Pier57 must be doing gd
 

Called 3 times to try and buy a boat they have on website and no one has called back. I wish i could turn away business like that.

I'll never understand how people can do business like that! :angry-smiley-038:

Sadly it seems to be the norm in our industry. Most places in our area spend the winter moving at a snails pace, complaining about the customer base, then when the weather breaks and the flood gates open with new business half is lost because they can't get serviced.


I will say from here, Pier 57 looks appealing, we have nothing like it in our area.....barely anything like it left on the planet. I know a few that have delt with them when they were Shogren, and left very pleased.

3 calls is unacceptable IMO, however....it is that time of year. Keep trying, I get the feeling it is probably worth the effort based on their realistic sale prices and competitive trade in $$.

Agree - happens in other business too but nothing like in the marine industry.

If I have a project team that has been ebbing for a little while, takes them some time to snap out of it when things start flowing again.

Had the same experience when I contacted them last fall, was told someone would contact me and never did, then sent email and still never heard back. It's unbelievable and it's not only in the boating industry.

keep trying.. I bought my 25 outlaw from them a few years ago and they were great!!!

They were more than willing to help me navigate state laws and tax regs also to make sure I was taking advantage of every cost savings options!!

If they would have had the boat i wanted this time, I would have definitely driven another 1000 miles that way instead of toward Va.!!

They haven't always been that way. Is David Woods still the owner? I bought my Donzi from them in '05 and can't speak highly enough of them. I know there have been some changes though when they merged with Shogen.

I bought my top gun fall of '10 from shogrens at the time.very professional and easy to deal with.i never had an issue contacting them.ashley even messaged me on fb to get me on the cigarette meet in destin and followed up after the sale.i was very impressed

wait till you use theire service dept . never again . that's all I have to say .

make sure that if they "claim" anything.. you make for certain it is valid ---- for example, when i purchased the gladiator with "fresh" motors, only to have them grenade within a couple hours of run time!!!!!

i have had conversations with several folks here that just took it on the chin and have moved on. one particular has bought several boats from them (david woods) thereafter. do not understand that????

don't get me wrong.... woods is a GREAT guy. but, when it comes to making a profit or doing the right thing..... regardless of the reasoning and excuses. my experience showed mea level of integrity that came as a complete surprise and disappointment!!!!!

insult to injury --- sjogren tried to make it right, when he didn't even have a dog in the fight, as he got involved with pier57 after this occurred, and scott told me david said that if scott "made it right" (my words), it would be mud on wood's face, forcing scott's hand. glad i don't have other "friends" like that. one was MORE THAN enough :-) lesson learned.

joe pandak

I bought mine from shogren.. don't know who woods is.. Greg and Bruce were awesome..

I spoke to Scott before they merged with Pier 57, you could ask for better people to deal with, extremely helpful. It was after the merge I was ready to buy a 38 Lightning they had they wouldn't give me the time of day. I ended up finding a 38 Lightning at Grand Sport Center in Lake of the hills. I live in Md and didn't want to be committed to a boat without checking it out first, Mark and Adam laid out every step for me so it wouldn't be sold out from under me before I could see it. It's a great family owned business.

So much easier dealing with Mel hey?

I agree the original shogren crew is awesome.Greg and ashley especially. They even called and sent me new shirts and stuff after the merger. That spoke volumes.

I apologize if you have not heard from one of our sales staff.

What boat are you interested in and what's your best contact number? PM me if you like and i'll call you in AM from chattanooga poker run.

scott sjogren - pier 57
847-346-9037

[/QUOTE=TOMMY22555;3922340]Called 3 times to try and buy a boat they have on website and no one has called back. I wish i could turn away business like that.[/QUOTE]

I'd say no business is 100% perfect. What's important, is to know they can answer and find a way to straight things out when it's not perfect, wich is what happens looking at this previous post... who does his job ALWAYS perfectly? on time no matter what? I try personnally, but I know sometimes my strap slips a little on the pulley because I'm just too busy...

lot more fun for sure . hes a hell of guy , actaually all of the family pretty fun crew :thankyouthankyou:

Good to know they don't return calls #1 reason not to deal with anyone in the sales buisness !

Yes, a rational decision good sir! One guy on the interweb doesn't get a call back, ergo the company must never ever answer the phone and we shall swear off anyone in the sales business!

A fine conclusion ole chap!


:poopoo:

Bad Experience at Pier 57
 

I have been a long time "lucker" but just recently registered to chime in on this post regarding Pier 57. I will not talk about the sales person or the boat I was looking at regarding this situation.

I was working a deal with them in November on a boat that is still for sale on there website. I asked them repeatedly about the boat service history, are the motors factory sealed, any known issues with the boat...etc. I made an offer and flew from South Carolina with a good friend of mine who is a Merc. Merchanic to go and inspect the boat.

Upon arrival it was clear that the motors had been opened. Both heads on one motor had been off and one head on the other motor had been off. When I questioned the sales person regarding this, he claimed he didn't know that they had been opened. The motors are 500's and the head bolts were not blue so anyone who looked at the motors would have known that heads had been off. We proceeded to go ahead with a compression/leak down test. The third cylinder we tested had 80 lbs of compression, so we did a leak down and found out the exhaust valve was the issue. At that point the inspection of the boat stopped. There wre 4 different brands of spark plugs in the two motors.

The other issue was the night before I flew up the sales person asked if my mechanic had insurance. I called him and of course he did and was able to fax the requested information to Pier 57. Now keep in mind that I had planned this trip two weeks ealier and the night before we fly up I recieve a call requesting this information.

After we discovered the low compression I went to speak to the sales person regarding this issue and he told me that 80 lbs on a "cold" big block was within Merc Specs. At this point I lost my cool packed up my stuff and left. Over the next couple of days I exchanged emails, no I will not post them, with the owner regarding my trip and he admitted the screwed up.

So to re-cap, put money down, spent money to flew up and inspect the boat, was lied to by the sales person. I requested several times for the sales person to scan and email me the service history they had on the boat, he wouldn't do it. If he had sent the service history I would have never made an offer or flew up to see the boat.

Greg

hm I say if youre in sales do youre job . or fear the wrath , not enough fear anymore . why you think its the way it is . take youre hard earned money and buy from someone that actually gives a chit, I know if my staff acted like that . see ya . I need the money .

You must have caught them at a bad time because myself, mark with the new 38 mti, nor Gerald (42 fountain) have ever had any issues with Scott and his team. It's a busy time of year. I know the pier57 crew has a busy weekend ahead of them so give it until the first of next week and I'm certain someone will be in touch.

I have bought boats from them and I can't say enough good things. Everybody has an employee miss a message or drop the ball but I can assure you that they have great customer service and go that extra mile for their customers. I also know Scott personally and he is a credit to the marine industry!!

Very suprised to hear this. I recently purchased a 38 Fountain from them and without going into the details, I had some things going on personally that delayed the date I was able to take deilvery and pay in full for the boat. When I first talked with Scott and explained, he showed interest and spent the next several weeks, along with Ashley, in close communication with me. I still have yet to visit their facility or meet in person but I can tell you I have had enough phone time with them I feel like I have. It was a very easy transaction and delivery once we got there. They helped me in all aspects of getting the boat, very turn key. Could not have been more pleased at prep work and additions they made to boat. I saw where Scott posted for you to call him direct. I would take him up on that!

I've done several deals with Scott and he's always been honest and answered any questions I've had.

Give him a call you won't be disappointed.

Scott, in my experience, has always carried an honest and integritous way of doing business with his reputation. I would not hesitate doing business with him... David Woods is the person who sold me the boat, advertised as having "fresh" motors, which, after commenting one motor had an issue, and it was " diagnosed" by Pier 57 as the only problem was a bad starter, turned out to have TWO INTERNALLY ROTTED motors, one which was leaking water and rusted the starter!

David Woods is the one I have heard from others had similar experiences to mine... not Sjogren. Hope that clarifies things a bit.

I bought my last DCB from them and they are nothing but great people. I deal with Carry only. He worked hard to get me a deal on my boat. I would not take it personally because it must have been a mistake. Talking trash on the internet about a company that has a great reputation is pretty harsh. I understand your frustration but I dont think they deserve a blast for a few missed calls, you never know why or what happened. I see Scott replied and im sure he will make it right for you. In this boating community there are only a handful of trustworthy dealerships and they are on the top of the list in my eyes.

Peir 57 has sold 3 boats for me..1 before the merger and 2 after. I can tell you they are one of the best to deal with in the industry. Very easy to do business with from a sellers perspective, and heard nothing but great things from a buyers perspective.

I am sure once you speak with Scott, Greg, or any member of his team, you will feel the same way.

As a business owner myself, I would encourage you to post your expierence after you have spoken to them. We all work hard on our maitaining a good reputation....

My guess is they were in the middle of hauling most of the team and promo trailer to Chattanooga.

Whoever was left behind maybe just got over tasked. It happens.

All of my dealings, emails and calls, have been prompt and efficiently returned.

Bought 2 boats from them without any issues. David, Cary and the rest of the team has been awesome to deal with. Not sure I would buy anywhere else.

It's good to see that the majority of the responses on the post are positive and favorable. There is always two sides to every story and posting up a bunch of drama does this industry no good.

As mentioned before, Scott posted up to the OP to contact him personally. I would argue if you talked to 100 or more of the customers from Pier 57 North and South the majority would agree that David Woods and Scott Sjogren worked hard to make the purchase and or service experience a favorable one.

Now turn off the stupid computer and let's go burn some gas!!!

I've done many deals with Dave and Scott, nothing but great things to say about them. It's been a couple busy weeks with the back to back poker runs. Stick with them, they will take care of you

Why is this in the Fountain section?

He tried to put it where no one would see it. :whistle::daz:

I have bought 2 boats from them,always dealt with Greg.He works very hard to get the deals done and keep the customer happy.they have always followed through from start to finish.I also am a business owner & there are only so many hours in a day to call & send emails.This is a busy time of year in the boating world.

This is the reply we got when my wife asked them how to proceed after many e-mails when we told them we were very interested and were ready to buy, keep in mind we live in Md.

From: Greg Weber <[email protected]>
To: 'Barb and Bob'
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 4:47 PM
Subject: RE: 2004 38 Lightning

Barb, the closest commercial airport is Chicago O’hare. Its about 40 minutes away from our store.

Looks like we took a deposit on that 38 Fountain this morning and its under contract as of now. Please feel free to come out and check out our inventory or if you would like to wait and see if this deal goes through, I will keep you posted on it.

Regards,

Greg Weber
Pier 57 Sales, Service, Storage & Transport
3830 Sunset Ave
Waukegan, IL 60087

Wholeheartedly agree, I like money too. But swearing off, per se, a shop that obviously does fine work over an internet post is silly.

Agreed

Have you make contact yet?

I'm not sticking up for any dealer but some of these posts act like you never bought a used trade in before.... I have heard my share of good and bad deals, you can't please everyone. And the volume of sales never helps when things go too fast and get overlooked.
If you are interested in a boat, you anti up $ with a written agreement to lock it down so you don't waste your time and theirs going to see it, if you are 100's of miles away makes even more sense.
As for the boat with the 500's at a poor cyl. Psi.... I would say about half of the performance trade ins are in this condition and looks like it was just bandaided along to keep it going. You could have used the survey info you gathered as bargaining chips at the closing table for maybe a few grand off. I would think with the asking price I would make sure you have at least rebuild able cores. But it looks like you were bargin shopping.
Remember you get what you pay for.
And most importantly always know what your buying. As for the Gladiator did you do a full survey including the health of the driveline? These kinds of boat are either treated like a Ferrari or a party bus.
If your looking for fresh motors and tuned up ready to go **** then you'll be paying for it. Ok that's my rant. Sorry if I offended and good luck buying new, used, dealer, private, repo'd, or salvaged.