FeverMike

Local Formula dealer, Baja dealer, Donzi dealer here are all the same way. If I bought a Cig..new and needed Merc warranty work good luck finding it fast...you will be on the end of the list months down the road.

jhutch

I can see both sides but in the end I think Fountain needs to step in and lay the law down. FeverMike, What if you lived in Cali bought a fountain there then moved to FL will that same dealer not do service on that boat?

fountainracing42

the bottom line is simple. MERC has no compitition!!!! they can be a==es whats your alternitives. Buy ILMOR? seriously. I love my Merc's but we are just a bunch of monkeys in a zoo to them.

blownincome

If its a (BRAND) we sell Cobalt, Malibu or Fountain we take care of it like We sold It.. Had it done to me By my old Dealer When I bought My Last Fountain And Wont Do it to any Our Customers.
I do put them in line But With no Preferance..first come first serve (I think I was misquoted I ment Brand)

FeverMike

See everyone, this is how it's done. If I buy Shogrens 42EX and need warranty work in Tampa...I am SOL.

Why should the dealer here fix under warranty a boat they did not sell? They lose money BIG TIME on warranty work from boat manufactues and Merc.

My neighbor Driven1 bought a 47 Fountain from Shogren and the local Flountain dealer will not touch it. Now Driven1 has to go elsewhere or fix things himself.

phragle

iTrader: (3)

why? recipricocity.. if you are a direct dealer for product 'X' which comes with a warrenty, you sell product X because of its reputation, so does a dealer on the other side of the country, so your both marketing a product you believe in. no if your customer is on a journey in the other dealers world and has a problem, you and the owner of the product you sold would like to see the other dealer fix said problem because it keeps the customer happy, and he ( the other dealer) should expect the same from you. in return this customer whether it be yours or his is satisfied with "product X, even though it had a problem..it was promptly taken care of without hassle..so this happy customer tells his friends he is happy and this improves/reenforces the positive image of product X increasing the potential for sales. now as for the factory paying bad for warrenty work..that is a problem between the dealer and the factory and should be addressed when the dealer is in negotiations to carry product X. if all the dealers got together and stormed the factory saying this is b.s. ..we need to resolve this if you wish for us to sell your product X, if not we all will be more than happy to start selling products a,b, and c, instead of X. the problem here is NOT between the customer and any and all authorized dealers..it is between the dealer network and the factory..but the dealers choose to penalize the customers for the dealers networks lack of bargining. thats a good way to get customers to buy products a,b,and c next time there shopping, costing you money...personally, If I was the factory and heard of a dealer refusing to do legitimate warrenty work, he wouldnt be a dealer and I would pull my product off his shelves.. but then again I believe in treating people with respect and fairness..unfortunately not everyone thinks the same..

TeamShogren.com

WOW, where do you start. We have never treated a customer differently if they bought a boat from us or not but we certainly put our customers to the front of the list when service is needed. We view things differently, if we did not get the customer the first time we will try like hell to get them the next time. We have sold many new and used boats and several new boats into what Fountain refers to as open territories. We have never had a problem in getting someone to service one of our customers boats. If the customer is willing to pay and there cash is green or there checks are good we treat them with respect and fix there boats. This BS about Mercury dealer not wanting to fix Mercury power under warranty should be addressed with Mercury, I don't think they would be very happy. 9.99 out of 10 times when we sub contract work out on high performance boats outside our territory the customer has a shop that they work with that in most caases does not even sell boats, only fix them. I wish I had the luxury or to much money to say no, I won't fx your boat. Maybe that's why our phone is always ringing. I know Fountain has some concerns that dealers do not stock boats but want to be treated like stocking dealers. It's my understanding that they are considering allowing dealers to sell into territories where they consider a dealer not to be a stocking dealer. I would like to know thru a PM who won't fix your boat or driven1 so I can call that dealer directly. In most cases a call is all it takes and then they want to fix the boat. If not, we will let them know where they can get it fixed and make the appointment for the customer. You don't have to be a Fountain dealer to fix a Fountain boat, LIVORSI Gauges, Merc Motors, Glass, Wire, Etc. All you have to do is have a good service shop with Merc certified staff and you can do about anything.

Regards,
Scott Shogren
www.chicagofountain.com

All I ask is that you respect my opinion and not bash me or compare me to ther dealers as we only get up in the morning and do the best job we can. Our philosophy, make a few bucks off alot of people not a home run off a few. We view every boat as coming back to us on trade.

Beak Boater

This is Fountains Law...Fountain does not want you to deal with a dealer out of your area. Each dealer charges what they want to for the product(Boat). If Scott wants to give you a better price than your local dealer, the sale has to be blessed by Fountain. Do you really think Shogren got to be the largest dealer by selling only in Chicago? That makes the local dealers upset, they in turn cry to Fountain. What they should be doing is matching Scotts numbers if they really wanted your business. When a boat is sold out of the local dealers area, I think some money goes back to the local dealer to cover any warrenty issues, from the selling dealer.

FeverMike

You are correct Fountain has a 5% hold back if you buy a boat outside your local dealers territory...however this 5% and the fact that Fountain only pays 75% of the shop rate will not cover the labor cost of warranty work. This is why my local Fountain dealer will not really do warranty work on Fountains that a local guy bought somewhere else.

later

i would think that the dealer not wanting to do the warranty work is missing a golden opportunity, to show you why the next time you might want to consider purchasing a boat locally,

my .02

later