Lower Peninsula Power Sports

- The first I spoke to *** *** was at the end of August Mr*** said he was in the middle of his commercial fishing season, he had just had a motor fail and he needed a new one to finish the seasonWe had the motor he needed in stock, I gave him the price and told him I would also
delivery it to his cannery so they could get it to himHis cannery gave us the payment when we delivered itI told him he was welcome to send us the motor that failed on him and we would diagnose the motorWe have never and will never indicate a reported machine failure to be a warranty coverage until the machine has been inspected and diagnosedManufactures have many factors that come into play for warranty coverage, it would not be fair to give a customer a sense of coverage before we know all the facts A representative from the Yamaha dealership in Kodiak called me to see if we had the model motor that Mr*** neededI indicated I just sold my last one to them, they were relievedIt seemed their main goal too was to make sure that Mr*** was fishing asapI told them the failed motor was going to be delivered to us and we would start with a diagnose on itThe representative said that the motor before this damaged motor had also had a serious failure, they questioned the boats control and electrical systemThey said that Mr*** would not buy a new control box with his new motor, even when they advised himWe agreed on the motor ultimately needed a full diagnoses The failed outboard showed up from the cannery on a palletWe did not do an immediate diagnose on the motor because we had Mr*** back fishing and we were working on keeping our other commercial fishermen goingBefore the motor was diagnosed Mrs*** came to the shopI was called to the front by a co-worker saying she was yelling at him for having to pay for the new motor they orderedWhen I spoke to Mrs***, she indicated she was upset that the cannery had deducted the price of the new motor from her end of season checkI politely told her that we had not diagnosed the damaged motor and then explained the warranty processI indicated to her that the diagnosing of the damaged motor would decide if the failure was a repair that would be covered by warranty or notShe expressed her opinion that it should be warranty no matter what because it was a month old motor Once we started the diagnosing of the motor we realized the damage was very serious to multiple systems of the motorElectrical items and plastic covers close to the cylinder block had melted from motor heat and paint was discolored on the head assemblyWe continued on the diagnosing by getting the ECU download and pulling the lower unit to inspect the water pumpThe download showed the motor had a total of hours on itIt also showed that the motor started its over heat alarm at hours, and before it shut down at hours a knock sensorOn a system installed correctly and working correctly a loud audible alarm will be heard from the operator control boxThis indicator works very well and indicates when engine temperature is rising too highIt will alarm before any serious damage has happenedWhen the water pump was inspected we found that the stainless steel cup that the water pump spins inside had melted black rubber from the impeller along the inside faceThe plastic housing outside that cup had major damage to it to from the friction heatThis gives a lot of evidence for what caused the failureIf the motor is being operated correctly there is water inside the impeller housing while the motor runs, because its under waterThe burnt black rubber shows that the impeller was intact and spinning but had lack of lubrication (water) which caused enough friction on the cup walls to melt the impeller and the housing to the point of failureBy the time this event ended the impeller had completely failed from the friction and left pieces of melted rubber through out the cooling systemThe download shows that the system alarmed for hours until a knock sensor went off and the motor shut downThe half hour of engine over heating caused serious damage to major electrical items on the power head (rectifier regulator, wiring harness, coil assemblies, fuse panel)The discolored head indicates there is most likely significant damage to internal engine components in the headThis evidence proves that the damage to the outboard was 100% operator errorThe manufactures owners manual clearly states on page of operation section that "serious motor damage could occur if the motor is operated with out water flowing from the pilot hole" At this point Mr*** was a good standing customer that had just bought a new outboard from our business, the unfortunate damage caused to his motor did not create any animosity from myself to himMy main goal was to make sure the new motor he had would not have the same fate and that the evidence our diagnosis found matched what events that actually happened in the fieldFrom a business motive stand point it would be to our best interest to do our best to have warranty cover a repair like thisYamaha pays parts and labor on warranties, we get paid nothing if we tell a customer the motor is damaged beyond repair and its not covered by warrantySomething that we see Yamaha do is "Good Will" assistanceI have seen them work with customers in these kinds of situations and pay for parts to get the motor going again, and keep a customer coming back to YamahaThey are more likely to help a customer if they are within the first year of warranty and have been using Yamaha productsThis is not a policy, its completely to the manufactures discretion and they make it clear that its "Good Will" and not warrantyMr*** was a customer I considered asking for this assistance on because he had just bought a new motor from us and it would be a good way to gain his future business. On 9/21/I contacted Mr *** to discuss the diagnoses on his outboard.My first questions to Mr *** were about how the motor was operated during the failureIf there was something out of line with the evidence we found we could do more research into itThe first thing Mr *** indicated was that he was not the operator of the skiff that the motor was installed on and that his employee was operating the skiff while he operated his other boat, he was unable to see or hear the skiff during the time that the failure happenedI asked him if the operator heard the alarm go offHe immediately took offense to the question, I indicated to him I meant no offense and that if the alarm is not working correctly he would want to get it addressed so that his new motor would not be vulnerable to the same scenarioI asked about the control box, which he took offense to againHe did say it was not replaced with the new motor and it was from his motorHe asked if that voided his warranty, I told him no, but if the warning system is not working properly it makes it vulnerable to serious damage and less user friendly for someone working the skiffI explained to him the evidence we found, and that the damage was extensiveBeing I had already caught onto to Mr*** frustration I quickly jumped to the topic of asking Yamaha for a "Good Will" consideration for his motorIt seemed he was already frustrated enough with the conversation that he then said he was going to report our business to the Revdex.com if I did not cover the repairs under warrantyI politely tried to explain to him again that besides the evidence of operator error I was going to do my best to try and get assistance from Yamaha to get him his motor repairedHe continued to get heated and said the motor was brand new and if we did not cover it he was going to sue us and report it to Revdex.comDespite my own frustration growing for going out of my way to help a customer with a motor that was not purchased from our dealership I politely said "*** for the third time I'm trying to tell you I'm going to turn the information into Yamaha for assistance on this repair, why aren't you listening? "Mr*** replied " You are treating me like an a**hole, I can tell your not going to cover it!"I told him it was not up to me and that he was getting hostile with someone trying to help himMr*** replied with more threats of suing and Revdex.com, as well as he would go all the way to the Attorney General! By this point I was very frustrated with his lack of understanding of me trying to help him as well as his legal threatsOut of frustration I exchanged unnecessary insults with Mr***None the less I explained to him his legal threats eliminated any assistance from myself to Yamaha's "Good Will" coverageHe said he would pick the motor up on October 6th and repair it himself, I agreed that was the best plan October 10th I called Mr***, Mrs*** answeredI said we are trying to get the yard cleaned up before snow and I had not seen Mr*** on the 6th to pick up his motorShe was very upset that the motor was not going to be covered under warrantyShe said " let me make myself clear, I'm going to personally sue you if you sabotage my motor"I explained we had no intentions of sabotaging the motor, we are going to start charging for storage after October 13th and that legal threats have ended any further communication between us Yamaha Customer service contacted me two times, October 10th and October 12th Each time they said Mrs*** called them with complaintsI emailed the photos and ECU download to themThey agreed that the damage was operator error and could not be covered under the motors warrantyBoth Yamaha representatives indicated that they had the same legal threats and that they explained to Mrs*** they could no longer speak to her once those threats are made October 13th , Mrs*** picked up the motor Thank You, Barrett M** Store Manager Lower Peninsula Power Sports East End RdHomer, AK (907)-235-