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Love the Boat, Dealer is another story

SpartyKen

SpartyKen

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Location
Brighton, MI
Charging to my credit card without Authorization (bounced mortgage check), Missing items on prep ticket (would have delivered without if I didn't catch), forgetting to put in the agreed 10 gal of gas prior to delivery, now they want to charge me $100 bucks over the factory price to install the factory grill that was supposed to be on the boat in the first place.

Suppose its a string of little stuff but if I ran my business this way I be looking for another job rather than buying a $40K boat
 
You should mention the dealers name ,so others can be for-warned
 
More importantly, Bennington should be following up on it. Come to think of it, auto dealers live in fear of a negative follow-up survey/report car manufacturers initiate. Maybe Bennington could institute their own.
 
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Noah Genda said:
More importantly, Bennington should be following up on it. Come to think of it, auto dealers live in fear of a negative follow-up survey/report car manufacturers initiate. Maybe Bennington could institute their own.
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It definitely would not hurt to let Bennington know . There has been a rash of dealer complaints here recently .
 
Now they mailed me the MC numbers that they were supposed to come put on with the grill. I went with Wilson Marine because they were local even though LakeLiving (member) kinda warned me and went with the dealer in 20 mi north of here.
 
My cousin and brother-in-law are in the basic same area ( Lake Orion and Commerce Twp ) .They went through Whites Landing in Fenton .

http://www.whiteslandingmarina.com/

I have not heard any complaints from them at all .

According to google maps Brighton to Fenton is less than 25 miles .

I understand you have already made the purchase ,in case you ever need service .
 
On my first two Benningtons I got a survey which gets information on the dealer performance to Bennington. I am sure they don't like any bad press so make sure you blast them on the survey. It is a great boat but can be ruined by poor performance on the dealers part. Good Luck and happy boating.
 
I personally believe that when you're paying $40-$50-$60K for a boat, you shouldn't have to go through a sales presentation at delivery where they attempt to sell you four $12 ropes, life preservers, paddles, and Yamaha Ringfree products.

I also think all boats should be delivered with a full tank of gasoline. Auto dealers all fill up fuel tanks. And the boats should be ready to go into the water without your having to stop at WalMart to buy ropes.

If you spend $300 for a factory approved grill, it should be installed. And $100 labor is too much to put a hanger on a rail. If you don't want to pay $100 for the grill to be installed, do it yourself.

But remember that boat dealers are people, and with that they are not perfect. It's up to your own eyes to go through the paperwork and dealer prep worksheet with their service department. I'll admit that my dealer jumped through hoops to make me happy, as far as the condition of the boat and dealer preparation.

Sure, there are things you'd handle differently if you were the dealer. But sometimes consumers have to roll with the flow. You'll receive a very detailed customer service survey, and you'll have your chance to voice your opinion then.
 
We jist seen our new boat 4/25 at the same dealer and so far we feel good about our pontoon and our dealer we are at 55+ on our tab and my wife wants to wright a letter to Mr Wilson if where is one and thank him so we have no complaints yet boat comes home monday
 
Most car dealers here don't fill up tanks anymore, usually $30. We used to run a gas station and that was what they did. Sometimes the salesperson would add in another $30. As for the survey, the best thing you can do is when you do your checklist with your dealer that you sign. It has a couple copies and I know my dealer was adamant about making sure I was satisfied before I filled it out because he said if it wasn't 100% it might as well say 0. Luckily I've been pleased, twice.
 
I have yet to pick up my boat, but included by the dealer is:

1 Coast guard kit with 6 life jackets, throw rope, pea-less whistle, etc.

1 Tank of gas

1 Spare trailer tire and tire mount for trailer

4 Pontoon style boat bumpers

2 mooring ropes

and a few other things I'm forgetting.

:) I love my dealer. They are super busy, but they are GREAT folk. Oxbow Marina, Northampton, Mass.
 
SpartyKen said:
Now they mailed me the MC numbers that they were supposed to come put on with the grill. I went with Wilson Marine because they were local even though LakeLiving (member) kinda warned me and went with the dealer in 20 mi north of here.
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Not cool, I am scheduled to pick up my new boat from them this Friday. So far everything has gone smoothly with them however I am a new first time owner and they could be blowing smoke up my arse on a lot of things without me knowing. Hope everything works out for the both of us. You definitely have my nerves worked up now.
 
Sorry to hear about the issues Ken. I hope they get you all squared away. I guess the good news is the boat is in! But for anyone reading this forum in Mid Michigan, check out whites landing in Fenton. We are very happy with them as well jsfb6pts. Wilson wouldn't even take the time to walk us around to look at the panel colors in person, we had to sign the paperwork and come back later...I know they sell a lot of Benningtons so I'm sure they are not dropping the ball on every order. I prefer quality over quantity though.
 
I will definately check them out Andy, they are much closer for us being from Holly. I had already called them before purchasing the boat to shop around winterizing and storage prices, they seem like a pretty good place but then again I thought the guys at Wilson's seemed pretty good also.
 
Just to clarify , I did not purchase from Whites Landing . My Cousin & Brother-in-law did . They are about 225 miles south of me .

I purchased from Burt Lake Marina . in Indian River ,Michigan

( perhaps I just read the post wrong too )
 
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Live and learn. Just like I learned not to ever deal with Diversified dock out of Whitmore lake. So far it has taken 9 weeks for them to tell me making a canopy cover takes time. When asked how long he replies. You can wait or cancel your order, what do you want to do? I'll wait until may 10th. If it is not in then (the day before the boat gets delivered) I'll have the police meet me there and file a theft report as he has been paid in full already and has not delivered the goods he advised would be in 6 weeks ago...
 
Is there a delivery date on your contract ?

You may have some recourse ,my original order date was written on the order ( 5/1/13) .When I reordered it is also written on the order 6/1/13 .
 
Not on the canopy. They have given me and my wife every excuse in the book. I didn't start calling until the 4th week to get an update, was told it is on the truck and they would call when it was in, a week later, no call, called again and was told they ran out of vinyl, blah, blah blah. My wife called him Saturday and he was appalled we keep calling him to get an update. She told him we could have had a house built in less time. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby as he doesn't grasp the concept of providing good customer service will help your business grow. Learn from my mistake and avoid Diversified.
 
Padre said:
I have yet to pick up my boat, but included by the dealer is:

1 Coast guard kit with 6 life jackets, throw rope, pea-less whistle, etc.

1 Tank of gas

1 Spare trailer tire and tire mount for trailer

4 Pontoon style boat bumpers

2 mooring ropes

and a few other things I'm forgetting.

:) I love my dealer. They are super busy, but they are GREAT folk. Oxbow Marina, Northampton, Mass.
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Picked mine up there Friday, clay came through and now the boat is sitting in the water :) we used it all weekend and it ran great!!!
 
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Just wanted to note that I believe most of our issues were salesperson realated rather than the dealer as a whole. I guess I was just a little pissed that given all the little mistakes they would'nt try to hit me for installation of the grill.
 
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