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OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER (perris, ca) EXPERIENCE

 
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sadams905
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PostPosted: Jun 03, 2013 9:15 am    Post subject: OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER (perris, ca) EXPERIENCE Reply with quote

The following is a public service announcement:

(It's long here as I posted the chapters individually elsewhere)

Chapter 1: What’s that smell?

We bought a 2008 MB Sports F23 Tomcat from Inland in July ’12. It had 25 hours on it. We were told the boat had received a complete mechanical inspection. That wasn’t the case. The very first time we took it to Havasu we had trouble. We jumped in the boat and headed up river. By the time we hit the sand bar, we could smell and see smoke coming from under the dash. A quick inspection revealed that the stereo was hooked up wrong and was backfeeding on itself. I don’t know anything about stereos and very little about boat wiring and I found this problem quickly. How did Inland miss this during their full inspection?

More to come… Chapter 2: Holy crap, it won’t stop!



Chapter 2: Holy crap, it won’t stop!

After figuring out the smoke problem from the stereo, we continued to use the boat, cautiously, the rest of the first weekend. Two weeks later we were back at Havasu for some more fun. Our problems started immediately. The boat’s forward motion seemed to have a mind of its own. It would go sometimes, or it wouldn’t. Never having a boat with Perfect Pass before, I thought maybe I was doing something wrong – after all, the boat had a full mechanical inspection, right.

After a couple hours wakeboarding and surfing, we went to find a cove to relax. It was hardly relaxing. When we got to the cove and approached shore, I throttled back to idle and dropped it into neutral to gently glide in. It barreled in without stopping. No amount of neutral or reverse was going to stop it. A few minutes later we headed to the dock to trailer the wounded beast. As we approached the dock I again went for neutral. No luck. No reverse either. In fact, when I hit reverse with some gusto to try to get her to stop, she lunged forward, narrowly missing the dock and narrowly missing injuring my passengers who were trying to catch it.

Turns out an oil line on the transmission had cracked and leaked out most of the tranny fluid and the clutches burnt out. But how could that happen? Surely Inland’s mechanic would catch a leaking oil line during its full mechanical inspection, right?

To their credit, Inland replaced the transmission at no cost. But it took over three weeks. And it should have never happened in the first place. Full mechanical inspection.

More to come… Chapter 3: Seriously??? Now what?



Chapter 3: Seriously??? Now what?
We finally got the boat back, this time with a brand new transmission. Everything should be good, right? Wrong. We got one good weekend out of it. The second time we had it out something else in the drive train failed. It started making a horrible clacking noise at low speed; it sounded like the whole engine/transmission was coming apart. So here we go again, back to the shop.

Turns out the coupler between the engine and the transmission failed. It probably should have been replaced when the transmission was replaced, but wasn’t. So now we’re without our boat again. And it’s September in Southern California – PRIME Lake Havasu season.

Our boat wasn’t ready to be picked up until December. Yes, you read that correctly, three MONTHS. So much for the fall boating season. But it’s nice to know they had performed a full mechanical inspection before I bought the boat, right?

More to come… Chapter 4: I’m no astronaut, but I know where Uranus is.



Chapter 4: I’m no astronaut, but I know where Uranus is

[I need to backtrack a bit] It’s now sometime in November and I haven’t heard a word from Inland Boat Center regarding the status of my boat (they were terrible about keeping me informed). So I called to inquire. The new coupler had been installed already. Now they were fixing a new problem. Their “mechanic” heard a noise in the motor while testing it. One of the cylinders was bad. They had to tear the motor apart and send the head out to be machined. I think a new valve or valves were installed.

This is ridiculous now. We’ve put less than 30 hours on the boat at this point. And now it’s got a bad cylinder/head/valve? Why didn’t they catch that during their full mechanical inspection? Why was it just discovered NOW, after thee months and two visits to their shop?

Again, to their credit, they fixed it at no cost to me. But by this time that’s not the point.

Come on, Inland Boat Center (Riverside, CA), that thing up in the sky is Uranus. The other thing is just a hole in the ground. Full mechanical inspection Uranus.

More to come… Chapter 5: Please… STOP THE INSANITY!



Chapter 5: Please… STOP THE INSANITY!

So we finally get the call, in December, that the boat repairs are complete and we can pick it up. That’s great, but we’re over it. WAY over it. We bought the boat to enjoy, to have fun on. It’s been nothing but trouble since the day we got it. Four months in the shop during the five months we’ve owned it. One trouble-free trip.

Sorry, not what we signed up for. Not what I’m paying a huge payment for. Not what I deem acceptable.

So we asked Inland Boat Center to buy the boat back under California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Protection Act. They refused. Even with the potential threat of a lawsuit they refused. And we’re not lawsuit people, my wife and I.

We begged and pleaded, please just take this floating Albatross back. We don’t want it anymore. We’re not enjoying it anymore. And, legally, you’re possibly bound to. Nope. Wouldn’t hear of it. So we investigated legal avenues. Problem was, we were going to have to throw more good money after bad to pursue a lawsuit that, because of the way the law is written, we may or may not win. It wasn’t a good investment (maybe not as bad as this boat, but still not good). So we tried a different approach.

We asked Inland Boat Center (Perris, CA) to provide three simple, reasonable accommodations:

1. A three-year, tip-to-tail full-coverage aftermarket warranty
2. Three years of on-water towing coverage ($183)
3. Repayment of 4 loan payments we made while they had the boat in service

Their counteroffer: A two-year drive train aftermarket warranty and nothing else.

Nice, but not enough. We hadn’t used the boat enough to shake out any bugs. Maybe something else was wrong that they hadn’t caught on their full mechanical inspection. I’ve already invested enough in this. I don’t want to get stuck with more.

So, no deal.

More to come… Chapter 6: We surrender



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter 6: We surrender

Inland Boat Center (Perris, CA) has rejected our request to buy back this chronically defective boat. They have rejected our offer to settle the situation a different way. They have counter offered with an unacceptable solution.

So my wife and I spend the next four months tirelessly, painfully, constantly, difficultly, frustratingly negotiating with Inland to develop a solution that would provide us with some peace of mind and level of trust in this floating hunk of fiberglass. I can’t even begin to tell you how many phone calls and emails were exchanged during that time, but it was way too many in my book. What ever happened to customer service?

All we wanted, at this point, was some assurance that this pile of crap would make it through a couple of seasons without costing us a fortune out of pocket.

In the end we finally gave up; we submitted. We just couldn’t win. So we surrendered. We were finally able to get one small victory. After four months of negotiating and hassle, Inland finally agreed to provide two warranties: one for the drive train and one called a wakeboard package that is supposed to cover almost everything else. But that was it. No loan payments, no on-water towing (again, only $183).

That’s all well and good, but it took SO MUCH to get there. Months of agonizing negotiations. And in the end, when we saw the invoice for the second warranty, the cost was $630. Seriously? You screwed us around for four months over $630? You completely pissed me off over $630? You provided deplorable customer service over $630? You forever alienated a customer over $630? You gave me Facebook fodder over $630?

Apparently Inland keeps their customer service manuals in the same place as their manuals on how to perform a full mechanical inspection.

More to come… Chapter 7: When you’re really good they call you Cracker Jack



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter 7: When you’re really good they call you Cracker Jack

When you’re really good they call you Cracker Jack. When you’re not, apparently you go to work at Inland Boat Center (perris, ca).

It’s now April 2013 and we have the boat back…finally. We took it in for repair in September 2012. They promise us it’s mechanically sound. They tell us it’s been lake tested and is ready to go. Sounds good, but, as Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify.” So we took the boat to an outside mechanic for a full mechanical inspection. And, WOW, he actually performed one. Imagine that.

Equally amazing, he found problems.

He had a whole list of issues, the primary of which was low compression in one cylinder and a strange noise in the motor. And, try to stick with me here, the cylinder with the low compression was the same cylinder that Inland’s Cracker Jack mechanic repaired. Yes, you read that correctly.

I called Inland to inquire. The “mechanic” got on the phone and told me that it just needs to be run in for a while so the new valve can seat. “How long?” I asked. He said about ten minutes or maybe one lap around the lake. “But you said you lake tested the boat,” I replied.

So which was it? Did they fail to lake test it and lie to me? Or did they do bad mechanical work and it was still broken? It can’t be both lake tested and just in need of a quick trip around the lake. Hmmm…something doesn’t add up.

Three problems now:

1. There is a 30-day waiting period for the warranty so it hasn’t kicked in yet
2. There is no clear course of action to fix it (after all, it’s already been repaired and we’ve been assured everything is fine)
3. It’s the start of the boating season and we want to use this financial burden we call a boat

So run it and hope for the best? Or park it and wait?

I love Inland Boat Center!!!! (perris, ca)

More to come… Chapter VIII: A new hope



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter VIII: A new hope

This is where the story finally gets better. A ray of sunshine has broken through the black cloud.

We took the boat to Parker, Arizona over Mother’s Day weekend. Had a great time. We wakeboarded, wake surfed, cruised the Colorado River and, finally, enjoyed our boat and ourselves.

For only the second time since we had the boat we enjoyed a trouble-free weekend on the boat. Our friends who joined us didn’t have to jump in the water to stop it before the boat slammed in to the dock. My wife and I didn’t have to stress whether it was going to leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere. No smoke billowing from under the dashboard. Finally, just a fun, relaxing weekend on our boat.

Maybe the worst is behind us. Maybe this tragic comedy is going to have a happy ending. Maybe we did make the right purchase after all.

Thanks Inland!

More to come… Chapter 9: The engine strikes back



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter IX: The engine strikes back

We used the boat for a trouble-free weekend. Everything worked perfectly. The worst was behind us, and we were feeling pretty good about it.

Then we took it out again. Trip number 2. Apparently this boat doesn’t like even numbers, because it always seems to fail on the second trip. We can get one good weekend out of it, then it craps the bed.

We got to use it for part of the weekend, doing some wake surfing on Saturday morning and then some quick trips to and from a cove in the afternoon. On Sunday we decided to go up river to a popular spot called the Pirate Channel. It worked fine on the way there. On the way back, however, it crapped out again.

At one point we stopped to cool off in the water. When I dropped it to idle to slow down, I could feel the motor vibrate violently all the way through the boat. It ran so rough I could see the vibration in the wakeboard tower. The tower was shaking back and forth while sitting in flat water.

I limped it back to the dock and called it a weekend. An early weekend. Again. There goes our three-day holiday weekend.

I’m pretty sure the cylinder Inland repaired blew out somehow. It felt like an engine running on only 7 of its 8 cylinders. And the sound was distinct, like air escaping past a bad valve.

So it’s in the shop. Again. Not Inland’s shop. No way. No way I’m letting Cracker Jack touch this thing again. Not sure what they’ll find, but I’ll bet my wife that it’s got something to do with that bad cylinder.

There goes this boating season.

More to come… Chapter 10: It only takes 9 months to make a baby



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter 10: It only takes 9 months to make a baby

I’m not a parent. But I know enough about the process to be relatively sure it takes about 9 months to make a baby. I used to think that making a baby was one of the most amazing and difficult tasks ever. No longer.

Apparently ordering a replacement swim step pad for our boat is a more substantial feat since it’s taken over 10 months to accomplish.

One stipulation of the original sale was that Inland repair the rubber swim step pad (a rubber pad glued to the swim platform on the back of the boat). We bought the boat in July 2012. It’s still not fixed today.

After months of Inland’s ineffectiveness, I finally called the factory to inquire. MB said they no longer make one, and directed me to an aftermarket supplier that has the exact mold, dimensions, material, color, etc. to replace it perfectly. A 5-minute phone call was all it took to discover the solution.

I gave this information, including the exact web site address and specifics, to Inland on May 6, 2013. It’s now June 3rd and they still haven’t ordered it, let alone replaced it. The online ordering process is less than a half-dozen clicks.

On top of that, there’s this… In the same May 6th email I asked Inland to let me know what maintenance items had been replaced on the boat when they had it in for multiple repairs. No answer. It wasn’t until I emailed (three weeks later)to tell them about the latest failure that they replied. The fuel filter wasn’t replaced, nor was the impeller.

I’m not upset that they didn’t replace them; although, given the history of this boat logic should dictate that you do everything you could to ensure it wouldn’t have any more problems. I’m upset that it took three weeks for them to answer, and it took a prompt from me to get the answer. Especially because, and I realize this is out of their control, I had shoulder surgery during those three weeks. If I had known I needed to replace those items prior to the surgery I could have done so myself. Not now. Not for six weeks or so. So now I have to pay someone to do it or wait and hope for the best. That’s just irritatingly poor customer service.

Stellar pre-sale mechanical inspection. Stellar service work. Stellar customer service.

More to come… Chapter 11: Wrap it up



OUR HORRIBLE INLAND BOAT CENTER EXPERIENCE, Chapter 11: Wrap it up

A hearty thank-you to those who have followed this saga, and especially to those who have offered support. We appreciate it. I’m perplexed by those who have defended Inland, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Two comments regarding that: 1. I’ve left out a LOT of the minutia or this could have, literally, been a book. 2. I doubt few people would have been so patient and understanding if this had happened TO THEM rather than reading about it online.

Regardless, I’m going to wrap this up with some highlights and details that may have been left out. To me and my wife, this first one is a big one.

1. I am a repeat customer. Yes, repeat customer. I bought my first boat from Inland Boat Center (perris, ca) and we have still been treated this way.
2. Our interactions (until this last problem) have been extremely positive and cordial – on both sides of the fence. Both sides have kept their cool and tried to work through this productively. I do credit Inland for that, but we feel their efforts have fallen woefully short – especially recently.
3. Communication has been poor. It’s taken too long for Inland to respond. They left me hanging on emails, they didn’t return calls. There were few or no updates during the repair process. I didn’t even know there was a problem in the motor until I called to inquire what was taking so long. Great communication is the cornerstone of any positive relationship.
4. I know boats can be difficult. I know boats can (and usually do) have problems. We have friends who have had a boat for over 10 years and it’s never had a single mechanical issue even close to what we’ve had. And we bought from a dealer rather than an individual specifically to get a boat that had been inspected and good post-sale support. But this much trouble in this amount of time would exceed the congeniality capacity of the Dalai Lama.
5. In case you missed it, we’ve owned the boat for ten months now. We’ve used it 7 times (once was an extended lake test). It has given us serious, weekend-ending, take-it-to-the-shop problems 4 of those 7 times. That’s a 57% failure rate.
6. I don’t want to discuss exact figures, but suffice it to say this boat cost over twice what my truck cost. And my truck is now 10 years old and has 185,000 miles on it with only two significant mechanical issues. The boat has less than 100 hours on it and hasn’t made it through two weekends in a row. To me that says defect. To me, that says we were sold a product that failed to live up to the implied warranty of merchantability. They should take it back.
7. At the beginning we were happy with Inland performing the required repairs at no cost. Of course, it was in their warranty, so they had to. But after the third major mechanical issue we were over it. We didn’t want this boat. This was in December. We proposed that Inland refund us for the boat and we go our separate ways. That would have ended things. We would have been happy. It would have been the right thing to do. Instead, Inland refused. They assured us the boat was mechanically sound. They said they had no legal requirement to buy it back and therefore would not. When I asked if they would buy it back if forced to by a judgment, they said yes. Then why not now, to make a repeat customer happy? Why not before it failed for the fourth time? Why put us through this?
8. On the wall in the sales area at Inland is a giant sign that reads, “Sell Them All.” I find this interesting and indicative of the support we’ve received. Not, “Provide Excellent Customer Service,” or “Make Them Happy.” No, their focus is on sales, not customer service. Anyone can sell something. Good companies can exceed customer expectations after that sale.
9. At this time we are probably stuck with this giant hunk of unearthed s&*t. And while I really appreciate all the support we’ve gotten, what I really want is for the world to be aware of this story. I want the world to know how Inland Boat Center (perris, ca) treats repeat customers. I want the world to think twice before buying a boat there. So please share this story with your network as you see fit. Thanks!
10. Full mechanical inspection
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mgs917
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PostPosted: Jun 03, 2013 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry for your troubles, that sounds like a tiring and frustrating process. Is the lawsuit still an option to have them buy the boat back? Wuold it be worth it now to try that route? Like you said boats have problems, but this one sounds like it just plain does not work (57% of the time Sad). Hope you get this straightened out and get to be out on the water some this summer.
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sadams905
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PostPosted: Jun 05, 2013 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

UNBELIEVABLE!

I just spoke with the mechanic in Havasu that's working on the boat right now, following its latest failure on Memorial Day weekend. The number 5 cylinder completely detonated. Not the number 7 cylinder as I expected, the one that Inland supposedly repaired and was low on compression. No, this is a new issue.

The motor is completely trashed. It's going to require either a total replacement motor or a total rebuild. And the mechanic doesn't sound real interested in performing a rebuild.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????!!!!!! A total engine failure within the first 100 hours. This is total BS.

I am so over this boat. I am so over boating in general. I'm not sure I ever want to go to the river again.

Right now I feel as trashed as that motor.
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PostPosted: Jun 05, 2013 11:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tl;dr
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PostPosted: Jun 05, 2013 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BrtnDan wrote:
tl;dr


The short, short version:

Bought used boat with very few hours on it that dealer said had been closely inspected. Had lots of problems with it since day one that OP thinks would have been caught by any type of boat inspection. Had engine problems, dealer took a long time to "fix" it and now it turns out it wasn't fixed and possibly needs a new motor/rebuild.

OP is pissed and either wants the dealer to take the boat back as a lemon or to compensate him somehow for all of the lost time/lost use.

I understand the dissatisfaction and pissiness and I think they are reasonable. I don't understand the desire that the dealer make loan payments for lost time/lost use. You'll never get them to do that and nothing requires them to do it.

I think your best opportunity to get some satisfaction out of it is to use the engine manufacturer's warranty to get the motor repaired and then permanently get the hell away from that dealer. Hopefully the problems begin and end with the motor. I don't see the dealer offering you anything other than some free service work or something like that, but I wouldn't accept any of that aggravation.

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PostPosted: Jun 05, 2013 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pet575 wrote:
BrtnDan wrote:
tl;dr


The short, short version:

Bought used boat with very few hours on it that dealer said had been closely inspected. Had lots of problems with it since day one that OP thinks would have been caught by any type of boat inspection. Had engine problems, dealer took a long time to "fix" it and now it turns out it wasn't fixed and possibly needs a new motor/rebuild.

OP is pissed and either wants the dealer to take the boat back as a lemon or to compensate him somehow for all of the lost time/lost use.

I understand the dissatisfaction and pissiness and I think they are reasonable. I don't understand the desire that the dealer make loan payments for lost time/lost use. You'll never get them to do that and nothing requires them to do it.

I think your best opportunity to get some satisfaction out of it is to use the engine manufacturer's warranty to get the motor repaired and then permanently get the hell away from that dealer. Hopefully the problems begin and end with the motor. I don't see the dealer offering you anything other than some free service work or something like that, but I wouldn't accept any of that aggravation.


tl;dr Laughing
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pet575
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PostPosted: Jun 06, 2013 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BrtnDan, Laughing
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fish6942
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PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This same thread on the "other" wakeboarding site includes cute cartoons.
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PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fish6942 wrote:
This same thread on the "other" wakeboarding site includes cute cartoons.


Caught that as well. Not willing to sue but walk the fine line of defamation and libel, sure, why not.

Not saying that this post is defamation or libel, just a fine line and he lives in CA so lawsuits are abundant.

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PostPosted: Jun 08, 2013 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lawyer UP
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PostPosted: Jun 11, 2013 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BrtnDan wrote:
tl;dr


HTGOOGLE... Laughing
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