American Marine & Motorsports Super Center

Additional Notes

Complaint: We have had several issues with the company and we have attempted to resolve all of them in person, over the phone, or via email. I have made multiple attempts to communicate with the company and multiple times have failed. There is no follow-up and at one point I was told by a manager, "I am sorry for the problems you've experienced but I can assure you this type of problem will not happen again." It is concerning that my issues were being dismissed for the experience of the next customer. When setting up delivery for our boat, we were told on multiple occasions by multiple people that we needed to have everything ready. Our trailer hitch needed to be correctly set up for the lights, we had to have money ready, we needed to make sure "all our ducks were in a row" as they stated or delivery would not happen. That said, we did our part. We got to the office early. We paid for the boat. Our car was ready to haul. After all the paperwork was signed, we went out to the shop where the boat was waiting and the first thing we noticed was a 2-3 inch vertical scratch in the gelcoat that was not there the day we looked at it and made the deal. We mentioned it to them and the response was, "I don't know anything about that." The business manager stated, "you guys got a great deal on this boat, that scratch won't affect it's performance at all." We were even quoted a price to fix it at our cost! We began to look at the boat and we found that the carpet was not in it - it still had to be delivered from the Lake Shop. We also found out that the user manuals for the boat and the motor were not available at the time and would have to be mailed. I asked for paperwork stating what kind of oil was in the motor since, depending on the oil, the motor could potentially need to be reprogrammed. We were concerned about the warranty and wanted to make sure we had the oil type in writing. Rather than have something in writing, we were told how to tell what type it was based on the color. When I again requested actual paperwork rather than color-sampling, I received paperwork that (to the novice eye) did not necessarily state what type of oil was put in the motor at set up. When I called to asked about it again, I was greeted with impatience and told, "I am telling you how to figure out what it is based on the color. The oil ratio that we sent you states what it is. I am trying to educate you." I question why we, the customer, were reminded over and over to have all our ducks in a row but American Marine seemed to fall short of that goal. We did receive the boat's owner's manual and about a week later, the motor manual showed up. We have yet to get paperwork for the extended warranty we have on the motor. When I have called regarding the difficulty we had with our delivery and the scratch in the boat, I've been left with a lot of words but no action. They request information, I send it, and there is no follow up. I sent an email with a picture of the scratch. A week later after not hearing anything, I called to follow up and had to leave a message. I have yet to get a return call. I have been transferred to several managers within the business again being told that they are the person to handle my complaint and again, no follow up or I get empty promises to help. Over and over, we were told that we should be happy since we got such a great deal on the boat. We did get a great deal. We are pleased with the price. However, the price was agreed upon by both my husband and I AND American Marine. We were not told that the great price we agreed on would not support any customer service. There was never an apology for the scratch itself. There was no offer to fix it or help fix it. There was no follow up on the picture and email that was sent. I would like American Marine to take accountability for the delivery of this boat and for the damage that was found during delivery. This morning, prior to submitting this complaint, I left a message for the General Manager of American Marine (**** *). I was leary to leave another message since I have left multiple messages for multiple people without receiving return calls. I was assured that Greg would be timely in getting back to me. As of 8:50pm tonight, I have not received a return call. For that reason, this complaint has been filed.

Desired Settlement: We would like a refund equal to the cost for fixing the scratch in the gelcoat. We are not willing to leave our boat in the custody of American Marine at this time as our trust in them is lost. We would like to be able to take our boat to a different ******** dealer for the repair. At the time of delivery, we were told the scratch would cost anywhere from $350-$500 to fix. We would like a refund equal to $425.

Consumer Response: Complaint ******* Thank you, ******* ********** | Complaint Supervisor Tel: 414-847-6073Fax:414-302-0355Email: *****************************
*********** | Start With Trust Wisconsin BBB10101 W. Greenfield AveSuite 125Milwaukee, WI  53214   Your name: *** *****
E-mail: ********************
Message:
re: complaint ID ******* - I received a call from the company this afternoon. They are not willing to negotiate or compromise on a resolution for the scratch that occurred to the boat after we purchased it. They state that the price we paid for the boat did not include any profit so they have nothing to offer. When I asked why the company wasn't willing to support the customer service for this boat, I was given the explanation that the company has to look at profit, margin, overhead, and staffing. None of this should be deemed relevant to a situation such as this . I was told they would repair the scratch at a discounted price, they could give us a refund for the boat should we decide to return it, or they would order a new boat with all upgrade costs our responsibility. We purchased this boat because it was what we were looking for and in our price range. We purchased a boat that did not have this scratch on it when the deal was made. We are not interested in returning it and we certainly don't feel it is our responsibility to pay for the repair. When I told him this, I was told that it was unfair that I would ask them to cover the cost of the repair. Their customer service and loyalty to the customer is nowhere near exemplary as I was told it was mulitple times today.


---
Message has been sent at: 2012-05-17 03:12:46.
Chat has been opened from website:
http://wisconsin.bbb.org/
Message has been routed to skill: 0
Message ID: [LC #1073716.M4A597FDNA]

Business Response: Our service manager has talked to the customer and we will fix the scratch in the gelcoat at no charge.

**** *******
General Manager
American Marine & Motorsports

BBB's Final Determination: Business offered a resolution. Consumer did not pursue further with BBB and the matter was assumed to be resolved

Additional Notes

Complaint: THE HOLD DOWN BRACKETS FOR MY TARP SNAPS WERE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, THUS LETTING THE TARP COME LOOSE AND LOST. THE BRACKETS WERE ORIGINALLY PUT ON BY MYSELF AND THERE WAS NO PROBLEM WITH THE TARP COMING UNSNAPPED FOR 120 MILES. I WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP TO GET THE 20 HOUR CHECK. THE TECHNICIANS TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO REMOVE THE BRACKETS AND RECONNECT THEM WERE THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE CORRECT. THIS WAS NOT AUTHORIZED BY ME AND I FEEL BECAUSE OF THIS I LOST THE TARP ON THE ROAD COMING HOME FROM THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER REPEATED PHONE CALLS TO THE DEALER WITH NO RESPONSE I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF TO GET A TARP MADE TO REPLACE THE ONE THAT WAS LOST DUE TO THEIR NEGLIGENCE. AFTER THE NEW TARP WAS MADE, AMERICAN MARINE FINALLY CALLED ME AND WANTED ME TO GET MY MONEY BACK FOR THE TARP I HAD MADE, AND SAID FOR ME TO BRING THE BOAT TO THEM SO THEY COULD MAKE A NEW ONE. THIS IN ITSELF IS A POOR ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM CONSIDERING THE TARP WAS MADE ESPECIALLY FOR MY BOAT. THIS DECISION FOR ME TO GO TO THE NEW TARP MAKER FOR A RETURN OF MY MONEY WAS MADE BY THE DELIVERY MANAGER AND THE OWNERS OF AMERICAN MARINE. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A REQUEST LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN ONGOING SINCE THE TIME I PICKED THE BOAT UP IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR.

Desired Settlement: I WOULD LIKE AMERICAN MARINE TO REIMBURSE ME $585 FOR THE NEW TARP. AMERICAN MARINE HAS A COPY OF THE RECIEPT OF THE NEW TARP.

Business Response: Complaint #*******
***** *****

The cover that Mr. ***** is referring to was made at a local canvas company that builds our custom covers. After talking with the customer and what his wishes were it was decided that the cover was to cover the front windshield of the boat. The canvas company, with their many years of making covers installed the clips to hold the cover on the bottom of the windshield as they thought would hold best, keep in mind this is a custom cover which all covers are custom on each boat. When Mr. ***** pulled his boat home for the first time with his new cover, he called our service dept. and said a few clips had fallen of and wondered if we could send him some. We sent him some and he said he installed them. (Note: the cover had not come off the boat with missing clips at this time, as there are many other clips holding it on.) At a later date the customer brought his boat in for service, he also wanted us to see if we could look at the clips that he had installed for “they were bunching up the rubber” that the clips attach to. We then reinstalled the clips as per the canvas company deems best suited for this situation. Mr. ***** picked up his boat and we assume he pulled it home. To are recollection Mr. ***** called us the next day and stated that his cover had fallen off and was actually lost on the road. Its unknown how this cover could have came completely off the hull of this boat do to all the other snaps holding it in place. These should have held it on as it had the first time Mr. ***** pulled his boat home as he stated. After going through all the options and talking with all the proper parties, we decided to ask Mr. ***** to bring in his boat so we could get it back to the canvas company to see if they could remedy this situation. The customer felt that he was not being helped as fast as he would have liked so he stated that he took his boat to a totally different place without any authorization from American Marine & Motorsports and had a cover put on. We have never seen this cover, only have we been told about it and were sent a piece of paper with some numbers on it by Mr. *****, he claimed this was the receipt for the cover he decided to have put on. We feel that we were not given a fair amount of time to remedy this situation as if we had we would have came to a fair resolution and had a cover for his boat. We feel given an appropriate amount of time we would have been able to get a cover on Mr. *****’s boat that would have been satisfactory to him and would not have cost him any money.  American Marine & Motorsports did not authorize the installation of the cover by another supplier and is not responsible for the cost of the cover when we could have it replaced by our vendor at no cost to Mr. *****.

Sincerely,

American Marine & Motorsports

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID *******, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

Regards,

I have read the response by the business and do not agree to their response as it is not the truth. First of all there was no conversation as to the placement of the canvas on the boat .ie to cover the windshield or not. I told them while i was going home with the boat the first time that the boat cover was ripped off of the boat half way by the wind. Half of the cover was draped over the side of the boat after i stopped on the road to investigate. The cover actually lost approimately twenty snap brackets. Never did i say that the cover just fell off. Yes i did ask them to send me at least twenty clips ( a far cry from just a few ) and that i would put them on myself just so they didn't have to spend the time to do the work, not to mention the gas it would of took to drive the boat back to the business. When the time came for the twenty hour check i pulled the boat back to the business for the servicing. At that time i asked if they would consider drilling the holes so that the snaps would stay in place. After a few hours i returned to picked the boat up. At that time they told me that the holes could not be drilled fearing that the drilling process would crack the windshield. They also told me that they installed the brackets the proper way. Keep in mind that i had no problem with the the cover coming off on the way to their business. I believe that when the cover was first installed onto the boat that the brackets were put upside down. I told american marine this and they still switched the brackets back to their original way. On the way home i lost the cover completely and never did recover it. I even called the police dept. lost and found section to see if a cover was found, no luck. I made many phone calls to this business only to get the runaround in finding a solution to the problem. after two months i finally took it upon myself to get a cover made so i could pull the boat to various lakes protected from the elements. I believe that two months is more than sufficeint time to resolve this matter, but american marine wanted to just drag it out thinking that i would just drop the problem. Finally after the new cover was made( I have a legitimate sales reciept, not just a piece of paper with numbers on it ) i asked the service dept. about a dfferent problem i was having with the boat. At that time i inquired about the cover. I asked them that i would split the costs of $585 for the new cover, made by a different manufacture. The person that i talked to said he would get with the owner and find out what they could do. After several weeks i finally got an answer and that was the marina wanted me to get my money back from the manufacture of the cover and to bring the boat back to them so they could send it out to get another cover made. What kind of a request is this?

I belive that american marine was given plenty amount of time to make this problem right. As stated the cover only stayed on the boat during the trip to their business because i put the brackets on the right way. It was because of the marina's placement of the clips during the twenty hour checked that i lost the cover on the way home. i have this in writing and also the receipt for the cover i had put on. As stated before i belive that american marine needs to reimburse me the $585 for the new cover as i have given them plenty of time to fix this problem. This statement is the truth and i'm not to sure as to who american marine had make their statement as most of it is untrue

Thanj you,  ***** *****

Business Response:

In regards to the reply made by ***** *****, American Marine is still standing on our first reply. On the day of ***** *****'s delivery (06/09/11) the delivery manager, the person conducting the delivery, and ***** ***** had decided to have the cover made with the windshield covered. Mr. ***** was present at the time it was discussed. The cover and snaps were installed by a professional canvas installer. He decided where and how they were installed.

Consumer Response: Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response made by the business ireference to complaint ID *******, and have deterstandbymymined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

Regards,

***** *****

To Whom it may concern:

   I too stand by my last statement in regards to the time involved for American Marine to fix this problem. American Marine had approximately two months to respond to my request to solve the problem. They have lied about the reciept that I had given them and did not address the problem of them removing the clips and turning them upside down. Therefore resulting in the loss of the cover. As stated in their first statement and my rebuttal, there are great discrepancys as to what was said. I cannot believe that a store with such a great reputation would twist the truth around for their benefit. Once again I will stand by what I said and will leave the case to who ever will solve it.  

Thank you, ******** *. *****

BBB's Final Determination: After reviewing the position of all parties, BBB determined that the business made a reasonable effort to address the complaint. However the consumer remains dissatisfied.