Pat & Patty's Bad Experience with The Offshore Store

P

Pat Anderson

New member
For what its worth.

Our Sprint 600 crapped out in August on the Gulf Islands cruise. As soon as we got back, I pulled the windlass and took it in to The Offshore Store, which is the authorized factory service location. I told Kyle that I was hoping to get it back in time for the Lake Powell cruise in mid-September. He said he would get a new motor overnighted and try to have it ready.

Didn't hear, didn't hear, didn't hear - so I called, he said the motor was not overnighted but sent ground, so it would not be here in time. OK, that makes sense, I can live with that.

We go to Lake Powell. Our Raymarine craps out, at least we have no GPS or depth signals, radar seems to work OK. So as soon as we get back, I take the Raymarine display in (they are the authorized factory service location for Raymarine as well). All I want to know is whether the Raymarine display is working or not, so I will know whether to dive in to the GPS antenna and transducer. This is at the end of September.

In October and November, I called Kyle two or three times to check on progress of either or both of my items in for repair. Both times he said he was very busy, and would get back to me. This sounds reasonable, I know the layout of the store, he is at the counter and two or three people are standing there talking to him. But no call back, ever.

So Patty went there yesterday in person. Guess what. They had not touched either item. The windlass had been there four months, the Raymarine display three months - nada. No apology either, when Patty pointed ot the length of time Kyle was very defensive "You are not our only repair customer, we are very busy." Needless to say, she picked up both items, and we are back to square one.

I could even live with this long time frame IF they had been in contact with us, returned phone calls, let us know what was going on, what an ETA might be, been a little bit apologetic about the unreasonable time periods.

As I say, FWIW - your mileage may vary, but we are never going back to The Offshore Store and cannot recommend them to anybody for anything.

 
Pat-
I feel your pain on the long time frames and no calls--- seems I've been there, too.

It is very aggravating when you are told that work is being done and you see that nothing is done.

Hope you are able to find good service close to home.
 
Pat,

That really sucks swamp water. If I were you, I would raise holy H E double hockey sticks with both Raymarine and the Sprint folks. I am not sure if Rodgers' Marine Electronics here in Portland is an authorized Raymarine repair facility, but I have had very good experience with them when I had woes. On one occasion, they did the checkout of the C80 for me while I waited, On another, they kept it overnight and called me the next day. Give them a call to see if they have a recommendation for a business in your area. I suspect that those folks network.

I would also provide the folks at "The Offshore Store" a link to this thread so they get an idea of the kind of impact it could have on them. Is Kyle an employee, or a manager/owner? It could be you're dealing with some complacency at the employee level. I would escalate the issue.

There is no excuse for poor service.

Steve
 
Pat: Sounds very frustrating. Sounds like you were more than patient during the whole process, giving them the benefit of the doubt at every turn. Sounds like they're too busy and don't want any more repair business. My guess is that this economy will be happy to oblige them, and that you'll have no problem finding an alternative. Good luck, Mike.
 
This seems to be another case of "We've got so much buisness we don't need you." I've found that a lot around San Diego, where buisnesses want ( and apparently get) the big boat buisness. We'll see where that goes in this economic climate. Sad to say that seems to include a lot of Honda outboard dealers.

That means that when you find a good supplier, either parts or service, treasure them.

Boris
 
Pat
I don't know about the windlass, but most of the electronic manufactures have a flat rate for repairs. I would call into Ray and see if thats the case with them. Also I would guess that one of the Brats has the same unit as yours so just put your unit on there boat and see if it works. Being a business owner all I can do is shake my head at companies and customer service. Bad service is bad service and it will never get return business.
 
bummer, it seems that customer service is a dying skill. I'll second what Steve said about Rodger's Marine Electronics, they know their stuff and are good to work with. The Raymarine web site lists them as a certified service facility so they should be able to help you out.

http://www.rodgersmarine.com/

good luck
 
Isn't it amazing that this sort of thing is the norm these days and good service is the rare experience? Being late is half as bad as not setting expectations.

You will find someone who wants your business. I agree with the post above that the economy will oblige this business.
 
Here's another story

I was in Boater World a couple of weeks ago. It just so happened that the district manager was in the store that day. So I decided to take the opportunity to comment on how thin there stock was and how I had made 3 trips to get enough of the parts to do my project. He ask why I didn't buy them off of the internet and I told him I wanted 6 pieces that looked the same for the job. ( didn't want there substitution ) He told me that I should probably go somewhere else. Now isn't that good business. Just another person collecting a paycheck that doesn't realize that if everyone goes somewhere else he wont have a job.
 
Thanks Pat for posting your experience with this provider. Hopefully it will save the next guy a big waste of time and a lot of 'ageda'. I wish there was a kind of Angie's List for boating stuff.

MartyP
 
I'm surprised you got this kind of service with the state of the marine industry. In my neck of the woods, marinas, dealers, canvas shops, etc. have nothing but time on their hands to be both helpful and cut deals. I did notice the West Marine store has cut hours but, when open, I see far fewer customers than in the past so the sales people on the floor have plenty of time to be helpful. Of course lay offs and bankruptcies will eventually change the picture.
 
Pat/Patty, just went to their website to see what's what. "Kyle" is the only one without a bio on there and he's listed as Sales/Service. Sent the following e-mail to their President.

"Had considered purchasing from you either at the SBS09 show or when I am in Seattle but after reading of some of our C-Dory friends service experience, will probably not do it.

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=10546

Just thought you'd like to know.

Charles Vinroot
Capt USN Ret
Heathsville, VA"

If a few of us do that, maybe their attitude will improve.

Charlie
 
Wow! This struck a nerve! I was going to see if David could put my C-80 on Anna Leigh and see if it works. Charlie, it will be interesting to see what if anything comes of your email! I am still just out of luck it seems on the windlass, but we'll figure that one out. It may be that a new V-700 is ultimately the best answer anyway...
 
Pat that's what I did. The v700 fits in the same hole with only a minor modification, took me about an hour. Jan on C-Change promised me his old windlass (Sprint 600) that had a bad gearbox but a good motor. I had made a deal with Starcraft Tom to send him all the stuff, my old 600 with a good gearbox/bad motor and Jan's good motor but haven't gotten stuff from Jan yet. Just sent him a PM reminder. Maybe with all those parts we can cobble up something to fix your 600. We can try anyway...

Charlie
 
Certainly very bad PR in today's world. There are plenty of places which will fix both of these items promptly--but you will probably have to mail them off.

If the store is a one man operation--then nothing you can do. If someone else is the owner, then there is a lot which can be done--and I suspect the owner would want to know what is going on.

Service in general is lacking in most stores--of course there are the pleasant exceptions!
 
I used to work in the part department at an RV Center in Spokane and the service department was very reluctant to do warrantee work during the busy season unless you bought the RV from them. If you did buy the RV there repairs went very quickly. One of the reasons that the owner was reluctant to take warranty work from outside is that it didn't really pay very well, or at least as well the other repairs coming in the door. Also, often times the dealership had great difficulty in getting reimbursed for repairs, which is why we no longer have a Seasport dealer in Anchorage, Alaska.

However, with that said, we always provided very good customer service as the service manager's philosophy was the people don't have to have RVs, they won't buy them if the service is not good. And, if the service department and parts department is less than friendly, has poor customer service skills, and doesn't get the job done in a timely fashion, he felt that future RV sales were in jeopardy too. I agree with him. And, the marine industry works in a similar fashion.

Without a doubt what you experienced is unacceptable. At least you have other options in the lower 48. In SC Alaska there is only 1 show in town for C-Dory and that is Alaska Mining and Diving. When they don't come through, it is a challenge to find a solution at all before our super short season is over.
 
Here is a copy and paste of an email I sent to sales@offshorestore.com.


http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=10546

I am dismayed at your companies policy on customer service to the NW. marine community. The posting to the above site would cause anyone in need of service or purchasing marine equipment to think better of it. The C-Brats site is quite possibly the most read and followed boating site on the internet with 1000s of hits a day by hundreds of boaters other than C-Dory owners The word on your lack of service and commitment to your customers will be read far and wide and will be repeated in personal contacts between other boaters. Too bad, as word of mouth is one of the best advertising tools available.

As a very active member of the USCG Auxiliary, a vessel safety inspector, and a soon to be 50 ton Master, I am in contact with hundreds of NW boat owners each boating season and I certainly will not be able to speak positively of your company if discussion of marine service is brought up.

I would like a reply from either your President Todd Rickard, or your Operations Manager Trevor MacLachlan. Let's see if we can reverse this image before it affects your bottom line.

David McKibben
Anacortes, WA
 
Am I reading this correctly? Did they actually LIE to you about sending it ground to cover their slow service (and then still did nothing?)

I have had honest, unfortunate and time consuming mistakes made and still dealt with businesses. But out and out lying is an unforgivable business ploy that would get me spending as much as twice as much to take my business elsewhere. If I did not read this wrong, this is more than a "lack of service" issue.

Chris
 
jkidd":2ba3j3zw said:
Here's another story

I was in Boater World a couple of weeks ago. It just so happened that the district manager was in the store that day. So I decided to take the opportunity to comment on how thin there stock was and how I had made 3 trips to get enough of the parts to do my project. He ask why I didn't buy them off of the internet and I told him I wanted 6 pieces that looked the same for the job. ( didn't want there substitution ) He told me that I should probably go somewhere else. Now isn't that good business. Just another person collecting a paycheck that doesn't realize that if everyone goes somewhere else he wont have a job.
Click to expand...

I suspect you met an honest, frustrated employee whom, at the peril of his own job, was just telling you the way things really are.
 
Careful there, I did NOT say they lied. Kyle said he ordered the motor to be sent overnight, but they sent it gound instead. I have no reason to think that is not accurate.
cemiii":23khvydv said:
Am I reading this correctly? Did they actually LIE to you about sending it ground to cover their slow service (and then still did nothing?)

I have had honest, unfortunate and time consuming mistakes made and still dealt with businesses. But out and out lying is an unforgivable business ploy that would get me spending as much as twice as much to take my business elsewhere. If I did not read this wrong, this is more than a "lack of service" issue.

Chris
Click to expand...
 
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