ComplaintsforSea Eagle Boats, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased the LB 126 for $999 & used it 5 times in the past 5 years (I live in **). While paddleboarding on Lake Waramaug on 7/17/21, 2 seams started leaking air. Good thing I was wearing a life preserver as the ********** was totally deflated by the time I got to shore. I called the company that week to ask if there was a recall on this dangerous product - answer was no. Since the LB 126 was discontinued (probably due to seam leaks), Will the manager offered to replace the LB 126 with the smaller LB 11, but at a cost I was not willing to pay. He then informed me of their extended 6-year warranty for $99, which was NOT offered to me at the time I purchased the LB 126. I would have certainly purchased this warranty, especially since I had 2 inflatable SeaEagle kayaks that also had unrepairable seam leaks. This company should refund me the $999 I paid for this defective product, or replace it with the available equivalent version, the LB 11, at no charge.

  Business response

  08/24/2021

  Sea Eagle Boats offers a 3 year warranty on all of our inflatable boats, kayaks and standup paddleboards. It is within this timeframe that the any manufacturing issue must be reported in order to be covered.
  
  Sea Eagle has offered (optional) extended warranty coverage for our products since 2011 (this online purchase was made in 2015) and this option is offered to the customer in the shopping cart at the time of checkout.
  
  We are sympathetic to the situation, however the product in question is well beyond the warranty status and the best that we can offer is a discounted replacement price which would include free ground shipping and a new 3 year warranty (with the option to add the extended warranty coverage at an additional cost).
  
  

  Customer response

  08/25/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

   

  The inflatable long board (LB126) was defective.  I only used it a few times and it sprung 2 leaks on the same day.  This was a very dangerous situation and if I was not wearing a life preserver, I most likely would have drowned, and then Sea Eagle would have a more serious problem to deal with than just replacing my long board.

  This long board product LB 126 has since been discontinued, which is suspicious.  If the company knew it was defective, then it should have been recalled AND discontinued.
  

   

  
  
  
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a Sea Eagle 370 Pro package inflatable kayak from ****** on 3/11/2021. It was delivered on 3/24/2021. When I used it for the first time on 5/29/2021, I discovered that one of the seats was defective, with a broken valve and leaking air. ****** and the 3rd party seller refused to address my issue since it was beyond the 30 day return period. They suggested that the manufacturer should address it as it is within warranty. I wrote several e-mails to Sea Eagle and called them. They did not return my call or my e-mails. I would like the manufacturer to honor their warranty and allow me to return the defective seat for a replacement. I can provide all the excess art documents and pictures if needed, Thanks, ******

  Business response

  06/22/2021

  ******,
  My sincere apologies if you did not receive a reply from our service team. I have forwarded your information to the account representative who handles the 3rd party seller account and we will have this issue taken care of for you. Again my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and my thanks for your patience and understanding in this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  05/12/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I bought this kayak, and within the first year (and clearly within the warranty period), I found a leak in a valve that I documented with pictures. I first contacted the vendor, VM Express, then SeaEagle to attempt to trouble shoot the problem. It didn't fix it and SeaEagle admitted a likely fault in the valve that could not be repaired. I was then bounced back to VM Express to honor the warranty, and after some arguing between SeaEagle and VM Express, VM Express is the only one that will honor the warranty *if* I pointlessly send the defective kayak back to them at my expense. SeaEagle has not responded at all, even though this is a manufacturer's warranty claim. Both know the initial shipping and the return shipping exceeds the cost of the kayak, and it's to no purpose other than to create a barrier to honoring their warranty. I bought this as my first inflatable with the confidence of the warranty.

  Business response

  05/12/2021

  My sincere apologies for any issue that you're having with your Sea Eagle kayak.
  
  Our records show that we received an email from you on December 10th, 2020 and replied on December 11th, 2020. We recommended trying a troubleshoot that involves removing the valve cap from the valve base and aiming a hair dryer on the valve base for about 3 to 5 minutes as we believe this troubleshoot would solve the issue.
  
  Because your purchase was not made through Sea Eagle, you would need to go directly through the company that you purchased from to initiate a warranty claim or to refer to a refund since you paid them directly. 
  
  Please note that Sea Eagle customer service is standing by Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm in order to assist you as best that they can. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance directly and I will be happy to help. 
  
  Will A***** Sales Manager ************** ******
  

  Customer response

  05/13/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  You are literally giving me the runaround on a forum where customers come to report businesses for giving them the runaround. You sell your products through VM Express because any other retailer--think Walmart or Academy--would refer me to you, the manufacturer, for warranty claims due to faulty workmanship, which is what the problem here is ("9 out of 10 times when a new inflatable is leaking..." and "I was hoping the hair dryer trick would work but if it is still bubbling [it is] a warranty issue"). This is how a manufacturer's warranty works. You are correct: in December I contacted VM Express, who referred me to you ("We recommend getting in touch with the manufacturer, Seaeagle as they have a warranty in place for this item"). You did provide troubleshooting initially, but then ran me back to VM-Express ("you need to go back to VM-Express as a warranty issue"). VM Express then tried to weasel out of the warranty as well ("eBay will be your best source of assistance here") again knowing full well that eBay would laugh I at the idea that they (the retailer) are somehow responsible for the quality of Seaeagle's manufacturing. This. Is. Runaround. And you do it through VM Express because Walmart or any other reputable retailer wouldn't put up with this fraudulent practice, but VM Express, whoever they are, has no reputation to protect and therefore nothing to lose by participating in this charade. The final barrier is for me to "return the kayak" for no purpose other than to cost me >$100 in shipping so you may or may not, at that point, decide to replace it under warranty. Based on the way Seaeagle and VM-Express have treated me up to this point, I predict that I would pay for shipping there, only for the warranty claim to be denied and have the kayak returned to me, again, at my cost.  

  At this point, I expect you to continue to throw up barriers to honoring your warranty because it is what you do, waiting customers out until they decide that it's no longer worth it to continue to pursue over $400 (congratulations, I'm pretty much there). The best resolution I can expect is to have this unresolved complaint stay here for other potential customers to see, so that they know that they cannot take any confidence from your "3-year warranty." They should be skeptical of the quality of your products, and it should be a further warning when they see that your "3-year warranty" is a shell game that you never intended to honor. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******
  

  Business response

  05/25/2021

  I understand that our Wholesale Account manager has reached out to you by phone with a resolution. Again we do apologize for any inconvenience and assure you that Sea Eagle values the concerns of our customers whether they are purchasing directly through us, through a dealer or any other avenue and will always do our best to assist in anyway that we can.

  Customer response

  05/25/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  SeaEagle did finally reach out to me to offer to replace the kayak, which is what they should have done in the first place. And they promised to contact VM-Express to discuss how warranty issues are handled. I was unable to take advantage of SeaEagle's offer since I'd already gotten rid of my kayak, and I've since bought another one. An expensive mistake, and overall this experience was needlessly stressful and irritating.

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******
  
  
  
   
  

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩