Mariah212Z

Several years ago I had my motor rebuilt by a Marine Performance shop in my local area and had the following experience.

On dropping off the boat the shop owner and myself went over the boat for the purpose of going over to identify if any damage was present before leaving the boat. This would be like when you rent a car and before taking the car any dents or damage are identified to protect the customer and business when it is returned.

The issue in question involves the Alpha One outdrive. Upon leaving the boat there was no damage existing on the Alpha One drive other than some paint repair (cosmetic) around the lower gear case near the prop (just sanded by me and painted).

Upon picking up the boat when the motor was complete and installed in boat, I was surprised to see a chunk/piece of the lower gear case fin missing (size of golf ball half). When I brought this to the attention of the owner, he claimed he knew nothing about the damage. During the initial walk around the boat before leaving it, he had given the drive a once over and even commented on the paint repair.

I made it known to the owner that the chip was never there but received no further comment. At that time I was excited to see the performance gains from the new engine build and I guess knowing I was going to spend a good amount of money on the build, just wanted to water test to see the benefits/gains.

At that point the owner requested to take care of the bill first and then water test the boat (thought that was odd) which was done. Where my performance expectations met? That is a whole other story but was not that bad.

This was several years ago and must say I continued to have my boat serviced by the same shop but this has always bothered me and would just like hear how you all would have handled the situation. I can assure you that there was definitely no damage to the drive when the boat was dropped off.

I believe the damage was caused during the replacement of the water pump and the separating of the lower unit from the upper unit. Looks like the shape of large hammer head.

This brings into question of why a shop would not live up to its mistake and admit to the error and resolve it??

I know what you are all thinking, why did you continue to service the boat there? Well, there are not that many performance marine shops in the area and was concerned not to muddy the waters in case of a motor warranty issue.

Your Thoughts

dodgezilla04

I have a rental house. When a tenant moves in, I give them a disposable camera and we do a walk through and they take pics of any issues. The photos are developed and put in their contract file.
No way to dispute anything at that point.

May be a requirement when dropping anything

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

have u repaired the damage yet,if not,ask the shop owner how much he wants to do the repair,then remind him again that it was not damaged before,and ask him for a price break on the repair,my guess is that he will work with you.no shop wants to loose a good customer,espically in these troubled economic times.good luck.

delsol

I think the several years ago part might be a problem in trying to go back for any compensation at this point...

Dave M

You have 2 choices, find another shop, or live with it. If the guy hasn't owned up to the damage yet, I doubt he is going to change his story now.

GLH

You waited to long, stuff like that has to be addressed upon event... No immediate action implies acceptance.

No sh!t... Fooled you once shame on him, fooled you tw..... Well you know.


Move on and screw him, let your friends know so they don't get screwed.

Hope this helps.

Mariah212Z

That would have been the best insurance. But you know, you just expect that a place with a good reputation (I thought) could be honest.

For all the high dollar boats that are worked on at this place, you would think that a lower gear case repair on an Alpha would not be such a great cost to resolve??

Happened a while back and have accepted. If I ever have to sell, it will need to be replaced or repaired. Lucky it did not affect performance.

Thank for your comments.

fountainfan42

you forgot to tell us the other story

Mariah212Z

The so called "performance shop" promised and I have it stated on the bill that it was a 400+ hp build. However, this was not the case as according to external prop dyno sheet provided which was 312hp at around 5200rpm. 100hp loss to the prop, do not think so.

This is why my next motor will be marine crate or will do it myself. Have done it years ago and can do it again.

fountainfan42

that suks BIG time ,you mentioned you had to pay the bill b4 testing/sea trial your new power did it perform what you expected and where told ??? just curious