ComplaintsforNorris Lake Boat Center

• Initial Complaint

  05/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  BLOWN MOTOR...DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS! My 2018 Crownline 255ss was delivered to Noris Lake Boat Center in Oct. of 2021. They were hired to perform routine annual maintenance, oil change, motor winterization/dewinterization, some minor repairs and indoor storage over the winter. In April of 2022 I arrived to pick up the boat/trailer. It was evident that the trailer had a blown tire, the driver side rear taillight was busted and the boat covers/rear swim deck were filthy dirty where rain/debris had gathed and muddy boot tracks were all over it. The service manager Ricky apologized and offered to fix the trailer & clean the boat/covers for free once we brought it back at the end of the season. I relunctlanty agreed. I asked if the batterys had been charged and he said "no, but they should be ok" since, "they" allegedly started the boat that morning. I took the boat to the marina and dropped it in the water, only to discover that the battery's were indeed dead. I proceeded to take the boat back to the service center and they agreed to fix all of the problems. 10hr round trip and our ENTIRE WEEKEND RUINED! I returned to the service center the following weekend. The service tech, Chandler said the boat was ready. I asked for him to do a test start before I towed it all the way to the lake again. He said NO at first but eventually obliged. The batterys were dead again! He installed new batteries, and did a test start. It appeared to be working. I retunred to the marina. After several minutes in the water the bilge turned on, a weird smell was coming off of it and it apeared to be smoking out of the exhaust. I limped it home. They agreed to send their tech. Jake out. He discovered a coolant line they disconnected during winterization wasn't reconnected, casued the boat to overheat and take on water. The changed the oil but it was to late. The motor locked up, head gasket blown and block cracked. THE OWNER MARK P. REFUSES TO FIX IT. $150K Boat!

  Business response

  05/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/18) */ We have offered to work with the customer to resolve this issue upon his signing a letter of hold harmless. The customer ran his engine with the overheat alarm sounding for over 50 minutes. It is not our fault he did not shut off the engine by failing to heed to the warning which sole purpose is preventing the customer from overheating the engine on accident. Removing the manifold line is not part of any winterization part of any engine we service. Therefore, our technicians did not remove the manifold hose. We offered to help and sent a technician out to diagnose the problem and try to get him back on the water. However, we were told that an insurance claim was being made with the claim that we vandalized his boat. At this point, Norris Lake Boat Center's owner refuses to touch the boat again without a notarized letter of the hold harmless agreement that we provided the customer on Monday May 16, 2022. Our offer still stands, contingent upon the customer's willingness to sign the agreement. Otherwise, there is nothing further to discuss since the customer overheated his engine by failing to heed the warning alarms. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/05/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) To give additional insight as to the type of business owner Mark P. is, after several conversations with him, he has never once offered an apology for any of the several weeks of inconveniences he and his staff have caused or the additional costs that were involved in their negligence leading up to the massive expense I am about to incur as a result of a motor replacement. It has been nothing but finger pointing since day one and they continue to point it at everyone except themselves. Norris Lake Boat Center's recent response to my complaint is erroneous... At the advice of counsel, and basic common sense, no one will ever sign a "hold harmless agreement" if that individual believes Norris Lake Boat Center should be held liable. I think all would agree, a business owner would only request that type document be signed in advance if they had no intent of correcting the problem or the business owner knows his company made a mistake, knows he is liable and is simply trying to relieve himself from any financial burden. I asked the business owner to fix the boat and then I would consider endorsing the document. He told me he would not touch the boat and demanded I remove it from his property. No business owner who had intentions of making the wrong right, or is willing to accept responsibility for his actions would demand the wronged customer release that individual from any liability. With that said, once I realized there was a problem, the first action I took was to preserve life and then property but I digress. The alarm did not go off for 50 min and even if it did, the failure to winterize/dewinterize the boat correctly led to a hose being left disconnected which caused the boat to take on more water than it could bilge without sinking and lead to overheating and ultimately complete engine failure. In regards to the "hose", Ricky, the service manager once he responded to the issue advised me that the issue was "...probably just a hose or a plug that didn't get put back on..." Those were his words on Mon. May 9th. Additionally, Jake, the technician they sent out to correct the issue, located the disconnected hose and when asked why it was disconnected, he said "...we had an issue before where a block cracked after we winterized it so we started disconnecting the hoses to makes sure all the water drains out...it should have been put back on before you picked it up..." Those were his words on Mon. May 9th. The service center was never informed of a claim being made against them as a result of vandalism. Norris Lake Boat Center had failed on several occasions to fulfill their commitments. They were given a perfect boat from tip to tip in Oct. 2021 and when they gave it back it was compromised. All confidence in their ability to correct the issue was lost. So, before I allowed them to tow the boat off the water and continue their diagnosis, I informed my insurance carrier of the current condition of the boat. After speaking with my insurance agent, we decided to file a claim through my carrier in hopes of achieving a quicker resolution that was amicable for all parties involved, which would result in relieving the burden from Norris Lake Boat Center and put my boat back on the water in a timely manner, but the claim was not filed under vandalism and my carrier stated that all liability likely falls on Norris Lake Boat Center. At that time, the carrier authorized me to allow Norris Lake Boat Center to pick up the boat. I reached out to the service manager, Ricky on Thurs. May 12th and told him he could now come pick up the boat but he quit responding to calls or texts and refused to communicate further. Coincidentally, I seen the business owner at a restaurant a couple days later, and it wasn't until I approached him on Sat. May 14th and we discussed the issues in person, that he and I agreed that I would bring him the boat on Mon. May 15th so they could continue diagnosis. Once I delivered the boat, he demanded I sign an indemnification and hold harmless agreement. I declined and removed the boat from his property. As stated before, the boat is now being serviced by a reputable Crownline dealer and I kindly ask that the owner of Norris Lake Boat Center take accountability for his and/or his staffs mistake and offer to pay for the repairs. Unfortunately for them, Norris Lake Boat Center has repeatedly failed to perform quality workmanship and as a result, they will never service any of my boats again. The only option I will accept is compensation for the boat repairs in hopes of avoiding litigation that will ultimately result in Norris Lake Boat Center incurring extreme financial burdens, including and in addition to the boat damage. We all make mistakes, that is why we all carry insurance. The easiest way to start the process of correcting this issue is for Norris Lake Boat Center to simply file a claim on their insurance requesting they provide compensation for the repairs. Or don't and I will have no choice but to seek additional counsel in regards to potentially litigating this matter. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/05/19) */ I received an email stating, "Generally, resolving a complaint requires both parties to move from their current position to a middle ground. In your response, please state your position and if possible indicate what steps can be taken by both parties to resolve this matter." The bottom line is we are not touching the boat again without the customer signing the hold harmless agreement he is in possession of. If we have already been accused of vandalism simply because the customer did not heed the warning his engine alarm system gave him, he surely cannot expect that we would do anything to the boat without the signing of this agreement. Therefore, as stated several times to the customer, we are willing to help him out, but the boat cannot come back here until that agreement is signed.

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a contractual agreement with Norris Lake Boat Center to replace defective parts on my boat. The defective parts are dry rotted boots (transom bellows): exhaust, u-joint, and shift cable. Immediately after picking up the boat from having the repairs made, I discovered the boat's battery was missing. Subsequently, the Boat Center gave me a battery that did not belong to me and would not take a charge resulting in purchasing a new battery for my boat; however, what is the most disturbing is the fact that the Boat Center did not replace the transom bellows as contracted and agreed. I paid $611.63 plus tax for labor and $68.58 plus tax for parts for services that the Boat Center never rendered.

  Business response

  08/04/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/07/23) */ After getting an online review that stated similar complaints, I reached out to **** personally. The work was completed in August of 2020 and **** waited until July of 2021 to file a complaint. The customer dropped off a box of parts (a bellows kit) for his boat. We installed everything in the box on his boat. I personally helped complete the work. The only thing he did not provide that was needed was a shift boot and a shift cable, we charged him MSRP for those and installed them. We did not charge extra labor that actually. The standard labor rate for our business for doing this work is 4 hours, including the shift boot and cable. Thus, the only extra charge was the parts. The customer also paid us to install an impeller, which he was charged MSRP for and actually given a $51 discount on the installation labor because **** brought it to us somewhat apart already. The customer dropped off a battery afterward with the boat, and I did not realize it until we went to run the boat to make sure the job was done properly and there were no leaks, and our tech told me there was no battery. I called the customer and asked if he wanted to buy a battery or for us to just use a shop battery for testing purposes. He said shop battery was fine. The parts advisor who helped him unload the battery forgot to tell me his battery was here. The customer came to pick up the boat and paid. He offered no complaints. About 2-4 weeks after that he stopped by asking about his battery. I still did not know he had dropped it off, but offered to take him in the shop to look for it. We did and we found the battery that he said was his. It was an older battery, and if it was not holding charge, I would have thought this would be discovered less than a year ago. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the situation until I saw a negative review. We take those very seriously and I try to reach out to customers to see what the issues are and resolve them if we did anything wrong or made any mistakes. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to satisfy ****, as he was wanting us to "put the parts he dropped off in the box on the boat," which we did a year ago. He accused us of not performing the work and overcharging. He was given a quote before we started the work and agreed to it. The only thing we added was a shift boot and shift cable, which we called to inform him he would have to have. We would be happy to do the work again for ****, but not for free since we did everything he requested us to do at the time it was done. I'm sure the boots do not look new now, as it has been a year since they were installed and **** brought them to us, but we performed everything we were requested to do for the agreed upon price at the time we were requested to do it. If further investigation is required, I would be happy to provide a copy of the repair order and cooperate with the BBB. We strive to do our best in business and please as many customers as possible. Of course, there are always some customers that are disappointed for a variety of reasons, and we do make mistakes sometimes; yet when it is a mistake we are quick to fix it and own it for the sake of maintaining a reputable business, but in this case we did not make a mistake outside of our former parts guy not telling me about the battery being dropped off, which we apologized for and from my interaction with **** that day, thought we had made right; and we certainly do not appreciate being accused of doing something like this, especially a year after the work was completed. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/07/23) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I did not receive a telephone call from the business concerning the battery that was already in their possession. The business states that it was 2-4 weeks after I picked up the boat that I inquired about the battery which is a lie, it was the very same day that I returned as was given a junk battery that was not mine. The business acknowledges that they received a bellows kit for my boat. In the pictures (evidence) provided, it is clear that the business did not install the new bellows and I was charge. The business states that they maintain "a reputable business"; however, charging for services not rendered is not reputable, it is fraudulent. Had the business replaced all the bellows that was provided in the kit, the bellows would be in the same condition as the shift cable boot which is not dry rotted and is new. The business states that I did not provide a shift boot; however, that shift boot was provided in the kit the business acknowledged receiving is the reason that there is no additional charge on the invoice for a new boot. The cable does not come with a boot; therefore there would have been an additional charge. Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2021/07/26) */ The owner has reviewed this claim and would like for **** to bring the boat up here to look at and come to an agreement in person. Consumer Response /* (4200, 12, 2021/07/27) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This business has shown dishonesty and cannot guarantee that the repairs would be made in properly since the repairs were not done as agreed the first time. Since the repairs were not done as agreed, and paid for, the owner can agree to refund the cost of the parts and labor and I will take my business elsewhere.

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