Scary Phone Call with my Dealer

[Sunscape fan]

i did the un thinkable... in the malibu world...I bought from the US when I live in canada. yes I did give the dealer here all the shots they could take but I found exactly what I wanted at a huge discount in the US and they could not match. However I have to this point given them a bunch of work on the boat ontop of service and warranty. I fully understand the dealer was or is not happy with me however i am a human and saving what i saved I had to do what i did.

I fully expect to be down the list as it relates to being a priority because of this, even after spending a ton on money on add ons. But i have to say that with my dealer i have built a relationship with the service manager and I get great service. Actualy I get fantastic service as I think they appreciate the business I am giving them now. I respect and understand his position on charging me a little more for labor rates over a guy who bought the boat from him.

he is looking after me so well that I think my next malibu will definately be bought through him....how wierd is that?

hopefully they will look after me for the next 3 years.........or so

I'll bet we use the same dealer for service. I bought my boat from them. But I agree with you, I think if I hadn't bought my boat from them, I would still receive excellent service. They are very very good to me. Even after two years, I still get the lower labor rate from them when I don't think I'm supposed to. I've never left unhappy(except for the time Malibu didn't have the parts in stock so I lost 4 weeks of boat season) but that wasn't the dealers fault which I fully realized. Also the reason I didn't go postal on the guy. As for getting in early or such, when it comes to winterizing/de-winterizing I usually just schedule 3 weeks ahead. But I have had one emergency(to me) and they took care of me right away. I know everyone in the service department so when I call, I say my name and they know my boat and me right away which is kinda nice. I am aware there have been a few management changes in the service department, so I hope the level of service doesn't change.

[Malibudude]

i did the un thinkable... in the malibu world...I bought from the US when I live in canada. yes I did give the dealer here all the shots they could take but I found exactly what I wanted at a huge discount in the US and they could not match. However I have to this point given them a bunch of work on the boat ontop of service and warranty. I fully understand the dealer was or is not happy with me however i am a human and saving what i saved I had to do what i did.

I fully expect to be down the list as it relates to being a priority because of this, even after spending a ton on money on add ons. But i have to say that with my dealer i have built a relationship with the service manager and I get great service. Actualy I get fantastic service as I think they appreciate the business I am giving them now. I respect and understand his position on charging me a little more for labor rates over a guy who bought the boat from him.

he is looking after me so well that I think my next malibu will definately be bought through him....how wierd is that?

hopefully they will look after me for the next 3 years.........or so

That's very common place....sold my first boat to a countryman of yours as well...

The service you are getting and in turn they are winning you over as a customer in the end earn your business when you look to buy a new boat! You understand that you’ll pay a bit more for service and not the first priority, which is important but you make the point that I was trying to get across…treat any customer top notch and you’ll make them a full customer in the future…

[Chia]

I am new to the malibu boat thing as I just got mine about 3 weeks ago (Had a Yamaha AR230 before) And the dealer really does have you cause there is not many dealers that close by so I learned really quick I better stay on the service managers good side (Bring 12 pack when picking up) With my Yamaha dealers were close by so they really had to compete. I would also let mom and pop shops work on my Yamaha cause its a basic jet boat but I would not let them work on my new LSV.

So they really do have you. I am lucky I called all over got a price and brought it to the local guy and he beat it to earn my business at the same time I wanted to go through him cause I knew they would be the ones I had to work with down the line.

My place has a differnt labor rate on weather you bought the boat here or not.

I also still think its rude to act like that on the phone he could have explained the policys better simply stating that people who bought boats there are VIP's.

quick hijack here:

how did you like the Yamaha AR230?

There was someone here a little while ago trying to decide between a malibu and the yamaha. We tried to steer him in the right direction, not sure what he actually did though.

[SkiBumPMC]

Sounds like the Malibu Dealer near me - Munson in Volo, IL; I didn't buy my boat from them because they were smoking crack when we talked about pricing; I was basically looking to buy a slightly used clean Malibu. I got the feeling that they thought I was not a serious buyer, for some reason. So, I jumped on the internet and found a better deal on a better model than what they were offering and drove 5 hours away to buy it. I wound up buying a 2 year old Malibu with 49 hours on it.

Right after I bought my Malibu, I took it to Munson for service; I think I had a warranty repair. In any case, no one recognized me, but they did ask where I bought it and just said I bought it used from a private party...They gave me no flack. I continued taking it to them for winterization and service with no issues. I felt I was building a rapport with the Service Department and the Sales guys got to know me, so I felt comfortable working with them; so much so I figured I'd give them a try on the next Malibu I would buy and I even referred my neigbor to them, who wound up buying a new Response from them.

At some point, though, I started running into issues with Munson, so I just stopped taking it to them. My neighbor with the new Response had the same issues with them, so we are both pretty much done with Munson; there are three other dealers within 2 to 3 hours of me and I like to feel like I get a fair deal on something when I buy it. Munson is just plain cocky and they have an attitude...I'm shocked they've been in business as long as they have as most people I speak to have the same issues that I've had.

As far as service...I, literally, have never had an issue with my Malibu and even if I ever would, these boats just are not that complex. So I found a good local mechanic who works on boats and even comes to my house and works on my boat on the lift. I think he's charging $75/Hour, whereas Munson is probably charging $125/Hour, now.

My advice is ask around and find a good mechanic. Just like buying a new car, I would take a new boat to the Dealer for the first couple of years or while it's under warranty; after that...find a good mechanic and save some green.

Edited August 17, 2010 by SkiBumPMC

[Vettesetter]

I bought my boat from the states, Up here in Canada they wanted $40,000 more. I had no choice but to buy from the states. When I called the dealer here, the first thing they asked was if I bought the boat from them, then they explained how any warranty work would have an additional $200 documentation fee added as well as me paying the shipping and any duties etc. They are a great dealer and I can feel their pain of having lost many sales to the south. I also feel my pain and do all my own work if possible, hopefully I don't need the warranty at all.

[skyskier]

I attribute these problems directly to Malibu for allowing such practices to continue. Especially if someone moves to a new dealer's territory after buying from their local dealer.

[FIC]

It would be easy for the factory to control the buying out of area, by putting a bottom line price on boats in inventory so that no dealer could sell for less of same model option for option.

[rodman]

I attribute these problems directly to Malibu for allowing such practices to continue. Especially if someone moves to a new dealer's territory after buying from their local dealer.

Malibu needs to get some of those same (OLD GOOD BOY'S) dealers out and bring in the new business if they want to move boats. If Malibu thinks that people are going to stay with 1950 thinking they better think twice. Why do you think that there are so many ski/wake boats on the market today. You need competition between dealers that works great for us the buyers and great for Malibu boats.

YEA we are being penalized for not buying our boats from them. They will put you off for weeks if not longer to make you pay for not buying from them. Hey they have a 25% margin on these boats. So just figure out why they are PO'd.

I asked a the Malibu salesman at the Cleveland boat show why they did not bring any boats. His answer was we loose money ant these shows.

MALIBU WTFU Why cant you spend the money and represent your dealers and and product.

[Sixball]

Skiers Pier puts a very nice display at the Detroit boat show and will never recop the cost. It may not go on much longer as the Detroit show is junk now. The Pier said its there job to represent Malibu at the show. It cost them a ton of money but there display is one of the best at the show. to the Pier for doing what they do.

[Chia]

It would be easy for the factory to control the buying out of area, by putting a bottom line price on boats in inventory so that no dealer could sell for less of same model option for option.

There are laws against that.

[rodman]

There are laws against that.

How close to the line do you think that Malibu is to Price Fixing.

Edited September 19, 2010 by rodman

[Vettesetter]

I attribute these problems directly to Malibu for allowing such practices to continue. Especially if someone moves to a new dealer's territory after buying from their local dealer.

The dealer up here in Canada is just pissed off that sales have slowed so much, and a lot of boat dealers went t*** up. Thats why they treat the owners that bought from them a little differently. I'm sure that if you bought elsewhere and moved here it would be o.k. but when someone like me drives all the way to california to get something they could have gotten from them, they don't like it. They say its not them its Malibu. I don't know but when I save 40 G's it's a no brainer and they would have done the same thing.The MC dealer flat out tells you your boat won't be done if one of his customers boats needs to get worked on. Just another example of how horribly ripped off we are up here. And on top of that summers only eight weeks long, then it rains (torrential downpour) for ten months. I hate it here.

Joe