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Cancelled Order Happy Ending

H2GO

H2GO

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Location
Fenton MI
After hearing the horrible news last week my new 21SLXP was not going to happen I decided to go on the hunt again thinking this season was over. My wife and I spent all day Friday looking at every brand out there and we just didn't see anything we felt was at the same quality as the Bennington or just way out of our price range.   The main deal breaker is we wanted a decent size privacy room for the grandkids. Most of the changing rooms on other brands were too small to accommodate a porta potty. Well we found our way back to another Bennington dealer and they had nothing in the SLXP in stock. My wife started snooping around the showroom and found a 24SSBXP which is the swingback with a huge pop up privacy room. The cost kind of threw me back for a bit but wow what a cool boat!  I'm happy to say our new boat is being rigged up for us and will be ready next week. It's got a bunch of options I would have normally not ordered but it really is a beauty.  The trailer needed to be ordered but the dealer is going to deliver the boat to the lake for us. The maiden voyage is on our radar! 


2017 24SSBXP 115 Yamaha, Phoenix Tandem Trailer, Champagne with Black Accent
 
Congratulations.  Sounds like a winner.  Is the story of the cancelled order somewhere or can you enlighten us?
 
Spoonman said:
Congratulations.  Sounds like a winner.  Is the story of the cancelled order somewhere or can you enlighten us?
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We ordered a 21SLXP at a local boat show and were promised a May delivery. Bennington kept delaying the order due to supply chain issues. We ended up cancelling the order because our summers are so short here in Michigan. I guess we ended up getting lucky to find something in stock because I hear it's a pretty bad situation for those with orders in the system. 
 
Could have made a road trip to Ohio and checked to see what SAD has in stock.  They normally have quite a few boats in stock in all trim levels.


SAD website
 
Congratulations!  A 24' SSBXP is exactly what we custom ordered back in December.  Great choice in my incredibly biased opinion.   :p  I cannot wait to see pictures of yours as soon as you have it delivered and can post some: both interior and exterior.  Enjoy!
 
Congratulations!  I see a great summer coming up.
 
Nice!! Glad it all worked out and you stayed in the Bennington family. Get them pics up asap!!!
 
Glad to hear the positive outcome! That thing will be a beauty. Where do you boat in Michigan? 
 
What great ending to what looked to be a huge disappointment! Glad you found something that fit your liking! Welcome aboard! Pics of that beauty are a must!! :)  
 
My Brother-in-law ordered his 2nd Bennington about a month ago was told by the dealer late April early May delivery Got a phone call from his dealer yesterday ,build has been pushed back until last week of June . I think he is going to cancel and wait for a 2018 .
 
Wow!!!! They are sure selling some boats. Time to expand to account for the increased production. I've said it before and will say it again, order in the fall if you want a great deal and a guarantee you'll be in the water as soon as spring hits.
 
So glad this situation worked out for you! Congrats, and welcome to the Benny family. 
 
I'm betting "building" them  isn't the issue. I would bet it's "supplier" based. I would be gun shy about "expanding". With limited "quality" workforce out there, you don't want to be "pumping out garbage", and the last thing you want is a capital investment into a large building, equipment, training, and the economy go south. Now you have that expense, AND, letting go workforce. I've seen it in the building industry. Times were good and companies were expanding like crazy. Balloon popped and bye bye big boys. 
 
lakeliving said:
 I've said it before and will say it again, order in the fall if you want a great deal and a guarantee you'll be in the water as soon as spring hits.
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Yup !!!!!!  ;)  My exact reason for signing on the dotted line last October. 
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
I'm betting "building" them  isn't the issue. I would bet it's "supplier" based. I would be gun shy about "expanding". With limited "quality" workforce out there, you don't want to be "pumping out garbage", and the last thing you want is a capital investment into a large building, equipment, training, and the economy go south. Now you have that expense, AND, letting go workforce. I've seen it in the building industry. Times were good and companies were expanding like crazy. Balloon popped and bye bye big boys. 
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Sure is ,he was told furniture 
 
I deleted this post as all is good and I don't want to give anyone the impression that Bennington is not one of the  best companies around for their focus on the customer. I have been a proud  Bennington owner for 12 years and will be for many more. Record sales stresses any and all companies and as always Bennington keeps its customers at center of all they do.
 
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If it were me I'd keep pushing. But, I'm also the guy that got locked out of his house that was being built and a pool contractor that almost walked away after the hole was dug. I hold people to their word and I document everything. When people get called on their inefficiencies they tend to get combative. Both contractors have personally thanked me for challenging them, it helped make them better for their future customers. But, it was a rocky road for a bit.
 
Supply chain management is a very difficult thing these days. If the tooling is owned by an exclusive supplier it gets even more complicated. My guess is someone down the chain was a bit too conservative, sales exceed forecast and an unfortunate chain reaction took place. I think Bennington is putting an interim delay time out there to see how many folks cancel orders and then make adjustments to their build schedule. Customers end up with a moving target on the real date but I understand the big pickle Bennington is in right now. I feel this whole thing is going to change the pontoon industry now as both new customers and dealers will most likely never forget this. SEMPERFI18387 has the right idea to order in the fall and relax. I hope everyone out there waiting for their toon find a way to get by until the furniture shortage is resolved. 
 
H2GO said:
Supply chain management is a very difficult thing these days. If the tooling is owned by an exclusive supplier it gets even more complicated. My guess is someone down the chain was a bit too conservative, sales exceed forecast and an unfortunate chain reaction took place. I think Bennington is putting an interim delay time out there to see how many folks cancel orders and then make adjustments to their build schedule. Customers end up with a moving target on the real date but I understand the big pickle Bennington is in right now. I feel this whole thing is going to change the pontoon industry now as both new customers and dealers will most likely never forget this. SEMPERFI18387 has the right idea to order in the fall and relax. I hope everyone out there waiting for their toon find a way to get by until the furniture shortage is resolved. 
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I was in automotive parts manufacturing for many years and understand the supply chain and agree with your assessment. The only item I have a slightly different perspective on is the need to order a boat in the Fall to ensure delivey for use when the water is ready.  I think this is unusual times with the significant boat sales, but customers have to be able to order boats in early to mid-Spring and expect a reasonable delivery date or sales will suffer. This will work itself out I am sure. 
 
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