540Fever

This will probably come as a surprise to many as these guys have been in the industry for years with a good reputation. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to work with them when my boat needed the motor and drive rebuilt. If you look at the last two Google reviews, it appears others have had the same experience working with these guys over the past year. Maybe they treat their long-time customers like gold, but this was not my experience. My last effort was an email sent on Monday morning with a list of my issues that I suggested we talk through. There is always two sides to a story, so I wanted to hear their perspective. As suspected, four days later I haven't received as much as an acknowledgement of my email. In my email, I suggested we address the issues or we cut ties and go our separate ways, so here we are. No loss to them, it is the path of least resistance and they already have my money.

If you've used them in the past and continue to have good a experience, hats off to you. I think they're a very capable shop when they choose to be.

For those that are looking for a new shop, just use a little caution and set appropriate expectations. Communication is non-existent unless you physically drive to their shop. Any support after the fact is just as bad or worse. In fairness, they did fix a timing issue after I hounded them for a month. You want to know what parts went into it with detail, probably not going to happen. What was provided has conflicting information, so I don't really trust anything that was provided.

For the record, I've NEVER left a bad review. Knowing this is a small two man shop, I hesitated. However, when I look back to how I was treated, there is no excuse.

I'm sure this will get back to them, which is fine. It's the reason I posted it in a public forum for all to see. Unlikely, but maybe it will change the way they operate and treat their customers.

Good luck out there!

Todd

flat rate

iTrader: (3)

It’s not just you or a new issue unfortunately.

540Fever

Well, I appreciate the validation if nothing else.

36Tango

4 years ago, somebody was injured on one of our properties (they had signed a waiver). One day short of 2 years, they filed a lawsuit (one of these personal injury law firms that advertise on TV making you think you can win the lottery). Another 2 years of legal wrangling and our (hired by insurance company) said they were willing to settle for $15k (hell we spent twice that amount in legal fees!) A week later, he said that we were going to court as my insurance company turned it down. It did not sound right to me, so I contacted them myself. In about 1/2 hour everything was solved and we actually settled for $10k. For some reason, my insurance company never got the email.

Moral of the story? I would close the communication loop to make certain that they received the email before assuming that they are blowing you off. Escalating it without 100% knowledge that they received it could be bad.....and expensive. Simply sending an email does not mean that the email was received.

Just a thought to ponder...................

540Fever

That was definitely considered along with many other scenarios. I spent hours contemplating, deferring, etc. before making a comment on my experience working with them.

You begin to realize after working with them for over a year it’s not just a missed call, text, or email. The email I sent was more of a courtesy, last olive branch.

As I suggested earlier, if you have a great experience working with them, you do you. My experience was not what I would expect from a performance marine shop.

Everything I’ve stated is verifiable as well.

It’s unfortunate of your situation. Communication is key.

Thanks,
Todd

PQ290Enticer

Bummer that you didn't have a positive post concerning this shop. I think you mentioned that you were pulling it to have an oil leak addressed. Will you have them go deeper and look inside? Hoping you have better luck with the new shop.

bajaman

Oh man...this brings back some bad memories of a shop I had rebuild my Triumph TR7 engine. To make an excruciatingly long story as short as possible, this shop (a highly respected local high performance engine builder) had my car for almost two years. I actually forgot for a while that I even owned this car, lol! Agreed price to rebuild was $1,400 (keep in mind this is like...1984 or so. Let's just say that nearly two years and nearly $3,000 later I got my car back. And on the way home, a twenty mile drive, the oil pressure steadily fell until by the time I pulled into my driveway, the low pressure light was on and the gauge was showing zero to maybe 10 pounds when revved. I let it cool down, pulled the drain plug and had lots of metal fragments in the oil. Now here is where the 'fun' comes in: The engine had a 12 month or 12,000 mile warranty. But they claimed that the warranty period began on the day they put the long block together. What took so long to complete was getting the cylinder head work done, another crazy long story but the head shop actually broke one of them, and on another they ruined a valve seat so...yeah, all this time passes and when it is finally assembled and returned to me, something was seriously wrong on the bottom end, wrong bearings or something...and I was out the money and they basically said, "Sue us, we'll outspend you just to NOT settle a claim!"

Moral of the story is, reputation means didly squat in too many cases.

540Fever

bajaman man that hurts. I like their fine print regarding the warranty however It’s these little lessons in life that make us wiser.

Makes me feel better considering I changed the oil this fall and it wasn’t full of bearings! I did have a faulty OP sending unit on my second trip out and was showing 10-20lb. The timing of that sender going out on a new engine sure wasn’t ideal.

540Fever

Thanks man, me too!

We’ll see how much money I want to piss away once it’s pulled. I had a new cam put in it, but may want to make a few changes when the motors out. It’s likely hinging on the cam decision. I may at least have him pull the intake so I can see what lifters are in it and identify some valve train components.

The leak is minor, mainly just making a mess in the bilge so it could wait until fall. Although, I’d rather not deal with it this summer if I don’t absolutely have to.