Boat Repair Nightmare Ultimate Water Sports

In October of last year the season was basically over and I left for college. The swim platform on my 03 Malibu Wakesetter had malfunctioned somehow and scratched the back of the boat. Nothing big but this small incident soon became a nightmare.

The scratch was about 4 inches or so along the back. Maybe a week to complete at the most. But since the rain was starting to fall there was no big hurry. So I left the boat at Ultimate Water Sports in Vacaville expecting to have it back by november.

I called every couple weeks to check on the boat and to see the progress of it. Well every week they said it would be done the following week. Well now that its around 80-90 in NorCal now its time to hit the water a little late but its better than waiting till June.

For 3 weeks in a row through March and April ive been told it will be done on that Friday. Finally on Saturday I had had enough and went to the shop. TO make a long story short they told me its not thier fault and that it wont be done for another week. I about lost it and decided I was just gonna take pictures and bring the threat of suing for basically having a boat payment for 6 months and no boat. After a few choice words were exchanged me and my camera were kicked out.

So I couldnt take pictures of my own boat. That was the final straw. What I am going to do from here I am not sure But something has to be done and needs to be done. 6 months for a 4 inch scratch is ridiculous.

Agree or Disagree

I agree. I like Malibu as a boat company, but the dealerships that you deal with, Ultimate Watersports, is a joke. 6 months ago My Wedge on my 2000 VLX broke. Back then no one knew why they were breaking and then about a wek ago I found a thread on here with someone else having the same problem. It turns out that the Customer Service Manager wrote back saying that there was a problem with the arms that a Vendor built for Malibu. At the end of his response it says to contact your local dealer and they would take care of the problem. I called Ultimate Watersports in San Jose yesterday and they told me that since the Wedge was an aftermarket part they couldnt do anything about it, because theres no proof that its a Malibu part. Now to me that is just ••••••••••••• something is going to be pointed out as a problem and the Customer service reps know about it, then they should take care of everyone and not just some people. Has anyone else had this problem?

Thats total ••••••••••• their part

I'd get my boat out of there ASAP, you don't want dick holes that are pissed at you fixing your boat. Tell them that you are coming down to pick it up and it had better be ready preferrably untouched. That's when you need to be sure to get your work orders in writing, that have an end date. Also be sure to report them to the Malibu corporate offices.

I had a small typo pointed out to me. I went down on a Monday not a Saturday.

Go get your boat NOW, and take it elsewhere.

if i was pickin my boat up from there i'd make sure all my stuff was in it, check for the stereo.

You pretty much screwed the pooch as far as ever getting good service from them now or any time in the future I would pick up my boat ASAP and take it elsewhere. You have peeved them off and now they have full access to your boat. Not a good situation for you. Who knows what shenanigans they may pull. In the future if you are going to chomp some butt and get tossed out, take your belongings with you.

Just wondering, how does a platform malfunction? Also I see that you are 18 and YOU own an 03 BU? Maybe DAD ought to do the talking!

Ha thanks but its mom and well we basically live on a lake so its not some spoiled issue and the whole boat issue has been resolved. Thanks to Dave the general manager of Ultimate who contacted me earlier today. Thanks for all the replys

And the screws came out because they fit too loose and we had to replace them and the bracket got bent. Thanks for the comment thuogh mike o

Clearly they screwed up. What you need is an advocate on your side who has clout. Your best bet for that is to go directly to Malibu. Hopefully they can have influence over these people and get them kicked into gear. This repair should have taken a week, not 20 weeks.

If they're doing this to you, they'll do it to others also. If they do this often enough they'll lose business and that will effect the Malibu company.

So the screws came out, you replaced them and bent the bracket? Hmmm...

Brandon,
The person at Malibu Corp. to write a letter to is Donald Wood. He is a Vice President. His address is:
Malibu Boats
1 Malibu Ct.
Merced, CA 95340
I've done what you have done, blown up at dealership folks. Though it feels good at the time to get things off your chest, it doesn't get things done as quickly or dimplomatically as writing a letter to a corporate official. Take care and try not to let things like scratches take too much from what its all about, friends and wakeboarding.
Dave

Thanks alot dave. I picked up the boat Thursday and surprisingly enough nothing was done except its basic engine service and they painted a small white strip. Other than that the rest of the work wasnt done. Thanks Dave for that address. I appreciate it. Even though it may not look as perfect as I want it still has the same wake and thats all that matters this weekend

No problem. Bastards! You got the right frame of mind, though. Hit it for me this weekend. I haven't serviced my boat yet, and will be knee deep in a remodeling project, so no chance of getting out. Dang it was perfect today and it looks like this weekend is going to be more of the same.
BTW--if you want me to proof your letter send it to me at waved@yahoo.com">owaved@yahoo.com; I have an idea that might move things along with more efficiency. Take care.
Dave

Brandon,

I feel for you. This brings back painful memories. Three years ago my boat and many other boats were completely abused by UWS at Vacaville.

I wrote in great detail about my nightmare in April 2001. They had my boat for a six weeks when they told me it would take two. In the end, they did only half the work and they broke as many thing as the fixed. On top of that my boat was delivered clean and returned covered in soot.

The service was to include (+ done, - not done):
+ tune up
+ new logos
+ add perfect pass
+ teak treatment
- repair faulty rear backrest vinyl
- repair faulty heater
- repair faulty shower
- repair vinyl pulling away from rear-deck knobs
- leaky MLS

Oddly, they performed all the service NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY!

On top of the poor service, they claimed to have replaced the bad heater, but they merely took out the bad heater. So, when I started up the boat, the engine pumped water into the space under the dash.

I complained like crazy to UWS and COPES about this. I even spoke with BOB the CEO of COPES. He seemed like a fair man and he promised to make things right. He told me that UWS would be cleaned up and he encouraged me to take my boat to COPES in SJ.

In the end, I was THRILLED to NO LONGER be plagued by the UWS warranty!

Geeze, to think that I am considering a BU for my next boat. I thought this was fixed!