My bad acid trip

Michiman

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Those contemplating acid washing their toons, beware of the bad trip! Like several others on this board, I had my toons acid washed in an effort to keep them uniform in appearance after sitting in the lake for three months last year. While my dealer assured me that they had the best product around, in fact it turned out to be a bad acid trip right out of the 70's. As you can readily see, it started out with an apparent over-spray from another job. To remedy the situation, they now have removed the finish from my anodized rub rail and fencing on one side of my boat. Add to that the blotchy appearance of my toons, and I have a real mess on my hands. My dealer has taken responsibility for the damage and has verbally indicated that they will take care of me at the end of the season. What that exactly means is not known at this time but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt at this point. Personally, I think she will have to go back to the factory to have the rub rail and fencing removed and replaced and then taken somewhere to have the toons polished. In any case, I'm thinking of thousands of dollars of damage!


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Omg PURE dumb-A$$-a-ray 


this needs to be a sticky. Bennington owners need to be aware and insist that the Anodized aluminum on their boats is protected (masked off) b4 some dumb dumb keep messing up all of our boats. 


1. Your rub rail and your fencing all needs to be replaced. 


Tell the dealer to break out his checkbook. 


Thats gonna cost him 5k to get your boat back to orignal
 
Terrible!  But glad the dealor is "stepping up" to remedy this.  I've said it before, things would be so much easier if you could just get what you paid for the first time around.
 
Without turning this into a dealer bashing thread, I would highly recommend getting something in writing NOW stating what you just posted the dealer said. The end of season, personnel changes, estimated cost surprise at end of season, etc ..... I'd be concerned about a "verbal agreement".  
 
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All I can say is WTF!
 
SemperFi is right on the money.  Get it in writing, and get lots of pictures as well right now.  Get a newspaper and take a picture of it showing today's date and the damage.  Glad the dealer is owning up to it.  They shouldn't have any problem writing you a "we owe" today.
 
MrG and Semp is on the money! 


When they acid washed our boat in Virginia they covered all parts that they didn't want the acid to touch. They masked the aluminum skirting, the rub rail and the ladder and they specifically told me that those areas CAN'T BE ACID WASHED! The anodized aluminum that has the overspray is ruined and will have to replaced if they want to "Take care of you in the off season and make it right". They are able to fix the pontoons by redoing them and evenly rinsing/power washing them but there is nothing they can do to for the anodized parts that has overspray on them......


As Semp said........Get it in writing now! 
 
I just threw up in my mouth a little. GET IT IN WRITING FOR SURE!!
 
Without turning this into a dealer bashing thread, I would highly recommend getting something in writing NOW stating what you just posted the dealer said. The end of season, personnel changes, estimated cost surprise at end of season, etc ..... I'd be concerned about a "verbal agreement".  

Good point with regard to getting it in writing. I'm going to refrain from dealer bashing at this point but if it is not properly handled, both Bennington and their customers will hear about it loud and clear. Those pictures are actually only a small part of the damage. :(
 
MrG and Semp is on the money! 


When they acid washed our boat in Virginia they covered all parts that they didn't want the acid to touch. They masked the aluminum skirting, the rub rail and the ladder and they specifically told me that those areas CAN'T BE ACID WASHED! The anodized aluminum that has the overspray is ruined and will have to replaced if they want to "Take care of you in the off season and make it right". They are able to fix the pontoons by redoing them and evenly rinsing/power washing them but there is nothing they can do to for the anodized parts that has overspray on them......


As Semp said........Get it in writing now! 

This is a very large dealer so I am simply shocked that they didn't know better than to have some kid stand there and spray acid wash indiscriminately against the side of my boat! I sure wouldn't imagine this was their first rodeo but perhaps it was!
 
This is a very large dealer so I am simply shocked that they didn't know better than to have some kid stand there and spray acid wash indiscriminately against the side of my boat! I sure wouldn't imagine this was their first rodeo but perhaps it was!

Hopefully it's their last! Lesson time!
 
I'm still just speechless that any reputable dealer with a customer's $$$$ boat in their hands just lets this happen.
 
"The cure to ignorance is knowledge" 


perhaps bennington could send a Dealer note to all its dealers about "Acid Damage" a service advisory with photos of Acid wash damage and how costly they can be if people do not follow simple rules. 


Their is better safer and more environmentally friendly ways of Refinishing the toons Acid free. No risk of acid damage to Anodized surfaces. 


You can only Acid wash your toons a few times before they become bleached (white blotchy)  so the 3m Red scuff pad method brings the toon back to "like new" with out harsh chemicals or risk of damage. Perhaps I should make a video of how it's done?
 
You can only Acid wash your toons a few times before they become bleached (white blotchy)  so the 3m Red scuff pad method brings the toon back to "like new" with out harsh chemicals or risk of damage. Perhaps I should make a video of how it's done?

Yes, please tell me more. I had no idea about the bleached effects after repeated acid washing or I would have waited a few years. A video would be great, but perhaps the damage has been done already.
 
Terrible!  But glad the dealor is "stepping up" to remedy this.  I've said it before, things would be so much easier if you could just get what you paid for the first time around.

I love the quote, "you never seem to have the time to do it right, but you always have time to do it over".
 
I think I remember your original post but thought that it was a one-off type of situation. After all, my dealer is quite large and they would know better, right?


Again, at this point I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they will make it right. If not, all hell will break loose...
 
It's hard to believe that a dealership would allow this to be handed back over to the customer. If I were the dealership owner, the first thing I would think is "this customer is going to sue the crap out of us when they see this!"
 
When you saw the thread of me Refinishing my aluminum 99% of that is because of dealer acid damage. They still have not replaced the acid damage rub rail. Nor do I think I wanna take my boat in to a dealer unless it's absolutely 100% avoidable. if bennington could send me a non damaged rub rail I would install it my self and we could end this nightmare. But back to your issue 


I think people here have given you some great advice.  Note all the surfaces that are acid damaged. NOW. Take photos of them. Have the dealer acknowledge that he accepted responsibility for fixing all the acid damaged surfaces and you should be good to go. 


My advice is have the dealer Order all the parts you need NOW. Don't wait. Have the dealer stockpile all your parts. It's gonna take a while for them all to come in. And here is some more advice when your parts land at the dealer have the dealer open them up and make sure they are the "right part" and that the part is NOT damaged. this way if their is a problem it dosent further delay your repair. When all your parts are in stock you can simply drop your boat off for repair. 


Fyi your rub rail is gonna need to be replaced. That means all the furniture has to come up all the fences on that side need to come off, and then the rub rail can be replaced. It's gonna be quite a job.  While your rub rail is off and your side trim is off perhaps they can then correctly refinish the log with out risk of further acid damage.
 
Spoiled: I hear you but no dealer is going to have any of these parts in stock. They all need to be ordered from Bennington and that's weeks/months down the road. 
 
It's hard to believe that a dealership would allow this to be handed back over to the customer. If I were the dealership owner, the first thing I would think is "this customer is going to sue the crap out of us when they see this!"

I was thinking the same thing. How in the heck could any responsible dealership deliver a customers boat looking the way it does?


Makes you wonder if the service manager ever leaves their office and look at what the shop is turning out.
 
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