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Why Did I Buy Bennington

kaydano said:
It's a Derrick thing.
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We are on our 2nd Red .

However ,our very first order was Blue (my choice ,which we never took delivery of ).Last season at the marina the gulls for whatever reason always messed up the dark colored boats .We only had minimal droppings twice .Hope I didn't jinx it .

And since this entire pontoon thing was my wife's Idea ,she wanted Red and I am glad we did now .Last season we were the only Crimson Red ( bright red ) on our lake ,really stands out .
 
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It's funny when reading these stories of all your boat buying processes and comparing them to when we bought our Benny in 2006. We permanently moved to the lake Feb 1st 2006 and decided in June it was time for a boat. We went out on a Saturday and visited all the dealers around the lake and the last stop was the Benny dealer. My only boating was a 14' aluminum boat with an 18hp Evinrude (1964 and still runs) at our camp in Maine. I spent summers there from 1962 till forever, haven't been in a while though. Anyway, we spoke to the salesman as we sat on a Sedona and it was nice, then on a "G" which was nicer, then he said to Suzi, try these seats (on an "R") and that was the hook. They had a brand new (still in shrinkwrap) out back that came in the day before that we looked at and went home to discuss it. We went back on Tuesday and picked it up on that Saturday. The rest as they say, is history.    B)
 
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cwag911 said:
It's funny when reading these stories of all your boat buying processes and comparing them to when we bought our Benny in 2006. We permanently moved to the lake Feb 1st 2006 and decided in June it was time for a boat. We went out on a Saturday and visited all the dealers around the lake and the last stop was the Benny dealer. My only boating was a 14' aluminum boat with an 18hp Evinrude (1964 and still runs) at our camp in Maine. I spent summers there from 1962 till forever, haven't been in a while though. Anyway, we spoke to the salesman as we sat on a Sedona and it was nice, then on a "G" which was nicer, then he said to Suzi, try these seats (on an "R") and that was the hook. They had a brand new (still in shrinkwrap) out back that came in the day before that we looked at and went home to discuss it. We went back on Tuesday and picked it up on that Saturday. The rest as they say, is history.    B)
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And that is as it should be, with many years of satisfaction after that!

We bought our second Malibu the in a similar way. We went in to look at new 2005 V-drive and choked at the price compared to our first and current Malibu Echelon direct drive. The dealer had a customer's boat he wanted to sell, 2003 DD Sunsetter with only 13 hours. An older gentleman bought it for when his kids/grandkids came (they didn't), never ski'd behind it, stored it in a heated building 24/7 waiting for action. It cost us 40% less than a new one, not quite what we would have agonized over for an order, unique colors (Indigo, yellow, black accents) we wouldn't have picked right off. It provided great satisfaction for our family over the past few years, plenty of compliments on the colors, and sold it last year for about what we paid in 2005.

Don't worry guys, it will all be good in a month or so ;-)
 
WOW WOW WOW 

A bit of an overkill for my Lake 

But if I was on the Finger Lakes of New York 

Guess What 
 
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I was at a boat show and a Bennington dealer told me to just walk around and pull on the front bow of all the other pontoon boats.

well that's all it took for me to know that Bennington was the right choice.
 
Just back from a late night cruise on the Lake 

It is amazing, the kids my son in particular wants to hang the Dealer 

He can not believe the entire ordeal

We bought an American Flag which dealer was to mount on boat for us

When he delivered it the flag and pole was on the floor of the Boat 

He said he didnt get a chance to mount and install

Said I could do it myself 

I replied I have no idea how to do that 

His reply ... you'll figure it out 

Then he was to include a bottle of 303 for cleaning upholstery

He said he must of forgot to place in boat , but he will mail me some when he gets a chance

I specifically asked that the boat be detailed

He said with the rain coming no need to do that 

Our name for Boat wasn't placed on Boat at his Dealership

He tried to place it on here at the Lake

The wind didn't allow that to happen

Name Ripped

He said he will do it in the fall when I take it to him

There is a list of things which were promised , expected and never delivered

LED LIGHTS 

Boat cover torn , clasp came off while being delivered to me by him

All I Can Say 

Never Ever Never Buy At A Boat Show or From My Dealer 

Soooooooooooooooooo

There were many reasons for me not taking photos of interior 

Too many things went wrong from the onset

The List Is HUGE

Hard to be excited while taking delivery

But as my wife said 

There is a lesson in this , which I will never forget
 
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We all feel for you. Hopefully you get to a place where you can enjoy your boat and forget about that dealer and the issues.
 
Well your dealer sure seemed to do a top notch job of being an idiot. Sorry to hear it all. He shouldn't have trailered with the cover on for starters, Bennington specifically states it, but I may disagree with the boat show statement. It isn't a bad idea to buy at a boat show, as long as you do your homework first. I know that the finance company was able to offer a better rate at the boat show than after, plus if the boat is already sitting there and you're looking at it, you can see any imperfections or things that need to be corrected immediately. I know that when I was helping out my dealer we had a couple come back all three days. They came and looked and got some information, went home and researched and found more questions, then came back and got more answers and heard of more options available,  then went home, figured out everything, talked numbers, and came back. I like to think that Bennington dealers are all step above the rest, although your experience kind of blows up that theory.
 
What did you do to piss Christ off???
 
Ha ha! Your post snuck in there while I was typing! I was asking Pittsburg because no one has that much bad luck... Except maybe you. He must have done something...

Andy too.
 
The 303 for the furniture is imperative , I will wait a week if I don't receive it I will go to Akron Ohio the only other Bennington Dealer in 100 mile radius to me 

What really pissed me off was when Bennington VP called me twice how he defended dealer 

He called dealer and I thought well at least from this point on things will improve 

What a disappointing JOKE 

Does anyone think a follow up phone call from the VP will happen?

He is aware that I took delivery on Friday !
 
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Sounds like Bennington should pull his dealer card...

There are a ton of people lurking and reading what you write, and there's no doubt in my mind some have steered clear of your dealer because of your posts.  I certainly would.  He's probalby lost more in sales than you've had in problems already, and your posts will be here for others to read for a LONG time.
 
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Has the dealers name or location been mentioned ? 

Don't forget your survey .
 
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I don't think so, but it's in or near Pittsburgh, so shouldn't be too hard to figure out. 
 
Pretty simple.... Lake Road Marine in Conneaut, PA
 
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