bear in mind. Some of those issues could have happened AFTER delivery and some should have been caught at dealer inspection. I'm not saying Bennington is perfect, but for the dealer to give you a table without mounting post is lack of attention on their part. Yes, Bennington may have missed shipping it, but the dealer should have had forethought to question how will you mount the table. As for the radio, there's probably an "optional" remote as others have had this issue in previous years with other stereos. The small hole in helm has also come up in the past. Its not common, but occurs and can be fixed.  Just remember, once everything's fixed, you can just enjoy "miles of smiles".  

 

[cwag911]

The dealer is the face of the company. This all should have been addressed before you were given the boat or explained what was going to be done. I worked for Porsche and Mercedes and the cars would be right before the customer drove away. Boats are a different animal. The dealer should have taken care of it.

 

[Bill N]

None of these are that big of a deal.


I'm not saying this because none of them are important, I'm saying it because it is all easily correctable.


Don't let the fact that you have multiple issues allow you to adjust your personality when interacting with your dealer.


You and your dealer should be friends, not adversaries. Otherwise this is going to be a long bumpy ride for both parties.


Take a deep breath while I repeat myself. These are all easily correctable.

 

[mattb]

Need the table, and snaps, if you have to use the cover.  For the small stuff, make a list as the season progresses and drop it off at the end of the season, thats what i plan on doing.  Im boatin damn it.  As none of us is perfect, neither is the stuff we build.


"No matter how hard they try dont let em bring you down"

 

[Michiman]

I can appreciate your frustration as my boat was delivered less than perfect. While the dealer has bent over backwards to fix it, coming out to our slip twice so far, I just can't help but think that it would be less expensive to do a more thorough final inspection, particularly when they market themselves as premier brand. 


We were miles away from our slip, enjoying the sun setting when I attempted to turn our navigation lights on, only to discover that they didn't work (dead short). Shame on me for not trying them before we left, but I guess I just assumed that they would work. Made it back without incidence but I'm sure several other boaters out that night were wondering what my problem was. 


I'm still a fan and I know that ultimately all will be made right, but I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed that most of my issues were not caught by the factory or dealer. 

 

[1Blderbob]

We're a small custom builder in Maryland and I have always told our people that:"It does not matter how great our work is on 99% of the job,it's the last 1% that people will remember." I know that dealers are very pressed to get their old customers and new customers served in the spring/early summer season. But I agree that some of the dealers need to get a better QC person or persons.And they need to be the one to have the final say on when to deliver the boat. But I see that as being a possible disappointment to many customers also. Boy I'm glad I don't sell Benningtons! High expectations to boot.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     I think I'll just enjoy my Benny!

 

[Steve21slx]

So as the saga continues we take the boat out last night. It was not supposed to rain but as usual they were wrong and it rained. It was not a hard rain but just a light drizzle. We put up the bimini to keep us dry and like I said it was a very light rain. We stuck out the rain and went out to the river. We got lucky and was able to catch some fireworks which was really fun. Then we went to put the boat away. My wife laid the spot light down on the front deck pointing in and we notice a wrinkle(lack of better word) in the vinyl flooring. I also noticed when I stepped on the floor you could see the seams of where the wood floor came together. It was like if you stepped on one piece it would come up above the other piece that was next to it. I have done a floor on a pontoon boat and never noticed something like this. Looks like it is back to the dealer again with this. Seems to me that if the floor is like this it will eventually damage the vinyl. I hope this don't get deleted because I would like to know if anyone else has had these issues?

 

[Steve21slx]

Finally we have a solution to the issues we have had. I am still a bit upset that it will come down to this but I am willing to give bennington a second chance to make this right. I was told to use the boat this summer then when we decide to stop for the winter they are going to take the boat and send it back to the factory to fix all the problems. I am a bit perplexed by this because I feel we should not have to go through this but also see that they are going above and beyond to make us a happy customer. I hope that this time around the boat comes back to us the way it should have been in the first place which is error free. We are going to continue to list things we find wrong, hopefully we have them all already, and give that to the dealer when the time comes. 


We also have to say that we are enjoying our new boat. We have done some long trips with it already and plan on a few more this summer. When we are on the boat we are glad we got a bennington even with the issues we have had. We are ready to move on from this initial hiccups and enjoy this boat for many years to come.

 

[lakeliving]

Don't sweat it going back to Bennington for repairs. I trust them over any dealer to do repairs. When ours came back it was in perfect shape after the dealer hacked it up. They do stand behind their product and will make it right. in the meantime enjoy it and have fun.