SeaRay Closed?

Water Pressure sensors seem to be a common failure. Mine was replaced 3 times in 08 on the starboard motor :huh: I was told that if you run in shallow, sandy water that a simple grain of sand can plug the hole where the press is read. Now that you have it fixed, buy another and add it to your spares, you'll need it. SB
 
Newbie said:
Water Pressure sensors seem to be a common failure. Mine was replaced 3 times in 08 on the starboard motor :huh: I was told that if you run in shallow, sandy water that a simple grain of sand can plug the hole where the press is read. Now that you have it fixed, buy another and add it to your spares, you'll need it. SB
Click to expand...
I'll count my blessings. Boating in the Barnegat Bay and certain area's of NJ offers some very shallow boating. In fact I had to ask my marina to move my boat because at low tide it sat in the muck while in my slip. Yet I've had no problems... so far. (crossing fingers)
 
The car analogy doesn't work....if your seats fail, you don't contact the GM, themanufacturer, either, you contact your local dealer.

But, what is material here is that you did this exactly the right way.....you contacted your dealer, who is also a Mercruiser dealer. They could not warranty the part because Mercruiser would not approve the repair. Therefore, your dealer did the only thing he could for you and which was to suggest that you contact Sea Ray in hopes that they would cover the part and bill it back to Mercruiser. They refused, so you are out of luck and there is no court of higher authority......or rather I certainly wouldn't persue it for a $125 part.

Had your engine blown up, my guess is that Mercruiser would have replaced it, and if not Sea Ray would have stepped in and forced Mercruiser to help you. We have many CSR members who have had out of warranty repairs paid for when the defective part was substantial.....an engine in a 390DA, exhaust manifolds on a 320DA, exhaust manifolds on a 340DA, fuel coolers on a 340DA, and a 390DA.
 
I'll avoid all the arguments and won't take any sides on this fight. But I have to relate my most recent experience with Sea Ray concerning my Galley Faucet that had a deteriorating finish. I posted about my problem here http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14013

In attempting to find out who the maufacturer of the faucet was, I contacted Sea Ray via email , explained the problem I was having, and asked if they could tell me who the manufacturer was so I could contact them. My intent was to inquire about whether the manufacturer would consider replacing the faucet. Instead, Sea Ray stepped up to the plate and asked if I would like a new Faucet. I said yes and they said as long as I would install it they would ship one to me free of charge. I now have a brand new faucet! Sea Ray didn't have to do this but it these types of "gestures" that have made me a happy camper.
 
fwebster said:
The car analogy doesn't work....if your seats fail, you don't contact the GM, themanufacturer, either, you contact your local dealer.

But, what is material here is that you did this exactly the right way.....you contacted your dealer, who is also a Mercruiser dealer. They could not warranty the part because Mercruiser would not approve the repair. Therefore, your dealer did the only thing he could for you and which was to suggest that you contact Sea Ray in hopes that they would cover the part and bill it back to Mercruiser. They refused, so you are out of luck and there is no court of higher authority......or rather I certainly wouldn't persue it for a $125 part.

Had your engine blown up, my guess is that Mercruiser would have replaced it, and if not Sea Ray would have stepped in and forced Mercruiser to help you. We have many CSR members who have had out of warranty repairs paid for when the defective part was substantial.....an engine in a 390DA, exhaust manifolds on a 320DA, exhaust manifolds on a 340DA, fuel coolers on a 340DA, and a 390DA.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I sent them an email mostly to see if they'd do something. They didn't, I'm not worried about, but you know - you'll never get anything if you don't ask, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
 
Isn't it strange how some get help and some don't. Kinda makes me wonder what the criteria is. Or maybe it depends on moods or conditions or attitude or what? More like, weather it will turn into a recall and cost them to much money. Seems to me it should be a little more cut and dry, (kinda like the written warranty suggests) but then I live in a black and white world. I mean working in the nuclear industry, I just am not allowed to make certain destinctions due to public safety. I know we're not talking about public safety but, seems to me if it breaks during the warranty time frame, fix it, period. The grey area can commence when the warranty expires. Then there is no bickering. Ok that's bull crap, there will always be bickering. LOL.
 
Just to be clear, nobody has said Sea Ray or Mercruiser failed to fix a defect while it was in warranty, did they?

The gray area has been in customer accomodation fixes after the warranty expired. For the most part, and I'm sure there are exceptions, Sea Ray is very generous about such fixes, but they do have some limits. One of them most important things is that the dealer needs to be involved. Sea Ray is less likely to accomodate a customer with an out of warranty repair if the boat's owner just calls up Sea Ray out of the blue and complains. The other thing we see in our area is that Sea Ray nearly always calls the dealer and asks if the owner properly maintains his boat. They are far less likely to help out an owner who neglects his boat and fails to properly service and maintain it.
 
"I know we're not talking about public safety but, seems to me if it breaks during the warranty time frame, fix it, period. The grey area can commence when the warranty expires."

You imply Searay has not fixed something that broke within its warranty period. That doesnt seem to be the case in this thread. In fact I dont recall that scenario ever taking place with a Searay. It does take place with other brands, It has happened to me.

There is no grey area, when the warranty expires its over. If they decide to fix something out of warranty, consider it a gift. They owe you nothing.
 
sprink56 said:
I thought this was interesting to read...all is not well in paradise with Sea Ray. http://powerboat.about.com/b/2009/01/07/sea-ray-boat-production-slows.htm
Click to expand...

Cool! I want an office job with Sea Ray. According to one insider "Economic times are tough, but lieing [sic] to the people that [sic] built these boats so they can have offices full of people who never lift a finger to do anything except have sex with other employess [sic] while boats are being built downstairs by hardworking honest people. All the people cheating on their spouses upstairs get to keep their jobs, (for now anyway). This is one company that dosn’t [sic] reward hard work unless you are working hard under the right desk."

And I thought you had to be president to have those kinds of benefits.

Best regards,
Frank
 
I understand the frustration of someone being laid off. We had to lay off a few people on Friday and it makes me sick. It is the worst part of any management job. Having said that I am sure there is always water cooler gossip that can turned into mud slinging in a heart beat.

Hey, I bought a SeaRay because it is a very good boat and the company enjoys a long history of making a solid product.

I think what has been lost by SeaRay in these economically challenging times is the ability to effectively communicate with their customers. Candidly, I don't think they have ever had a customer service telephone line for as many years as I can remember. (They do have the computer email for contact.)

Most of us have figured out where are boats were manufactured and then found telephone numbers to contact them.

My guess is that they would rather have you deal with the dealer. Their business model seems to rely heavily on that formula and in fact their marketing material also suggests this. That's fine, but if you are going to do that then you need to ride hard on your dealer. They have put all their eggs in the MM basket. I suspect the thought is they would get some consistency by doing this. So given that business model, I would think that they would dictate much more closely how things would be in the customer service department.

Unfortunately as I have waded through the posts on this thread there seems to be a big gap in the customer service delivered under this system. And granted boat owners experiences differ widely on a dealer by dealer basis. That seems odd for a large publicly held company.

The Olive Garden in Michigan is the same food quality as it is in Florida. People know what they are going to get when they walk through the door. (BTW, this is my hot stock tip, I love the Darden group.)

In may case the MM dealer lied to me about what SeaRay said concerning an issue with a drain in my boat. SeaRay held fast and after a review of the facts with the MM dealer calmer heads prevailed and it was resolved. The only problem was that I was put in the middle of a squabble between SeaRay and MM that I should never have been a part of and I was stuck with a significant problem for three months. That sort of thing leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. I'm over it and I think we all should be.

I think we should encourage SeaRay to examine their customer service process and to work on their communication with their customers and with dealers. Your best customers are often the ones you already have. If I was running the company I would be sending out emails and letters trying to keep in touch with my customers. Hey most SeaRay owners are bright enough to know that these are hard times; why go hide in your office and hope the problem goes away? Actually you could probably garner a ton of support from your loyal customers if you were a little more open.

If I ran SeaRay I would mandate that MM tow the line across the board and that within the SeaRay family that customer service is priorty number one. I think the management should also read Danny Meyer's new book on hospitality, its an excellent read on employees and customers.

Enough, I need to go to the boat and take apart my fuse box.
 
I have said over and over Searay gave marine max way too much control in the north East . Year after year they have driven customers away ...

Rob
 
Why do you think Sea Ray gave them anything?

Marine Max began when 4 independant dealers (several stores) merged in 1998. They grew by continually acquiring additional dealerships, most with eisiting Sea Ray and Whaler franchises. I doubt their contracts would allow Sea Ray to yank a franchise just because MM grew too big.

If there is a problem with the dealerships, I tend to thiink it is a management and control issue, not a size problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,160
Messages
1,427,475
Members
61,067
Latest member
RoseyNerd
Back
Top