FW Customer Service disappointment

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:44 am

ric wrote:

Kvou812 wrote:

My dealer went out of business 6 months after i bought the boat so I don't have a dealer within 200 miles...and Four Winns doesn't seem interested in growing their dealer network, they just lose dealers.

No kidding. They lost all dealers in Florida except one. Four winns USED to be big in Florida you still see them all over the waterways but now my closest dealer is 422 miles away in the Florida Panhandle!! Up until 2-3 years ago there were two Four Winns dealers within 20mi of my house.

Regal, Searay(bayliner), Hurricane, Chaparral, Stingray, Glastron are the big names in Florida now. Searay being #1 in the cruiser market, regal in the runabout.

I really don't know why I bother, I guess it's just to let others on this board know (if they don't already)that you sir are a bag of wind, and nothing more. More than half of what you post is unqualified BS. There..... I feel better now.
Just a few of the Four Winns Dealers in Florida
Aloha Marine Center-Holy Hill, Fl.
Intermarine, Ft. Lauderdale
Boater's Landing, Ft. Meyers (owned by The Winn's brothers)
Legendary Marine (mentioned)
Mt. Dora is an authorized and approved repair facility for Four Winns boats and parts. Close to Orlando.

Also, Monterey Boats is the 3rd most sales volume in the state of Florida in runabout category for the last 4 years. Behind Regal and Sea Ray.

ric · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:50 am

How am I a bag of wind? I just went to http://www.fourwinns.com clicked locate a dealer entered my zip code 32707 and that's what came up.

Do it yourself.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:04 am

ric wrote:

How am I a bag of wind? I just went to http://www.fourwinns.com clicked locate a dealer entered my zip code 32707 and that's what came up.

Do it yourself.

You are such a blowhard. The Four Winns site is not current. Go to the individual boat web sites I listed. It clearly says they are dealers and service centers for Four Winns boats. There are even members on this board that bought Four Winns boats from two of the dealers I mentioned, and neither was from Legendary Marine.

Also my stat's for the sales figures are direct from NMMA and Builder sales reports that only are available to marine industry personnel, like me. Your stat's came from where ?

ric · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:14 am

my eyes gave me the stats.

So if I'm a potential new four winns owner and clicked for a dealer on their site that's what I got. Now you're just bickering. Complain to Four Winns awesome customer service that they should update their new updated site.

rpengr · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:20 am

Cap'n Morgan wrote:

ric wrote:

How am I a bag of wind? I just went to http://www.fourwinns.com clicked locate a dealer entered my zip code 32707 and that's what came up.

Do it yourself.

You are such a blowhard. The Four Winns site is not current. Go to the individual boat web sites I listed. It clearly says they are dealers and service centers for Four Winns boats. There are even members on this board that bought Four Winns boats from two of the dealers I mentioned, and neither was from Legendary Marine.

Also my stat's for the sales figures are direct from NMMA and Builder sales reports that only are available to marine industry personnel, like me. Your stat's came from where ?

Ouch!

On FW web site, if I put in my West Palm Beach zip code of 33406, I get Intermarine in Jupiter Fl which is about 20 miles from me, and 150 miles from Orlando. If I put in an orlando zip like 32826, I get the dealer in the panhandle (Destin FL) which is 415 miles from Orlando. Why doesn't the Mt Dora dealership show up? or at least Intermarine, Jupiter which is closer than Destin?

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:30 am

ric wrote:

my eyes gave me the stats.

So if I'm a potential new four winns owner and clicked for a dealer on their site that's what I got. Now you're just bickering. Complain to Four Winns awesome customer service that they should update their new updated site.

No complaints from me, I understand why their site is not updated. I could care less. Just thought others might want to know the truth.

From Mt. Dora website.....

Quote:

-Factory Trained Authorized Service Center! for Mecury, Mercruiser, Honda, Volvo Penta, Monterey, Crownline, Harris Flote Bote and Four Winns.

scotchwater · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:59 pm

God Bless you Cap'n. You're the reason I log in and read the posts. Although I haven't been able to get on very often due to travel, you have to warn me when it starts heading this way and I'll put my bullet proof vest on so as to not catch a stray!

ric · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:09 pm

Okay, and how is someone supposed to know that? That's my point.

Gresh24 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:23 pm

ric wrote:

Okay, and how is someone supposed to know that? That's my point.

Perhaps you can take your own advice:

ric wrote:

You have to ask the right questions to get the right answers.

ric wrote:

Again, it all comes down to customer education.

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:58 pm

ric wrote:

You have to consult the individual makers of the parts for their coverage.

You shouldn't have to do this but I sure did when OMC went bankrupt in 2001 right after I bought my 298 Vista. I was sweating bullets until I realized that I could go directly to the manufacturer. Fricking dealer wouldn't even talk to me until Genmar entered the picture. I only had to get one item fixed during the down-time between owners and come to think of it, I think the manufacturer of the defective part even paid the tech to install it. Do they still do that even if there is no dealer around? Or, do you have to get the part under warranty at no cost and then pay to have it installed?

firecadet613 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 3:01 pm

Boaters Landing

Pedropup · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:51 am **Posts:** 104

Well isn't this thread taking an interesting turn.......

From the car industry, National Websites a RARELY accurate with much information. I imagine it is the same in the boating Industry. Don't make it right, but it is what it is. The most likely cause, is that the selling dealer's themselves, don't go into the websites to see if they are listed correctly or at all, which would cause them to make a call to IT, and then FW's would be able to fix the error's. bad info on a Manufacturer's Website, like it or not, is as much the Dealer's responsibility as it is the Manufacturer's.

If there are fewer dealers, that is also not always the case of it being the manufacturer. They would like to have their boats sold from as many dealers as possible, but you have to have a dealer that wants to sell your product in the first place.

ric · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 3:16 pm

298VISTA2000 wrote:

ric wrote:

You have to consult the individual makers of the parts for their coverage.

You shouldn't have to do this but I sure did when OMC went bankrupt in 2001 right after I bought my 298 Vista. I was sweating bullets until I realized that I could go directly to the manufacturer. Fricking dealer wouldn't even talk to me until Genmar entered the picture. I only had to get one item fixed during the down-time between owners and come to think of it, I think the manufacturer of the defective part even paid the tech to install it. Do they still do that even if there is no dealer around? Or, do you have to get the part under warranty at no cost and then pay to have it installed?

Depends what it is. Things like my Volvo Penta warranty is only honored by authorized volvo penta service centers. They do not deal with the owner at all and if you don't follow their guidelines and have service records on file using only authorized parts and fluids at the correct intervals they can void it. So sure save a few bucks changing the oil yourself but if the engine blows and you have 500 hours with no service record at all... GOOOD LUCK!!!! Stuff like my vinyl isn't warrantied by Stingray but the vinyl company will only interact with stingray to process a claim to be fixed by...anyone. Which is a pain cause stingray wants to sell you new parts, not process someone elses warranty not to be fixed by them.

Gotta read the fine print.

Raymarine handles all warranty repairs on their products installed by OEMs. Year #1 is a "hot swap" warranty where they just mail you a new product in exchange for your broken one. Year 2 and 3 (if you got lucky and signed up for the free extension in time) you have to take the product to an authorized service center. Not the dealer you purchased the boat from unless they are on the list, and not the OEM you bought the boat from. It's all on their site.

http://www.raymarine.com/locator.aspx?s ... =4&page=10

neutron · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:06 pm

ric wrote:

Which is a pain cause stingray wants to sell you new parts, not process someone elses warranty not to be fixed by them.

Isn't this the same with almost every dealer no matter what the product. No one wants to warranty anything they want to be in buisness to sell! sell! sell! not make in some cases 1/2 for a warranty and deal with claims.

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:15 pm

Even though this thread went into the shitter real quick, a lot go good info came out of it:

1. make sure all warranty cards are completed at time of purchase
2. if you have warranty work, first contact your dealer and then FW
3. if your dealer and FW state the part is out of warranty, double-check with the manufacturer
4. not all authorized dealers are mentioned on the FW' website
5. ric is a know-it-all dick :lol:

Just giving you grief ric. In all honesty, even though you come off as being a know-it-all, your posts are somewhat informative and originated with character that only a smart ass like me can appreciate.

www.iFourWinns.com

FW Customer Service disappointment

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