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My Bennington seems to be a nice boat but...

Thank you Nautical for the insightful post. The silicone was initially discovered by an employee of the barge company that retrieved the boat. I have great pictures of the gouges and the applied silicone as well as a damaged weld at the very aft edge of the keel strip. I have been in contact with an attorney which is why I've been a bit silent on this board.

I totally agree with you on contacting my insurance company. They would probably take the path of least resistance, payout and raise my premium. Haven't given any thought to your suggestion of trying to identify the dealer's insurance company. I'll give that a look in the morning.

The boat is at the dealer and I've been told by them that Bennington is working with them on a fix. Either I or my attorney will check with them tomorrow. Kind of putting a damper on summer...
 
Update?
 
Bennington has always come through.

There aren't many stories like this over the 7 years I've been on this site, but there are a few. Those stories had A LOT to do with my decision to buy a Bennington, because in every story, Bennington made it right with the owner. There are few of these kinds of companies left these days.

I am proud to own a Bennington!
 
Well, the story takes a better turn Friday. After over two weeks of silence from the dealer, I received a call from him. He said the boat was repaired and they were “water testing it” Friday. I would have thought there would have been a better way to test the integrity of the tubes. Maybe pressure testing? I asked what was done and he said the tub was replaced under Bennington’s direction. I asked if the tube was new or used and where it came from and I couldn’t really get a straight answer out of him. He claimed they checked the motor over also.

Late Saturday morning the dealer called again saying that the boat was ready to be delivered. So I arranged for an inspection while it was on the trailer.

All three tubes were “acid washed” so they looked like new. The replaced tube didn’t look as new as some others that were sitting in their yard. It looked in good shape. They cleaned the carpeting and seats but failed to get the mud off of the rear teak decking that had accumulated while it was submerged. Thirty minutes later the boat was back floating on my lake. It felt great to have her back in the water. When they dropped it off, they forgot the poles to the mooring cover, and the zipper on the new Bimini top was missing a slide. It seems like there is always something with this dealer.

The bill for the barge arrived Saturday. I asked the dealer about it, and he told me to give him a copy, and he would have Bennington take care of it. It amounted to $1970.00.

Coincidentally, Friday morning before the dealer called I was on the phone with a Bennington rep. I’ll follow up with him Monday to get their side of the story

I’d have to say that the dealer mostly came through and did what I wanted.

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words and suggestions. They helped me get through this mess.

 

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Curious why he would be giving the bill to Bennington when it was not a Bennington issue
 
Jack M said:
Curious why he would be giving the bill to Bennington when it was not a Bennington issue
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I think that's the smokescreen.
 
Your pics dont support that claim .

Uke said:
It was a long Sunday. The barge arrived around 1:30pm and the boat was finally trailered and on its way to the shop around 7:00pm. The starboard aft compartment had several clear signs of damage. The aft edge of the keel strip was depressed into pontoon about 3/4" and causing the bottom of the rear cap's weld to fail. Also, there were two gashes on the inner portion of the tube about 4' in that appear to be caused by a trailer the had a sharp component. The real scary discovery was the silicon that was filled into the gash. More to follow...
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I'm glad that you won't have to pay but I'd MUCH rather see the dealer have to eat this than Bennington. I bet if the dealer gets away scot free you're going to see them selling Suntracker instead of Bennington next year.
 
So far the boat has been working great and it even floats :) I have been in contact with the regional sales manager and he has been very helpful. He confirmed that Bennington was fully aware of the situation and supported the tube replacement actions of the dealer. Bennington will stand behind the pontoon with the replace starboard tube.

This afternoon I received an email from the barge operator that rescued my boat saying that he was still waiting to get paid. I emailed the Bennington regional sales manager about this last Friday. He replied late this evening that he contacted the dealer and that they would be sending a check to the barge operator. No mention of Bennington reimbursing the dealer. That is what I call amazing customer service.

With all of this behind me, I'm looking forward to enjoying the boat for the rest of the summer. It is truly an awesome boat.

Thanks again for all of the support!
 
Dont know why Bennington would reimburse the dealer .This was not a Bennington issue .
 
If you read back in the thread you'll see that the dealer was trying to get me to pay the recovery company. They told me that Bennington would reimburse the expense. I have my own beliefs about the situation... but in the end, Bennington stepped in and really helped bring it to a good resolution. Bottom line, I have a functioning boat back in service that will be fully supported by Bennington.
 
Glad to hear this has been resolved and didn't lag on all summer long. Enjoy!!!
 
Gotta love a great outcome, especially after much anxiety! :)
 
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