Another dealer/manufacturer issue
 

A buddy of mine has a 2006 wakeboat (I'll leave the brand out but it's a major player in the wakeboat business) that had a floor issue. Recently a "soft spot" developed on the floor and my friend did not drop anything to cause or damage the floor, nor was there any abusive kids/people horseplaying in the boat. He keeps his boat stored covered/indoors as well. He asked me about the floor issue and if I thought the dealer/manufacturer would cover that in the "life time" hull warranty. Turns out they honored the actual floor repair BUT they will not cover replacing the carpet they cut up to get to the damage. They said they would patch the area with a piece of the old carpet and try to minimize the seam or patch it with new carpet (even worse). My friend said that he did not like the idea and basically said his boat needed to be returned to him in the same or better condition after the manufacturer admitted there was a defect in the boat floor. After more phone calls, even to the manufacturer, they gave him two options...patch it or they will give him a roll of carpet and he can pay someone to do it. We're trying to figure what you guy's opinion on this is. My friend has done quite a bit of upholstery work before and is man of principle. He said that trying to patch/blend the carpet will take nearly as much time to lay down the new carpet.

1. Should the dealer/manufacturer repair the carpet entirely after admitting the floor was defective.

2. Do you think he should be happy with the floor repair and pay for the carpet to be installed or do it himself

Well, carpet is alot cheaper than replacing the whole floor.. I think legaly they are correct in not having to fix it... However if they ever wanted to sale me another boat they would indeed take a loss on the carpet or atleast give me the labor free or something...

That sucks. I agree that if they offered to fix it then the fix should include the carpet. I would have thought they could have lifted the whole piece of carpet out then it would be easy to put back in. However, if those were the only two choices I was given I would take the carpet roll as looking at the patch would drive me crazy and really how much could it be to have brand new carpet installed.

I agree, that sucks. But I don't believe the floor is a part of the hull or the lifetime warranty. So it may be splitting hairs, but in their favor.

the fact that they made the repair and are going to give you new carpet and have you pay to have it installed seems fair to me, what condition was your carpeting in?

I took my boat to the Sanger Factory and the replaced the entire carpet no questions asked. They asked if I could take some pictures and send it to them. After looking at the pics, they installed new carpet! NO charge, and also repaired other minor problems. These were items that the dealer said they would take care of and never did. Thank You Sanger!

I think the carpet should be replaced by them. If that cannot be worked out, I'm wondering if the carpet comes pre-cut to fit the boat. Also, not knowing the brand, does the carpet run under the seats?

Please post what brand the boat is.
If it is one of the top brands then SHAME on them.
First the floor should have NEVER had the problem on a three year old boat. I would have thought they would have quickly made the repair and save the embarrassment of building such a shotty product.
Second I have NEVER seen any warranty or custermer pay repair that would leave you with a noticeable patch to cover the repair totally UNEXCEPTABLE on a newer boat.
All of the top brands boast they build the best. Sometimes things do go wrong the difference is how they handle the defects. This company handled it very poorly and they deserve the exposure. If it was built right in the first place they wouldn't have to replace the carpet now.
Not posting the brand only helps them hide their poor warranty procedures in the back while bragging about it in the front.

It isn't that hard to figure out which mfgr this is figuring "it's a major player in the wakeboat business" and it is a mfgr that didn't do snap out carpet. Particularly since there have been threads about one brand that has had problems with soft spots in their floors. It wouln't be the first time I'm wrong, but it sounds like a BU. On the other hand many mfgrs would have just said it is out of warantee, period.

stick it to them

manufactures right now do not need a bad name

i have seen mastercrafts do the same, if this is a BU

Yes, please post the name of the manufacturer. It doesn't help us be aware of the problem if we don't know that.
Thanks:)