Offshoreonly.com - Marine Power

Someone on another board got the shaft from Marine Power and has asked for this info to get spread around. Apparently this Walter guy has done some bad stuff to quite a few folks. Here is his story in all it's glory.

Marine Power Co. will NOT stand behind their Sales Agreements, They are a GM marine engine dealer based out of Louisiana, and the Presidents Son Walter recently came out to live in Cali and handle all of the company’s west coast operations with dealers. The motors are great because they are GM, but the company itself will not stand behind their agreements.

The Story from the start from my friend Jon. He rode with me at OP6 last year b/c he blew the motor on his boat Memorial Day weekend. Forget the 4+ months LOST all he wants is his Deposit back and the impound fees the company incurred.

Called up Marine Power to get prices for engine package deals, called back the next day and told him I would like to go ahead with the deal. Was told to meet them at the boat show in L.A. and give them a deposit. I Wrote $5000.00 check to Marine Power Rep (president's son) at the L.A. boat show on 1/31 was promised a 572ci engine to be built within 3-4 weeks for my 27’ Cat. The check cleared on 2/3
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I tried to get a hold of Marine Power 2 weeks later and got no returned calls. About 1 week after that, I received lien sale papers in the mail saying my boat was to be SOLD at an auction if I didn't pick up the boat and pay fees. They had picked up the boat from the marine power representatives house where it was being stored. (apparently the Marine Power location in Riverside didn’t have storage space). I immediately went to the tow yard and paid the $2000 in storage fees to get my boat out. When I went to pick up the boat it was absolutely filthy and many new scratches. I finally got in contact with Marine Power and they said they had been out of town doing a "Monster Garage Show" and the boat was picked up by accident in the meantime and didn't know this had happened. Marine Power told me that the $2000 I had paid for their mistake in lien fees would be taken out of the cost to do the engine. I was promised my boat would be fully taken care of and they would also do a wet sand and buff to take care of the scratches my boat had received. I was told I would have my boat done in 2 weeks.
Well two weeks go by and I am told the 572 engine does not work there are some problems with the cam "water reversion" and they would put a new 502 engine for the meantime until they could figure out the major problems with the 572ci and this would be put in within a week. (more bull**** to stall) I said I don’t want any 502!
I finally got a hold of the Marine Power rep later the next week and he says the motor is in, but there’s something wrong with the drive. I was completely fed up, my outdrive was working perfectly when I dropped it off to them. The same day I told them I just wanted to go and pick up the boat with the motor and take care of the rest later. I went to the Marine Power location and was told by Steve that works at Proboat that the boat had just left with Walter and had NO ENGINE in it. I called Walter furious wanted my boat back to find out nothing had been done and it had now been 3 months. He first promised they would reimburse me of all my money and have my boat back to me tonight. Well a few hours went by when I get a call from Walter asking who my buddy was posting things about "Marine Power" on the internet.(H20 party Starter) I told him I have a lot of friends aware of the situation that post on many sites. He then apologized repeatedly and agreed to go ahead and finish up the job at no additional cost and promised it within another week. He even called H20 P.S. personally and begged him not to post anything bad, and said he would take care of everything. The week went by and to my surprise I was told to go to Dana Boats where they were helping him put in a complete 572 engine. I went to there and actually saw the engine inside the boat where all that was needed were the exhausts which were supposedly on order from IMCO and supposed to be in within 2 days. Well 1 day went by and I was informed that my engine had been ripped out and to come pick up my boat. I was thoroughly confused and talked with the president of Marine Power where I wasn't informed of much. Eventually I was told by Marine Power they would not be helping me at all and that I needed to take this up with Walter the President’s son. Walter had been stealing motors from inventory and selling them like normal transactions and keeping the money. The Company now refuses refund the money and Walter has left California.