Buyers can no longer choose where they buy their boat!

[stoked 1,039]

 

If the oppurtunity presented itself we would stay here when I retire but not so sure we will get the chance. Just came on on the O-6 list so that means 3 more years to lock in retirement. The good thing is I am already in an O-6 billet so I am trying to get them to leave me here and reset my PCS clock.

 

It sure is nice to have a huge, deep, and realatively uncrowded lake only 20 minutes from my front door. Plus a great but small group of Centurion owners right now to hang and surf with.

 

Full Bird!!! CONGRATS!!!!

[dejoeco 59]

Let me clarify what I meant. Bad dealerships would suffer if customers went elsewhere and that meant losing market share and eventually lose the franchise. If customers bought regardless then I guess it helps that "bad" dealer.

[souperfly 41]

Let me clarify what I meant. Bad dealerships would suffer if customers went elsewhere and that meant losing market share and eventually lose the franchise. If customers bought regardless then I guess it helps that "bad" dealer.

 

That's the point! Bad dealerships SHOULD suffer! If they cannot provide a quality experience, price or service then they are just a disservice to the brand! I'm 10000% positive if any of the Centurion reps came down to my local dealership, they would be appalled. Just because you have a Gordon's steak house in your neighborhood doesn't mean I should be forced to eat at McDonalds, just because I live closer to it!

[WakeDoc 471]

Just because you have a Gordon's steak house in your neighborhood doesn't mean I should be forced to eat at McDonalds, just because I live closer to it!

 

SPOT ON!!! Could not have said it better!

 

We live in the 4th biggest city (fixing to be 3rd) in the nation, have just about every inboard brand out there including Centurion. Our "local" dealer, TRACKER Boats started off strong when they first showed up said all the right things, offered all the right answers etc. Now with the new/2nd GM their idea of service is...bring it on up, we will have your complete service (minus having the engine diagnostics done by a PCM mechanic, which is the only reason I take it to the dealer and do not do it myself) done in 2 to 3 weeks. "Will my boat at least be kept inside at night since it has thousands of dollars worth of aftermarket equipment, the dealership is not in the best part of town and it is NEVER stored outside". NO, we store boats on the back lot same as the rest (pontoons and aluminum bass) boats. Same lot I have walked into and seen boats with a kiddie pool worth of stagnant water on top of an expensive cover sagging to the floor of the boat, others with covers blown off and filthy. Can I make an appointment bring the boat in and wait on it/pick up the same day? No we do not do that. The only choice I have at this point is to take it to the Tige or Natique dealer to have it serviced. We are not the only ones with this problem, EVERY current Centurion owner we know in Houston (and we know most of them) have the same issue. Several owners have contacted/asked me where we are having our boat serviced since they do not feel confident with their "dealer". Do you think any of the current Centurion Boat owners in the Houston area would ever buy a boat from TRACKER Boats. Might not have the affect that is being hoped for, what it is going to do for me personally is keep me in my current boat until we get a real Centurion/Supreme dealer that cares about us, our boat, our business and tries their hardest to earn it. Until then I would never consider a new boat and either would the current owners we know and several of them would like to upgrade. Furthermore...hey...stop kicking the box RhuntIII, get back souperfly...ok...ok...FINE!!! I'll get down!

[tprice 118]

Like This

DarksideR

Yesterday, 08:27 PM

tprice, on 22 Sept 2015 - 7:25 PM, said:

Problem with this point of view is it should be all about the customer, not the dealer.

 

You know that's BS... it's never "all" about the customer. The customer isn't ALWAYS right. It should benefit both parties. The dealership should make some money, and the buyer should get a quality product. If the product has a failure, it should be fixed quickly, without question. Now, it's always been up to the dealer if they want to do warrany work on boats not purchased from them. And they haven't been allowed to advertise new boats outside their territories. But not allowing a customer to choose where they buy from is

 

 

 

Dark,

I am a biz owner and run a company, it is all about the customer!!!! Otherwise you are out of business. I didn't know Bernie Sanders bought CC. ( let's make it fair for everyone whether they deserve the biz or not, it must be fair)

[stoked 1,039]

Dark,

I am a biz owner and run a company, it is all about the customer!!!! Otherwise you are out of business. I didn't know Bernie Sanders bought CC. ( let's make it fair for everyone whether they deserve the biz or not, it must be fair)

 

Completely agree! I'm a business owner too, if I can't keep my customers happy, I shouldn't be in business. I mean that's pure capitalism, right? If a business can't keep itself in business, it should fail and those that can should reap the benefits of their hard work. But in this case, the business that shouldn't be in business for whatever reason is going to stay in business as well as get paid by the business that is successful and draws customers. I guess that's capitalism too these days...

 

I see Fineline's point in this too. They need to maintain the most coverage they can. If they have a single dealer in an area, it's in their best interest to keep it open and going. But I think they're going about this all wrong. There should be a positive incentive, not a negative. Don't punish those that are doing a good job on their behalf.

 

My 3 cents.

[Stretch 409]

Idk why not like send out people to educate the dealers on boats? Or find another dealer that is worth a damn in the same area and dump the trash

[Cdifranco 463]

 

Completely agree! I'm a business owner too, if I can't keep my customers happy, I shouldn't be in business. I mean that's pure capitalism, right? If a business can't keep itself in business, it should fail and those that can should reap the benefits of their hard work. But in this case, the business that shouldn't be in business for whatever reason is going to stay in business as well as get paid by the business that is successful and draws customers. I guess that's capitalism too these days...

 

I see Fineline's point in this too. They need to maintain the most coverage they can. If they have a single dealer in an area, it's in their best interest to keep it open and going. But I think they're going about this all wrong. There should be a positive incentive, not a negative. Don't punish those that are doing a good job on their behalf.

 

My 3 cents.

 

 

At what point do you draw the line to where the customer is not right? I also co own a family auto business. We've been in business since 1952 so its clear we know what we are doing but if we treated every single customer as if they were right we surely would be out of business years ago. Example, I repair your transmission, your come back 2 weeks later complaining about your muffler and say it must be my fault when I fixed your tranny? Some companies will say sure lets just fix this quick and make this guy happy as we value our customers and if its easy we will. Yet if we did that for every person who came in with an erroneous claim how can we make money just pleasing the customer? Some day unicef might get into the auto repair game but until then we will take care of our customers to the fullest extent, however there is a line in the sand we will draw to where it is not realistic to accommodate certain requests.

 

I also think there's a big difference between a person spending 3k vs 100k and the treatment to be expected. On my boat purchase after the purchase I felt I was not taken care of by my dealer or Fineline and have expressed my concerns with both parties, neither have cared or even return phone calls.

[stoked 1,039]

 

On my boat purchase after the purchase I felt I was not taken care of by my dealer or Fineline and have expressed my concerns with both parties, neither have cared or even return phone calls.

 

This sentence is my point, will you return to that dealer? Probably not. The brand? Maybe, depends if the boat is more important than the experience.

 

I get your point about the muffler and agree with it, you are going to have times where the customer is not right and that doesn't mean you should treat them like they are (as you know there are ways to handle it while keeping the customer). But I don't think this is completely relevant here. We're not talking about dealers that people are giving a bad rap trying to get a freebie, but a dealer that has awful service (like you experienced) and allowed to continue carrying the Fineline brand because they have a territory assigned to them that only they can service.

 

In your example, because you have your auto business does that mean everyone in your neighborhood has to use you? Or can they shop around? If they genuinely feel that you damaged their muffler and you refuse to fix it, they are free to seek out another garage for transmission work next time. In this case us, as Fineline customers, can not. We have to return to the same service location that we feel doesn't meet our needs.

[souperfly 41]

 

 

At what point do you draw the line to where the customer is not right? I also co own a family auto business. We've been in business since 1952 so its clear we know what we are doing but if we treated every single customer as if they were right we surely would be out of business years ago. Example, I repair your transmission, your come back 2 weeks later complaining about your muffler and say it must be my fault when I fixed your tranny? Some companies will say sure lets just fix this quick and make this guy happy as we value our customers and if its easy we will. Yet if we did that for every person who came in with an erroneous claim how can we make money just pleasing the customer? Some day unicef might get into the auto repair game but until then we will take care of our customers to the fullest extent, however there is a line in the sand we will draw to where it is not realistic to accommodate certain requests.

 

I also think there's a big difference between a person spending 3k vs 100k and the treatment to be expected. On my boat purchase after the purchase I felt I was not taken care of by my dealer or Fineline and have expressed my concerns with both parties, neither have cared or even return phone calls.

 

 

But you are not understanding that a lot of us have legitimate claims! I see some nicer customer boats that are just sitting in their gravel lot, collecting dust and water. Much like Doc said! If your business mistreated their customers, or better yet, if a customer came in and asked if you worked on Fords, and you said "What's a Ford?" Should they HAVE to use your business? Can they go elsewhere? Houston and San Antonio are both top 10 population cities, and are only serviced by 2 Bass Pro Tracker dealerships. That includes the entire coast line, down to the Rio Grande Valley. Here is my local dealership's website, see if you can even find any Centurion advertising.... Don't worry, I'll wait...

 

http://newbraunfels.trackerboatingcenter.com/

 

I've formed a pretty good relationship with my local Natique dealer over the past 10 years, to the point that they know me by name. My second competition boat was a SANTE, because I like that dealership that much. It was crap for surfing, but I thought I would give it a shot. My Bu', SANTE and now my Enzo get worked on there. I'm just lucky that my Enzo has a PCM engine so they have 100% knowledge of working on it. On the other hand, my gauge for my Switchblade hasn't worked since I bought it. I won't take it to tracker and the Nauti guys don't want to work on it, so I live with having to guess the angle of my switch blade. Should I have to? No, but those are my choices. They haven't earned by trust, they won't earn my business.

Edited September 23, 2015 by souperfly

[souperfly 41]

 

 

At what point do you draw the line to where the customer is not right? I also co own a family auto business. We've been in business since 1952 so its clear we know what we are doing but if we treated every single customer as if they were right we surely would be out of business years ago. Example, I repair your transmission, your come back 2 weeks later complaining about your muffler and say it must be my fault when I fixed your tranny? Some companies will say sure lets just fix this quick and make this guy happy as we value our customers and if its easy we will. Yet if we did that for every person who came in with an erroneous claim how can we make money just pleasing the customer? Some day unicef might get into the auto repair game but until then we will take care of our customers to the fullest extent, however there is a line in the sand we will draw to where it is not realistic to accommodate certain requests.

 

I also think there's a big difference between a person spending 3k vs 100k and the treatment to be expected. On my boat purchase after the purchase I felt I was not taken care of by my dealer or Fineline and have expressed my concerns with both parties, neither have cared or even return phone calls.

 

 

Just thought of another example. You just came into a bit of money, whether it be from hard work or the lottery, and you have always wanted that one Maserati. Problem is, the only Maserati dealership in your area is really a Kia dealership that just happens to have a couple Maseratis they are trying to sell of at $25k under MSRP. They really don't know anything about them, nor do they really know how to service them. When you do take it in, both you and your boat will most likely be poorly treated since they really don't like your kind of people there. (The disgust that fisherman have for wake boats is apparent at this dealership). Yet the next town over, whether that be 30 miles or 300 miles, is the Mecca of Maserati. This Mecca is known for superior treatment, of both you and your machine. Takes the time to get to know their customers, and will go out of the way to wash and wax the boat, call you with updates or even send thank you cards. In this Mecca, there is an amazing parts department, as well as wake boards and surf boards for sale. But, they sale their boats at MSRP cost. I will buy from the Mecca over and over, knowing in confidence that they WILL take care of me. This is the problem we are having by being forced to buy from the Kia dealership.

 

Ok, kicking that soap box on to the next person!

Edited September 23, 2015 by souperfly

[Cdifranco 463]

 

 

Just thought of another example. You just came into a bit of money, whether it be from hard work or the lottery, and you have always wanted that one Maserati. Problem is, the only Maserati dealership in your area is really a Kia dealership that just happens to have a couple Maseratis they are trying to sell of at $25k under MSRP. They really don't know anything about them, nor do they really know how to service them. When you do take it in, both you and your boat will most likely be poorly treated since they really don't like your kind of people there. (The disgust that fisherman have for wake boats is apparent at this dealership). Yet the next town over, whether that be 30 miles or 300 miles, is the Mecca of Maserati. This Mecca is known for superior treatment, of both you and your machine. Takes the time to get to know their customers, and will go out of the way to wash and wax the boat, call you with updates or even send thank you cards. In this Mecca, there is an amazing parts department, as well as wake boards and surf boards for sale. But, they sale their boats at MSRP cost. I will buy from the Mecca over and over, knowing in confidence that they WILL take care of me. This is the problem we are having by being forced to buy from the Kia dealership.

 

Ok, kicking that soap box on to the next person!

 

 

Oh I agree and realistically that is why I will sadly probably wont be buying a new FS33 this winter because of not having a reputable dealer (south shore marina and Matt over there has been great quoting and to work with but they are too far for any service post sale) and I 100% understand how you feel because I am also a person whose boat has had minor issues and was basically told to go pound sand.

 

It took me (cant remember the exact number) like 19 phone calls and 6 emails to Fineline before even getting a response on a KNOWN issue like the quick fill valves even after specifically telling them I would pay them directly for new valves because we have a 12 week season and time was wasting. I raised so much crap they sent me out new Valterras probably to shut me up. But I agree I wasted how many days of the season getting treated like crap after spending more than most people make a year on a recreational item. Do I blame Fineline or my horrible marina? I blame both, the marina probably gave me the run around and never even contacted Fineline but that doesn't excuse all of my own efforts to remedy the situation.

 

My local dealer ( literally swimming distance away from the house) no longer sells Centurions, like you said about your dealer mine is more interested in pushing pontoons and small fishing boats. In my opinion the sale went great, got a great price, storage etc after that it was all down hill. Hour 6 I had a fusible link problem which also smoked both batteries, 10 phone calls and 2 weeks to be replaced, after all that the marina never checked the batteries or replaced them. Hour 55 I had a starter die, 3 weeks and 15 phone calls to both my marina and Fineline came to find out the mislabeled the box so it sat around at the marina for a week +.

 

Dealer may have been great to sell the boat but as far as taking care of their customers they were not so great. Especially considering I bought 2 brand new boats in one season from them.

[Hillside Powersports and Marine 107]

Honestly it sucks to hear the horror stories from dealers that are right in your back yard. We have been in business for almost 60 years and I strive to make sure every customer, regardless of distance is always taken care of. There isn't another boat dealer within two hours of us, so we service (and warranty if we can) all kinds of different boats that we did not sell and are glad to do so. Service revenue is what keeps the doors open! We wouldn't turn our backs on a Centurion owner who didn't buy their boat from us, we would treat them just as good as the customers who do, with the idea in mind of earning their business for years to come!

 

If a dealer is treating a customer wrong because the product wasn't purchased there is doing nothing but pushing the customer away for good and you can only survive for so long that way!

 

The warranty on these boats is printed, and clear . . . . as long as the issue at hand is clearly covered then the work is paid. Knock of wood, but we have had VERY good relationship with Fineline and issues are always resolved in a timely manner, regardless of where our customer is located, or where they purchased the boat from.

 

The main point is that the customer should be able to purchase from where they choose without them, or any dealer being "punished" . . . . . . I have to be price competitive with everything we sell - buyers can price shop a little Honda CRF50 nationwide, why not a boat from Fineline? If I cannot earn a customer's business that is my fault, not the dealer they eventually purchased from!

Edited September 23, 2015 by Hillside Powersports and Marine

[viking 491]

I would still like to know if CC forced Fineline's hands to re-draw the lines for Supreme & Centurion dealers in some areas also.

Talking to my "late" Supreme dealer their story is that Fineline pulled the plug on them and gave the line to somebody else. I haven't found who "that somebody else" is yet? I speculate it's the local Centurion dealer???

I felt that they did right by me when they sold the boat to me and they have been very accommodating so far. Even as far as willing to assist with some warranty stuff this winter after Fineline dropped them.

I wish somebody in the know at corporate would chime in.....................

[doug743 53]

hear is my concern. i buy from my home town dealer back home 700 miles away. They are like family to me and they have earned my business. i have bought 5 boats in 8 yrs. I also respect my local dealer, but they just got centurion last year. Its also not there core business. They are only taking on a few boats a year. I do get service there. i pay for it, and want them to make profit on the service. I will stop buying and upgrading. i will sit on my existing boat or change brands. i have spent 250k with centurion from 2010 to now. this is a hobby, i can afford other hobbies and take a break from buying new boats. I am sure the polaris dealer would love my wife and i buying 2 new rzrz each year or the porsche dealer getting a 100k deal every few years. I love the race track. i can easily burn tires off a car at the track over thousands in gas in the boat Think about it C.C

[tprice 118]

Regardless of where you can buy from, CC/Fineline needs to educate their dealerships about the boats they are selling.

This is a bit off topic but has a lot to do regarding your dealer and who you work with.

By no way am I referring to NW Boat Sports on this topic but I can't tell you how many demo rides I've been on with friends to demo centurions and the reps new nothing about the boat and how to set it up. Fortunately I've had lots driving and riding time behind so I could take over and try to sell their boat.

CC should have some type of certification for their reps to sell the boats based on knowledge,application, etc.

Nothing worse spending time to go demo and the reps fumbling around trying to figure out Cats, ram, surf tabs, tab, ballast etc etc etc

[South Shore Marina NJ 99]

I am ALWAYS surprised and alarmed at how many of you don't have good things to say about your "local" dealer. Kinda sucks, however Fineline/ CC seem to be making a real effort to build the dealer network and weed out the crappy ones. Hopefully in years to come everyone will have a great dealer within a reasonable distance, and customers won't feel the need to shop around because they'll want to do business locally anyway.. sounds like a stretch I know! I've always been impressed with Nautiques dealer network. In my opinion they're one of the strongest dealer networks in the boating industry, if they can get Centurion/Supreme to that level than I think a lot of you guys would be in better shape. This will take years though.

[WETSU Wakesurfer 56]

I am ALWAYS surprised and alarmed at how many of you don't have good things to say about your "local" dealer. Kinda sucks, however Fineline/ CC seem to be making a real effort to build the dealer network and weed out the crappy ones. Hopefully in years to come everyone will have a great dealer within a reasonable distance, and customers won't feel the need to shop around because they'll want to do business locally anyway.. sounds like a stretch I know! I've always been impressed with Nautiques dealer network. In my opinion they're one of the strongest dealer networks in the boating industry, if they can get Centurion/Supreme to that level than I think a lot of you guys would be in better shape. This will take years though.

I hope your right and it would be nice. They are not there yet though even with new to the line this year dealers who are already creating issues by not wanting to support boats/owners who didn't buy from them; even though they weren't even a dealer for Centurion when the boats in question were purchased. There just not going to get there by going that route.

[enzo101mo 98]

One time I put in the the zip code to see where the. Nearest dealer was and they told me Fresno, Ca. A few months later I did the same thing then they told me Madera, Ca

 

I want a dealer that is Educated all about the boat he selling. I want a dealer that has a perfect mechanics in his shop to service my boat. I want a friendly and helpful dealer and he or she remembers your name and smiles an says " How can I help you" every times I walk in the door. I also want a dealer that has. Friendly floor staff.

 

So what I am saying I should have a choice of where I want to buy my next boat and if the dealer in my so call. Territory does not make my list Centurion should ask why I didn't not buy from my territory dealer. If I was Centurion and my dealer is not performing , then that dealer should be dropped

 

The dealer I bought my boat from sold four different brands and didn't know much about his boats. His service department sucked. He was a high volume salesman and that's all. I was his 310 boat sale for the year 2005.

[stoked 1,039]

I am ALWAYS surprised and alarmed at how many of you don't have good things to say about your "local" dealer. Kinda sucks, however Fineline/ CC seem to be making a real effort to build the dealer network and weed out the crappy ones. Hopefully in years to come everyone will have a great dealer within a reasonable distance, and customers won't feel the need to shop around because they'll want to do business locally anyway.. sounds like a stretch I know! I've always been impressed with Nautiques dealer network. In my opinion they're one of the strongest dealer networks in the boating industry, if they can get Centurion/Supreme to that level than I think a lot of you guys would be in better shape. This will take years though.

 

I definitely feel like my dealer takes care of me. I don't know if they are my local one or not, I suppose so since they are 116 miles away and you're 167 miles, unless you count our lake house which is on the other side of the lake from our dealer (how would that work? lake house close to one, actual house close to another?). The part that stood the most out to me was the demo. They had this old guy come down out of the deep woods of Virginia, I could barely understand a word he said. I swear he was making moonshine the night before and was probably fishing all morning in a pair of overalls and nothing more. That guy had an amazing wave dialed in in about 45 seconds, not only that, but from what I could understand, he knew EVERYTHING about the boat and brand. I could go on about books and covers, but this guy was educated on the brand and knew all the answers to my questions. I was very impressed

 

I don't feel I got the deal of the century from my dealer, but I do feel like they take care of me. I think what gets under my skin is being told who I can go to and who I can't. If I need a quick warranty fix and my "local" dealer can't get to it for a couple of weeks but you can, I'm driving the extra 50 miles to you.