Cleaned my engine bay - what a great feeling

skunkman

Active Member
May 27, 2014
452
Longboat Key
Boat Info
2014 330 DA sold
Current boat 2021 Formula 350CBR
Engines
Triple 350 Mercury Verado
I got my boat back from MarineMax after the repairs listed in a previous post and the engine bay was a filthy mess - grease, rust on hull, old bolts, clamps, a broken pulley, one empty oil container, one half full oil container etc. The boat is running great but I felt uneasy knowing how dirty the engine bay was. At first I was angry and was going to take it back but I decided the boat will never return there so I cleaned it myself with rust remover, degreaser, a pressure washer and elbow grease. While it is not as good as new, it is close. I have to say it feels great to know it is so clean down there.
 
you are a better man than me....I would have inspected the boat before they returned it to me and if I found the mess like you did i would not have let the boat leave their facility until it was cleaned up....

that is totally unacceptable....

cliff
 
I agree with CliffA, this is unfortunately common. Most techs are just glorified back yard mechanics who now work for a dealer, pass some test and boom! They are “certified shitty mechanics” who are still slobs! They really should know what they did, hopefully you took some pics. If you don’t say something to the general manager how can it get corrected? It goes on and on and on and it will happen to someone else, maybe me?

Bow Tie
 
I agree with Bow Tie up to the mechanics part. I never blame the mechanics first. If they are not given clear direction, expectations and audited... then it's 100% management's fault. If they are given all that and still make a mess....it's still managements fault.

I would have taken some pictures and sent them to the Service Manager and General Manager explaining your expectation and desire to change dealers. Clearly one or both is not in the customer satisfaction business. If no response I would go to the President/CEO.

Owning/Managing my own business I want to know the good and especially the bad and fix it.
 
I agree with Bow Tie up to the mechanics part. I never blame the mechanics first. If they are not given clear direction, expectations and audited... then it's 100% management's fault. If they are given all that and still make a mess....it's still managements fault.

I would have taken some pictures and sent them to the Service Manager and General Manager explaining your expectation and desire to change dealers. Clearly one or both is not in the customer satisfaction business. If no response I would go to the President/CEO.

Owning/Managing my own business I want to know the good and especially the bad and fix it.
Why wouldn’t the mechanic be responsible for being a careless slob? That is where the problem lies. The Service manager is next in line, but he does not climb into a bilge to inspect? The next person in line is the General Manager, my first complaint would definitely be with the GM, he should stop this crap all the way down the line. BUT, it starts with the integrity & pride of workmanship of the mechanic. “If” you have a real mechanic who is knowledgeable AND takes pride in what he does, hang onto him, he’s a rare breed. Unfortunately, I can’t find one, now I’m back doing my own mechanical and electrical work. It’s getting tough working in the bilge, I wish I was was 2 feet shorter and 50 pounds lighter!

Your correct with the org chart, but not every place has a manager that clearly defines what is expected of the tech and if he does he then has to inspect the techs job. Unfortunately, the reality is, when “Pig Pen” gets done with the job and walks away nobody inspects the work. The owner of the boat takes it home and then finds a mess, just like Skunkman found. It starts with the mechanic and ends with the GM. Hopefully, Skunkman will say something and put the mechanic out of his misery, if not life will go on and boat owners will keep gett’n what we’re gett’n.

I too owned a business, employing 70+ people, including a 17 bay garage. I got rid of the slobs who don’t care. Unfortunately, I retired and now live 1400 miles away. My partner now has the pleasure of dealing with the nonsense of the mechanics.

Bow Tie
 
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Just noticed your from Key West... We love that place just came back from a week down there. Always a good time.

I don't think we are that far apart on this. I don't know the shop ...my guess is the Service manager or GM allows the mechanics to get away with being a slob. If the manager's don't clearly define the expectation then the pride in ownership or the lack of it will be displayed by the mechanics. That's what I meant about it starting with management.
If expectations are clearly defined and the tech cant meet them then get rid of the tech
 
I also had issues with MarineMax about repairs they performed as part of the sales agreement. Left the bilge a mess. Busted clamps, filth in the bilge. All fell on deaf ears.
Had problems with the repairs, they sent me to a different MarineMax store. More BS.
They wanted to charge me for repairs already part of the sales agreement. Spoke with the Regional Service Manager. He gave me plenty of lip service.
Long story, they lost a customer that interacts with a lot of boaters in the area.
 
Clean is good.

When I dropped my generator dip stick under the port engine and while I was fishing around for it I found so much crap from previous work it was disgusting. Tie wrap tails, wire connectors, wire pieces.........I would hate to know that a piece of leftover trash clogged someones bilge pump. I used a small shop vac to suck up everything I could not reach.
 
Wow - sounds like you guys have some pretty shitty shops. The shop I have used for many years takes pics before they start a job and after they finish. They also always provide me any old parts they remove. They pride themselves in returning it cleaner (or as clean as it will get) then when they started the work.
Last time there I had through hulls put in and when I got it back they had not only performed the work up to factory standards, they replaced any other broken ties, bad clamps and 3 worn (needed to be replaced) hoses. Yes - the little extras cost a few bucks, but saved me a lot of potential headaches in the middle of a fun filled weekend. So, they aren't all that bad.
 
Had a somewhat similar incident last year. Did a rebuild on one motor. Picked the boat up on a Sunday when shop was closed. This was my decision and choice due to my own schedule issues. I noticed grease, a few towels, and even some blood smears on various areas in engine bilge and even on upholstery. Didn't like it, but thought it was a 30 minute clean up job for myself the next weekend. Took the boat back to our marina 1-1/2 hours away. Buttoned her up and went home. Owner of the shop called me the following day to make sure boat ride back to marina was ok and that I was happy with service etc. I told him everything mechanically was great, but also told him about the "mess" left behind. He was surprised to hear this, but I told him it was not a big deal etc. and that I would take care of next weekend when we were back at our boat. Fast forward, next weekend arrives, we get to our boat and all the stuff left behind was all cleaned as well as some additional detailing work above and beyond that. I called the Owner of the shop and he told me he had his guys up to our boat immediately following our phone call to take care of everything. Cant beat good customer service.
 
Had a somewhat similar incident last year. Did a rebuild on one motor. Picked the boat up on a Sunday when shop was closed. This was my decision and choice due to my own schedule issues. I noticed grease, a few towels, and even some blood smears on various areas in engine bilge and even on upholstery. Didn't like it, but thought it was a 30 minute clean up job for myself the next weekend. Took the boat back to our marina 1-1/2 hours away. Buttoned her up and went home. Owner of the shop called me the following day to make sure boat ride back to marina was ok and that I was happy with service etc. I told him everything mechanically was great, but also told him about the "mess" left behind. He was surprised to hear this, but I told him it was not a big deal etc. and that I would take care of next weekend when we were back at our boat. Fast forward, next weekend arrives, we get to our boat and all the stuff left behind was all cleaned as well as some additional detailing work above and beyond that. I called the Owner of the shop and he told me he had his guys up to our boat immediately following our phone call to take care of everything. Cant beat good customer service.

Fantastic resolution to a crappy experience, but it would greatly benefit all to know the name & location of where you received this excellent customer service.
 
Marine Max is nothing more than a glorified "Car Dealership" for boats.
 
Overall, there never seems to be very good words for Marine Max on this site. Sounds like a good place to avoid.

I bought my boat from MarineMax and had a very good experience.
They are a dealership and in business to make money like any other dealership so a buyer needs to know what they want and stick to their guns.
I had initially contacted a Marine Max salesman about another boat that wasn’t right for me. He understood what I was looking for, made no bones about that he wanted to find me a boat because he was in business to sell boats, and he stayed in touch over a period of 6 months before he found what I was looking for in another one of their stores.
I dealt with the initial salesman from New Jersey, the salesman in Connecticut where the boat was located, and the Manager, Mechanic, and staff up in Connecticut and all of them were great.
They were taking my boat in on a trade when the salesman found it for me. The old owner was in the process of arranging for closing on his new boat.
There was some initial haggling back and forth on price contingent on Survey, once we agreed on a price, and they had title to the boat, I scheduled a Survey of the boat and motors.
Once I got the survey report back I insisted that they address some things that came up on the survey in order for the deal to continue.
There was some more aggressive back and forth to get them to agree to do it all, but they eventually relented and included it in writing that my list would be addressed prior to delivery. I didn’t try to adjust the negotiated price, a deal is a deal, but did insist that they take care of everything on my list at their expense.
I can’t blame them for trying to negotiate. The things I wanted done cost them money. A big sticking point was that I wanted the bottom stripped, re-barrier coated and delivered freshly bottom painted. The surveyor recommended that be done on the 15 year old hull. That was something they estimated to have a retail value of about $5000.00 and required them to pay an outside vendor to blast the bottom.
Their position was that while I was right to insist on everything working properly that I had to understand that I was buying a 15 year old boat and had to expect many layers of bottom paint.
Mine was that I paid the surveyor for his expertise and advice and was going to follow it.
They eventually saw it my way.
The other stuff I wanted done was relatively minor.
Since I closed in December, they also agreed to winter store, winterize, and shrinkwrap, and re-commission the boat all at their expense.
Once they agreed, they did exactly what they said they would do and were fantastic about it.
In the end I paid what I think was a very fair price for a truly turn key boat that was delivered in April detailed inside and out with a full tanks of fuel, fresh fluids, filters, zincs and everything else associated with a proper Spring re-commissioning. They also included a few hours on the water with a delivery Captain, brand new lines, new life jackets, toilet paper, and toilet cleaner as part of their delivery package.
They were very fair and I don’t think I would have gotten that much out of a private seller.
A friend bought a used smaller boat from them (at a different location) the year before I bought mine and he had the same experience. He even had a couple of small issues come up after delivery. They got him right in, fixed them at no charge, and had him back on the water immediately.
In the end, I felt like they go out of their way to make sure the buyer is happy and gives them good feedback. Their corporate office contacts buyers after delivery to make sure they are happy.
I don’t think a buyer can ask for much more than that.
 
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We have a lot of work performed at North Shore Marina in Grand Haven, MI as well as Walstrom Marine in Harbor Springs. The work is well done and you would never know a tech has been on board to perform work. The process begins with blankets and absorption diapers going down and ends with clean up. Pretty much the process I follow when working on my own boat. The management remark is spot on.
 

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