Supreme Boats Poor Customer Service

I’ve been holding off writing this review hoping that my issues would be resolved. While the majority have been fixed, I feel that I should let everyone know what a poor experience we had with Ski Supreme and the lack of concern they have for customer service.

Back in July of 2010 our family purchased a brand new 2010 Ski Supreme V208 from a dealer in BC. At first glance everything looked great and we were extremely happy with the boat. This is our first inboard so we were all very excited to get the boat in the water. As time went on our excitement turned to regret as we started seeing more and more issues with the boat. Along with the issues came very little response or concern from Supreme regarding our issues. Below is a list of the issues that we encountered which have now been fixed by the dealer, six months after our purchase.

List of issues:

- Supreme decals on the side begin to fall off. We eventually lose 5 or 6 letters *Day 1 of owning boat
- Hour meter doesn’t work. *Day 1
- Swim platform completely rips off the boat and ends up floating in the middle of the lake. *Day 2
- Both batteries are dead, turns out isolator was improperly installed. *Day 2
- Lights on trailer stop working, poor electrical installation. *Day 3
- Rear power outlet stops working. *Week 3
- Trim around dash separates from windshield. *Week 3
- RPM and speedometer gauges stop working. *Week 4
- Ballast pump start failing. *Week 4
- Vinyl around dash starts buckling and separating from dash. *Week 4
- Electrical issues prevent us from using the stereo… switching ballast on caused the stereo to short out. *Week 4

This is a list of the major items, there are also additional smaller problems that needed to be addressed.

Living in Canada our season is quite short, these issues basically cut our time on the boat in half for the season. During the season there were some attempts at getting the isolator issue resolved, we purchased a new isolator switch at the recommendation of Supreme. This of course did not fix our problem, and now we are out the cost of the isolator switch of which we have been told numerous times that we would be reimbursed for. 5 months later we have received nothing. The cost of this part is minimal, it’s the principle of it that bothers me.

Now, I do want to let everyone know that we bought the boat from a different dealer that we had the repairs done at. Due to limited inventory we traveled to a different dealer to purchase the boat. Both dealers were overly helpful in getting us back on the water, both spending time with us over the phone trouble shooting the issues. Once the boat was at the dealer the slow response from Supreme appeared again and 3 months later the boat is finally fixed after numerous delays on parts from Supreme.

In the end my contact at Supreme agreed that this is horrible customer service but basically said nothing else and had little to say about rectifying the situation.

Hopefully others don’t have the same experience.

Neil

sounds like ski supreme doesn't care if you buy another boat.they suscribe to the one and done theory. that won't help them in this economy.maybe they will get word of this thread and DO THE RIGHT THING.

I cringe when I read stories like this. Every boat has issues (although yours sound over the top), that's why picking a strong dealer backed by a responsive manufacturer is critical. I don't know much about Supreme, except that I almost never see them on the water where I live. Maybe this is why.

If I were you, I'd get it fixed, then sell it and move on. There are too many other good boats out there to waste your short seasons away on a floating lemon.

DBC, that's kind of what we were thinking. It might just be easier to switch over now while the boat is still basically brand new. The dealer has been great throughout the whole ordeal. I guess i need the whole package though, solid manufacturer and dealer.

I understand supreme has been in a transition phase but this type of service is unacceptable

Interesting info Harold, I wasn't aware of anything.

Sorry to hear that Neil. I would be frustrated and it sounds like you handled it well. Good luck in 2011!

Canadian dealers have a harder time getting help from the manufacturer because the volumes are not always that high and the border just tends to make things inconvenient for the factory. I've had every issue resolved that I've had to deal with (nothing major) but it has taken longer than in should for the factory to send any parts to the dealer. I had trailer tire issues and the dealer finally just replaced them with radial at their cost from Canadian stock instead of getting the replacements shipped here by the trailer tire manufacturer. It is occasionally tough being a furinur.
You seem to have a variety of electrical issues and my experience with shoddy electrical work is that it never really gets fixed. For that reason I'd look at replacing although you take such a hit in the first year resale value. Good luck. At least you know a couple dealers that seem willing to work for you.

Have to say I'm sorry to hear that. I've had very good luck with my 07, only a couple minor things that I ended up fixing myself because there's no dealer in my area. I can relate with the poor customer service as I couldn't get anyone to respond to me when I just needed to get a cheap part from them - phone calls and emails. Luckily the dealer I bought it from in Lakeport has been very quick to help the few times I asked, even though they're not local.

It's been a great boat because it's simple. Low maint tsunami pumps, simple gauges that are used in many brands of boat, no fancy wiring, etc. Seems that most of the parts in the boat were also used in Centurion and Sanger. Maybe they've changed but there just doesn't seem to be anything really complex about the boat, which is fine by me.

I guess I got lucky, but I'm not going to brag because I've had plenty of trouble with other machines besides boats. Sounds like you really got a lemon and that sucks. The boats are a great deal for the money, but if you can't get the necessary support that really stinks.

Having been around these boats since the mid 60's and being involved in tournament skiing I have probably been in/around/driven a hundred or more tournament boats within the first 6 months of new delivery. This is always when there are "bugs" to get worked out. These are not mass produced assembly line units. They are highly customized individually assembled complex machines. I have experienced about half of what you describe commonly on "new" boats. This is not an issue exclusive of Supreme. I have seen similar sitautions with MasterCraft, Nautique, Centurion, and others. Most of the boats I have experienced were direct factory deliveries to the promotional team members as was common practice in the earlier years of the promo boat teams. These days the promo boats are usually delivered to the dealers and prepped before being delivered to the promo team member so it's not as bad as it used to be. I was "lucky" enough to experience boats before the dealers prep so I have some insight to the typical condition the boats are as they arrive from the factory. In the old days they even delivered some boats without windshields or underwater running gear installed so they could stack them 2 high for the cross country shipment.

So, in my view your issues are with the dealer for poorly prepping the boat, not completely with Supreme. The factory typically spends a grand total of about 15 minutes running the boat, if at all, before wrapping them up for delivery. The dealers should spend a day or so going through the boat making sure everything is adjusted, aligned, glued on securely, and clean before the boat is delivered or shown to a perspective buyer. I have seen dealers tack on $500-1500 to the price of a boat for prep and delivery. Did you pay this fee?

When I picked up my 2005 Nautique it was not as clean or as dialed in as the 1995 Nautique that it replaced. When the buyer of my 1995 came to look at the boat, his comment was that he had never seen a boat that clean. I am sure Grant, Clay, Todd W., and many many other Wakeworlders have boats that are in better condition today than they were the day they rolled off the showroom floor. I typically figure it takes at least one season to get a boat dialed in, this is one reason I avoid changing boats these days. I call it "starting over", the process getting a boat from dealer delivery condition to the everything works as it should condition that I demand.

I wish I could say the boats in the industry came off the dealer floor in the same condition as a new Mercedes (considering they cost just as much). Unfortunately my experience is closer to yours than the Mercedes drive-away experience.

i too have owned and driven and been in many boats and rv's. it's the same for both once you get the initial bugs worked out most are troublefree for the long haul.most boat owners neglect their boats and expect them to be ready to go when they are.if you take care of your boat and do the proper maintenance it will be reliable for years. as for the manufacturer they may be under staffed or on tough times as is most of the marine industry.GOOD LUCK.

Thanks Todd - and glad to hear all is well out there - freezing I'm sure.

Neil - call or email me and I will do whatever I can to get your issues resolved - or at least put you thru to the right person.

Thanks for the comments guys and TQ thanks for reaching out... I'll send you a message today.

Neil

Very strange. I have an 07 without problems. I have, unfortunately, torn a few seats and got skins sent out promptly. I thought I was in for it but ended up getting a great deal. Gave my VIN and they were sent out within a couple days. Other than that I have been happy with the boat. Must have been the prep.

Matt

Matt, looks like you are in WI. I'm around MKE. Not too many supreme's in this state for sure! Glad to hear yours is also doing well!

My 2007 V212 has been solid also except for the swim platform brackets breaking,but I had a new set from Supreme in a couple of days.

Originally Posted by wakebrdjay

My 2007 V212 has been solid also except for the swim platform brackets breaking,but I had a new set from Supreme in a couple of days.

My buddies broke too and they sent him a new pair for free made out of stainless instead of aluminum and have not had a problem at all!!

I keep hearing all boats have issues especially right off the bat. This is EXTREMELY disturbing. Manufacturers find it ok to charge on the low end of $45k for a boat to sometimes $100k plus at about an average of $55+65K. Why should we expect to have problems the problems should be rare and non existent. Every car I have bought I did not expect to have issues and I have not. To me its a joke to have to expect issues when your spending 50k plus on a toy!

Originally Posted by tampawake

I keep hearing all boats have issues especially right off the bat. This is EXTREMELY disturbing. Manufacturers find it ok to charge on the low end of $45k for a boat to sometimes $100k plus at about an average of $55+65K. Why should we expect to have problems the problems should be rare and non existent. Every car I have bought I did not expect to have issues and I have not. To me its a joke to have to expect issues when your spending 50k plus on a toy!

I think part of the reason boats have some issues out of the box where cars don't is because boats are hand made whereas cars are made by a swarm of robots in like 2 hours.

Originally Posted by loudontn

I think part of the reason boats have some issues out of the box where cars don't is because boats are hand made whereas cars are made by a swarm of robots in like 2 hours.

That is not a good excuse. All that tells you is that you are not hiring the right people or your production process is flawed. We pay a lot of $ for these boats and they should not have so many problems, period.

Would you expect to have a bunch of problems with a new construction home (ie hand built with a lot of electrical wiring, plumping, etc)? I doubt it.

I'm not justifying Neil's problems, everyone knows that's an excessive amount of problems and I feel for him, I'm just saying that boats in general will have one or two things that could be overlooked out of the box. It's the dealer's responsibility to check over the boat too. I would hope that if I were buying an Aston Martin DB9 the dealer wouldn't just roll it off the truck and hand me the keys. I'd like to think they'd have a checklist of things to go through to make sure nothing was overlooked or done wrong.

Also, If you're going to compare building a house to building a boat, show me the factory that can build 12 to 20 houses a week with no problems and we'll continue down that rabbit hole.

Hi Neil. If you are in the Penticton area... drop me a line and I will help you out with your boat. We go throught the electrical and figure that out. Will see what is going on with the swim platform. Will go through the boat top to bottom and make sure everything will be go to go for your 2011 summer.

As for JABSCO ballast pumps.... ALL SALESMAN need to go over how to use these with the new boat owner. Press FILL to FILL... once FULL... click to empty for one second... this gets the fins on the impeller to point in the direction for the next operation. To EMPTY... press EMPTY... then after it is EMPTIED press FILL for one second... the next time on the lake... the impeller fins are pointed in the correct direction.

There are lots of little tips... ie Boat Buddy operation... launching and loading a boat... These things need to be gone over thouroughly with the new owner...

If I can help... let me know.

Thanks hamkj, I'm actually in Calgary, purchased the boat just outside of Vancouver and get the boat serviced in Kelowna... not the best system in the world obviously. Our boat is still at the dealer and I believe our issues have been mostly resolved minus some money owed from Supreme, lost cause now. Thanks for the info on the pumps, I actually wasn't aware of that. I'm sure there's lots of little things like this that we just don't know. I appreciate your offer and when we're back down your way I'll get in contact if I have any questions.

Cheers, Neil

huh01 your Supreme most likely has Attwood Tsunami areator pumps for the tanks,which means there is a pump for fill and a pump for drain on each tank.Flipping the switches as hamkj mentions above has no effect on Tsunami pumps,each one only pumps one way and has no rubber impellers.Also they will only fill when stopped,they will not fill while the boat is moving.

I hear these stories and it adds fuel to the notion of buying a boat a couple of years old and let the first owner work out the bugs and take the biggest depreciation hit. I agree with Mark, for the coin new boats cost, I would expect near perfection when I pulled off the lot. The reason why there are bugs shouldn't be the buyers concern unless it is an operator issue.

That is why before I bought a boat I searched for weeks to find any negitive information I could find on the internet, better bussiness bearu and anything I could find, looked into it to see if it was a justifiable complaint or just some a$$hole that couldnt be satisfied no matter what than made the purchase.

I hear ya guys on the new boats. Due to the fact that boats are not mass produced and there are very rarely any two boat identical (ie options, colors, motors, towers, etc) You have to think that there will be bugs in most boats. The scarey part is how much we have to pay for these boats now. $50k is the starting price.

Even though my boat has a lot of hours, I know it "inside and out". I have moved components around like ballast pumps so impellors can be changed in 30 seconds. Change seating configuration so people arent stepping all over my vinyl... just little things like that.

Latest change, solid color seating surface. No more piping or accent colors, no more seams on the surface of the cushion. Also higher density foam... so the vinyl should last forever...

Now I have a guy who has offered me to trade my boat... I have to find a boat in a certain price range... and he will buy it... and then trade me straight across.

He knows that I take very good care of my boat. He knows it has a lot of hours. He knows that I custom order my boats to have the best of the best at the time of ordering...

He also knows that before he leaves my house... we will go over everything... a couple of hours.. and then I will provide him with the "coles notes" version of the operation of the boat that will be laminated and left onboard.

Then we will go out to the lake for a couple of hours and he will see how to set up for ski, beginner wake... advanced wake... surf each side...

How far to put the trailer in when launching... and how much further to keep it out when loading...

Then after all of this... I will likely be able to upgrade boat as in newer... less hours... but I will take the risk of all the little "bugs"

Will keep you updated to see if it actually happens... this is the second time I have re-done my entire interior to function better for me... and have the boat sold before I have even gotten to enjoy the new interior.

I have the same problem with the brackets breaking appart. How did you order them? How much did it cost you?

espritv8 you probably have the same bogus brackets that were on my Supreme.Contact them and they will send you a pair free,The type you have now are garbage and every pair like them out there will break eventually.The guy that bought his '07 at the same time and dealer as I did had to replace his also.The new ones are designed different and I haven't had any problems with them.

My swim platform has been a little loose since I got the boat. I guess I really didn't think anything about it, but probably something I should address.

Mikeski

very informative post. What I don't understand is the willingness to give the manufacturer a free pass on quality. Based on your info there are a bunch of common problems that will occur with a new boat, regardless of brand. If that is the case, the manufacturers are surely aware, so why wouldn't they put processes in place to address those problems before it gets to the dealer and customer? If they only run a boat 15 minutes to test it and that isn't enough time to figure out these common problems, why not run them for an hour or over a couple days? That's more rhetorical, they are controlling their costs.

I was on a brand new X-Star (3 hours old maybe) and a fuel sensor went bad, stranded us in the middle of the lake till we got a tow back to the docks. I would be pissed to have to deal with that problem for as expensive a boat it is.

I'm saying all this to say, there is no reason why any liability on a brand new 50 - 100k boat should be taken off the manufacturer.

To give you an update, I believe the boat has been fixed... it's sitting at a dealer out of province so I'm not entirely sure, they are also storing it for me. That being said, I received an email from Supreme on January 6th regarding the cash they still owe me from July of 2010. They agreed this was poor customer service and that they would get the check out to me soon.... we are now almost 2 months later and still nothing. I've basically written this money off, I just hope that others don't make the mistake I did. if they ask you to purchase parts etc and promise to re-pay you, I wouldn't do it because they clearly don't care!

I received my brand new brackets today. They were absolutely free, and I received them pretty quick. Way better than the originals alum brackets at first glance.
So far can't complain about the service!!

I found out it is better to contact them by phone. Not all my e-mails went trought.

Thanks JayT. Great advice as usual!!

Check the lemon laws in BC. They might owe you a new boat.

I had a couple of air voids in the gel coat collapse,called Fineline a couple weeks ago,and had a can of gel coat a week later.I think that Neil having a 2010 is dealing with the new ownership and Todd,Jonathan B and I with older Supremes are dealing with Fineline Ind.Which I must say have been very good at dealing with any problems I've had.

I agree Fineline Ind. has great customer service I own an 06 supreme v232 have had a couple of issues supreme was a little slow but did repair my problems. But fineline went above & beyond with customer service they just seem like they want to help. Good luck with your boat