How long does it take?

[Grumpah]

Starting to get a bit annoyed about the wait for my new boat. Ordered it on 29 November 08 and was supposed to be delivered late January/early Feb. Now early March and both the people I dealt with seem to have disappeared and the new "voice on the end of the phone" has sort of insisted on me sending copies of all my paperwork to them and seem not to be able to locate my trade-in that I left with them on the 13th December.

Manufacturing company was supposedly Gold Coast based but I now hear the boat is being built in Victoria. Now been told twice that it is in the paint shop. Must be a bloody good paint job cos the first time I was told that was around 4 weeks ago. I am a bit suspicious about what's going on.

Anyone ordered a new boat about the same time have any experience with late deliveries?? Most annoying part is that I turned down a great value, immediate delivery, Blue Fin Mangrove Jack from Theo at Coorparoo Marine because I liked this one just a tad better. I could have been on the water for over three months now instead of still casting dowel cut offs at the wallabies in the backyard.

Cheers,

Graeme C.

[TimiBoy]

You're going to need to tell us who the dealer is and which manufacturer before you can be given any advice, I think.

Just give facts - that way you can't be done for besmirching their "good" name.

Plenty of others will do that for you once it starts to fly here!!!;D;D;D

Cheers,

Tim

[Mindi]

yeah tell me it wasnt AMC and Aquamaster..! or Coastal and Formosa....? no harm in telling us those details I would have thought..?

[boatie_72]

it will be mako craft as they are moving to gelong next week. so that means it will either be karee marine or pacific marine.

[Mike Delisser]

You're a lot more patient than I would be in the same situation.
Mike

[tin can marlin]

I think it is mako craft as well as there are always late you should be talking to dean at tabs they do a real nice range of plate side consoles and they will do a good deal factory direct.

[mylestom]

Graeme,

Wish you all the best, its not a good feeling. Seems like some companies aren't really customer orientated.

Regards


Trev

[Greg P]

Never traded a boat in with a dealer before - Is that normal to hand over your boat that long prior to delivery of the new one? :o

Bugga that unless you got the cabbage up front. Hope it all works out for you.

[Grumpah]

Crikey, as a famous crocodile catcher once said, there are some very astute "deducers" out there. Got the manufacturer and the dealer. It wasn't Karee. And yes, I'm a trusting sort but wasn't going to use the trade, so thought they should have the chance to sell it. I do have receipt for it of a kind, but i didn't expect to be waiting this long.

Trev, I know you've been through a lot worse and I'm glad your ordeal is finally over - or at least you're on the water.

I've been too busy at work to have a lot of time to get really cranky (Grumpy)...yet!! To my way of thinking it is now a breach of contract of sorts because there has been no ETA for the ETT and it is not January or February any more.

Having never bought new boat before I don't know what the industry is like but there have been some pretty spectacular demises of late. I cannot fault the service from the two gents that were there when I did the deal, they put everything in writing and detailed each item - it just removes your confidence when someone you've never heard of calls and starts asking strangely uninformed questions this late in the day.

Oh well, should know soon enough and will let the result be known - good or bad.

cheers all.

[White Pointer]

G'day,

It is possible that you need to commence legal action now, especially if you don't know where the boat you offered for trade is.

PM me for more information.

White Pointer

[blueboy]

Hi Graeme,
I hope it all works out for you soon mate . You're more than welcome to come out fishing with me while your waiting.
Cheers Greg

[boatboy50]

Hey,

My advice would be to get this sorted out VERY quickly, even if it means getting legal advice.

When I drove past the Pacific Highway last week I noticed how few boats there were in the yard.

New staff who have no idea what is happening, lack of stock, and a manufacturer moving two thousand km's away all spell trouble ahead.

Good luck.

Darren

[wilcara]

I'd be peeved, and doing something about it by now.

[Mindi]

Hey,

My advice would be to get this sorted out VERY quickly, even if it means getting legal advice.

When I drove past the Pacific Highway last week I noticed how few boats there were in the yard.

New staff who have no idea what is happening, lack of stock, and a manufacturer moving two thousand km's away all spell trouble ahead.

Good luck.

Darren
sounds like good advice to me

[Steeler]

Hi Graeme

What concerns me most about your thread is the " unlocatable trade in " .If it were me i would be contacting your dealer and asking them to have another look around for your trade and if it still can't be located then advise them you will have to report it to the police as missing.I appreciate this may seem drastic but so is telling a customer he needs to provide some paperwork because they can't find his trade in.

I would also be taking up white pointers offer up in a fraction of a heartbeat.

Hope all works out well.

Cheers

Steve

[Grumpah]

Thank you all for your support and advice.

I intend to resolve it very quickly and will keep you up to date with progress. I hope it is just a simple misunderstanding. I believe one should stay positive about these things even when p***ed off, but there is a limit!

Cheers all.

[Grumpah]

Good Morning all,

And a lovely morning it is here in sunny Queensland. Grumpah is a happy chappy today!
Yesterday I decided to front up to the dealership, Pacific Marine Centre, in an attempt to resolve the whereabouts of my boat, trade etc. Spoke to a gent named Arthur whom it appears is there in place of Kenny and Leighton who according to Arthur, are, and I quote - "pursuing other interests." Not knowing who I was, Arthur said "can I help you?"

Well, what an opening! Yes I said, you can tell me where my boat is! Poor Arthur couldn't help me on the Mako - didn't know - but he did know that my trade had been sold. And I knew that the British Seagull motor proudly on display in the office - was the one off my trade. He also told me that the builder next door owns the yard. So I suggested Arthur ring Makocraft and I'd wait while he did.

He did. Couldn't get hold of Rob (there was a good reason for that - he was in a plane headed for Melbourne), so rang Tim Stessel. Tim's response was immediate and said he would find out and get back to PMC ASAP. I had to leave for a business seminar at this point so provided my mobile number and email address.

At 7.45 last night I came out of the seminar and checked messages. 2 messages. One from PCM saying the boat was in Melbourne and it would be in Brisbane when transport could be organised. OK! Fair enough.

The other was from Tim Stessel - owner of Makocraft. I didn't ring Tim back then - it was too late and I don't like phone calls after 7pm so why would he. I would ring him around 8.30 today, Friday I thought.

Before I had a chance to call Tim, I had a call at sometime just after 8 this morning from Rob Anderson, National Sales Manager - Makocraft. Rob was in Melbourne and explained the situation, telling me they were happy to subsidise the dealer to freight the boat up when it was completed a week ago but to save money (and I suppose that's fair enough because it would have cost an extra grand) the dealer wanted to put it on a shared delivery. Rob also sent me a photograph of my finished boat, immediately.
Now by any stretch of the imagination, that's pretty good customer relations, the owner and his National Sales Manager both responding to a customer query.

It appears that since Leighton and Kenny left (to pursue other interests) the product and industry knowledge at PMC has taken a dive - a deep one that I can vouch for as of yesterday. You can be the judge, based on the boat transport issue, whether there is also a problem with staff or principal memory loss.

Suffice to say that having spoken to both Rob and Tim, I am very grateful to them and more than satisfied that they have kept up the information flow. Perhaps if Kenny and Leighton had not "left to pursue other interests" I would have been kept better informed and this whole debacle would not have occurred. With the current "state of the nation" where boats are concerned, having a stranger call you up and ask for the details of your transactions and about your trade, when your new boat has seemingly been in the paint shop in another state for more than a month, is somewhat daunting.

Rob has just messaged me back to say that my 420 Estuary Tracker Tournament will leave Melbourne tomorrow and be in Brissy on Tuesday. You can bet that I will be closely monitoring progress as it heads for Neptune Marine for its final fit out - and hopefully I will make contact with Leighton again during this process.

All is well that ends well and the commitment of Rob & Tim to ensuring that Makocraft customers end up with exactly what they want will i am sure make for a happy ending hopefully sometime in the next week or so.

Thanks all for your concern and thoughts - it's a great family this Ausfish family.

Cheers.

[Mindi]

keep your fingers crossed

[mylestom]

Graeme,

All the best mate, hope it all arrives and fits out well. Get you HIN number that will help you track. Then no mistakes.

Hope to catch up sometime next week.

Trev

[Steeler]

Hi Grumpah

Glad to here you have a wag in your tail today and looks like all is good.

Having spent some time in the automotive industry i have never heard of a dealer selling the trade before the new car/boat or other has been delivered.To my way of thinking the contract is not complete ( meaning your trade is not there's to sell ) until a simultanious trade happens,your trade and balance of amount owing in exchange for your new rig.I know i am a rather simple person but pretty sure there is some breach in there somewhere.

Cheers

Steve