Just needed a place to rant

[jmoore15]

Talk about less than ideal service. I left my boat at my local dealer to have my vents/drains crossed since I really didn't have the time to do myself. I told them when I needed the boat back (almost three weeks). Called the week I needed back and got the run around. Called the day of and got the run around. Went to pick it up and no work had been done. Brought the boat back the following week and was told they would not do the work to my boat. When I pushed I was give a line of BS abou how that was not the way Tige designed the boat and therefore they would not alter. After a less than satisfying conversation I took my boat and left. I then called Tige and was told there was no problem with crossing these lines. Called the dealer back and spoke with the GM. He said he didn't care what Tige said he would work not on my boat. I mentioned that this was not my first issue trying to do business with him and he said "what do you expect for a guy that goes to Florida to buy his boat"! I guess he was pissed that I traded my previous boat to another owner in FL for his boat. I am on my second Tige and in the market for my third. Think I will buy one from him??????????????

[Dandy]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with and crappy attitude from your dealer. I would suggest writing a polite and detailed letter/email to Tige and inform them of ALL of the details, including names of the folks at the dealer. Normally I am not one to suggest complaining direct and would recommend trying to work things out with your dealer as you have a relationship with them, however you have already tried this route. If nothing else, Tige needs to be aware of how their dealers are representing them and their brand. There are a lot of brand loyal people out there and some that are not and things such as this and the locked in dealer territories may push a somewhat loyal buyer over to a different dealer and in turn a different brand. It's too bad your dealer wasn't up front with their attitude as you could have saved 3-4 weeks and had a different shop gladly perform the work for you.

Best of luck!

[jmoore15]

Agree. I have tried to deal with these issues in a productive manner including discussing with the GM as well as with Tige on this particular issue as well as others. Tige has been great to deal with wish I could say the same for the dealer.

[SBM1234]

It is difficult this time of year to get any work done - not only with dealerships, but independents as well. Given the rains we have had, it pushed the season back a month so you are seeing the peak now and hopefully a bit of a slow down in a couple of months. I know this probably doesn't give you much relief, but maybe it will give you some understanding as to what these guys are going through.

And it is known that they give preferential treatment to their customers, this is one of the huge advantages of buying local. So its possible to save some cash by doing so, but there is a trade off as I am sure you know. Does that excuse them for reneging on their promise? No, not at all. But, if they weren't slammed right now with service requests for their clients, I bet they would have followed through.

[BCRider]

Before I had my Tige I used to stop in the local Malibu/Nautique dealer and purchase gear and knew one of the younger guys there pretty well. Last year when I started looking to purchase a new boat I went to the local dealer again as I really like VLX's (still do) and wanted to inquire about the surf ability being that they don't have much of a deep V. I ended up speaking with the owner and he was talking to me like I had never even been in a wake boat or knew what I was talking about. I pretty much got the if it ain't a malibu or Nautique it's crap. For the most part he made me feel like unless I had a 100K to buy a boat I should just go away because I was wasting his time. Well, that turned me off that dealer pretty quick. Just because I'm not a customer today doesn't mean I won't be tomorrow.

[alwayssummer]

I'm glad you started this thread as I often find myself with need to vent. Being 31 years old the last 4 years of my life I have been confronted with a ton of disrespect. Also I work with gas station managers on a daily basis that think I just woke up one day and decided to do what I do. We have three dealers here and only one of them I trust. When I walk into the Malibu dealer here they will look at me and imediately find something else to do. It's very frustrating, but over the years I've learned I'm not an idiot. If they don't want my business then they won't get it. Something as simple as cross venting and draining ballast would take them maybe 30 min. tops. a month is ridiculous.

[empty_boat]

I have personally cross vented and cross drained a boat, and I may be slow, but it me wwwwaaayyyy longer than 30 minutes. What I think the dealer did that was "wrong" was to wait 3 weeks and THEN say he wouldn't work on it. If he isn't going to work on it he should have told you up front. Regardless of reasons.

[WakerideN]

good place to rant... I probably would have even dropped the dealers name just out of spite...haha agree x3 with what has been said. what waste of your time and beyond bad customer service. should have just said no upfront and then it would be a null issue for the most part.

[jmoore15]

I cross vented mine last night and it took me about an hour. I also found out from the service manager that he was told they weren't going to perform the work and they conveniently forgot to call and let me but just chose to let my boat sent. Quite frankly from a business perspective I find turning down work just plain stupid. The last time I checked I was paying for the work and if nothing else should be viewed as a potential customer. IMO you are going to continue to see crap like this if you don't allow dealer competition.

[Z1Fan]

Now you understand, how a dealer can influence your perception if a boat is good or bad

[Surf406]

sorry bout ur crappy luck, my dealer is super busy this time of year also but if I needed anything done on my boat there great about getting it done quickly so im back on the water by the weekend also your guy is probably unhappy you didn't purchase from him so hes going to give you that response.

[dukesofhazzard]

shop rate is shop rate though what company in their right mind turns work down. I don't care if you bought from them or not. You could be a potential customer or maybe you have friends or family looking to buy.

[Z1Fan]

They don't always see it that way, it's usually why dealers don't stick around long either

[goody777]

You think the dealers are bad so is the manufacturer. My new boat came with stress cracks all over along with other issues and the manufacturer told me the gel coat was not covered. The manufacturer even tried to fix some of them before they shipped it and did a very poor job of it. I spotted them out to the dealer before I took delivery and the dealer told me the manufacturer would take care of it. Boy were they wrong. This is my 2nd Tige in 3 years and will be my last. I don't blame my dealer for not selling them anymore.

[JLG]

This is all too familiar in the boating industry. These dealers are given a "territory" and think they are king sh## and we as buyers should support them! Well that's not the case for most of us educated buyers, who aren't afraid to travel for a good deal! It seems that Tige is getting a little better than some boat MFGs at accepting or allowing us to buy out of their dealers "territory", but it could use some addressing IMO. I know that if it weren't for Tige allowing me to buy out of my area I would have went down the road and would've most likely owned another brand. As far as service I do most on my own and could care less if the closest dealer will or won't work on my boat, as I've tried time and time again to give him my business to no avail! I will travel hours for service before I will spend a dime in the local dealers business!!. Just my experience and I know exactly how you feel.

I'm with most of you in the aspect of hoping the industry or mindset changes in these dealers, and they realize they are losing money by not taking in any business they can get from us no matter the brand or where we purchased! Just bad business that this dealer even took your boat in and let it set for weeks end! The chicken sh## owner needed to address his "small man syndrome" type issues with you upon your request for their shop to service your boat instead of jacking you around that long!!

You won't see a chevy, gm, or ford dealer turn your vehicle away for service no matter the brand or where you purchased so why isn't the boat industry moving this way???