Maiden Voyage... Are we being overly picky?

No you're NOT being picky! You spent a lot of money on that boat. Quality control should have been better. Doesn't anybody check it before it leaves the factory? Does the dealer check it when they receive it from the factory? A lot of people had to see that boat before you saw it. Unacceptable......

Those were our thoughts exactly! And the dealership actually used this boat for the Seattle Boat Show so it makes me wonder if that's why they just didn't go over it more carefully? But to me, it would need an even bigger inspection since there had to be a lot of people going through it.

I had even asked the saleman beforehand if they would go through it and fix anything they found, which he assured me they would. Oh well... I have confidence that the dealership will take care of us.
 
Sounds like it will all work out in the end. If it was a boat show boat, it’s quite possible the gate issue happened there. Maybe somebody leaned on the gate or panel bowing it.

What “cabin lights” ?? Are these mood lights? I’m not positive, but I think anchor/nav switch has to be in on position for those to work (I know it has to for bimini lights) so did you have that turned on?

Beautiful boat by the way!!
 
Let me clarify my earlier post...

If things are not working on your new boat, by all means have the dealer fix them. You paid for a boat that works. There may come a point where the dealer may not fix things, or may simply be incompetent and for some things you may be better off fixing yourself (or your husband). Just saying don't get to the point where things start to eat at you. It's not fun to have that come to mind everytime you see your boat.
 
Sounds like it will all work out in the end. If it was a boat show boat, it’s quite possible the gate issue happened there. Maybe somebody leaned on the gate or panel bowing it.

What “cabin lights” ?? Are these mood lights? I’m not positive, but I think anchor/nav switch has to be in on position for those to work (I know it has to for bimini lights) so did you have that turned on?

Beautiful boat by the way!!

I have no clue when the gate happened. We noticed it before we bought the boat and mentioned it to 2 different people as an issue. The day we picked up the boat, not only was it not addressed, it was to the point that I couldn't even close it.

The lights I'm speaking of are the led lights around the inside of the cabin... Under the seats, around the table, speakers, cup holders. The issue was never that we couldn't turn them on.... It was that they wouldn't STAY on. There was a short somewhere. I believe my husband has fixed that though, as last time we took it out, they actually stayed on.
Right now the main issues are a damaged stern gate and the digital trim gauge only reads up to 3. Calling the dealership about the gauge today. The gate is already on order. It does open and close, it was just damaged when they "fixed it" for us.
 
Let me clarify my earlier post...

If things are not working on your new boat, by all means have the dealer fix them. You paid for a boat that works. There may come a point where the dealer may not fix things, or may simply be incompetent and for some things you may be better off fixing yourself (or your husband). Just saying don't get to the point where things start to eat at you. It's not fun to have that come to mind everytime you see your boat.

Look... We went to pick up a fairly expensive boat. Our very first boat. Items that we were told would be fixed, were not even looked at. An extra we were expecting to have done wasn't done because one person we never even spoke with directly told the installer we "didn't want it".

The boat wasn't spotless (shavings on the helm and wedged under the gauges, shoe scuffs, marks on seats, shoot there's even a couple good wrinkles in the rubber pad they put on the helm tray) and someone needs to get them some appropriate microfiber rags. Ones that don't scratch hard surfaces. They aren't all created equal, so we have swirl marks and spider webbing on the slate trim and table top surfaces. Looks really nice in the sun. ;) Just an unfortunate problem... happens to cars all the time.

Then when we saw the crooked gauge, we were just kinda thinking ... Ok, if Bennington is considered the best of the best, we wonder what other boats are like.
So ya, your original post telling me it was "my decision" to get over it, wasn't very helpful at the time. We were disappointed more than anything. And with this much money on the line, disappointment or regret is one of the worst things to feel. If I was still complaining about it all several months down the road, then ya, by all means. .. Tell me to get over it.

Also, if we had bought a used boat, it would be a completely different story. We'd expect these things...
 
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Dandsconnelly, I'm with you on this. When you pay over twice the average car price for a boat, you'd like it to be delivered clean and fully functioning. As such, I can appreciate your funk when it wasn't.

Unfortunately, I really think it's the case that most boat dealers just don't have a clue when it comes to high ticket sales. I can assure you that you would most definitely have a different experience when picking up a luxury vehicle that may well cost less than your boat (e.g. Cadillac, BMW, etc.).

My experience was somewhat the same (non-functioning items) but the dealer did make an attempt to fix them (two problems still remain going into our third season; fingers crossed). However, in doing so they also soiled our flooring and put a scratch on our table and nicked our vinyl. Don't even get me started on the thousands of dollars (perhaps 10's?) of damage caused by an acid wash over spray.

In the end, the type of experience you receive from any business is dependent on the cultural of the organization, and it's my opinion that many marine dealers just don't comprehend that concept quite yet.
 
Sound like you may be exactly right, Michiman. And I'm so sorry to hear you are still having problems and that the dealership messed stuff up on your boat. Just can't understand how that happens ..

It's exactly our fear as we've had it happen over and over when things are "fixed" by dealerships. Shoot, even contractors working on your home!

It wouldn't take long to train employees to do things the right way. And we would have been just fine waiting a couple extra days to pick up the boat if they said they needed more time to make sure things were perfect(or nearly so), as I'm sure you would have too.
 
Our salesman beat my husband to the punch this morning with a phone call so he was able to go over everything with him. And then the service manager called right afterwards and they are more than happy to make things right. They definitely want us to be happy.

To be clear, these are all fairly minor things and not all the Dealer's fault and not all Bennington's fault. It's just stuff we weren't expecting, but it's going to be all taken care of.

In the mean time, we are really enjoying our new boat. The dinette table is a really nice feature! How many people can say they had a family dinner on their boat?? I mean seriously!! Amazing :)
 
Yup, dinner on the boat always tastes better, particularly when it's on a Benny! We have a midship bar set-up with table and sink which is what sold my wife. Happy wife, happy life... :)
 
Look... We went to pick up a fairly expensive boat. Our very first boat. Items that we were told would be fixed, were not even looked at. An extra we were expecting to have done wasn't done because one person we never even spoke with directly told the installer we "didn't want it".

The boat wasn't spotless (shavings on the helm and wedged under the gauges, shoe scuffs, marks on seats, shoot there's even a couple good wrinkles in the rubber pad they put on the helm tray) and someone needs to get them some appropriate microfiber rags. Ones that don't scratch hard surfaces. They aren't all created equal, so we have swirl marks and spider webbing on the slate trim and table top surfaces. Looks really nice in the sun. ;) Just an unfortunate problem... happens to cars all the time.

Then when we saw the crooked gauge, we were just kinda thinking ... Ok, if Bennington is considered the best of the best, we wonder what other boats are like.
So ya, your original post telling me it was "my decision" to get over it, wasn't very helpful at the time. We were disappointed more than anything. And with this much money on the line, disappointment or regret is one of the worst things to feel. If I was still complaining about it all several months down the road, then ya, by all means. .. Tell me to get over it.

Also, if we had bought a used boat, it would be a completely different story. We'd expect these things...

My apologies. I read your first post much too quickly and I misconstrued a few things. My bad.

Make your dealer fix your boat how it should be.

By the way, ribeyes grilled on the boat (on the lake) are 10x better than the grill at home. I don't understand it, they just are.
 
My apologies. I read your first post much too quickly and I misconstrued a few things. My bad.

Make your dealer fix your boat how it should be.

By the way, ribeyes grilled on the boat (on the lake) are 10x better than the grill at home. I don't understand it, they just are.

No problem ... I've done that more times than I can count! Lol! No need to apologize ;)

BBQ is our next purchase and I can only imagine how good a nice ribeye will taste on the water!
 
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