Boat dealer vs car dealer

Jeepguy

Jeepguy

New Member
Sep 25, 2010
87
Anchor Bay, Lake St Clair, MI
Boat Info
Black on white 2012 220 Sundeck
Tow vehicle: 2010 Eddie Bauer Explorer 4.6V8
Engines
5.0 V8 Bravo III
I bought my first ever brand new boat this year. I was surprised to find out how different the Sea Ray dealer was from a car dealer. They have a lot to learn about service.

I contacted the dealer 3 times to get a price on adding a second battery. I never did find it out. Ok, I get it, these guys make a lot more money selling boats then from servicing them, but couldn't they have at least recommended someone else to do the work?

When I picked up the boat there was an employee who helped me winch the boat on the trailer, he vanished while I pulled the boat out. I went inside a service bay to ask if someone had zip ties that I might use to affix the license plate. A guy working on a boat said "We can do better than that" and handed me a package of screws.
I felt fine with that at the time, but can you imagine a car dealer handing you a license plate and screws and saying "good luck"?
Their service stopped before the boat was even dry.

The next day a friend came over to check out my new boat while I put on the MC numbers. He asked me why the dealership didn't install the MC numbers...well... I don't know, seems like they could have done that for me.

When I filled the porta head with water it leaked, so I called the dealership. No problem, they would order a new one. But when it came in no one called me, I had to call and see if it was there. And then I didn't know where to go to pick it up.

When you buy a new car they tell you what to do if you need service, where to go, usually even introduce you to the Service Mgr.

There is actually another part that was ordered for me. It was supposed to be installed when I picked the boat up, but was missing. It's been over a week, I'm sure it's in, but I haven't been called.

There were minor missteps through out the whole process, wrong invoices, wrong prices etc.

All of these are small things, but taken together it really shows how much they could learn from a car dealership.

A boats costs a good deal more than a car, I was surprised they don't have the same level of customer care.

BTW I love the new boat!
 
Holy cow! If Sea Ray were to find this out, the dealer would be in big do do. That's not a typical Sea Ray dealer at all.

Our Dealer on Kelowna is exceptional. That includes when you just stop to get a part or have a look around.

I'd drop a note to Sea Ray and let them know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't really want to get anyone in "big do do" but I was a little surprised with the service I recieved. When my wife and I went to close on the boat we had to wait in the show room for 10 minutes before anyone came out of their office to acknowledge us. Again, not a big deal, but that would never happen at a car dealer.
 
Although I work at a dealership, I am on this forum simply as a boat guy. Most of my posts center around that - boating. But, speaking as a dealer - I would want to know what happened. And I would want to hear directly from you - not over the phone - so you know that I am listening and appreciating what your experience was. So, from a dealer to a customer - stop in and talk to the GM. Do this before you contact Sea Ray. Otherwise SR will call the GM to inquire about this and the GM's only (true) response will be "I didn't know there was a problem".

Explain exactly what happened in a normal tone of voice (which it sounds like you would do based on your comments here in this thread) but be very "to the point" that you are dissatisfied and dissappointed with the level of service and customer relations that you have received to date. You might open by pointing out a positive experience or something that you are happy about (boat performance?).

Good luck, I hope they turn around and meet your expectations.
 
Boats are not cars and boat dealers are not car dealers. Trying to compare them is fruitless and will only upset you. Instead, try to figure out how this system works and how to get the results you desire working within your dealers system.

For example, from your post, I suspect you dealer operates each department on its own budget and considers each a profit center. So, asking your sales guy for pricing on an extra battery gets you no results because he has already made his commission on your purchase. Ask the parts guy and you will likely get an answer while you are on the phone. Same reasoning works for option you wanted installed. That should have been done before the boat was delivered, but now, it won't be a sales issue, but will be a service job. As far as the part being late, well, this isn't General Motors.....Sea Ray has a minimum order and you dealer can't get the part until he accumulates or reaches the minimum order size.

Also, from what you say, your dealer lacks a lot in the new owner orientation department. That isn't an industry wide or Sea Ray problem. Other dealers are not like that and many do a superb job with new owners. At our dealer, here in Florida, new boat delivery takes at least 6 hours on smaller boats. The salesman spends about 3 hours after closing introducing the customer to the Service Manager and Service Writers, the pasts manager, the dock master, securing storage or a slip for the new owner, then the company Captain spends about 3 hours with the customer and the boat on the water going over systems, operation, navigation, docking, handling and safety. So much information is provided that it is almost overload for a new owner.

Good luck with your new boat .............and welcome to the Sea Ray family.
 
I'm sorry for you and I would be as Jeepguy advises you to do. My dealer has been better than the best and I am even thinking of giving the guy more than he is asking for the boat. He has bent over backward to sell me this boat and has been more than honest and direct about her and her needs. Every little issue, and some big, he has fixed!
 
Thanks for the advice! I'm not angry, I love the boat, I guess just little disappointed in the customer service side. In hindsight I probably should have contacted the GM before posting here. But I didn't think of that and I honestly didn't know if my experiences were the norm or not.
As for the battery issue, I emailed the sales person. I didn't hear back so I called the salesperson who transferred me to service, Service told me that only one guy could give me the price and was busy with a customer. I left a message. The next week I called directly to service and left another voice mail. It is possible that he isn't getting his voicemails, but when I still didn't hear back, I just figured I would have it done elsewhere.
Everyone I spoke with was friendly and I don't feel that they made any huge errors... just 8-10 little things LOL
In any event I will contact the GM this week and let him know where I feel improvements could be made.
 
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Frank W covered it well - the only thing I can think to add is get to know the service and parts manager. If you want the dealership to do anything, the service department will be your primary point of contact.
 
What Frank said.:thumbsup:
The only thing I would add is that sale's sells the first boat to you and service and parts sell everyone after that. Commission aren't the life blood of the dealership as it once was. Parts and service can make far more money off a single unit over it life time if done correctly.
Welcome and happy boating.
 
I think the OP's point here is that the salesman made a commission then dumped him. I'm sorry guys but I don't think that is cool. When you purchase an item the saleman becomes your primary contact there. It is his RESPONSIBILITY to assure that the process goes well for the customer. Even as a selfish point, the saleman should want to assure that when this customer steps up in size (as most of us do) that he will be the first one called with the chance to sell another boat. Based on the OP's experience do you think he will opt to use this guy again? I know that I wouldn't.

I recently had some insulation installed in my home by an outside company. The price was great and the installation excellent. A couple of days after the install, I had already paid too, the salesman gave me a courtesy call just to make sure everything went well and that I was happy with the job! Now that didn't take much effort but did make me feel good. I would definitely use a company like that again.

Good luck with the GM. I hope it works out well for you but I have my doubts. There appears to be a culture of disregard from top to bottom in that dealership otherwise one of the individual "profit centers" would have stepped up with their resposibilities and impressed you even as the others failed.
 
I would say definatly not normal. I purchased a 21 foot jet boat new and they even put on the name I choose for the boat.
They helped me with the trailer and got the plate for it.
I have purched cars from dealers and all but one did the leg work including putting on the licence plate. One used SUV I bought in
Phoenix and the gealer even paid for the licence plate for me and detailed the SUV at no charge. He was also 5,000 less than the
papers and internet for price on similar units.
 
I also think that Frank articulated things very well but it's sad that it's that way. There is no reason a person should have to figure out the system and get in good with anyone. It's just my opinion but it seems that the larger "chain" dealers have a crappy model from a consumer standpoint. If you are Joe Average walking in off the street and you don't know the system you will surely get screwed. The salesman will size you up to get a feel for how much you know and if you are green then you are going to pay way too much. If you take the time to do a A LOT of homework (which you should anyway) then you stand a chance of getting an ok deal but the experience will be frustrating as heck.

I like the boutique dealers better -- more personable and helpful because their lively depends on it. They don't have the mass sales so every customer counts and the repeat servicing after the sale is as important as the sale itself.

Cars and boats are way different but the boat dealers should take some lessons from the auto dealers.
 
Congratulations on the new boat. It sounds like things are a little disorganized at your dealer at best, and possibly just plain sloppy. I've had a decent relationship with my dealer, and my boat was used. But, I stopped in the other day, things were a little slow, and they practically held my hand picking out about $130.00 in cleaners, lubes, an outdrive fill pump, etc.

There have been a few lesser experiences there, but the staff seems stable and experienced and I frequently see the owner on site. Probably the largest dealer in Omaha, but boutique size in bigger markets.

I hope your dealer is just having a few busy days. A good dealer is a place I like to spend my money.
 
Totally agree with Tonka on this. I am tired of crappy service. I do not care about the internal workings, protocol, etc. of your organization. If I lay down 50K and up for a product, take care of me. Have some meetings and get everybody trained to take care of the customer or direct them to somebody who will (immediately).
 
I had a similar experience after the sale with a used Sea Ray please see this older post mine is the last. Since then we have an excellent relationship I had a question about the hull a month ago and called the GM he stopped by the marina a couple hours later to look at it. The only thing I would add as you seem to be able to articulate yourself very well send an email to the GM and owner prior to speaking with them in person get everything documented before contacting Sea Ray I said they said doesn't go very far.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/18478-Lake-Union-Sea-Ray-service-work?highlight=lake+union
 
Competition makes for good pricing and service. We are fortunate to have many local options for sales and service in West Michigan. My storage marina provides excellent service when it comes to moving the boat outside for polishing and waxing, and it is launched when they say it will be with no damage. Winter projects are done to a high standard. I have to say each of the vendors we have used over the years has done good work. Routine oil changes, filters, fluids, etc are done at my home by techs who are knowledgable and the pricing is very competitive. I believe our situation in this part of the country is unusually good based upon our visits to other areas of the country. The support systems we have make boating truly enjoyable.
 
I started an email to the GM today... But it was gorgeous out so I put the email aside and took the boat out instead. I keep thinking I have the boat I wanted, I'm happy with it, why should I use MY free time (read boat time) to improve someone else's business? If they truly want my opinions they have my contact info. Meanwhile there is a really great authorized Merc dealer right up the street. They do great work, and treat me like a king every time I go in the place. Enough about what went wrong, I want to boat!
I HAVE A NEW BOAT!!!!
 
I hope your dealer was not Colony Marine.
 
As a new Sea Ray Owner, I would want Sea Ray to know the experience I had. If you don't want to help out the Dealer, help out Sea Ray Inc. I bet Rob at Sea Ray would listen to you and call the GM. It's his business also, Mike.
 
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