MC sales tactics

[laserfish]

My son went with his college roomates family to look at and purchase a boat. They looked at CC first because they were local, Tige RZ4 second, and MC third. Liked the Tige, but wanted stock and did not like the Slalom Shop stock colors. So they ended up at Texas MC. My son is a big wakeboarder and knows the boats and his room mate had done his homework too. When they told the MC guy they were looking at Tige he says you don't want a Tige, they make their boats with wood, and the wood will rot and even with the warranty, who wants to go through that hassle. Plus their interiors rip because they use inferior materials. Ran Tige down. My son had to bite his tongue and stayed quiet because he knew they were not going to buy a Tige anyway, but he is going to set the guy right when they go back to pick up the boat. When they told the Tige salesman they were looking at MC he said great boat, but here is why you want a Tige. Class all the way. MC never changes. Still cannot figure out why someone would want to pay 15000 more for a boat name. The poor CC guy never even called them back, guess he did not realize that his Dad was a surgeon and was ready to buy. Thought it was just two 21 year olds wasting his time. It was good to hear that Tige sales still focus on Tige boats, and not running the other guy down.

[Matt Garcia]

Your son should have asked why a $85,000.00 boat needs tower braces.

[chpthril]

Ive seen/heard time and time again, the more expensive lines have to beat down the competition in order to make their boats look better.

[Jeffe]

I had a similar experience with the local Malibu Dealer...Every other word was the F-Bomb & F-Tige, F-this & F-that. Nothing positive to say about any other mfg, while the everyone else was cool with each other.

With in 10 minutes of each other is Tige, Supra/Moomba, CC, centurion, supreme & 30 minutes away is MC & Malibu. All the sales guys know each other and each sales person said oh yeah the guys at ______ dealership is super cool and & good people. Except the Malibu guy!!!

[Dan and Christy]

This was/is true with our Tige purchase. We began going to the boat shows in Phoenix while we were still at ASU. Yes we were just college kids but we were well on our way to great paying jobs. The only dealer to give us the time of day was Tige. After we graduated and moved to Vegas we continued to go to the boat shows. Again, Matt was the only one willing to spend time with us. It's amazing how some salesmen, and people in general, just don't understand that relationships are of the utmost importance and not just the dollars.

[da.bell]

Tige must stress the idea not to bash other manufacturers during the dealer meetings.

[laserfish]

da, I agree. I have never heard anyone from Tige ever say anything negative about another brand. Even when Andrew was taking me on the tour of the factory and I said something negative about MC, he immediately turned it around and just said something positive about Tige and what its attributes were. Never dissed MC even once. Like I said before, that is brand class. I hope they never forget that because it really makes a positive impression.

[Tria1982]

Nicely done

From my experience Tige is confident enough in their product that they don't need to bash other boats. I wonder if your son's friend will ever notice the convienently placed drain on the floor near the back seat. Slight design flaw that makes a drain a necessity when the bilge can't work fast enough when water cascades over the front from a simple turn.

[da.bell]

It also flows down to the owners of boats. IMO, I don't like some boat models but again, I don't come out and bash them nor do I say anything bad about them. Every boat has their + and -.

[dogbert]

My son went with his college roomates family to look at and purchase a boat. They looked at CC first because they were local, Tige RZ4 second, and MC third. Liked the Tige, but wanted stock and did not like the Slalom Shop stock colors. So they ended up at Texas MC. My son is a big wakeboarder and knows the boats and his room mate had done his homework too. When they told the MC guy they were looking at Tige he says you don't want a Tige, they make their boats with wood, and the wood will rot and even with the warranty, who wants to go through that hassle. Plus their interiors rip because they use inferior materials. Ran Tige down. My son had to bite his tongue and stayed quiet because he knew they were not going to buy a Tige anyway, but he is going to set the guy right when they go back to pick up the boat. When they told the Tige salesman they were looking at MC he said great boat, but here is why you want a Tige. Class all the way. MC never changes. Still cannot figure out why someone would want to pay 15000 more for a boat name. The poor CC guy never even called them back, guess he did not realize that his Dad was a surgeon and was ready to buy. Thought it was just two 21 year olds wasting his time. It was good to hear that Tige sales still focus on Tige boats, and not running the other guy down.

You know it's funny. Tige actually started using composite stringers a while back, but the wood stringers were actually stiffer and stronger. I'm not sure how they would rot since they are completely sealed in fiberglass. My 1990 Maxum had wood stringers and wood bulkheads, but they were also completely encased in fiberglass. No rotting going on in either boat.

As for the CC dealer, I had the same experience back in 1999 (when I bought my Tige) and again in 2000 (when I bought my Sea Pro). They lost out on selling me a top of the line SAN and a Boston Whaler. I was a bit older than 21 at the time and they knew me because we had bought a Jet Ski from them. I'm much happier the way it all turned out. I wouldn't trade my Tige for anything ('cept for maybe a new one).

[FacePlant]

Whats even worse is that the MC dealer is pushing incorrect info. Tige hasn't used any wood since, what.....2003??

[talltigeguy]

Whats even worse is that the MC dealer is pushing incorrect info. Tige hasn't used any wood since, what.....2003??

I think the 2002 was the last year we all had woodies...

[DieselPWR]

Tige must stress the idea not to bash other manufacturers during the dealer meetings.

X2, my dealer at WWS was class all the way. The Malibu dealer here at Tommys talked down on Tiges.

[Jason B]

That's really kind of unfair to say a "brand" bashes. MC does condone those stupid commercials (which are devoid of any humourous content at all) so I may make an exception for that, BUT, in general it's not fair. There are 100s of sales people for each brand. The manufacturers can't really be held responsible for a couple of douchebag salesmen. To say that a person bashes, or a dealership maybe bashes, is accurate--not the brand. MC, Malibu, Moomba, etc.. should not get a bad rap for the spoken words of some stupid sales people. I have no doubt Tige dealerships the country around have some individuals who bad mouth the competition.

You have to take ANYTHING a salesperson says (from any brand) with a grain of salt and evaluate how important that assertion is to you--if it means a lot research it and find out the validity. If it means little then ignore the moron even said it.



btw: from my personal observations in my area, MC owners do tend to be JAKKAZZES as a broad generalization

[chpthril]

btw: from my personal observations in my area, MC owners do tend to be JAKKAZZES as a broad generalization

It's called owner conditioning, and it starts at the top. Ive heard it from the reps, who feed it to the dealer sales staff, who in turn, spew it to the potential buyer. So, yes it is the brand/manufacturer/company doing the "bashing".