The Boat House of Lake Country

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response If you wish, you may update it before sending it.] Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, Trent [redacted]

Avoid the Boat House, Lake Country like dung fever
This is a true story. I bought a 2009 boat from my buddy that had only been out on the water 2 times. It sat for a very long time and my guess is that they did not run it out of gas when they stored it. It would only idle on full choke. A quick google pointed to either a fuel pump / line issue or a clogged carburetor. I ruled out the former and decided I did not have the expertise to remove and clean the carburetor, so I called the Boat House, Lake Country. I should have known something was amiss when they asked me to drop my boat off Thursday and said they would look at it on Monday. Well I called Monday and was told I would get a call back (No call-back #1). I called again on Tuesday somewhat perturbed, but at least they had looked at my boat and it would need to have the carburetor rebuilt, needed new spark plugs and gas filter. I told the service manager that it was basically a brand-new engine and I had removed the gas filter and it looked fine. He said, “we can’t guarantee our work, unless we replace these parts”. Hmph. He then said it would take until Wednesday to get the parts. I said Wednesday? Why did you have me bring the boat in on last Thursday. He said, “well it only been 3 business days so far”. I said that was 5 boat days (and we all know how short our boating season is), the engine runs fine, it just won’t idle. He said, “well you can take it somewhere else if you want, but you won’t get the work done as soon as here”. Nice, the estimate was $700 parts and labor. This all did not sit well with me, so later in the day I called him up and said, I wanted to get my boat back, I don’t feel good about this. He said, “ok but I have to charge you for the parts and a 1-hour diagnostic fee”. I said, what? The parts are not even there and were just ordered a few hours ago, you can’t return them? He said, “Nope”. I said, I don’t mind paying the 1-hour troubleshooting fee, but I’m not paying for parts. He said, “you don’t get your boat until you pay for the parts”. I asked OK, what about a restocking fee? I had also looked to see what a new carburetor would cost, and I could get one on Amazon for $150. So I asked him what a new carburetor would cost. He said I will let you know and call you back. (No call-back #2). I called them and they said a new carburetor would be $450 (parts only) and there would be a $30 restocking fee for the ordered parts. By this time, I was worn down and told them to do the work. The service manager said the boat might get done on Wednesday, but no promises. Well I called on Wednesday and left a message (no call back #3). Thursday was the July 4th. I called on Friday later in the day and the service manager said, that much to her chagrin, the technician had left sick and did not tell her. I asked if it would be done by Saturday. I called on Saturday and was told they would call me back (no call-back #4). On Monday I called and was transferred to Service, but no one answered the phone (OK, it was 4:50 pm). On Tuesday I get a call saying all the work was done. $650 later, I have my boat, with a rebuilt carburetor, that I could have spent $450 (really $150) and put in a new carburetor (work I could have done). Moral of the story? Never business the Boat House, Lake Country unless you just want to spend stupid $$ and be told if you don’t want to wait, go somewhere else and see how long they will take. Never an apology or even a smidgen of sympathy I was without my boat for 12 boating days.

We have talked to the consumer and have worked out a resolution

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the
business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
Trent ***

We have talked to the consumer and have worked out a resolution.?

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the...

business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
Trent [redacted]

Review: In May 2014 I brought two jet skis to The Boat House for summerization and the replacement of footpads. At the time, The Boat House had provided me an estimate for the work (for each jet ski - $32.25 plus labor for the summerization and $85 for the foot pads). When I brought the jet skis home, I started them and noticed that antifreeze came out of the jet skis, indicating that they never completed the summerization. I immediately contacted The Boat House. The Boat House inquired of their mechanics and the mechanics acknowledged that they did not do the work. The Boat House agreed to not charge me for the labor associated with the summerization and only to charge me $32.25. I received an invoice dated May 2, 2014 for $458.45 which was significantly more than what I had expected and significantly more than The Boat House had quoted (more than twice the amount quoted for the footpads and the full cost of summerization). I immediately contacted The Boat House to address this discrepancy. I was told someone would look into the matter and get back to me. I did not hear anything from The Boat House on this matter. Rather, in December 2014, The Boat House sent me a past due notice for the original invoice. At that time, I emailed The Boat House explaining the situation and explaining that I was not willing to pay for services they did not provide and for more than twice the amount they quoted on the foot pads. In February 2015, I received a revised invoice from The Boat House and paid the full amount of the revised invoice ($250.18). In June 2015, I received a call from [redacted] in accounting at The Boat House indicating that the original invoice was past due. I explained the situation to [redacted] and that it appeared as though The Boat House had forgot to cancel the original invoice when they rebilled me. [redacted] said she would get back to me. I never heard back from [redacted]. In October 2015, I received an email and a phone call from The Boat House asking for my address. I called The Boat House to ask why they needed my address and [redacted] told me the original invoice was still past due. I explained the situation again to [redacted] and she said she would relay the message to the "higher ups." The Boat House is harassing me. They appear to be incredibly disorganized and forgetful.Desired Settlement: I want The Boat House to cancel the original invoice as they agreed and I want them to stop contacting me.

Business

Response:

This customer is not being truthful in the least. When we switched from Summerset Marine to Boat House there were past bills. This customer was contacted at that time by [redacted] and was told that the work we did and what he claimed was to be the cost was simply impossible due to the parts alone at cost being more than the customer stated he was quoted. Was it a mis communication or simply someone unhappy with the cost of the job vs expectations. We went round and round for a time and we offered to have him pay a minimal cost to cover the work and parts. He refused. We told him we would come out and remove the pads we replaced at no charge and he refused. So we have a guy who has paid nothing to this point and expects us to lose money and now is trying to damage our good standing with the Revdex.com and most likely social media because he doesn't want to pay for parts or services performed. We also never cut him any deals on any other services. Id ask the Revdex.com to remove this item due to the length of how long ago this occurred as well as the customer not being honest about his fiduciary responsibilities to having services requested and performed. We are clearly the victim of what we are seeing more and more today as customer abuse based on bias of social media and other venues.

Consumer

Response:

Review: This complaint is about my Bennington pontoon boat that I purchased in 2010. We had it out on Memorial Day weekend and it started a knocking nose. I do have a 3 year warranty card on the motor that was good in this period till 06/09/2013. I have dealt with the service manager at The Boat House and have been lied to and jerked around. This has been going on for 2 months now. It finally was picked up 2 weeks ago to service it. I was told we will get you a new motor and then after calling Yamaha we need to take it apart. I am also waiting for Yamaha for a response on this matter. But most of the problem has been with The Boat House service manager. This has been a awful experience and I cannot believe the customer service on this. My wife and I have been getting sick about it.Desired Settlement: As I said we are still waiting on Yamaha to have there say. I would like this covered under the warranty and my boat returned to me. I guess it is not much to ask for. If not fixed a new motor.

Consumer

Response:

5/26/13: Our motor started knocking on the weekend of

Memorial Day 5/26/13.

5/28/13: Emailed [redacted] 5/28/13 will forward

to [redacted] the service manager

[redacted] finally called

on 5/30/13 because he never heard anything and spoke with [redacted] or left a

message. He documented that motor is still under warranty.

After days, [redacted]

said he would send someone out to diagnose the motor. Said the motor is under

warranty, don’t worry. [redacted] kept calling to see when the service would occur.

[redacted] said

someone looked at the motor and the problem is the solenoid. (The message is

saved on our answering machine)

6/29/13: After a few weeks of calling, on Saturday

June 29th [redacted] (service tech) came out to look at the motor and said

nobody had come out previously and he would have to speak with someone about

the lies to customers. He also said it wasn’t the solenoid, but something

major. He said the boat would be picked up after the 4th of July weekend.

7/11/13: Finally guys came out and took the boat into

the dealership on Thursday July 11th

[redacted] tells [redacted]

we were not listed as customers in your system. Huh? WRONG. He had our address

and all information when I first talked to him. Also asked where we bought the

boat. WHAT!!! Bought the boat from Summerset Marine at the Boat Show in March

of 2010 it was built and first delivered to us in June of 2010.

7/12/13 Friday (7/12/13) [redacted] said the motor would

probably be replaced because it would not be worth the man hours to figure out

what the knock is. He would call Yamaha on Monday and get back to us.

7/15/13: [redacted] called on Monday (7/15).

7/16/13: [redacted]

called on Tuesday (7/16). Said the motor would be taken apart to source the

problem. Said our warranty expired in March. [redacted] has a warranty card with the

dates on it (June 9, 2013). Sent a copy to [redacted].

[redacted] drove to the

dealership on Thursday July 18th and met with [redacted] the President.

Larry made a copy of the warranty card and said he will take care of me.

Has not done anything.

Called [redacted] on

Saturday July 20th and he said [redacted] had the parts at which time the mortor was

not even taken apart yet and he will call him to see what was going on. Larry

said he’d call back but never did.

7/22/13: Called to get a Yamaha representative for

help. Spoke with [redacted]. He said there were no calls on our motor to

date. HMMMM. [redacted] called the dealership and [redacted] said that this is the

same problem as last time the our boat was in for service . It has never been

in for service. Later [redacted] said he told Yamaha that to make sure the

warranty would cover the cost of repair. That same day my wife left a message

for [redacted], never called back.

7/23/13: [redacted] states what caused the problem was a

hydrolock which bent the rod. Asked what we were doing when this happened.

There were 6 people in a 22ft pontoon boat and we were going to park in our

lift. [redacted] missed getting in the lift due to wind so he put the boat in reverse

to back up and try again when the motor died. He restarted the motor and the

knocking began.

Techs told us that

the rod wasn’t defective, and I asked if there was a cooling leak they said no

but we would have had to put the motor underwater in order for the hydrolock to

happen or else we could never put the motor in reverse!

We are being told

that the motor VIN numbers were mixed up on warranty cards. That the warranty

expired in March and my card says June. We bought the boat in March at a boat

show and ordered it to be built and it was delivered in June as stated on my

warranty card. I also was told by [redacted] that the problem is a bent rod that

is making the noise.

7/24/13: I received

an email from [redacted] with an estimate for $3200 for parts. Now they are replacing the cylinder block

assembly. The dealership estimates 8 hours of labor at $129/hr. If you add

it all up we are close to the cost of a brand new motor.

Yamaha has offered $1250 toward the cost of parts for the

repair, I believe they should cover the entire amount since the motor is under

warranty. This has been the worst customer service my wife and I have ever

experienced. We are responsible people.

Business

Response:

I'm following up on the complaint submitted by [redacted] (ID[redacted]) regarding his experience with Summerset Marine.

Review: My husband and I purchased a 1997 21 foot Monterey boat from Summerset Marine(The Boat House) in May of 2012. Ever since the purchase of our boat we have had nothing but problems with not only the boat, but also with the staff. We are completely disappointed by the lack of respect and professionalism by a local establishment. Since May of 2012, we have not had the chance to confidently take our boat out because of the numerous problems that have occurred. Each time a part breaks on our boat, we have religiously used The Boat House to repair it to try and build a relationship with this company.We should have learned the first time when they overcharged and did not correctly fix the issue. Each time,they either misdiagnose the problem or "fix" it rather to have it break a few weeks later. The communication with The Boat House has been awful. Between the service manager, [redacted], not returning our phone calls or emails, and then with having to bring up the issue with the owner, [redacted], we feel violated and bullied. We are very surprised customers return to do business with The Boat House because of the way they treat their customers. They have had unreliable and poor customer service. The following is a list of issues we have had with the boat. Each time we brought the boat in, it was US who had to contact them to find out their diagnosis or if the problem was fixed properly. May 2012: Replace tongue jack, wheel bearings, speedometer, depth finder (All occurred the very first day we took the boat on the lake). Summer 2012: Boat would continually die in middle of lake. A technician came out on four different occasions to attempt to fix problem. October 2012: winterizing by The Boat House April 2013: Summerization of boat, Door Latch replaced, plastic brackets replaced, battery switch replaced-Technician checked to see if starter had blown May 2013: Starter loose May 2013: Lower unit leak May 2013: Replace lower unit( $2,181 !!!) Most of the major problems that happened in May where after we winterized and summerized the boat with The Boat House. We took the boat out one time and it died in the middle of the lake. The Boat House diagnosed the problem with the lower unit as being caused by a fish line. Naively, we believed them and called our insurance compnay. After having our insurance company come to The Boat House to look at the boat, insurance disagreed with The Boat House claim as being false. The Boat House refuses to admit that something did or did not happen in the winterizing and summerizing of our boat, even though other local boat dealerships believe this could quite possibly be the cause. June 2013: Look at welding by starter July 2013: After spending nearly $2000 on fully replacing the lower unit, The Boat House found a possible crack in the engine block. Now, they want almost $5000.00 to fix this problem. Again the Boathouse should have seen this during one of the numerous times we have had taken the boat in for service or had the boat looked at or at the very least when they worked on the lower unit. If we would have known the block was cracked, we would have never fixed the lower unit and would have filed another insurance claim. We received a quote from another competitor said to fix the crack would be $1,500.00. That is $3,500.00 difference. We strongly believe other consumers need to know about the shady offerings that The Boat House has to offer. Needless to say, the service manager, [redacted] and the owner, [redacted] himself have both said they have not seen another boat come in as many times as ours and call this boat a "LEMON". We sent emails and called numerous times to try and talk to both men, and have received no response or a very delayed response since August. Finally, my husband and I went in and were rudely ignored for over 25 minutes. We refuse to do business with a company who treats their customers so awful. They have humiliated and ignored us on numerous occasions. Now we have a boat that we cannot enjoy because of The Boat House's neglect.Desired Settlement: We were taken advantage of as new boat owners when we purchased the boat. We strongly believe that The Boat House should buy our boat back without having to purchase another boat from them or paying for the repairs.

Business

Response:

In response to [redacted] complaint regarding The Boat House of Lake Country, we offer the following rebuttal.