SturgeonLake
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2008
- Messages
- 40
In the spirit of being honest in the hopes that it helps others to avoid my mistakes, here?s my review of purchasing a custom 2008 Bennington 2275 RLiC Anniversary Edition with a Yamaha F150.
I did a lot of reviewing online prior to the 2008 Toronto Boat Show. I was leaning heavily towards a cruiser as I wanted something that provided a toilet, a room to avoid bugs, and decent speed to get from lake to lake (via the Trent Severn waterway.) I?ve previously owned a Lund ProSport and a Princecraft Pontoon. I?ve lived on the lake with one of these boats for 12 years now.
My primary role for my boat is to allow me to fish. I live in a bay that?s shallow (avg. 4?), very weedy (listed as swamp on charts) and very stumpy. For season openers I go up a river via a narrow channel to get the early walleye. I traverse a shallow weedy and stumpy path around a nearby island to enter the Trent/Severn channel, and then into Sturgeon Lake. From there I can go practically anywhere.
Historically I?ve pretty much limited myself to my bay. My new boat was going to take me to other lakes, allowing me to fish for other species, do over-nighters, and generally more ?boating? to augment the fishing.
All of the cruiser vendors I spoke to looked at me like I was nuts when I asked about a trolling motor. The online specs for some cruisers indicated they drew as little water as my Lund had, so I thought they might do for both my bay, and the other goals. The attitude of the salesmen, however, turned me right off.
So I went off in search of some of the high-end pontoons I had researched. Sanpan and Bennington were at the top of my list. Sanpan wasn?t represented well at the show, while Bennington had a nice array of boats on display. So I proceeded to talk to a Bennington dealer. I was asked where I lived, and then pointed to one particular guy?Yogi from Hastings Marine.
A nice enough guy, friendly and seemed knowledgeable. I proceeded to outline my requirements:
1. Toilet. I needed this to overnight, it?s also a legal requirement if you?re going to anchor and have a drink.
2. Bug room. I explained I was allegic to deer flies, and that my bay was full of them. I needed to be able to screen off part of the deck more or less permanently. I explained it would never come down during the season.
3. Speed. To get from lake to lake in a timely fashion.
4. Comfort. Luxury, like an entertainment center, decent stereo, quality seats, etc?niceties like the LED cupholders on the Sanpan.
This was intended on being my ?last? boat. The boat of my dreams. I was prepared to pay whatever it took to get me my exact dream boat. I wanted, however, to get it from a dream dealer and a dream manufacturer, meaning I didn?t want to have to add stuff on myself, I wanted them to do it.
We looked at the different models and the 2275 RLi offered the best set of features for my needs. I would have preferred a Q-series, honestly, but they would not customize the seating on the Q. See, I didn?t want a pontoon with lots of bench seating like so many others have. I opted to have the front section of the boat (everything beyond the console) turned into a conversation area. I had them put 4 captain?s chairs there plus an ottoman cooler in the center. I don?t take a ton of people onboard, and this arrangement not only let me get around from side to side while fighting a fish, it also gave each guest a really comfy ride. Shoreline cruises would be really luxurious.
The pop-up privacy enclosure was extremely large, more than large enough to have a toilet installed. A toilet was an existing option, so no problems.
We reviewed entertainment center options and found one that worked. A hand-pumped fresh water tank and sink plus a paper towel holder. I would have liked a fridge, but what I really wanted was an ice-cube maker?which wasn?t available, so I opted not to go with a fridge.
I knew I wanted a raised console, so we ticked that option. The stereo had an iPod connector, so that worked. The ladder was longer than most, so I knew that would be good for me too.
I explained the requirement of the bug room and Yogi said it wouldn?t be a problem. We didn?t go into details about its construction, material, or other effects it might have?he seemed to understand what I needed and told me it could be provided.
For speed he recommended the Yamaha F150. I?m not an engine guy, you turn the switch and they go. He said it would need no break-in, so that sounded like my model. We briefly discussed ESP, but let that out of the original calculations.
I left with a quote of ~$50,000 not counting trade. That was within my budget.
Once home I did some more research, including coming here to ask about tri-toons and ESP. Yogi and I talked regularly going over options and their specifications and price. At the end of the day I opted to take the ESP package, so I got tri-toons and power steering.
Despite Hastings Marine being 1.5hrs from my house (and >3hrs by boat), I gave them my deposit. My reasons were that I seemed to have established a rapport with Yogi and he seemed sincere and trustworthy. Also, nobody closer sold Bennington. I really didn?t think I would need the dealer after the boat was delivered anyway. My previous mechanic was just up the road and would handle storage and maintenance.
The boat was ordered near the end of January with delivery promised by the last week in April.
It arrived at Hasting Marine around that time, and I went over to have a look at it on April 26. The console was still disassembled and it was covered completely with a single piece playpen cover. The motor wasn?t mounted, and things inside were still covered in plastic.
I asked about delivery before Walleye opener, May 10th, and was told they hoped it would be ready. While I was there I purchased ropes, life jackets, and two Toon-fenders to be delivered with the boat. I gave them my phone charger to install.
Over the next week or two Hastings told me they had a problem with my Bottomline Tournament Master HR fish finder. The cable wasn?t in good shape, and the transducer mount was broken on one side. They?d had this since mid-April and only just now noticed the problem. They had no idea where to get parts, and insisted it wouldn?t look good on the boat even if we could find them. They convinced me to accept a Garmin 90 instead. So that meant I would have no GPS. Mistake #1. If the motors speedometer stops working, GPS can still give you your speed. Besides, the Garmin FF sucks in comparison to my Bottomline. I had >3 months to get replacement parts if I?d just known they were needed.
Next problem was the Minkota trolling motor. When we were discussing options for the boat I had asked about a partial front gate, one that was open on the bottom so the trolling motor could sit under it when closed. I was told they could fit the trolling motor on the front deck without it having to sit under the door. Now, however, they would have to make modifications to the playpen cover due to the motor. I said; ?Whatever!? Nobody asked what side it should be put on. Also, I didn?t realize how short the front deck is, barely 12? I think. Since the boat only has a side door on one side, the side opposite the console, putting the trolling motor on the same side means you can only really use the side door for docking. This has led to more than one bump into a dock with the nose of the boat. Mistake #2. We had originally discussed putting a plate extension out from the center of the deck to mount the motor on. Had we done this coupled with the partial gate I?d be able to use the front deck in either direction to get on/off the boat. Also, it?s become obvious that I should have had a second side door installed in front of the console.
We didn?t discuss where to put the batteries, or how they should be connected. Mistake #3. They mounted the batteries side by side in the change room. They took up the only floor space that the toilet could have occupied. Also, they did not offer an A/B switch or hooking the batteries up in series the way the Yamaha?s Multi-Charge Monitoring System can be hooked up. Since I had a battery charger, they also mounted that on the floor too, but made no hole in the hull to plug it in. That would mean I?d have to open the enclosure roof from one side of the boat, then go to the other side to put the power cable into the enclosure, then go back into the boat to plug the thing in?ridiculous.
We also never discussed how things should be wired, as in whether they should be on a rocker switch or just on the key switch. So it ended up with the Power Steering, Stereo, Phone Charger, and a few other things all on a single rocker switch. The Power Steering drew 3 amps as long as it was on, meaning I?d be draining my battery excessively while not needing the steering.
The boat was delivered on May 16. It was delivered at around 7:00pm after Yogi had had a flat tire en-route. By the time he got it here, there was little time for much else. He launched it and I drove it home (at <10mph because it was along the shore.) The steering seemed pretty stiff, but honestly I was simply too excited to pay much attention to anything.
We met back at my place and since the sun was already down, just sat inside and went over paperwork. Mistake #4. Never accept delivery of your new boat without giving yourself at least 1 hour to go over it with your salesman.
Yogi came in with tons of stuff in boxes and bags. All the life jackets were still in their bags with tons of tags on them, the porta-pottie was in a box disassembled, as was the BBQ. The Toon-fenders weren?t mounted, but at least the ropes were on. No anchor, no Safety Kit, no fire extinguisher!
You should know that the final price of the boat was Cdn$62,336 including my trade. I spent another $1000+ on accessories like the life jackets, fenders and rope.
So you?d think that when it was delivered in the water it would be ?ready? and legal. You?d be wrong.
The fire extinguisher made the boat illegal. So to the porta-pottie. Here in Ontario you can?t have a removable toilet, it must be mounted to the deck and be connected to a permanent pump-out fixture. I assumed if I purchased a toilet from a boat manufacturer/dealer they?d know this and install it legally. If necessary, charge me whatever it costs to do this. Mistake #5.
You?d also assume that for that price it would come with at least one life jacket and the safety kit. The safety kit is also a legal requirement here. I left my last safety kit in the boat I traded in, assuming a new one would come with the new boat?nope. Mistake #6. You get to a point where these missing items, and the small cost of them, start making you feel like you?re being nickel and dimed to death. Just include them and add a ?dealer preparation charge? for crying out loud.
So we signed the papers, I gave them the certified cheque, and he left.
The next day I took the boat out for a spin. I noticed the fire extinguisher and safety kit right away. I also became aware that there was no power steering. If you?ve ever tried to drive a 150hp 22? tri-toon without it you may appreciate how hard it is. I put the porta-pottie together and tried to figure out where it could go in the boat and discovered the batteries and charger. I also tried to mount the Toon-fenders and found that no matter what I did they just were never tight. One fell off into the water that first day. The only side door turned out to be mounted the wrong way. It opened in, but it opened towards the front of the boat. With an F150, the boat tilts towards the back, so you have to hold the door open while people get in as opposed to it having some way to stay open. Better still would have been that they had it open towards the back of the boat.
I tried to erect the ?bug room.? This consisted of 4 well made drapes. Only problem was that the drapes were mostly canvas. The front and back drapes had no openings, only plastic windows. The side drapes were ok, with screen windows in the canvas and plastic roll up windows with canvas roll ups as well. The problem with the side drapes were that you couldn?t put them away with the windows rolled up. So every time you wanted to use them you?d have to put the 4 window pieces down or up again, and again. The problem with the front and back drapes were that they acted like sails. If you tried to get any speed out of the boat they?d catch tons of air. Further, the front drape had so few mounting clips that it quickly pulled up off the floor and started whipping people sitting inside the enclosure. Finally, and this is the worst bit, Bennington?s manual said to never drive the boat with the drapes up! They also said never to drive the boat above 15mph with the roof up.
Well, how the heck was I supposed to have a ?bug room? with these limitations?
Mistake #7. All of the above would have been discovered had I been able to properly go over the boat upon delivery. The power steering problem would have been discovered if Hastings Marine had taken the boat out for a test drive?I?m convinced they did not do this. Anyone thinking like a boat owner would have realized the batteries were in the wrong place, and anyone thinking about whether $62k+ should give you all you need to be legal would have noticed the rest.
So I called them and gave them my list of problems. Of course they were swamped getting other people?s new boats ready, plus they were 1.5hrs away, and finally they already had my money and trade.
On May 24 I sent them an email describing every issue. I did this after talking to the owner who, apparently, had no knowledge I was having problems. See, Yogi hadn?t gotten back to me on anything during that first week. After threatening the owner that I was going to go to the police myself on my boat and get charged for the illegal stuff, he promised to get Yogi to respond?but it was a long weekend and he said everyone had it off??
Yogi showed up on May 25 with a fire extinguisher and mounted it. He also brought back my fish finder which they?d forgotten to return. He was clearly unhappy with me. He took away my drapes to see what could be done about them.
During a follow-up conversation on June 14 with Hastings Marine, I was told that many of my issues were ?Bennington issues? while others were issues Hastings Marine would deal with. This blew me away, an authorized representative telling me I had to talk to the manufacturer and not them. What is the point of having such people if this is the case?
So on June 16 I called Bennington support, specifically I spoke with Ryan Garling. I emailed him my list of deficiencies.
By now I had noticed that the roof leaked, that the ottoman cooler was missing the cooler, and that the speedometer had stopped working.
After a couple of days back and forth on the phone, Bennington tells me to go back to Hastings Marine as they will now take care of me. So I do. As I?m talking about the enclosure, I?m told by Yogi that he never agreed to give me a ?bug room,? ?I don?t remember us discussing anything like that? he says. Disgusted, I go back to the owner. He agrees to do take care of several of the issues, but some he just doesn?t want to have anything to do with. For example:
Legal porta-pottie: He says they have no experience with mounted toilets and doesn?t want to get into it.
Screened Enclosure: Bennington told me they asked their enclosure supplier about getting me a full screened enclosure but their supplier couldn?t/wouldn?t do one. Hastings Marine tells me they could ask their drape people but that it will probably take quite a while. Basically, look elsewhere.
Hastings Marine was prepared to move the batteries and charger, rewire the rocker switches, mount a door stop to hold the side door open (if Bennington shipped them a stop,) and put some sort of sealant on the roof seams.
And so that?s where I left it. Instead of having this new boat to do all these new boating things, I basically had a fancier and far more expensive version of my Princecraft from last year.
Meanwhile, after having a problem with the motor I found a new dealership, Fenlon Falls Marina. They don?t do Bennington, but they do Yamaha, and they were unbelievably customer service oriented. I had them install a new porta-pottie, one that is mounted and includes a pump-out. They moved the batteries and connected an A/B switch. They fixed the problem with the power steering, which turned out to simply be a wire not connected to a rocker switch. They re-wired the rocker switches. I haven?t done anything about the enclosure yet because up here that sort of stuff is better done in the fall once the boat?s out of the water.
Oh, and just the other day I tried to put on the playpen cover. I have a picture of it when it was originally delivered to Hastings Marine, it was one piece. Now, for some reason, its two pieces, and they don't attach to each other. So I basically have two tents with a gaping hole in the middle. The wind whipped it around so much the other day I decided it couldn't be used.
I made a video and sent the link to Bennington and Hastings Marine to see what they thought of it...still no reply.
http://flickr.com/photos/27208216@N06/2718125774/
For me, a couple of things really stand out.
1. If there?s a feature you want, make sure it?s on the contract. ?Bug room? rather than drapes or enclosure reminds everyone that it is more than simply canvas, but canvas with a specific purpose. Perhaps the only way a dealer would sell me a ?bug room? is via a hard top given how they limit their liability with speed limitations.
2. Buy from someone local. I?m sure if I?d asked Fenlon Falls Marina they could have helped me get something equivalent to the Bennington. Being 20 minutes away, and on the same lake, makes a huge difference.
3. Talk to the manufacturer and ask what options are supplied by them, versus those supplied by the dealership. Ask what support they?re prepared to give you for options they list in their catalog, but that are dealership supplied.
4. Ask to see the checklist given to the dealer by the manufacturer. For example, Bennington said they always supply the fire extinguisher, but it wasn?t there.
5. When asking for custom options, speak to the manufacturer yourself. If anyone is going to notice that something might not work it should be them.
6. Never give the final payment until you?re completely satisfied, regardless what the salesman tells you. I was told I could not have the boat without the cheque. I should have told them to take it back until I?d had a chance to inspect it properly. I was being nice, and stupid. It?s hard not to be nice, but it?s easy to be stupid.
7. Never believe JD Power claims, talk to owners. Same with dealers, talk with people who keep their boats with them.
I?d love to simply return the boat and start over again?but alas, I?m stuck with what I have until the market improves and I can get a decent return on it?so I can then try and buy the boat of my dreams.
Cheers,
Russ
I did a lot of reviewing online prior to the 2008 Toronto Boat Show. I was leaning heavily towards a cruiser as I wanted something that provided a toilet, a room to avoid bugs, and decent speed to get from lake to lake (via the Trent Severn waterway.) I?ve previously owned a Lund ProSport and a Princecraft Pontoon. I?ve lived on the lake with one of these boats for 12 years now.
My primary role for my boat is to allow me to fish. I live in a bay that?s shallow (avg. 4?), very weedy (listed as swamp on charts) and very stumpy. For season openers I go up a river via a narrow channel to get the early walleye. I traverse a shallow weedy and stumpy path around a nearby island to enter the Trent/Severn channel, and then into Sturgeon Lake. From there I can go practically anywhere.
Historically I?ve pretty much limited myself to my bay. My new boat was going to take me to other lakes, allowing me to fish for other species, do over-nighters, and generally more ?boating? to augment the fishing.
All of the cruiser vendors I spoke to looked at me like I was nuts when I asked about a trolling motor. The online specs for some cruisers indicated they drew as little water as my Lund had, so I thought they might do for both my bay, and the other goals. The attitude of the salesmen, however, turned me right off.
So I went off in search of some of the high-end pontoons I had researched. Sanpan and Bennington were at the top of my list. Sanpan wasn?t represented well at the show, while Bennington had a nice array of boats on display. So I proceeded to talk to a Bennington dealer. I was asked where I lived, and then pointed to one particular guy?Yogi from Hastings Marine.
A nice enough guy, friendly and seemed knowledgeable. I proceeded to outline my requirements:
1. Toilet. I needed this to overnight, it?s also a legal requirement if you?re going to anchor and have a drink.
2. Bug room. I explained I was allegic to deer flies, and that my bay was full of them. I needed to be able to screen off part of the deck more or less permanently. I explained it would never come down during the season.
3. Speed. To get from lake to lake in a timely fashion.
4. Comfort. Luxury, like an entertainment center, decent stereo, quality seats, etc?niceties like the LED cupholders on the Sanpan.
This was intended on being my ?last? boat. The boat of my dreams. I was prepared to pay whatever it took to get me my exact dream boat. I wanted, however, to get it from a dream dealer and a dream manufacturer, meaning I didn?t want to have to add stuff on myself, I wanted them to do it.
We looked at the different models and the 2275 RLi offered the best set of features for my needs. I would have preferred a Q-series, honestly, but they would not customize the seating on the Q. See, I didn?t want a pontoon with lots of bench seating like so many others have. I opted to have the front section of the boat (everything beyond the console) turned into a conversation area. I had them put 4 captain?s chairs there plus an ottoman cooler in the center. I don?t take a ton of people onboard, and this arrangement not only let me get around from side to side while fighting a fish, it also gave each guest a really comfy ride. Shoreline cruises would be really luxurious.
The pop-up privacy enclosure was extremely large, more than large enough to have a toilet installed. A toilet was an existing option, so no problems.
We reviewed entertainment center options and found one that worked. A hand-pumped fresh water tank and sink plus a paper towel holder. I would have liked a fridge, but what I really wanted was an ice-cube maker?which wasn?t available, so I opted not to go with a fridge.
I knew I wanted a raised console, so we ticked that option. The stereo had an iPod connector, so that worked. The ladder was longer than most, so I knew that would be good for me too.
I explained the requirement of the bug room and Yogi said it wouldn?t be a problem. We didn?t go into details about its construction, material, or other effects it might have?he seemed to understand what I needed and told me it could be provided.
For speed he recommended the Yamaha F150. I?m not an engine guy, you turn the switch and they go. He said it would need no break-in, so that sounded like my model. We briefly discussed ESP, but let that out of the original calculations.
I left with a quote of ~$50,000 not counting trade. That was within my budget.
Once home I did some more research, including coming here to ask about tri-toons and ESP. Yogi and I talked regularly going over options and their specifications and price. At the end of the day I opted to take the ESP package, so I got tri-toons and power steering.
Despite Hastings Marine being 1.5hrs from my house (and >3hrs by boat), I gave them my deposit. My reasons were that I seemed to have established a rapport with Yogi and he seemed sincere and trustworthy. Also, nobody closer sold Bennington. I really didn?t think I would need the dealer after the boat was delivered anyway. My previous mechanic was just up the road and would handle storage and maintenance.
The boat was ordered near the end of January with delivery promised by the last week in April.
It arrived at Hasting Marine around that time, and I went over to have a look at it on April 26. The console was still disassembled and it was covered completely with a single piece playpen cover. The motor wasn?t mounted, and things inside were still covered in plastic.
I asked about delivery before Walleye opener, May 10th, and was told they hoped it would be ready. While I was there I purchased ropes, life jackets, and two Toon-fenders to be delivered with the boat. I gave them my phone charger to install.
Over the next week or two Hastings told me they had a problem with my Bottomline Tournament Master HR fish finder. The cable wasn?t in good shape, and the transducer mount was broken on one side. They?d had this since mid-April and only just now noticed the problem. They had no idea where to get parts, and insisted it wouldn?t look good on the boat even if we could find them. They convinced me to accept a Garmin 90 instead. So that meant I would have no GPS. Mistake #1. If the motors speedometer stops working, GPS can still give you your speed. Besides, the Garmin FF sucks in comparison to my Bottomline. I had >3 months to get replacement parts if I?d just known they were needed.
Next problem was the Minkota trolling motor. When we were discussing options for the boat I had asked about a partial front gate, one that was open on the bottom so the trolling motor could sit under it when closed. I was told they could fit the trolling motor on the front deck without it having to sit under the door. Now, however, they would have to make modifications to the playpen cover due to the motor. I said; ?Whatever!? Nobody asked what side it should be put on. Also, I didn?t realize how short the front deck is, barely 12? I think. Since the boat only has a side door on one side, the side opposite the console, putting the trolling motor on the same side means you can only really use the side door for docking. This has led to more than one bump into a dock with the nose of the boat. Mistake #2. We had originally discussed putting a plate extension out from the center of the deck to mount the motor on. Had we done this coupled with the partial gate I?d be able to use the front deck in either direction to get on/off the boat. Also, it?s become obvious that I should have had a second side door installed in front of the console.
We didn?t discuss where to put the batteries, or how they should be connected. Mistake #3. They mounted the batteries side by side in the change room. They took up the only floor space that the toilet could have occupied. Also, they did not offer an A/B switch or hooking the batteries up in series the way the Yamaha?s Multi-Charge Monitoring System can be hooked up. Since I had a battery charger, they also mounted that on the floor too, but made no hole in the hull to plug it in. That would mean I?d have to open the enclosure roof from one side of the boat, then go to the other side to put the power cable into the enclosure, then go back into the boat to plug the thing in?ridiculous.
We also never discussed how things should be wired, as in whether they should be on a rocker switch or just on the key switch. So it ended up with the Power Steering, Stereo, Phone Charger, and a few other things all on a single rocker switch. The Power Steering drew 3 amps as long as it was on, meaning I?d be draining my battery excessively while not needing the steering.
The boat was delivered on May 16. It was delivered at around 7:00pm after Yogi had had a flat tire en-route. By the time he got it here, there was little time for much else. He launched it and I drove it home (at <10mph because it was along the shore.) The steering seemed pretty stiff, but honestly I was simply too excited to pay much attention to anything.
We met back at my place and since the sun was already down, just sat inside and went over paperwork. Mistake #4. Never accept delivery of your new boat without giving yourself at least 1 hour to go over it with your salesman.
Yogi came in with tons of stuff in boxes and bags. All the life jackets were still in their bags with tons of tags on them, the porta-pottie was in a box disassembled, as was the BBQ. The Toon-fenders weren?t mounted, but at least the ropes were on. No anchor, no Safety Kit, no fire extinguisher!
You should know that the final price of the boat was Cdn$62,336 including my trade. I spent another $1000+ on accessories like the life jackets, fenders and rope.
So you?d think that when it was delivered in the water it would be ?ready? and legal. You?d be wrong.
The fire extinguisher made the boat illegal. So to the porta-pottie. Here in Ontario you can?t have a removable toilet, it must be mounted to the deck and be connected to a permanent pump-out fixture. I assumed if I purchased a toilet from a boat manufacturer/dealer they?d know this and install it legally. If necessary, charge me whatever it costs to do this. Mistake #5.
You?d also assume that for that price it would come with at least one life jacket and the safety kit. The safety kit is also a legal requirement here. I left my last safety kit in the boat I traded in, assuming a new one would come with the new boat?nope. Mistake #6. You get to a point where these missing items, and the small cost of them, start making you feel like you?re being nickel and dimed to death. Just include them and add a ?dealer preparation charge? for crying out loud.
So we signed the papers, I gave them the certified cheque, and he left.
The next day I took the boat out for a spin. I noticed the fire extinguisher and safety kit right away. I also became aware that there was no power steering. If you?ve ever tried to drive a 150hp 22? tri-toon without it you may appreciate how hard it is. I put the porta-pottie together and tried to figure out where it could go in the boat and discovered the batteries and charger. I also tried to mount the Toon-fenders and found that no matter what I did they just were never tight. One fell off into the water that first day. The only side door turned out to be mounted the wrong way. It opened in, but it opened towards the front of the boat. With an F150, the boat tilts towards the back, so you have to hold the door open while people get in as opposed to it having some way to stay open. Better still would have been that they had it open towards the back of the boat.
I tried to erect the ?bug room.? This consisted of 4 well made drapes. Only problem was that the drapes were mostly canvas. The front and back drapes had no openings, only plastic windows. The side drapes were ok, with screen windows in the canvas and plastic roll up windows with canvas roll ups as well. The problem with the side drapes were that you couldn?t put them away with the windows rolled up. So every time you wanted to use them you?d have to put the 4 window pieces down or up again, and again. The problem with the front and back drapes were that they acted like sails. If you tried to get any speed out of the boat they?d catch tons of air. Further, the front drape had so few mounting clips that it quickly pulled up off the floor and started whipping people sitting inside the enclosure. Finally, and this is the worst bit, Bennington?s manual said to never drive the boat with the drapes up! They also said never to drive the boat above 15mph with the roof up.
Well, how the heck was I supposed to have a ?bug room? with these limitations?
Mistake #7. All of the above would have been discovered had I been able to properly go over the boat upon delivery. The power steering problem would have been discovered if Hastings Marine had taken the boat out for a test drive?I?m convinced they did not do this. Anyone thinking like a boat owner would have realized the batteries were in the wrong place, and anyone thinking about whether $62k+ should give you all you need to be legal would have noticed the rest.
So I called them and gave them my list of problems. Of course they were swamped getting other people?s new boats ready, plus they were 1.5hrs away, and finally they already had my money and trade.
On May 24 I sent them an email describing every issue. I did this after talking to the owner who, apparently, had no knowledge I was having problems. See, Yogi hadn?t gotten back to me on anything during that first week. After threatening the owner that I was going to go to the police myself on my boat and get charged for the illegal stuff, he promised to get Yogi to respond?but it was a long weekend and he said everyone had it off??
Yogi showed up on May 25 with a fire extinguisher and mounted it. He also brought back my fish finder which they?d forgotten to return. He was clearly unhappy with me. He took away my drapes to see what could be done about them.
During a follow-up conversation on June 14 with Hastings Marine, I was told that many of my issues were ?Bennington issues? while others were issues Hastings Marine would deal with. This blew me away, an authorized representative telling me I had to talk to the manufacturer and not them. What is the point of having such people if this is the case?
So on June 16 I called Bennington support, specifically I spoke with Ryan Garling. I emailed him my list of deficiencies.
By now I had noticed that the roof leaked, that the ottoman cooler was missing the cooler, and that the speedometer had stopped working.
After a couple of days back and forth on the phone, Bennington tells me to go back to Hastings Marine as they will now take care of me. So I do. As I?m talking about the enclosure, I?m told by Yogi that he never agreed to give me a ?bug room,? ?I don?t remember us discussing anything like that? he says. Disgusted, I go back to the owner. He agrees to do take care of several of the issues, but some he just doesn?t want to have anything to do with. For example:
Legal porta-pottie: He says they have no experience with mounted toilets and doesn?t want to get into it.
Screened Enclosure: Bennington told me they asked their enclosure supplier about getting me a full screened enclosure but their supplier couldn?t/wouldn?t do one. Hastings Marine tells me they could ask their drape people but that it will probably take quite a while. Basically, look elsewhere.
Hastings Marine was prepared to move the batteries and charger, rewire the rocker switches, mount a door stop to hold the side door open (if Bennington shipped them a stop,) and put some sort of sealant on the roof seams.
And so that?s where I left it. Instead of having this new boat to do all these new boating things, I basically had a fancier and far more expensive version of my Princecraft from last year.
Meanwhile, after having a problem with the motor I found a new dealership, Fenlon Falls Marina. They don?t do Bennington, but they do Yamaha, and they were unbelievably customer service oriented. I had them install a new porta-pottie, one that is mounted and includes a pump-out. They moved the batteries and connected an A/B switch. They fixed the problem with the power steering, which turned out to simply be a wire not connected to a rocker switch. They re-wired the rocker switches. I haven?t done anything about the enclosure yet because up here that sort of stuff is better done in the fall once the boat?s out of the water.
Oh, and just the other day I tried to put on the playpen cover. I have a picture of it when it was originally delivered to Hastings Marine, it was one piece. Now, for some reason, its two pieces, and they don't attach to each other. So I basically have two tents with a gaping hole in the middle. The wind whipped it around so much the other day I decided it couldn't be used.
I made a video and sent the link to Bennington and Hastings Marine to see what they thought of it...still no reply.
http://flickr.com/photos/27208216@N06/2718125774/
For me, a couple of things really stand out.
1. If there?s a feature you want, make sure it?s on the contract. ?Bug room? rather than drapes or enclosure reminds everyone that it is more than simply canvas, but canvas with a specific purpose. Perhaps the only way a dealer would sell me a ?bug room? is via a hard top given how they limit their liability with speed limitations.
2. Buy from someone local. I?m sure if I?d asked Fenlon Falls Marina they could have helped me get something equivalent to the Bennington. Being 20 minutes away, and on the same lake, makes a huge difference.
3. Talk to the manufacturer and ask what options are supplied by them, versus those supplied by the dealership. Ask what support they?re prepared to give you for options they list in their catalog, but that are dealership supplied.
4. Ask to see the checklist given to the dealer by the manufacturer. For example, Bennington said they always supply the fire extinguisher, but it wasn?t there.
5. When asking for custom options, speak to the manufacturer yourself. If anyone is going to notice that something might not work it should be them.
6. Never give the final payment until you?re completely satisfied, regardless what the salesman tells you. I was told I could not have the boat without the cheque. I should have told them to take it back until I?d had a chance to inspect it properly. I was being nice, and stupid. It?s hard not to be nice, but it?s easy to be stupid.
7. Never believe JD Power claims, talk to owners. Same with dealers, talk with people who keep their boats with them.
I?d love to simply return the boat and start over again?but alas, I?m stuck with what I have until the market improves and I can get a decent return on it?so I can then try and buy the boat of my dreams.
Cheers,
Russ
