spinwax
04-03-2008, 04:41 PM
Usually if a place is bad, I just don't go back. I was treated so poorly, I wanted to make sure my PB friends don't make the same mistake.
At 19hrs, my lower unit let loose on my new boat. I am in Vegas and didn't want to go to Havasu to have it replaced. BIG mistake, the couple of shops I have been to down there were heaven (Pristige, Savage).
I looked on Mercs site and it said that Marine Center/Dry Dock here in Vegas was an authorized warranty center.
First off, I would like to say, I was extremely calm about this whole thing and no, I didn't go all beaverretriever.
I take the boat in and they replace the lower unit with no questions asked. So far, so good. We take it out not even two days later. An alarm is now sounding, the boat will not go into gear fwd or reverse. I take the boat back. I asked if they ran it in the tank. Answer "nah, we didn't run it, it was just a lower unit exchange". I am like WTF? "You didn't give us no prop to test it". Wouldn't you think they would just ask me to bring them a prop? Hell, I would think an authorized Merc Warranty place would have at least one prop. Well, they fix the going into gear issue.
The alarm: Well when we took it in there was no alarm, now it won't shut off. The tech states that he will just shut it off because there is another alarm in my Smart Crafts..... NOT TRUE. I spoke with Merc, Livorsi and Mercs Smart Craft people. We took the boat out thinking it was Ok. Now the boat runs fine, but no start up alarm and a check engine, fault alarm/horn. The fricken guy just disconected it. I told Merc this and they were blown away. They said "you have to be kidding me?".
So, I take the thing back in again this morning. This time the owner Bruce (who is a complete asshole), comes out with two other guys. He states that his tech is the best and Merc doesn't know anything because they are not in the field. He says "we are not a Merc racing facility" and they he will put the boat back to the way it was with the alarm sounding off and they will not fix it.
I told him, "why don't you give Merc a call? They told me on the phone that they would be HAPPY to work things out over the phone with you". Bruce says "I trust my tech and I am sure he did the right thing from the start".
I thought he was kidding. I even said I would let them use my phone if they didn't want to call them. He says again "I trust my tech did the right thing". ARE YOU KIDDING!!. That is like having a check engine light and covering it up with tape. Mind you, my boat is a 2008.
At that point Bruce says "you are stepping on my toes. I have been in business for 20yrs and we know what we are doing here". I said would take it else where.
I pride myself on having the best customer service around. I can't believe a place would treat someone like this. I was just blow away at how the guy treated me. It is hard to explain on a forum how this douche canoe spoke to me.
Again, I have NEVER badmouthed a place on a public forum, but I felt this needed to be said. Many people only talk about when they are screwed. I always make a point to let people know when my service was great!!!
Again, everytime I have needed help from Chris at Prestige, he picks up the phone and always makes a point to help me out and give me as much time as possible. Although he is not a Merc Outboard Warranty center, he told me to give him a few days notice and he would borrow a scanalizer and help me out when I come down with the boat. That is how things should be done. I never ask for anything for free, NEVER; and I don't expect people to do work for free, but if they are getting paid by me or Merc I expect the work to be done properly.
Edit. BTW, come to find out this morning. My buddy bought a Bayliner from Drydock/Marine Center. Had a drive replaced and it makes horrible noise all the time. They told him that it was fine. Sounds like these idiots hack up everything they do.
Rant over.
BTW, I know there are other shops in town that are great, but they are not OB warranty centers. I wish there was, because these guys are clowns and don't know crap about boats.
At 19hrs, my lower unit let loose on my new boat. I am in Vegas and didn't want to go to Havasu to have it replaced. BIG mistake, the couple of shops I have been to down there were heaven (Pristige, Savage).
I looked on Mercs site and it said that Marine Center/Dry Dock here in Vegas was an authorized warranty center.
First off, I would like to say, I was extremely calm about this whole thing and no, I didn't go all beaverretriever.
I take the boat in and they replace the lower unit with no questions asked. So far, so good. We take it out not even two days later. An alarm is now sounding, the boat will not go into gear fwd or reverse. I take the boat back. I asked if they ran it in the tank. Answer "nah, we didn't run it, it was just a lower unit exchange". I am like WTF? "You didn't give us no prop to test it". Wouldn't you think they would just ask me to bring them a prop? Hell, I would think an authorized Merc Warranty place would have at least one prop. Well, they fix the going into gear issue.
The alarm: Well when we took it in there was no alarm, now it won't shut off. The tech states that he will just shut it off because there is another alarm in my Smart Crafts..... NOT TRUE. I spoke with Merc, Livorsi and Mercs Smart Craft people. We took the boat out thinking it was Ok. Now the boat runs fine, but no start up alarm and a check engine, fault alarm/horn. The fricken guy just disconected it. I told Merc this and they were blown away. They said "you have to be kidding me?".
So, I take the thing back in again this morning. This time the owner Bruce (who is a complete asshole), comes out with two other guys. He states that his tech is the best and Merc doesn't know anything because they are not in the field. He says "we are not a Merc racing facility" and they he will put the boat back to the way it was with the alarm sounding off and they will not fix it.
I told him, "why don't you give Merc a call? They told me on the phone that they would be HAPPY to work things out over the phone with you". Bruce says "I trust my tech and I am sure he did the right thing from the start".
I thought he was kidding. I even said I would let them use my phone if they didn't want to call them. He says again "I trust my tech did the right thing". ARE YOU KIDDING!!. That is like having a check engine light and covering it up with tape. Mind you, my boat is a 2008.
At that point Bruce says "you are stepping on my toes. I have been in business for 20yrs and we know what we are doing here". I said would take it else where.
I pride myself on having the best customer service around. I can't believe a place would treat someone like this. I was just blow away at how the guy treated me. It is hard to explain on a forum how this douche canoe spoke to me.
Again, I have NEVER badmouthed a place on a public forum, but I felt this needed to be said. Many people only talk about when they are screwed. I always make a point to let people know when my service was great!!!
Again, everytime I have needed help from Chris at Prestige, he picks up the phone and always makes a point to help me out and give me as much time as possible. Although he is not a Merc Outboard Warranty center, he told me to give him a few days notice and he would borrow a scanalizer and help me out when I come down with the boat. That is how things should be done. I never ask for anything for free, NEVER; and I don't expect people to do work for free, but if they are getting paid by me or Merc I expect the work to be done properly.
Edit. BTW, come to find out this morning. My buddy bought a Bayliner from Drydock/Marine Center. Had a drive replaced and it makes horrible noise all the time. They told him that it was fine. Sounds like these idiots hack up everything they do.
Rant over.
BTW, I know there are other shops in town that are great, but they are not OB warranty centers. I wish there was, because these guys are clowns and don't know crap about boats.