Dealer damaged my boat!!!!!!!!!!

I got a voicemail from my Nautique dealer where my 2001 is being winterized and some upgrades done during the down time, and he told me he was moving my boat around the lot and backed it off of the driveway and hit a pole with the swim teak taking a gash out of it. He claims he is finding a wood guy to repair it, but I'm not sure how to handle the situation. Should I ask him to fully replace it or see how good of a job he does then work him for some extras?

Thats a bit frustrating, however the dealer did make the call updating you on the situation. Depending on my past experience with the dealer, and based on the initiative already put forth, I would let him repair the platform with the understanding that it would be brought back to the condition it was before the accident, if not better and if it wasn't I would expect the dealer to replace the broken platform at no cost. Things happen, and dealers make mistakes too. You never know, the dealer could step upto the plate or get called out. Just make sure you make your expectations very clear. And make sure you check out the broken platform before its fixed. Good luck!!

CDM

CDM, great advice. As long as the dealer is cool to you, treat him the same. Remember your probably going to have to go back to them in the future.

Also, check the platform mounting brackets for stress cracks in the gelcoat. Depending on how hard it hit the platform, some stress could have been transfered to the hull components. Better safe than sorry.

What about the Polish guy he hit is he ok.

hahahahaha

Get it in writing, so you have records of the damage.
Edit: pictures never hurt too.

(Message edited by peter_c on November 23, 2004)

Dave- LMFAO!!! AHAAAHAAA!!!

Speaking from experience,unfortunately, how the dealer handles the situation and the customer is key. It appears yours has done good up to this point by being forthcoming with the mistake and mapping out a course of action to fix it. Let them know your expectation(s), be reasonable, and allow them to recover from the mistake.

Get a Lawyer. Tell him you want a new boat.

Paul,
Your only supposed to do that when you are the one that hits the pole.

While it's nice that the dealer informed you of the accident, I wouldn't simply take him at his word regarding the extent of the damage. If I was you, I'd be there inspecting the damage myself.

what swass said, pictures and a written statement of ill return to state before accident

I had the same problem. my brand new 2004 X-Star in for its 20 hour service. got the call and supposedly someone ran into the side with something. I was on vacation at the time so could not see the damage, but i informed them over the phone just make sure I cannot tell where the damage was. when I picked up the boat they pointed me in the general area and I could not tell the difference in the slightest. they took care of the problem and all is well.

Cam, be thankful your dealer only damaged the swim platform (hoping it is just that)...my dealer the first winter is was in for storage fractured my hull in 2 places. I screamed bloody murder and filed certified letters to the dealer and to Mastercraft with pictures. MC said that the dealer was to make good, if they could not, then further discussions and talks would take place. They "made good" (not nearly what I thought was good, but apperently it was the best I could get without a laywer) but I immediately limited my interaction with them. They almost made it sound as if it was my fault (a-h's). Anywho, I don't use them anymore...

Hopefully things will work out better for you.

My dealer dropped a new SSV while craning it off the truck. Sling let go. It was a special order, dunno what happened to it but it was AFU. I'm sure they took care of it, they're like that. Coulda been worse!

I let a forklift drive right into a service boat (remember the 'laces out' in Ace Ventura? I'm now like 'SET PARKING BRAKE ON HILL'). Jacked her up with a thru-hull puncture/fracture.

Dealer stalled the customer while our gelcoat guy patched and matched. Looked good, and he was never told about it.

The End

Man Derek, I can't believe you shared that. Talk about the wrong way to do business. I own my own company, and one of my simple rules of business (and all my employees know it) is that you never lie to the customer, regardless of the circumstances. And yes, I consider omission of information the same thing as lying. If that had been my boat that was damaged and I later found out what happened, that dealership would now belong to me!

Derek, if a dealer did that to your boat, you would be pissed off. You got to step up and do the right thing. The dealership should have contacted the owner asap, repaired the boat and offered compensation. That is no way to run a business. You have to treat people right.

Preaching to the choir guys. Not my dealership, and I was a little junior bump on the log feeding my family. Did leave there the first chance I got. Would handle it differently today, but being a whistleblower is not an easy step, especially at 26.

I tell this to story to let you know that stuff happens in dealerships (and not just the bad ones). Stay vigilant or you will be taken without a fight.

One of the main reasons I service my own boat and cars is that I know what I get. Guess you'd say that from what I've seen, I have a natural distrust for service centers and HMO-paid doctors.

>>>>>Guess you'd say that from what I've seen, I have a natural distrust for service centers and HMO-paid doctors.<<<<<<<<<


Word!

Derek, what happened was still wrong. You should have notified the owner of the boat once you quit so he could handle it himself. Im sure you dont have any of the records on the boat or its owners so that would be out of the question. But it would be nice to let them know, and so they could get compensation for the damage.

Yep.

If he racked teh swim platform up, you may also want to insure the mount points aren't cracked too.

Sounds like the dealer is being proactive about this.