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What's the deal with our production date?

Don - Tammy and Kona

Don - Tammy and Kona

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Location
Puyallup, Washington
We ordered our boat at the Seattle boat show January 25th, 2013 and were told by Bennington staff Daniel and Jared they were running 6 weeks out on production. That puts it the middle of March to build it. Middle of March comes and were told at that time it would be another 6 weeks, or middle to end of April. In fact calling Jared in early April said he guaranteed me it would be here by the end of April. Checking with the dealer yesterday, April 26th, said now he is told May 8th. So even IF it gets to the dealer at that time, from start to finish it would be taking exactly 3 and 1/2 months to get a a boat that takes 1 day to build to be delivered to the dealer. I don't care how busy they are with massive orders from around the globe, this is just not acceptable. At this point I would cancel in a heart beat if we hadn't bought thousands of dollars of stuff for this boat we don't have. So anybody maybe going through this forum before they buy.........just be aware. Are we getting ripped off? The boat was paid for at time of purchase, should we get a refund and acccept our losses and move on? Our retirement is not off to a good start.
 
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That certainly sounds strange. I have just purchased our third Bennington and have not had any bad experiences. I would reach out to Bennington customer service (or maybe TB can respond to you on this forum ) they may be able to shed some light on the subject. The one thing I am sure of is that when you get your boat you will be happy. Try to get an explanation from the customer service group maybe there are circumstances that would shed some light on your experience. Enjoy your retirement and have fun with your Bennie.
 
First of all, no dealer has any intentions to "rip you off." During boat shows, factory orders are flying into Bennington. There might be 4-5 major boat shows going on at the same time, and the week before and the week after your boat show. Just because they were 6 weeks out then doesn't mean a week or two later when your order was received by Bennington that there weren't a hundred orders received in the meantime.

Bennington (and all manufacturers) bunch up duplicate model production together to maintain maximum efficiency. They don't build a dozen models of their hulls every day, as they've got to have the components and parts coordinated to produce what's scheduled. Just getting all the outside produced parts together has to be almost a science for Bennington.

But I do fault the dealer for not better communicating about when your production date is scheduled. He can check with Bennington at any time on your projected production date. You have to understand that after the order is submitted, it's Bennington's responsibility to hold to their schedule.

Another issue is that you live at the other end of the country, and Bennington tries to make deliveries to faraway places with 4 boats per truck. Logistics is a common problem on any product that's going toward Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, and the citizens in your area are used to delivery issues.

Now as far as you paying for the boat when ordered: That's simply not good business. Most dealers will just ask for a security deposit at time of order. Too late to dwell upon that point.

I can vouch that part of retirement is learning how to slow down and take life as it comes. I try not to get too excited when things don't go my way. Hang in there, and it'll all come together. You will be very pleased with your purchase, and you'll get many, many good years out of your boat.

I'm just hoping that our temperatures will begin to rise. We're getting so much rain right now that it almost makes me think I live in Washington State. My boat's up and running, but I have no desire to go out until the weather improves a little bit.
 
The original order I placed on 2/27/13 ( I canceled and reordered 4/16/13 ,dealer kept 1st order ) was scheduled to be delivered to me on 5/1/13 .I was at the dealer last Thursday he told me it would be in next week .

My new order is scheduled to be delivered to me on 6/1/13 .

The first order was in the middle of the show season ,second one is still on a 6 week schedule .
 
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I agree with Bamaman and I think your big mistake was paying for it BEFORE you were going to pick it up. Now you have no leverage. We brought a check when we went to pick ours up in 2006. Chalk it up to experience and when you do get your boat, enjoy it. You're gonna love it. B)
 
Just a side note, my delivery date is in writing on the order contract ,if yours is you may have some recourse .
 
Don, i am sorry to hear of the delay, as others have stated, this is the busiest time of the year for all boat manufacturers.

One thing that i noticed is that you did not tell us what you ordered, and i am hoping that will shed some light on why your boat has taken so long to arrive.

If you ordered a standard configuration of any model, i would not expect to see this long of a wait, but if you ordered a custom boat with many additional options, then that may be part of the problem. As Bennington can only keep so many amenities on hand.

Couple that with your location, the volume of boats your dealer orders, and the logistics involved for shipping, i can see how it could take some time for all of these things to fall into place.

One thing i am sure of, your wait will be worth it. You have just purchased the finest brand of pontoon money can buy, and you will love it. I hope the boat arrives soon, and you can get your retirement going as you had planned.

Now, if only that Ferrarri i ordered last year would get here................... :lol:
 
Too bad you couldn't have received my build time. I ordered mine in mid Feb. and it was at the dealer in about 4 weeks. We have no use for it until early May due to this horrible winter. I even told the dealer not to rush it. It has been sitting at the dealer under plastic wrap since then. As I am typing this I am sitting on my deck having a beer and watching the ice finally break up. I think it is one longest winters we have ever had. 80 degrees today, finally!

Sorry to hear about your experience. Maybe it was an allocation problem for the dealer? Remember May 8th is only 2 weeks away. Mine is being delivered that day too. By July 4th this should all just be water under the bridge (or pontoon). Enjoy your boat and retirement.
 
Ditto all the above, but one question, was it Bennington staff, or a Bennington Dealer staff?

I really can't imagine a Bennington employee making promises, as they don't sell the boat, the dealer does.

Did your dealer place the order on time, and has he waited to build a "full" delivery truck?

Again, NEVER give full payment, till boats received .... But that's water under the bridge now.

Just wait till you get it, you will forget all this ..... Trust us !!!!!!
 
Thanks everyone! We feel much reassured! I think we were more venting than really concerned about this being legit. We researched and know that we picked the greatest pontoon boat made! Just frustrating when no one can give us a specific reason why it keeps getting delayed. As Jerry says at the dealership, "don't shoot the messenger!" Now for some clarifications... we bought a 22 SFF with quite a few options. At our boat show, Daniel from Bennington OK'd it for us to pay for our boat with a credit card so we could get our double miles. He might have done that for us because we were the very first Bennington customer for the brand new and only dealer in Western Washington! Our poor mini schnauzer, Kona is just getting depressed as we keep telling him he gets to go fishing on our new awesome pontoon boat... he looks for it every day and cries :unsure:
 
Don - Tammy and Kona said:
Thanks everyone! We feel much reassured! I think we were more venting than really concerned about this being legit. We researched and know that we picked the greatest pontoon boat made! Just frustrating when no one can give us a specific reason why it keeps getting delayed. As Jerry says at the dealership, "don't shoot the messenger!" Now for some clarifications... we bought a 22 SFF with quite a few options. At our boat show, Daniel from Bennington OK'd it for us to pay for our boat with a credit card so we could get our double miles. He might have done that for us because we were the very first Bennington customer for the brand new and only dealer in Western Washington! Our poor mini schnauzer, Kona is just getting depressed as we keep telling him he gets to go fishing on our new awesome pontoon boat... he looks for it every day and cries :unsure:
Click to expand...
PICS (of Kona) !!!!!

Well see pics of the toon later!!! :)
 
Hi Don, Tammy and Kona,

Please accept our apologies for your production delay. Although TB doesn't know the specifics of this situation, there are several factors that can affect production/delivery. We do work many weeks in advance with a "firm" schedule, and that schedule begins at

6-8 weeks and extends to as much as 10-12 weeks as the season progresses. Because of your distance from the factory, the dealer or Bennington rep may have held the boat order for days or weeks while assembling a truckload order. It is regrettable that a representative from Bennington or the dealership did not give you updates when the 6-week window was missed. We hope you will be able to enjoy your new boat without delay when it arrives!

(TB changed the title of your post to keep it on topic...hope you don't mind)
 
Our poor mini schnauzer, Kona is just getting depressed as we keep telling him he gets to go fishing on our new awesome pontoon boat... he looks for it every day and cries
Click to expand...
Kona_zps28657954.jpg


Kona_zps21e85d3d.jpg
 
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Haha OMG Gee! I think you missed your calling!!! Well maybe not since you seem to be living a pretty good life where ya are, but that's hilarious!!! You'll have to do another one for them when it comes in and put a big smile like those denta bone commercials!!
 
Update: Friday, May 10th ---- one week after boating season opened in Seattle and the best weather we have ever seen at this time of year..... still no boat, and dealer has no clue. After my wife called two days ago to check on our last promised date, the 8th of May, was simply told.... we will call you when it's here. So now, after three and a half months on order I can say it makes not just dogs cry - but wives too!!
 
Don & Tammy [and Kona] I feel for you the only thing I can tell you is that it will be worth the wait. Hope you get some good news soon!
 
I also assure you they are worth it!! So much so that even though I have a perfectly good, hardly used(25.8 hours) new boat, I'm risking the early part of the boating season to order a new one. My dealer is being great to me, he has this plan that I should buy a new boat EVERY year!! But he wants me to switch colors so he doesn't always have used red boats to sell.!!!! Haha, but I know in the end, even though there will be some gorgeous days that I'll be kicking myself for not having a boat, it will all be worth it!! I dont know what happened in your situation, I'm not sure anyone does, but I'm sure both the dealer and Bennington are scratching their heads. In the end it will be okay, make sure you reassure the Mrs. too, have and if Kona really wants the feel of the boat, put him/her in one of those baskets on the front of a bike and drive through a sprinkler!! Practically the same!! Haha
 
OK... UPDATE. Guess our boat arrived Tuesday @ almost 4 months after order and 6 week delivery estimate. No one called us. We called today and were told it had arrived and they would come pick up all our add ons to install. Hmmm fishy. #1 they were supposed to call on arrival so we could be there for unwrapping... they all knew this. So we load stuff up and go to see our dream. NIGHTMARE. I am sure they did not call us to see the unwrapping as it is obvious that the shrink wrap must have come off ( we were told that it came off one boat en route "and we were sure hoping it wasn't yours") as the boat is all scuffed on the outside and seats are grimy. The panels have the wrong accent colors... ordered granite with silver and black... boat is granite with silver and tan. We ordered a fishing model and 1 livewell front and 1 back. Space in front of steering console was to be storage but instead they put in another livewell. So. after spending over $30,000 on the boat, trading our van for a truck to tow it, building a carport to fit the boat, buying all the gizmos like a fishfinder, trolling motor, extra battery, etc .... we are out about $45,000 and just do not know what to do. This was our retirement dream. I, Tammy have had to file for disability and my health is rapidly worsening. Stress aggravates my health problems and we are just feeling so angry and sad. How can this happen? Bennington has such a good reputation. Do we need a lawyer? Do we just accept it? Please share your thoughts.
 
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