The merits of a good dealer- SportCraft

O

Ordutch1975

New member
Hi all,

I am not much of a reviewer, I don't care for Yelp or many other such opinion or whining sites. I never leave reviews for any company - its just not me.

This is a first for me and is truly only because of the outstanding way Sportcraft has treated me from day 1.

A little over a year ago I started looking at buying a boat after considering what I wanted & needed for my purposes and googling / researching for months on end (I am a bit anal when it comes to me parting with my hard earned $s) and finding the brats online at first as a viewer I decided on a used C-Dory. I then embarked on a sweeping search of the internet for the best deal for the best boat. In the mean time one of the brat couples (Jerry and Hellen) invited me and my wife last summer to their home to show me the 23 Venture as no one had one in stock I could easily visit. They spent 4 hours recounting their experiences and showing us the ins and outs of the boat. Jerry recommended based on my budget that I look at purchasing a new one as to not inherit someone else's problems and in no small part due to the backing and customer service he received from SportCraft marina here in Portland. Energized and excited my wife and I met with Ryan from Sportcraft the next day and ordered our brand new 23' Venture on the spot with a handshake deal. (who does that anymore). Here is what transpired since:

1. Ryan updated me weekly on the progress of my boat including pictures from the factory and organized a factory tour for me where I met Ron Wright - Awesome fellow.

2. They rigged up my boat in record time on arrival with my main engine and delivered it to me so I could get out for Labor Day weekend as he knew II had a trip planned to the south sound with my friend. Additionally I had ordered a depth finder and display from him which he as a favor hooked up for me at no charge (I didn't ask him to do so) so I could get out on my trip.

3. During the rigging he found the fuel fill hose was kinked which would not allow air to flow properly or lead to overflowing if they did not correct it. He resolved this in no time.

4. After the trip I dropped my boat off for bottom paint and the top to be built/ installed from bentleys. He coordinated it all and had it rd for me in a week including installing the kicker motor. He also connected both to one control box vs 2 and made everything work with my nema display.

5. Ryan noticed on install of the swim step that it covered part of the HID which he thought may be problematic should I cross international waters or when I sold my boat. He called NMI and they worked out a metal plate with safety screws to attach above the swim step that would avoid the problem. (I would have never known till it was too late)

5. On my next trip I found some of the rivets installed by the top shop had come loose, that the bottom shop had stripped some of the screws on my trim tabs (causing the plate on one side to bend). I called Ryan who again resolved these issues at no cost to me. His shop replaced all rivets with screws and took care of the bottom plate issue.

6. My fuel bulb was running flat on the main engine and would not bounce back - again SportCraft resolved this with new/better parts that the manufacturer (Suzuki) had delivered.

7. The factory installed drain plugged leaked a tad bit - They replaced this as well.

The bottom line I guess I am trying to say whether you buy new or not as a customer you will find with the "custom" rigged boats that there will be things contractors and builders forget or make mistakes with. SportCraft has stood behind the sale. Repaired countless little items on their own dime and I cannot express adequately how much I value this dealer. They have a customer in me for the life be it when I purchase another boat or need any maintenance. They prioritized my no charge work over the countless projects they were working on. If you live in the PNW and want a dealer you can trust who will stand behind their product, who will go the extra mile (they came out to my slip to repair another item volunatrily) SportCraft is the place to go. I highly urge you to buy your extras from them and have them coordinate the work with vendors rather than try to find the cheapest place to do it. (unless you intend to do it yourself). The whole team has educated me, provided guidance, cared and most of all inspired trust in me.

I thank them all for their hard work and dedication to old world customer service.

Harald & Heather
 
I'll jump in here to let you know it's not only when you buy new from them. I have bought two used 16 footers and sold one at Sportcraft. In every case they gave me great advice and treated me professionally and with the utmost respect. As I result I highly recommend them and wish them every well deserved success.
 
I just got my boat back from Sportcraft. They repowered my boat with a Suzuki 200. Ryan and Tim both are great guys to work with. As always, something comes up during the install. They figured it out and made it right. Jerry was the mechanic that did all the work. His attention to detail was great.

They treated me fairly and professional.

Bottom line: You can't go wrong with Sportcraft.
(thanks for the tip Tyboo)
 
H&H, Great report. AS I was reading your post my mind was going down the list of satisfied customers that I knew from Sportcraft. And then, surprise, surprise there they were, almost in order, Yours and 4 more. Great to hear from each, and all with similar reports. Not by accident I'm sure. By all means, they are a great place to deal with.

Thanks Harald for spreading the good word.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_070.thumb.jpg
 
Harald said it all, and very well. Sportcraft is a rare business that offers excellent customer service and a whole lot more (honesty and integrity).
 
I also have nothing but good things to say about Sportcraft, and this goes back to 2000 when we bought our new 22 from them. Even though we live in Boise, 435 miles away, they never batted an eye when we needed help including find a narrow frame kicker after ours was stolen. After we got old and creaky, Larry offered to take it on consignment and even picked it up here in Boise as he was traveling through and did not charge us for taking it back to Portland. This allowed us to acquire up a 16 cruiser which had been sold by Sportcraft. They are as good as it gets.
 
In my opinion very reasonable. There is also for maintenance - if you want to make the treck - Dennis's boat shop in Salem. I trust Dennis and his crew as well as they are one of the cheapest around if your willing to make the treck.

Funny thing is Dennis and Sportcraft work together. Dennis sends/recommends boats (as I understand it) to Sportcraft for consignment.

For hull work/fiberglass Schooner Creek is probably the best in town but they are very pricey. They work on large yachts etc too. BUT do not take your small engine there for a tune up or anything mechanical. I had them perform a tune up on a 1989 Mercuriser 4.3 and they seriously botched the work charged me 4000 dollars to fix it by replacing parts one after the other cause the boat barely ran when I picked it up (thank god I brought a paddle with me) Come to find out they cracked my carburetor air mount and also bent the high speed needle on assembly. They could never fix my shifting issues. I finally gave up - went to Dennis and for a grand total of 65 dollars that boat never ran as good or shifted so smoothly. I argued with Schooner creek and they kept telling me what a deal they made me on repair. I gave up 4K for them to make things worse. Even tho they admitted they made the mistake. But hey they had replaced about everything in my engine before the figured it out. As to shifting they never admitted they broke it or could not adjust it charging me to replace cables etc etc all along the way.

My friend wanted rub rail (which he already aquired) installed on his old 17' whaler. Shooner charged him 800$ to install - a week later it fell off partly and they wanted another 800 to fix. my friend was irate - out of frustration and anger he just ran screws through his rub rail (knowing that is not ideal). He refused go give another penny to this company.

re schooner again - to add insult to injury they constantly want to do sea trials after about every thing they do which then costs you something along the lines of 20 dollars a foot to put your boat on their sling and drop it. Really sad. I do think for larger boats or fiberglass work they do good work - they repaired a crack in an old boat of mine but anything beyond that I would take elsewhere.
 
Sportcraft is first class! I will say that they are all terrific, the way customer service is supposed to be. I may be old but customer service has really slipped in the last 20 years. Sportcraft does things the right way or the old way. A big plus is Jerry on the back who is a great mechanic with the same attitude! Hi to Jerrimia Weed and the crew. Roger Juntunen
 
Back
Top