Appropriate ammout of time for customers to review repairs

[150aintenuff]

To Shop Owners and customers:

What would you all feel is a Responsible and appropriate ammount of time for a shop to be held liable for their repairs they made (not including any given warranties by the shops) on a vessel placed back into owners possession.

is 3+ months a bit excessive in your opinion when there had been no reports or complaints Prior

when a custome is now complaining of water in the vessel AFTER 20" of snow fell and melted and customer failed to winterize hull and engine and temperatures were in the teens...

One of my customers feels they are being ripped off because I wont honor my warranty on my prior repair labor when it was their fault for not taking proper care of the hull.

and they are asking for MY wholesale purchase invoices..

can you believe this crap.

[Raceman]

I think you'd have to post more specifics of repairs made and customer complaint to get a worthwhile opinion.

[Miss Isle]

I have no opinion about the first part of the post yet... Need more info.

As far as wholesale prices of the material used. Tell them to go pound sand. Ain't none of thier business.

[H20JIM]

We go 30 days, but follow up with the customer 7 to 10 days after p/u to check for satifaction. Wholesale pricing is just that - wholesale to the shop. You are the one paying for the building, insurance, tools etc. Parts should be a profitable transaction also, many times moreso than the service.
Sounds like this guy is grasping for straws. 90+ days is too long for the shop to be liable unless it truly was a faulty repair. That said, I would offer to recheck your work at no charge to try and diffuse the situation. The "bad press" they give you will cost you more than the minimal labor for inspection.
Just my $.02
Jim

[150aintenuff]

a bit more info.

Customer brought me a 1978 Searay with an OMC Stringer drive system on it that was taking on water through the intermediate housing and the boot, it was a newly purchased vessel and I began by suggesting a survey to find and address all the found and unsafe problems with the vessel, which was done prior to repairs being made. the customer chose to go with used components on his repairs due to cost of repair versus value of boat, I told him thats fine but I dont cover the parts under my warranty policy because I dont recieve any from any vendor of used components. but I would cover my labor if necessary on any repair made. ( basically if something came loose id fix that but the part was on its own, customer knew that.) well the boat was made seaworthy, with the exception of 2 1/2" wide 6" long zincs that were on back order from my vendor and didnt get on the customers hull prior to his pick up date. customer was understanding and said he could put them on himself, so he picked up the boat at the end of October, the boat was hauled by myself to his storage lot where it was parked in his slot. and as far as I know where it still resides, I recieved a call today stating from the customer that I never performed any of the repairs, the customer requested my wholesale invoices for all his parts, and is thereatning that he can attempt to sue myself for not repairing his vessel because it now (after 20" of snow fell last week) it has water in the bilge, and his engine block cracked due to freezing temperatures, I was not paid to winterize his vessel, just make it seaworthy.


the guy wants to get out of a boat that he never should have bought at the price he did.. he paid 7500 for a 3000.00 boat, and then went out with no insurance on a boat with a bank loan and caused 4000.00 damage to the drive and engine the first day he owned it, and I would almost bet money hes broke it again and is trying to say I didnt replace his housing that was cracked and allowing water to enter both the Gears and the hull itself.

to we have a total from completion of 80 days and a total since drop off with customer to call of 56 days. with zero prior contact other than to check status on the zincs that were on back order.


he had several major components on his drive broken from impact with sand bar, most of which I was able to find as good used or repair his existing components to save him costs, I could have said No used parts and made him spend 2175 for an upper drive, and 3200 for an intermediate housing and 1600 for a lower, instead i was able to have 90% of the cracked and broken components welded and resealed to be a usefull inexpensive repair.

the customer's wife is claimed to be an attorney but I know what she actually does and she isnt exactially a lawyer, shes a CASA or court appointed Special Advocate so the customer thinks he can bully his way into free repairs IMO..

[Capt.Insane-o]

a bit more info.

Customer brought me a 1978 Searay with an OMC Stringer drive system on it that was taking on water through the intermediate housing and the boot,

Let's stop right there. Working on one of those is your first mistake. ESPECIALLY if it has been around any kind of salt water.

I generally cover stuff for 30 days labor wise with a benefit of the doubt clause and exceptions made to boats older than 15 years. Outdrives, lower units and recreational motor rebuilds for one year.

The boat was'nt winterized and it froze and broke due to customer negligence. Politely tell him to go piss up a rope. It's not your fault he ****ed up.

[150aintenuff]

fresh water boat, and it wasnt all corroded up, the boat prior to his ownership and damage had been in the previous owners hands and the prior owner was a customer of mine and spent 1500.00 in April with me to do a full service, new antifreeze, new ignition, and replace 4 batteries that were bad so it could be sold, so i had serviced the hull before with in a year so i couldnt really turn down the same vessel just because it was under new ownership.

[150aintenuff]

my normal policy is to cover my labor for 1 year on any repair i do... but if i build an engine it only covers the actuall instalation on the motor mounts and bellhousing bolts.

Parts are covered for however long my suppliers cover their parts, and that ranges from zero to 1 year.

I had to hang up on the irate customer when he began cussing over the phone at me so as far as I care he can take a flying leap..

[mrcrsr]

you should be more selective as to what you work on, i would have turned that pos away, they were junk when they were new! as far as used parts, i typically will not warranty the job, how can you stand by something that is used? the guy sounds like a scammer, do you have a signed work order with the work authorized to be done? if so your covered

[oldskier]

sounds like a guy who is discovering that boating is expen$ive...and STUPID boating is REAL expen$$$$ive!

[Action Dave]

I think the customer screwed himself. I don't work on boats but when a pos machine comes into my shop, I either turn it away or give the customer a rediculous estimate. I also do 30 day repair warantees on any machine we fix.

[150aintenuff]

sounds like a guy who is discovering that boating is expen$ive...and STUPID boating is REAL expen$$$$ive!


exactially

[150aintenuff]

you should be more selective as to what you work on, i would have turned that pos away, they were junk when they were new! as far as used parts, i typically will not warranty the job, how can you stand by something that is used? the guy sounds like a scammer, do you have a signed work order with the work authorized to be done? if so your covered


yep signed WO and I only waranty my labor, not the parts and he was informed as so.

[FlightService]

As a customer, I believe 30 days is fair. It would be different if I picked it up with 20" of snow on the ground and I couldn't test the repairs within a reasonable amount of time. I think a shake down run would be required after that. From your description sounds like the guy knows he is in a world of hurt and wants out.

As far as your wholesale prices, when I sold cars (ok no bad jokes here.) I told people my average profit margin on every car I sold, about $1000, which is the truth. As far as documentation, NO WAY, none of his business. :nonod:

As long as you have work order for work requested and completed, signed by him, I would tell him to take a flying leap.

[mirage243]

a bit more info.

Customer brought me a 1978 Searay with an OMC Stringer

99 percent chance I would not have gotten the job, I would have started with an initial estimate of $15,000. Then when he said that was way to much, I would have refered him to my most hated competitor. I would have told him how my most hated competitor was a OMC stringer "specialist".

I learned many years ago that there's just some things you don't want to f*** with.

As far as your current situation, he doesn't have a leg to stand on, because he wanted used parts and you didn't winterize the boat. The parts that were new, you should not show him any wholesale invoices.

[JR IN JAX]

The poor economy has put a lot of pressure on people and the pressure reveals their character, good or bad.
You might see if the guy wants you to check out the freeze damage, for an additional fee and do winterization on it.

[Hydrophobic guy]

Fcuk him let him take you to court sounds like he can't afford to anyway.
If he does have all your ducks in a row paperwork etc.... and write everything down you can remember.
He sounds like your typical its your fault I'm an idiot customer.
Learn from your mistakes this kind of work nobody needs.