Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

[Chaparralbob]

Here is the text of the last email I sent to Great Lakes Skipper. I have purchased several items from them prior to this issue, and luckily, they worked. I post this only in the hopes that reading this will help you to avoid the expense and inconvenience this company has caused me.

*****

Your web page states that all of your products are new or unused. Obviously, the tachometer you sent me was not.

I purchased a Faria TC9772 from you about 9-10 months ago to determine the size of the hole needed on the console I was building for a pontoon boat I was restoring. I finally got to the point of installing the tachometer about a week or so ago. The electrical system on the boat is completely new, and all the other gauges and devices function perfectly. I have verified all wiring on the Evinrude "Red Plug" harness, and the tachometer is wired correctly.

I did see on your web page that "all sales are final", so I guess you got my $40 + shipping in exchange for a useless tachometer.

In the hopes that no other boater will throw away their money, I will post some appropriate comments on a couple of boating forms I frequent.

I will be sure to mention that after removing the defective tachometer, I found that the light bulb had melted the tachometer housing. The light bulb itself had a charred layer of plastic on the top side. Did you realize that you sold me a fire hazard? Surely, Faria didn't put a light bulb in their product that could cause a fire, so I will assume that you did.

I sent an email regarding this issue about a week ago, and got no answer. I have called your customer support twice. The lady who answered the phone was pleasant, and took my name and phone number. She promised that I would be contacted. I have not been contacted. During today's call, I was promised that I would be contacted by the end of your day. Again, no response.

Other than posting on the forums, I will not be wasting any more time with your company. You needn't bother to respond to this, but I have to assume that you wouldn't anyway.

*****

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

Thihs is exactly why there is generally no return and sales are final on electronic devices. The seller has no way to prove or disprove the product was defective when shipped. All too often people buy electrical items just to swap the part in the hopes that it fixes a problem. When that didn't work they attempt to return the part. What actually happened is the new part was damaged because the problem that toasted the original was not fxed so the new one is toasted as well. While that may not be the case with your tach -- I would not take back an electrical item either regardless of circumstances unless it could be proven the device was bad upon receipt especially if the policy is no returns. We only know your side of the story.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

Dunno, I've bought stuff from them on ebay a couple times. Sounds like the tach lead from the motor got hooked up to the lighting circuit in the tach. No way of knowing for sure what happened to your tach, but it wouldn't be the first time that someone wired something up wrong and fried a new part.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

All other aspects of this post aside - Faria has a lifetime warranty on their gauges. Send it to Faria, and they'll either repair it or replace it.

As far as complaining about an item you purchased nearly a year ago.... well.... ummm... nevermind

 

[Chaparralbob]

Re: Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

I have been an electronic engineer for 35 years, and have lost count of the things I have fried! I agree with your analysis to a point, and have even been guilty of doing exactly what you mentioned.

In this case, though, I replaced all of the bad pieces before I hooked the tach up (new stator). And, I understand that most electrical parts are not returnable, and I fully accept the reason for that.

But there are two points that upset me enough to post this.

The first point is that they would not even talk to me, even after promising they would. They did not even respond to my email. If someone had gotten on the phone and at least spoken to me, I wouldn't have been so upset.

The second point is that the light bulb in the tach surely can't be the original. The outer housing of the tach is melted very badly in the area of the light. The light bulb is coated with charred plastic. This is after running the boat for only a few minutes at a time. I can't help but wonder if this could have caused a fire once the boat is run on the lake for a longer period of time.

OK, I got it out of my system. I'll just go get a tach elsewhere, and move on. This is far from the most expensive mistake I have ever made!

 

[Don S]

Re: Great Lakes Ripoff er, I mean Skipper!

Just another one sided rant where we only hear one side of the story.

Thread closed.