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THE GOOD & BAD OF MARINE COMPANIES
When I have an out of the ordinary
experience, good or bad, with marine related companies, I'll tell you about it
here.
More people should do the same. What goes around comes around.
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BUYER BEWARE:
(Cautionary
Notes from Webmaster - on marine companies based upon
personal experience of webmaster):
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KUDOS !!:
(Kudos to marine companies that take care of their customers
- based upon personal experience of the webmaster)
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March 2003: FUTURETRAK SPACE
SCANNER: This is a 3 axis scanner for satellite
TV, made by Lockheed Martin. It's absolutely worthless. We've had multiple
problems over the last year with this. The phone number listed in Pompano
Beach for warranty support is disconnected and mail returned. This unit is
handled by Ken Weiss at ESP computers in Sanford Florida, and he is supposed
to provide the warranty support. The problem is that he says he's broke and
doesn't have the money to send a refund for the unit. He has been good
enough to send two other replacement units, but the deinstall/install work
is major each time, and each one fails. It seems to have an internal logic
fault in the electronics. It shows that it has a locked and strong signal,
but will not pass it on to the Satellite Receiver. When it's locked in this
position, and then we turn power off to the scanner, the signal then shows
up on the TV, but you can't do this at anchor because the scanner has to be
on to swing with the boat. I've requested a service manual and schematics to
evaluate it myself, but have never received any. We've not tried the
Follow-me-TV unit yet, but I'd highly recommend that anyone looking for an
affordable scanning satellite TV look first at Follow-Me-TV and stay away
from this FutureTrak entirely. - I did speak with Follow-Me-TV however (Aug
2003) and they also are unwilling to provide service manuals with their
unit. 2004 Notes: Got an email from someone who said they put a splitter
in-line with the cable signal from the dish (so it goes both to the scanner
AND into your sat receiver, and this solved the problem of locking but not
getting a picture. I discovered later that the recurrent "cable connection"
errors can be eliminated by hardwiring the cable at the dish instead of
using the connector - no matter how good the connection looked it would not
work until it was hard wired. (Note - I've had several requests for the
operator manual - it's posted in our Boat Library on this website.
CLICK here to go to the library, and then download
the manual as a pdf file - a little over 3 megabytes.
March 2002:
LewMar Marine & Imitation Bruce Anchors: We
bought a 66 pound "fake" Bruce Anchor from them a couple years ago. The
sales pitch was that all metals are the same and their anchor was just as
good as the more expensive Imtra "real" Bruce anchor. We broke it this month
at the shank! When you look at the end grain you can see pockets of metals
inside that are not the same as the cast material and rusted out. In a
couple weeks it was thoroughly rusted all over the broken portion. The metal
is obviously not of a uniform nor satisfactory grade for Marine use in spite
of the fact they say it's as good as "real" Bruce Anchors from IMTRA. What's
worse is that they would not return any of my several phone calls or respond
to emails about this broken anchor and asking them if they would consider
replacing it. Even an answer of "NO" would have been much better than to
ignore me altogether. They knew they had a defective product and just chose
to ignore me. I'll avoid buying anything from them in the future that I can
get elsewhere.
- Dec 2001: HUMMINGBIRD
FISHFINDERS - the company refuses to sell parts - even
simple lamps - directly to customers. They insist
upon the service business for any repairs whether the owner is capable or
not. I would recommend using other
companies instead of Hummingbird. I've also found the depth transducer to
be unstable and unusable at even moderate boat speeds of 6-8 knots - even
with correct installation. Their dealers warned me of this before I bought
one, but I listened to the companies claims that it would work and bought it
anyway. * I removed this unit in 2002 because it was worthless.
- May 2001: RAYTHEON -
( in a two year period the price of a magnetron replacement for a radar went
from $240 to over $1100 - I ended up buying it direct from the OEM (JRC) at $240) The
Raytheon service department expressed their direct opinion to me that marine electronics are meant to last only 4-5
years at most, and all should be replaced with new at that time. This is the reason they
state for the extremely high prices
(available from OEM's at reasonable rates) they charge on older equipment parts, even
if it is still supported. This is in sharp contrast
to better companies like SITEX who continue to support their products at
reasonable prices. I would recommend electronics
companies other than Raytheon. SITEX is a good one, among others.
- Summer 1996: LIGHTHOUSE MARINA - BARNEGAT
INLET, NJ. - We were caught in bad weather just
offshore Barnegat Inlet and were forced to port. We had five kids on board.
The generator had just stopped working and we were losing our food in the
freezer / fridge. Wind was blowing about 30 knots. We temporarily anchored
across from the coast guard station and started calling to get a marina slip
in order to keep our food, and work on the generator. Everyone in the area
was full except for Lighthouse Marina. They took our reservation, then found
out we were a wooden boat and refused to let us come in. Our boat is very
seaworthy and in good condition cosmetically. They had not even seen the
boat and still refused to let us come in, in spite of the fact we had five
kids on board, no electric, and no refrigeration. What goes around comes
around. I highly recommend you avoid buying anything from them.
- Early 90's: POST MARINE SUPPLY
- I had to get the State Attorney General involved with this one. I bought
an item out of their catalog after I called them and first discussed it.
When it arrived it wasn't even close to how it was represented in the
catalog or by their person on the phone. It wouldn't work for me at all, and
they didn't have what I needed to replace it. They then refused to give me
my money back on a return. They were both rude and forceful about this -
that the sale was final and NO refunds. I sent letters to their owner and
got back the same rude responses. It finally took me contacting the consumer
fraud division of the State Attorney General office to get a refund. Their
office contacted Post, who then quickly offered to take back the unused item
and issue the refund. They're unfortunately still in business, which is why
I list my experience here. My opinion, based upon experience, is that
they are just plain crooks.
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Oct 2007: JRC Radar
- www.jrcamerica.com
- I was moving my JRC radar from one boat to another and needed a few parts,
plus had a technical problem. I must admit that at first I was having a bit
of a problem working with JRC in finding a dealer to sell me the parts - but
to their credit they persevered and followed through & I got my parts. Then
I had a technical problem. I emailed the sales manager in the hopes that he
would channel me to a technical person to ask a couple of questions, and see
if I could buy a service manual. In less than an hour of my email request I
got a response from both the sales manager, a technical answer from a
service person, and was emailed copies of both the operators AND service
manuals at no charge. Wow! With support like that you know where my next
radar will come from - and anything else they sell I might need (through
their dealers).
Jul 2007: HITE PARTS EXCHANGE
- www.hiteparts.com
- Columbus OH. They rebuilt two carburetors for me for the crusader engines
in our new boat. The fuel connection port leaked so I wrapped it with yellow
fuel teflon tape. When running the engines the one side had serious problems
and turns out one venturi was blocked and accelerator pump didn't work. I
checked the inline fuel filter on the carb, but when I put it back in I
cross threaded it and stripped the threads, but got it running again. I took
the carb back in to Hite and explained the situation, including my stripping
threads and that I expected to pay for that. We also discussed the teflon
tape and agreed it was possible that some got in the carb to plug the jets.
I asked them if they might expedite the rebuild for the following day
pickup. They said they'd try, but made no promises, and said there was a big
car show in town (extra work) and they had only one person doing carbs that
day. I got a call about 3 hours later saying my carb was done and come in to
pick it up. When I asked the price they said just to get it - no charge for
anything. That's far beyond what I expected, but am most appreciative. I'll
send them all the business I can. If you're in another city it might pay you
to ship them your carbs-starters-alternators - whatever. The business has
integrity.
Jul 2007: DEFENDER -
www.defender.com - Great customer service.
Two separate incidents this month: Bought a NorthStar sonar/fuel computer
through them with a separate thru-hull transducer. When I went to hook it up
I found I needed a separate Y connector. Defender said Northstar listed that
as a separately sold part, but when I told them that the instruction book
said it was included with the transducer, defender customer service started
calling Northstar and the Y connector was delivered to me in just a couple
days at no charge - thanks to Cheryl at Defender.
Separately I was browsing their website on a weekend looking for a RBI
dinghy. I found discrepancies between their's and Avon's listing of an RBI
so I emailed Defender using their standard online contact form. I didn't
expect to hear anything back until the work week, and even then I expected
some generic auto-reply and someone to respond another day or two later as
is not uncommon. Much to my surprise I received a personal response within
an hour or two that addressed my specific questions and provided links to
find the exact information I wanted, plus gave me the full price including
shipping to my location. - the point is not the email response - it's the
overall level of customer service at Defender. I'll keep buying from them.
Jul 2003: CAPT TJ, INC
(BELLE MARINE) - Marathon Fl, and ONAN - Minneapolis MN
I bought a new (expensive - $300) electric fuel cutoff relay
from them for my older ONAN generator. I installed it and did a quick 1
minute check and all was fine - then didn't use the generator for 2-3 weeks.
When I started it again to run it, the brand new $300 solenoid burned up in
less than 5 minutes! This is an electronic part and refunds are not normally
made, but I requested the credit since there was no reason for a brand new
part to burn up. Belle Marine took my request with some hesitation - they
didn't tell me no though - just said they would see what they could do with
Onan. I called Onan myself as well. They determined that I did know how to
work on them properly and there was no other problem with the generator. We
discovered the photocopied set of installation instructions in the box for
the new part was a bad copy and had simply blacked out some critical
post-installation procedures, so that I did not follow all of their
procedures. They did give me full credit though and sent the replacement
part, which now works just fine. Capt TJ is Belle Marine & Keys Diesel in
Marathon - 305-289-2070.
Jan 2003: SAILORMAN - Ft Lauderdale Fl -
They sell new and used boating about everything there.
Located close to the Ft Lauderdale Airport. I bought a Muir windlass through
them and had the wildcat custom made, so it took 2-3 months. When it came in
and I installed it on the boat, I discovered that the wildcat was made for
the wrong size chain - 5/16 HT instead of 3/8 HT I ordered. When I went back
to look at the receipt, they had in fact written down 5/16, but Bill Lot,
the salesman, had telephoned me prior to the order to confirm the 3/8" size.
I was stuck. Technically they had no obligation to do anything for me. I
called Chuck Fitzgerald at Sailorman and brought it to his attention and
asked for suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn't
write me off immediately. He said he wasn't sure what they could do, but
he'd talk to Bill and they'd help as much as they could. Great attitude.
After a couple days I looked at the higher breaking strength of 5/16 HT
compared to 3/8 proof, and decided that I could safely use the 5/16" HT
chain. I called Chuck back and suggested that instead of replacing the
wildcat, that they just sell me the 5/16" HT at their cost. He agreed. I'm
very pleased. It was an unfortunate mistake but they back up the reputation
of their business, even when not obligated. I'll work with these guys in a
heartbeat. Use them, you can trust them. 350 E State Rd 84, Ft
Lauderdale FL 33316. Tel: 954-522-6716.
www.sailorman.com
Sep 2002: DMI -
Services the Datamarine equipment that company no longer supports - such as
the DART4 Depthsounders, etc.. These guys are a spin-off from the
Datamarine service department. They are technically proficient, fair and
honest. They plan on expanding out to other service areas. I'd work with
these guys again in a heartbeat. I trust them. Pocasset MA, 508-564-7491.
www.dmimarine.com
June 2002: SHUREFLO -
manufacturer of pumps - our 2 year old pump mysteriously quit
pumping, even though inspection showed all OK with diaphragms and pump. A
call to Shureflo connected me immediately to a knowledgeable person that
said it was probably just a minute imperfection in the assembly. He sent me
a new one right away, at no charge even though the pump was more than two
years old. It worked! Thanks Shureflo.
May 2002: IMTRA
- distributors of the "real" Bruce Anchor. When we broke our
cheaper "fake" Bruce Anchor from LewMar we called them about it but never
had any of our calls returned. I also called Imtra even though they had no
responsibility for this imitation product we bought. Imtra returned my
emails and calls right away and then offered to provide a replacement "real"
Bruce anchor for me at a significant discount. I'm going back to IMTRA when
I'm looking for product lines they carry. UPDATE - SEPT 22, 2002
- We were anchoring in preparation for Hurricane Isidore, but got only 40
knot winds. The anchor was dug so deep though that I couldn't get it out.
Broke my hardware on the bow pulpit again and "dug" the bow into the water,
BUT THE REAL BRUCE HELD UP THIS TIME! - We severely abused it and it held
up. Finally got it out after diving on it. www.imtra.com
January 2002: HEART INTERFACE
- Excellent customer support. I just obtained a used
InCharge smart voltage regulator from a friend. The problem was that I had
no manual or documentation for installation. I couldn't find it on Heart's
website either, so I sent them an email about it. Customer service responded
immediately with a helpful email that included an attachment in adobe format
of the entire manual on this voltage regulator - at no charge either. Great
Service! www.heartinterface.com
April 2001: SITEX
- The company still makes available service and
component support for older products. I have an 80's 787C Loran. Replacement
costs of the LED's is still only about $3 and they fedex them to me
overnight! www.si-tex.com |
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