I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

[rookiex]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

Well im a police officer and I work the midnight shift....lots of time to work on things plus I got 3 day weekends.

Also I live RIGHT near lake Harris like 25mins away....

Well here it is oops...

I heard about this guy doing ''great work'' so I went to him I paid him 4800 dollars to fix the transom and go over the entire boat, You know figuring a professional could do it in the nick of time.2 and a half months later. New carpet transom and some nice little lights.....He got the gauges working now of which the Speedo stopped working today....Then the trolling motor mount thing has come loose and for some reason it wont tighten and the dude had it off for some reason and now??? It?s loose.

Like I told you in the PM oops I would have rather paid someone like you 5g's to do it right you know but I didn?t know I thought I was doing the right thing....

I took it back to the guy 6 days ago then he lied to me and told me his repair was done I went up to check it out...NOTHING DONE....So I said im just going to take the boat and do it myself. He told me my warrantee was void blah blah....But anyone in there right mind that cuts a whole through a transom THAT HAS HIS OWN BUSNIESS DOING THIS will fix it better than just slapping some resin on that doesn?t even hold and doesn?t even try....

Ivey had the boat out 2 times and everything he did has broke quite working or I find shyster work....

I talked to my good buddy Jim Phillips he is the state prosecutor about trying to recoup some money but he said its a pain in the butt being he is a privet owner with out any insurance or anything. But he was going to look into for me.


I would even give someone a little cash just to come assist me it doing a few things and teaching me some stuff....

I have no idea what happend to the speedo it was working now only the light works and nothing else....

Heck even the battiery cables were loose.....He installed a triton 3 bank battery charger also Ive only got 2 batteries....But if anyone lives near ocala or something ill pay ya 500.00 bucks to come and help me out with some things and show me some stuff.I just want to get it done for my dad so he can drive it too ya know....the docters say he only got about 6 months AT MOST you know....cant believe this guy ripped me off he knew I was a deputy and my wife is too lol...i dunno...Ill get some pictures tomarrow for sure and post them of all my problem spots.

 

[rookiex]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

I guess the good thing is that the transom does seem strong you can jump on that motor and it dont move.So far I cant knock him on that........

 

[erikgreen]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

Before you do any work on the boat, document the condition.

Likely you won't recover much money from litigation against this guy, but you should be able to get something back. Don't just let it go, that's probably what's kept him in business.... no one complaining about the work he does.

Him saying "your warrantee is void" is just him trying to be nasty... whether or not you had a contract with him for the work is far more important. If you had a verbal agreement only you're on shaky ground, and about all you can do is report him to the BBB or equivalent and take him to small claims court... if you take pics of the work he did and get statements from another repairer or two that it was not done properly, then there's a good chance you'll get your money back.

Unfortunately a lot of the "professionals" out there with good word of mouth aren't professional, and the good word is their friends trying to get them some business.

Erik

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

Pics...Pics would be a huge step into really getting you some help.
Cell phone pics..anything...

 

[caver95]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

I am near Tallahassee and my schedule STINKS untill may so I wont be much help. There are many good books, I preferre to work with epoxy resin, I really like the west systems, and there is nothing you can do that a little acetone and sanding cant fix, it might not be pretty, but its fun. Nigel Calders(??Spelling) book is really good on eletronics, and Don Casey has some good books on glass work. and if you really mess it up it is nothing acetone and a match cant fix(JK). Next time you buy a boat show up with a flash light and an ice pick, and watch the guys who is selling its face.

 

[rookiex]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

yeah, I do have all the reciepts for the money and unfinished shyster work.......Dates on the reciepts and everything....And the judge for civil action was at a cook out my dad had 2 weekends ago allot of old time friends spending time with him ya know...Soooo I dont know....He has known me since I was 10 he knows I wouldnt b.s on something like this.We just talked about how nice it SHOULD be then i got it back and this......It just blind sided me...Ive been taking snap shots all day ive got to find this stupid cord to hook it up to the computer...

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

I read your thread and would like to say Im sorry for the situation. My folks live in Palm Bay but I'm in Cali, im a noob anyways so I wouldn't be much help. Just saying as a mechanic if I ever messed up someones car I would fix it for free. It's a loss that you must be willing to accept because it WILL happen. Everyone that has ever worked on, serviced, repaired anything can vouch that *uck-ups happen. I hope you get some money back or at least get it fixed.

All these guys here have walked me through my boat resto so far and I am happy with the results up until now. Now I start with the back breaking-er part, paint and body repair.

 

[oops!]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

if you want a book that will tell you from start to finish the best way to do this....

jim anderson has a book called runabout renovation.
it will give you all the basics and can be read start to finish in about 4 hours.

it is about a grade 8 read....but after you are done ...you will see that it is actually quite easy.
the book is short on the specifics...(you can get them here) but it will motivate you.

we also have a lot of i boaters in your area, so keep your chin up you will be on the water soon.

im also going to re post eriks post....it is worth repeating.

ok.....we are waiting on the pics.....good luck with the cord.

cheers
oops

 

[oops!]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

there is a lot of good information here

Before you do any work on the boat, document the condition.

Likely you won't recover much money from litigation against this guy, but you should be able to get something back. Don't just let it go, that's probably what's kept him in business.... no one complaining about the work he does.

Him saying "your warrantee is void" is just him trying to be nasty... whether or not you had a contract with him for the work is far more important. If you had a verbal agreement only you're on shaky ground, and about all you can do is report him to the BBB or equivalent and take him to small claims court... if you take pics of the work he did and get statements from another repairer or two that it was not done properly, then there's a good chance you'll get your money back.

Unfortunately a lot of the "professionals" out there with good word of mouth aren't professional, and the good word is their friends trying to get them some business.

Erik

 

[rookiex]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

I wish I could make a sticky of my story and let people know to be very very careful.people are out to take you for a ride.

I mean 5,000 dollars is nothing to sneeze at now a days you know? atleast not for me.Im only 23 I work really hard for what I have.

Is it okay if I say this guys busniess name or is it not a good idea? So EVERYONE CAN AVOID HIM.

The more I keep TRYING to work on the boat the more I realize its not that hard.

Like today,I fix it altho I didnt understand why

He hooked up a cigerett ligher.It kept popping fuses.I know nothing of wires and such.So i went down there with a test light....power thru the fuse UNTILL i pushed the cigertt lighter it then no power to the line leading to the cigerett lighter and the cigerett ligher kept making that electrical popping sound.Then i noticed dumb dumb hot the hot wire leading to that also touching the metal the hot line was attachedi to along with the spot where you hook it up.to it was half on the hook up and half on the metal casing.I changed that and bam it worked normal again.

I dont know where to get marine tex around here guys where abouts can I locate it?

Another thing.

You know what a 3 bank battery charger is? well he has it hooked up so itll charge with you plug it into the wall at the house..And it works....

However isnt it sappose to charge when the boat is running also?

Does my 1996 mercury 125 have a alternator on it? or some place I can hook it up to on the motor.

There also is a spot under the drain plug the size of a nickle I can see fiberglass but its not broke its another spot dumb dumb blasted thru the gel coat and paint.Its not leaking tho because the fiberglass itself is not compromised.

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: I have a story to tell...And need guidance.

He hooked up a cigerett ligher.It kept popping fuses.I know nothing of wires and such.So i went down there with a test light....power thru the fuse UNTILL i pushed the cigertt lighter it then no power to the line leading to the cigerett lighter and the cigerett ligher kept making that electrical popping sound.Then i noticed dumb dumb hot the hot wire leading to that also touching the metal the hot line was attachedi to along with the spot where you hook it up.to it was half on the hook up and half on the metal casing.I changed that and bam it worked normal again.


What you described above is a short to ground

I dont know where to get marine tex around here guys where abouts can I locate it?

You can buy it at amazon.com, ebay, my fiberglass guy has it (expensive)

Another thing.

You know what a 3 bank battery charger is? well he has it hooked up so itll charge with you plug it into the wall at the house..And it works....

However isnt it sappose to charge when the boat is running also?

Does your boats motor run? If so, does it run for longer than a few minutes? If, so chances are the batteries or at least one is hooked up to the alternator.

Does my 1996 mercury 125 have a alternator on it? or some place I can hook it up to on the motor.

Is that an outboard? If so I am unsure of the alternator configuration but if its an engine then it has to have an alternator somewhere on it.

There also is a spot under the drain plug the size of a nickle I can see fiberglass but its not broke its another spot dumb dumb blasted thru the gel coat and paint.Its not leaking tho because the fiberglass itself is not compromised.

Post up a pic and I'm sure one of the fiberglass experts can steer you in the right direction.