Originally Posted by Jlfrob (Post 3969447)

They control OSO too ? Perhaps it's time to jump ship to a more SERIOUS site

Originally Posted by Bowtiepower00 (Post 3970138)

Gimme a break, Merc, and Merc Racing know they are pretty much the only show in town for the vast majority of Boat Owners and Builders... Until someone makes a SUCESSFUL run at the lower end of the market, they will continue to do pretty much whatever they want. (Volvo? yeah, right....) There are plenty of engine builders out there who cater to the guys who can spend HUGE money on BIG power engines and high dollar drives, but everyone else gets bent over. Amazing how a RACE team using Merc parts gets ignored until they raise a stink on a BBS like OSO. Merc could give a damn about 99% of it's customers. If you don't have huge resources and exposure, they could care less about the service you receive. That is a big part of why the marine industry is in the shape it is in. They will continue to funnel their resources to the 1% of customers who can afford a 1100, or 1350+, where the real, overpriced, profit is at, at the expense of everyone else. How difficult would it be for Merc to develop a 500HP black motor and a drive that would handle 750HP at a Bravo price? Not very, I'm sure they have the technology, but why would they? They can continue to rape everyone for the parts and labor on Bravos and Blue motors and laugh their way to the bank...

EDIT: Sorry, I'm sure a reply like this will get the entire thread deleted...

Originally Posted by Bowtiepower00 (Post 3970148)

How is it all going to end up? Without any change. I applaud Rik, and Arneson, for providing a bulletproof drive for pretty much any application, with a reasonable price, but that still leaves the engine side of things. I can build a Bulletproof EFI 600HP engine for 25K, yet the Merc racing offerings are a minimum of TWICE that, with a weak Bravo standard or an overpriced 6 drive standard. That is total BS... As soon as the engine and drive offerings open up, so will the boating industry as a whole. It reminds me of the Motorcycle industry as a whole in the early 2000's. They charged whatever they wanted, because they could. Then the bottom fell out. There is plenty of room for a solid single engine or twin in the 24-30' range from a variety of manufacturers for $75-100K, but why would anyone build one when they can charge 300K+ for a 36' or bigger twin? Forget about exposing new owners to this wonderful sport, we can buy a friggen small bowrider,, or a giant twin powerboat, where are the big singles or twin SBC's in the 30 foot range for those of us who don't want to spend house money on a capable, yet quick, offshore powerboat?i
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Originally Posted by Indy (Post 3970173)

This thread is starting to be about $$ when it's the service that was the issue. Whether or not a company is expensive is not the point, if it's too expensive have another engine builder build one, or go IMCO for drives, or Teague, Indy or whatever. At least there are choices. However, purchasing is just part of the equation, the other is the servicing of the product. Now if you're charged a premium price and get discount service then the problem is compounded. The OP was circle jerked by some at MR. A different OSO member who posted about being jerked by the Merc prop truck only to get serviced by Hering is another example.

Looks like Merc stepped up, but only after issues were brought to public. If the criticisms are FAIR, then maybe social media will start holding companies like this accountable now rather than being hidden in one-off incidents. Unfortunately we've seen some bogus criticisms posted in the Beware section of OSO so these things need to be approached carefully.