Sonora Marine

Review: Failure to disclose verbally or in writing there would be a fee for inspecting a boat for damage, in order to obtain the estimated cost to repair.

This letter summarizes the issue and was sent to Sonora Marine on 9/23/2013.

Attn [redacted],

This letter is to notify you that you are in violation of two sections of the California Boating Law:

1) Division 3, Chapter 1, Article 1.5, 413 (a) (1) or (2); A written estimate for the inspection to complete a cost of repair estimate.

2) Division 3, Chapter 1, Article 1.5, 413 (a) (1) or (2) (b); A written estimate for the tear down inspection & reassembly to complete a cost of repair estimate.

CA Dept of Boating & Waterways, 2000 Evergreen Street, Suite 100. Sacramento, CA XXXXX

The complete "California Boating Law" almost 400 pages, on the web = http://www.dbw.ca.gov/PDF/LawEnforc/2012CBL.pdf

On July 23, 2013 when I first delivered my boat to you and requested an inspection along with an estimated cost to repair, is when you should have informed me "in writing" that you were going to charge $500 for this initial inspection.

On 08/21/2013 you called to inform me of the estimated cost to repair my boat and this amounted to $2569.50. At that time, I requested a written copy to review which I received on 08/24/2013. On Friday 08/30/2013 I went to your shop to pick up my boat and it was only then that you verbally informed me that there would be a $500 inspection fee. I refused to pay you the $500 fee as there had been no prior disclosure verbally or in writing. I left your premises without my boat.

On 09/05/2013 I called and requested that you put in writing the $500 inspection fee and mail it to me. You compiled and I received it on 9/8/2013. It is interesting to note that I called three other boat repairs shops in surrounding counties (no other boat repair shops are listed in Tuolumne County) and they all indicated the following:

1) They all disclosed that there would be a charge for the inspection

2) The quoted charges ranged from a low of $45 to a high of $121

3) They all indicated that it would take from one to one and one half hours to complete the entire inspection even if they had to pull the boat's shaft

You state that your company spent 5 hours which included the time to pull the shaft and measure it and the total cost for the inspection was 5 hrs @ $100 per hr = $500. Your fee is more than 10 times the low estimate and 4 times the highest estimate. Obviously pulling the shaft to measure did not take 5 hours! So how can you possibly justify your 5 hour estimate and $500.

This is another good reason why the law states that you must give a written estimate prior to starting any kind of work including any estimate (non tear down) or tear down estimate!

Today is Monday 9/23/2013 and this letter is being sent today via Certified Mail. This is your final opportunity to do what is right and return my boat at no fee and completely and properly reassembled. You have ten business days from receipt of this letter to complete the reassembly and notify me in writing that the boat is ready to pick up without any fees charged. If your agreement is not received by the ten days, we will file action against you in small claims court for the return of the boat and any applicable damages that the court would chose to award.

Desired Settlement: Return my boat undamaged and properly reassembled with no fee.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Company states that the consumer brought the boat in for a repair. The inboard motor shaft was damaged and the motor had to be pulled out in order to get to the shaft in that particular boat. In the end they had to cut the shaft in order to get it out. They needed to get an exact measurement of the shaft with the coupler attached to it as the shafts are custom made. This is the reasoning for the high charges in labor as it took 5 hours or so to do this type of labor. As it turns out they did let the boat go without payment as the owner has been seriously ill. The consumers invoice has been written off and we will no longer do any business with this consumer.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

Corrections to the boat repair shop's statements:

1) I, the owner of the boat, brought my boat into the boat repair shop for an "estimate of repair cost". The boat had run into a submerged land island and was damaged. I did not bring in the boat for repairs as stated by the boat repair shop. In the beginning, I called the boat repair shop to see if they did boat inspections for repair cost which they indicated that they did. At no time were they ever authorized to make repairs to my boat.

2) The boat repair shop failed to indicate verbally or in writing that they would charge a fee to do the boat inspection. Their response has completely avoided this issue. The LAW REQUIRES THEM TO PROVIDE A WRITTEN ESTIMATE OF COST FOR A BOAT INSPECTION. This boat repair shop DID NOT DISCLOSE verbally or in writing that they were going to charge a fee for the boat inspection.

3) This company's "story" of how much work was involved continues to expand as this complaint continues. First, it was they had to pull the shaft. Now I read, they had to pull the motor and then had to cut the shaft. Per law, this does not even matter, the law requires them to provide a "written estimate" before they touch my boat even for an the estimate of repairs. If they are going to have to touch my boat to open it up to inspect, it is called a "tear down inspection" and it also requires an even more specific written estimate of repairs that is signed by me, the boat owner. THIS COMPANY TOTALLY FAILED AGAIN AND VIOLATED THE LAW! THIS IS VERY SIMPLE, DISCLOSE IN WRITING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO CHARGE TO INSPECTION A BOAT IN ORDER TO CREATE AN ESTIMATE OF REPAIRS AND INDICATE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO CHARGE FOR THAT INSPECTION.

This company stated they have been operating in this manner (NO WRITTEN ESTIMATES) for 20 years.

3) Subsequent to finding out this boat repair shop wanted $500 for doing this inspection, I called three other boat repair shops WHICH "ALL STATED THEY WOULD CHARGE FOR AN INSPECTION FEE AND ALL QUOTED A FEE IN ADVANCE" as follows:

Boat Repair Co. 1: $45 to inspect & pull shaft if needed. 1 hour total time.

Boat Repair Co. 2: $95 1 hour estimate. No need pull shaft. No Charge if he does work.

Boat Repair Co. #3: $91 to $141 for a full inspection, one hour inspection time. (I will provide the names and phone numbers of these companies if the Revdex.com will allow me to publish this information!)

Per the "...Revdex.com policy). Please do not include any personally identifiable information in your response."

HERE IS THE LAW IN CALIFORNIA!

The California Boating Law, DIVISION 3, CHAPTER 1, ARTICLE 1.5, 410 - 413 ; are very specific as to the responsibility of all boat repair shops. They are as follows:

CALIFORNIA BOATING LAW AND HARBORS AND NAVIGATION CODE PG 36 & 37 ; DIVISION 3. VESSELS CHAPTER 1. VESSELS GENERALLY;

Article 1. General Provisions and Definitions

406. Subordination to federal law. Any and all rights and obligations created pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 450) of this division are subordinate to any superseding federal law.

Article 1.5. Vessel Repair

410. Definitions. As used in this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) ''Customer'' means any person who requests a repairperson to do work on a

vessel which is in the possession of that person.

(b) ''Repairperson'' means any person engaged in the business of repairing vessels.

(c) ''Vessel'' means any vessel which is subject to registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles and which is manufactured or used for noncommercial purposes or is leased, rented, or chartered to another for noncommercial use.

411. Application. This article applies only to work done on a vessel with an estimated cost of one hundred dollars ($100) or more.

412. Limitation. Notwithstanding Section 502, a repairperson has no lien on a vessel under this article for compensation for services rendered to the vessel, unless the repairperson has complied with this article.

413. Authorization from customer. No repairperson shall commence work for compensation without specific authorization from the customer or his or her agent in accordance with all of the following requirements:

(a) The repair person shall give to the customer either of the following:

(1) A written estimated price for labor and parts for a specific job.

(2) A written estimate of the maximum cost for a specific job which does not differentiate between labor and parts, but which shall not be exceeded by the actual cost of the job, including labor and parts. No work shall be done or parts supplied in excess of, or different from, the original written estimate without the separate oral or written consent of the customer. If the consent is oral, the repairperson shall make a notation on the work order and on the invoice of the date, time, name of person authorizing the additional work or change in work, and the telephone number called, if any, together with a specification of the additional parts and labor and the total additional cost.

(b) If it is necessary to disassemble a vessel or its component in order to prepare a written estimated price for required work, the repairperson shall first give the customer a written estimated price for the disassembly and d reassembly. The estimate shall also include the cost of parts and necessary labor to replace items such as gaskets, seals, and O rings that are normally destroyed by disassembling the component. If the disassembling might prevent the restoration of the component to its former condition, the repairperson shall write that information on the work order containing the estimate before the work order is signed by the customer. The repairperson shall inform the customer orally, and conspicuously in writing on the work order, of the maximum time it will take the repairperson to reassemble the vessel or its component if the customer elects not to proceed with the work. The repairperson shall not charge the customer for more time than the specified maximum time if the customer elects not to proceed with the work. After the disassembling has been performed, the repairperson shall prepare a written estimated price for labor and parts necessary for the requested work. Before performing the requested work, the repairperson shall obtain the customer's authorization to either perform the work or to reassemble the vessel or its components.

On line information source: California, The Department of Boating & Waterways. California Boating Law aka Vessel Repair Law. http://www.dbw.ca.gov/PDF/LawEnforc/2012CBL.pdf ; www.dbw.ca.gov/Pubs/VesselRepair/VesselRepair.pdf

I provided this boat repair shop a full copy of the CA Boating Law with the written text as well as the online resource so they could verify the law. Their reply was "I have talked with my attorney and a judge and they both indicate that I have a valid lien". To this I replied, "You've had the opportunity to read the law and it is obvious that you are going to chose to ignore it. I have filed the forms in Small Claims Courts and you will shortly be served with a December the 12th court date and you are going to lose."

He then shouted back at me that he was tired of wasting his time with me and that I am screwing him out of $500, come pick up your boat.

To all consumers, I say that you should totally avoid this company because of their deceitful business practices and, even when provided with the law, they will not acknowledge their errors in their business operation.

Finally as to the company owners last comment "they did let the boat go without payment as the owner has been seriously ill". FYI, both the boat repair shop and the boat owner had serious illnesses during this event. The boat repair shop only returned the boat when he knew he was being taken to Small Claims Court. This company and its owner have only one concern, filling their own pocket book at the customers expense.

To summarize: Put out a red flag warning, there are land hazards on the lake and off the lake, SO BEWARE! ALWAYS GET AN ESTIMATE OF REPAIR BEFORE YOU LEAVE A BOAT REPAIR SHOP AND KNOW YOUR CALIFORNIA BOATING LAW!