what do some boat dealerships suck so bad?

If you take your new car to the dealership to get serviced, they wash the outside and vac inside. Take your boat in for service they don't even take there shoes off to get in and out of your boat. As high priced as boat are getting you would think the service would be top notch!!

Not to mention new tears in the seats.

You should take your boat to etco marine. They do a great job.

Some boat dealerships have a monopoly on a given brand within a given major market, for example metro Atlanta and most of GA, so they may feel there is no "competition," especially if they have a top brand, for example MasterCraft. Further, if that same dealership also sells higher end boats/yachts, for example Donzis, and also tons and tons of PWCs, they may be bringing in so much money on the sales end that A) the service dept. cannot keep up, B) there is no incentive for service to strive for excellence since customers have no option to go elsewhere, and C) inconsistent management can be the final nail in the coffin.

BTW, my comments DO NOT apply to JOA mechanic Jimmy Jenkins. That guy is the freaking Obi-Wan Kenobi of MasterCraft repair, truly amazing mechanical skillz almost elevated to an art form. Too bad it's so hard to get to him and there is so much complete B.S. involved in the rest of the process.

I've said it before and I'll always stick to my statement: buy a boat based on the quality of the dealer ship and service dept. that you will be using.

That definitely sucks.

Before I take my boat in, I always remove all of the cushions so there is less to disrepect.

But, Skiworld is cgood. They detailed my boat after taking care of a few warranty issues and installing my heater.

Some of other dealerships in my area have a bad reputation.

I always make sure my boat is SPOTLESS before I drop it off anyware. It lets people know when they mark it because it sticks out like dogs balls.

jason, i know a killer mechaninc who would do anything for a pull! lol we have done all the services on my boat so far.. im just affraid of all these hoor stories i hear from people i dont think i could ever trust anyone with my baby plus its saved me a ton of money..

Skiers Whaft Extreme we always take our shoes off and will do a quick detail or vacuum before returning boats

richard I need to hook up with you and your mech. I thought since I was heading to tahoe for a few days I would drop my bu off and give UWS 1 more try. I have the water fuel problem and they need to fix the lights and balast. Problem is I have to leave it there for 4 days and I know they won't put the cover on and if it rains they won't do anything about it. I love my boat and she doesn't like rain. Boat dealerships should have huge indoor storage for their boats. This monopoly of boat dealerships is B.S.

Jason, they do have that new huge indoor facility. I wouldn't worry about the rain, but it still sucks that you have to take you boat to someone you don't trust.

I always hate these posts, expecially the horror stories that ensue.

...at least I know I am not alone, and luckily I know how to perform all the maintenance on my boat! Takes longer, but saves bucks and heartache!

Not all Dealerships are owned by boating enthusiasts. They're always looking at the bottom line- hire techs with little experience, cut corners all to make a profit. If you're local dealership is sporting a sick showroom but has crappy service, that tells the story of where thier prioities lie. Find a dealership with techs that ride and I bet you get your ride back all spiffed out

Ok I'm not trying to hijack... but I thought this would be a good time to get some ideas.

I'm starting a dealership as we speak... mostly because of the problem of bad customer service where ever you go, but I'm just a guy that loves the sport and loves boats, and I figured if I could offer great customer service I might find a niche of supporters on my area.

So my questions... What are some things that dealers have done that make them stand out from others? Or what are things that you have wished your dealer would do? I really like the idea of a quick detail whenever a boat leaves the shop (its the little things that count... right?)

I just want some more ideas that will help me establish a good reputation.
Thanks guys!!!

"I'm just a guy that loves the sport and loves boats, and I figured if I could offer great customer service I might find a niche of supporters on my area."
Then run fast before your love becomes a JOB and you don't love it any more...

Good point christy

Christy,
Thats what I keep hearing a lot of but I have two choices in the same catagory. I'm either going to be a pilot or a boat dealer. If a become a dealer, then I'll get sick of boats. If I become a pilot I'll get sick of flying. So I decided to take a chance on the opportunity I had to pick up some boat lines and become a dealer.

Cody,
I respect what you are doin man. I have recently met an owner of a boat shop that loves to ride himself on top of selling boats. His reputation reflects how he does buisness because he knows what he would want out of his dealership if he himself were going to buy a brand new boat. I dont know if that makes any sense or not but if you are a guy that truly loves the sport you should have no problem making it selling boats.

Just my .02

thanks kyle. I totally understand and thats pretty much how I am going into this.

I'd say dealing squarely with the buyers is primary...no dumping on other manufacturers to sell your lines. That's a huge turnoff. I think also having a large enough service area to have multiple boats in at the same time for service. This is a plus for keeping repairs timely. Nothing sucks worse than having a repair take weeks rather than days. Third, offseason storage. I think having inside and outside is a good idea so you can fit multiple budgets.

Eric

Cody,
I respect anyone willing to take on the business responsibilities, it's never an easy road at first.

Having delt with my share of incredable poor dealers, and as you have requested, here are a few of my suggestions.

Communication.
1. Talk to the customer even if it is bad, and ALWAYS try to put yourself in their shoes. You can even call customers when there is no reason to. I am not saying that you should make it a point to call every day, but once in a blue moon inquiring, never hurts.
2. Provide a way for customers to contact you other then phone. Email is a great communication method, and providing this to customers may help. It may take more time, but office administration should be able to help filter what email goes to whom in the business.
3. Follow-up! Everyone has their own system, but set reminders to follow-up! (Email again can have a huge impact on being efficient in this area)

Accountability
1. ALWAYS put things in writing and provide a copy to the customer. Refer to this when dealing with the customer and also to refresh your memory. honor what is written.
2. If you or the service side of the business has made a mistake, admit to it. Explain things and then work with the customer to resolving the issue, even if it means costing them more money.

Selling
2. Understand the customers needs first! General, simple questions about lifestyle and intentions will help you size things up quickly and point them to the product that best fits the now and future
2. When up-selling, provide quality easy-to-understand explainations. Not everyone is knowledgable enough to understand why they need a certain feature or how they would best benefit from additional accessories.

I know these are general "no-brainers" for a lot of people (no flames please) but had my dealer done 1/2 of these, I would not have had anywhere near the headaches I have had. I have since found 2 MC dealers that have all of this and then some...I have been very very happy working with them.

KG

KG,
Thanks, Those are all definately key things to incorporate into the dealership. I for sure will do my best to do all of them. Thanks again!

Anyone Else???

Cody, do I get a demo along with the rest of the crew when I come back home from school in the summer, I'm interested to see how the boat rides and the wake is shaped.
So are you just going to carry that one boat line or others?
Best of luck with it, and you should be able to come up with some good ideas after listening to some complaints from the shop you worked at with people talking about other companies.

Anyways I'll be in Utah for Christmas, and me Paul, Ryan, Dave, Adam, and maybe a few others are going to go out to diner one night before Ryan leaves for Torino for the Olympics, you should come along.

Peace
Russ, you still got my number right?

Jason(Mendomalibu)
Boat dealerships are not car dealerships.
Boats dealerships do not sell nearly as many boats as a car dealership. If you don't clean or take care of your boat aesthetically than why should we(the dealership)?
our mechanic has a rule: you treat the boat as it came in: ie: if it didn't come in covered we dont usually cover it except for certain weather conditions.
Nothing pisses me off more than a boat full of disorganized gear, food product wrappers, empty beverage cans, basically Shhhhiiii everywhere.
try getting a v-drive engine compartment seperator out when the compartment is overflowing with gear.

"Boats dealerships do not sell nearly as many boats as a car dealership. If you don't clean or take care of your boat aesthetically than why should we(the dealership)?
"

That is a bunch of crap. You have a minimum obgligation to return the boat the way it was delievered to you.

Ringo, completely agree with J-Rod. your statement plays into the complaint that many of us have, that is the boat dealers have a basic monopoly setup and we as the customer either have to tolerate it, or go somewhere else where we might not get service at all. either way, the customer is still screwed. How is that fair???

Bad Service from one dealer -OR- potentially no service from another.

the only way I get around this is to just order parts and do the work myself, or take the boat to an independent service shop that works on all makes and models.

Wow, I'm seeing a trend with Malibu dealerships, one reason why I will most likely not buy one again.

Service at our dealership is impeccable and we strive to make everyone of our customers completely pleased with what they get and pay for. we are not a detail service but offer these services through a detail company.

this post is onesided. try looking at it from the dealerships point of view. we take off our shoes, clean up our messes and treat a customer's boat better than our own.
however we do service not detailing. The boat is returned always as it is recieved or better.

Also, I have no affiliation with malibu. I own a nautique and sell boards in a malibu shop. I do help out with service and what I have seen firsthand is better than what I have anticipated service being before I worked here. we have 2 salesmen, 1 service guy, and 1 all around bitchwork(me). we do not cut corners, lie, or overcharge.

you know that perception everyone has about restaurants and the preparation of food and how if it falls on the floor it gets put on your plate anyway. that is the consumer bitching about what they assume is going on when in actuality it never happens. I have had many bad experiences with boat dealerships being on the consumer end but now seeing and working with our malibu technician I am able to see the value of a good dealership/mechanic who will not bs you.

Ringo your story about resturant customers thinking their food has fallen on the floor, is just like you assuming that everyone brings there boats cluttered up with crap. I run the Pro Shop at UWS where jason(mendomalibu) brought his bought and I can tell you that it is one of the cleanest/organized boats that we get in. I agree with J-rod and others that each and every boat that comes through our shop should leave relatively better than it arrived; a quick vaccuming and cleaning of the upholstrey is not much of a stretch. But as a boat dealer you know that there sometimes circumstances that don't allow that to happen all the time but we atleast try to make the effort. And if we (as boat dealers) make that extra effort our customers will be happy. Think of it as job security and not wasted time.

Jason I did cover your boat up after I picked her up from the Stereo Shop yesterday, unfortunately we don't have room during the day, but she does spend the night indoors.
-Chad

Ringo,
I'll giv eyou a courtesy on this one...BUT your only one dealer. While your dealership may take care of customers, I have been to 3 dealers/service places (1 MC and 2 indy) and gotten bent over in the process(year after year). As it stands right now, it's gonna be years before I trust anyone with my boat to do any job, let alone the right job, professionally, as well as watching out for me as a customer and making recommendations or up-selling. I just can't understand why more dealers can't strive to be better then one another. Oh yea that's right, they have no competition! And for the record I did try very hard to put myself in the shoes of my MC dealer, 3 times infact but all three times all I got were stinky feet!

On an alternate but similar topic, I have noticed that the West coast and Mid-West states have owners that are very pleased with their dealers. Here in the northeast, I have had a hard time find ing more than 1-in-5 owners of any type of boat that were happy with their dealers...Things that make you got Hmmm??? Maybe a few of us should invest in building a quality dealer somewhere here in the NE.