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Vinyl staind and black mold from service dealer Bell Acqua- what to do?


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Ok-here my beef and issue. I finally got my boat back after 3 months of dealing with Bell Acqua. It came back with stains in between the cushions (yellow and brown) that I tried to get out myself but could not. They even forgot to put on the extra's that I was paying for to be added. Also leaves in the boat and mud foot prints everywhere. I flipped out and called the GM of the Cope and McPheters here in Rocklin and he called the manager at Bell Acqua to fix my boat.

After another month he picked it up as he need a few days of good weather to clean it up. I just got it back and took a look at it and he did get some of the stains out but not all. Some look like little brown dots, others are smeared along the back of the cushions. I also have black mold on parts of the carpet in the storage units. I am about fed up as I called Malibu customer care to get this guy to even get my boat back to me and even then it took a call from the GM of C&M to get it done.

Am I being too sensitve about the stains and mold? The boat is on 05 LSV, with 15 hours on it. I bought it in Sept of 05 with 1/2 hour and gave it to Bell Acqua on Oct 4th (did not get it back until Christmas). I'm thinking of legal action. Any advice?

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Bogus. I'd be pissed too.

The vinyl stains are created when moisture gets between the seat cushions (add a little dirt) and they're allowed to sit. It's a mold. So, if your boat sat without a cover on it and got dew on it overnight, and was allowed to sit for days - this would cause it.

The stains will go away. It'll just take time. But becuase it's a mold, you'll have an impossible time getting rid of them. I had the same problems and I took good care of my vinyl. Make sure you wipe down all the seats before storage.

In regards to how long they had your boat, I don't know why you left it there so long. Why didn't you just go pick it up and take it to another dealer? There's plenty here in the bay. Ya they're all owned by Cope, but some service centers appear to be better then others. I think your calls to corporate were called for. I'd call them and explain your situation. See if you can get them to do something.

Don't know what you can claim legally. I don't think you could pull anything off - it'll cost you more than you'd get back. That is unless your brother has a JD.

Edited by chathamsolutions
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Sue the shyte out of him. THAT'S the american way.

Bad service = bad business and I am sure you will ne telling everyone you know who cares, and some that don't, to avoid these jerks. Tell 'em that.

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I think that I would suggest that they let you take it to a pro detailer of your choice on their nickel. The mold will dry out with the help of a 20/1 bleach wipe down and a few cleanings. I don't think that I would ever go back to that dealer again. If they give you any crap, call Malibu and have a little talk. The folks in the Bu head office are real good to work with and they care how their boat owners are treated.

Joe

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Sorry to hear about your Bell Aqua service!

I would like to warn anybody who is thinking about taking there boat to Bell Aqua for service. I took my boat there last winter for some warranty work. I had the same kind of experience you had. They are liars and have the absolute worst customer service possible! I will never take my boat there for anything.

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I have got ask why you left it there so long? and what were they supposed to do to it? I don't think that you have any case in court and if you did (like others said) you would spend WAY more money then the 200-300 bucks to get it detailed. That really sucks that they treated you so badly though and I would be really pissed if I were you! If i were you I would be making a list of all the problems you had with them, all the people you talked to, and then I would send that info to Malibu and to the owner of the shop. Hopefully then something will get done and you will be at least compensated for the garbage you had to go through.

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I had to leave it there for warranty work on the trailor and scratches/overspray found on the boat. I go in and out of town for work a lot and when I get back into town they were usually closed. I called once and twice every week after a month of it being there.

The stains are because they left it out in the pouring rain and never finished the work. A month and a half went by without any weather but they never did any of the work. Plus If my cover had been on the entire time, like it was supposed to be I would not have leaves in the boat also causing stains. I have to disagree that I think I do have a case if needed.

I also did call MU HQ and have the customer service manager call several times to try and get them to fix my boat. He also did not have any luck even getting returned phone calls. I have left a message with Phil at Cope & McPheters and I will wait for him to respond. I have taken one of the cushions out to show him the brown spots and yellow smear stains. Of course I can't show him the black mold until he see's the boat.

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Sorry to hear about your Bell Aqua service!

I would like to warn anybody who is thinking about taking there boat to Bell Aqua for service. I took my boat there last winter for some warranty work. I had the same kind of experience you had. They are liars and have the absolute worst customer service possible! I will never take my boat there for anything.

Agreed. Bell Aqua sucks...

Edited by Addictedto6
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A soft brush and some warm soapy water. Give them a nice bath, and a gentle scrub with the brush and rinse. Dry with a clean towel an let dry in your garage. What doesn't come out on the tops will when the summer sun bleaches them out. As far as in-between or on the sides of the cushions... if they're stained it will probably always be stained.

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A lot of tips here with mold stains, but I wouldn't assume that's what it is. When I bought my boat, I had a lot of stains like you describe. I have tried EVERYTHING, and they are going nowhere. I suspect the previous owner parked it under a tree w/o a cover. Something in the tree (sap, seeds, pollen?), don't know what, permanently stained the seats. It's mostly in the cracks where you can't see them, but some on the surfaces too. The leaves in your boat is a tipoff. I'd keep an eye on the stains and if they can't be detailed out, you have a problem that won't just go away.

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It's not just here: Wakeside LINK

Yeah, I know CSD personally and got the whole saga. Bell Aqua really screwed up his boat. Malibu and Boat Country did him right but he still lost some out of pocket.

Clay was the first one to suggest to me to go to Boat Country. Haven't made it down there yet since I've been doing most of my own regular maintenance, but everything I've heard about Boat Country has been great.

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Unfortunately Boat country in Escalon, Salinas Valley marine, and Oasis Watersports in Redding are the only Malibu dealers in NorCal that are not "Cope and McPheters." Cope (AKA Ultimate Watersports) are far and away the largest Malibu dealer in the country so I don't see a tongue lashing coming from Malibu itself....

I personally have not had a problem with Ultimate Watersports or Copes at all. They just opened a new service center in San Jose and I actually had a GREAT experience. Since I bought my first Malibu in '99, I've heard tales of woe about Rocklin......

Like everyone else told ya a soft brush with a little bit of diluted bleach and water, scrub em, rince em sun dry them if you can and repeat..... Lots of sun will help.

Good luck,

Pat

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Unfortunately Boat country in Escalon, Salinas Valley marine, and Oasis Watersports in Redding are the only Malibu dealers in NorCal that are not "Cope and McPheters." Cope (AKA Ultimate Watersports) are far and away the largest Malibu dealer in the country so I don't see a tongue lashing coming from Malibu itself....

Good luck,

Pat

We bought our BU in the bay area in 1999. At the time, Harrisons in Oakland was the closest dealer. My "sales" experience there was terrible, so I bought from Salinas Valley Marine instead. I took down there for the first few services and was pretty happy even though it was a little bit of a haul.

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FWIW I would be happy to send a message to the Manager at bell aqua and cc to the General Manager of C&M and cc to who you are dealing with at Malibu, to express my concerns as to how you were treated and explain that until/unless they satisfy your concerns, I will never deal there.

If others did the same, they may be convinced to make things right for you. Maybe a form email could be composed that members could just copy, paste and send.

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Unfortunately Boat country in Escalon, Salinas Valley marine, and Oasis Watersports in Redding are the only Malibu dealers in NorCal that are not "Cope and McPheters." Cope (AKA Ultimate Watersports) are far and away the largest Malibu dealer in the country so I don't see a tongue lashing coming from Malibu itself....

I personally have not had a problem with Ultimate Watersports or Copes at all. They just opened a new service center in San Jose and I actually had a GREAT experience. Since I bought my first Malibu in '99, I've heard tales of woe about Rocklin......

Like everyone else told ya a soft brush with a little bit of diluted bleach and water, scrub em, rince em sun dry them if you can and repeat..... Lots of sun will help.

Good luck,

Pat

Ditto. I've had nothing but GREAT experiences at Copes in San Jose. They were notoriously bad, and did a terrible job on a few boats of people I know. But once management was alerted, they really turned that place around. I hope they can do the same up north.

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Unfortunately Boat country in Escalon, Salinas Valley marine, and Oasis Watersports in Redding are the only Malibu dealers in NorCal that are not "Cope and McPheters." Cope (AKA Ultimate Watersports) are far and away the largest Malibu dealer in the country so I don't see a tongue lashing coming from Malibu itself....

Good luck,

Pat

We bought our BU in the bay area in 1999. At the time, Harrisons in Oakland was the closest dealer. My "sales" experience there was terrible, so I bought from Salinas Valley Marine instead. I took down there for the first few services and was pretty happy even though it was a little bit of a haul.

I bought from Harrisons in '99 also. My buying experience was just OK... But Service, those guys were great!

I was there several times in the first year and never had a bad experience.

Pat

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Sorry to hear about your Bell Aqua service!

I would like to warn anybody who is thinking about taking there boat to Bell Aqua for service. I took my boat there last winter for some warranty work. I had the same kind of experience you had. They are liars and have the absolute worst customer service possible! I will never take my boat there for anything.

Agreed. Bell Aqua sucks...

Been there, done that... And I'll never take my boat back. Their service has been below par for a long time.

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Unfortunately Boat country in Escalon, Salinas Valley marine, and Oasis Watersports in Redding are the only Malibu dealers in NorCal that are not "Cope and McPheters." Cope (AKA Ultimate Watersports) are far and away the largest Malibu dealer in the country so I don't see a tongue lashing coming from Malibu itself....

Good luck,

Pat

We bought our BU in the bay area in 1999. At the time, Harrisons in Oakland was the closest dealer. My "sales" experience there was terrible, so I bought from Salinas Valley Marine instead. I took down there for the first few services and was pretty happy even though it was a little bit of a haul.

I bought from Harrisons in '99 also. My buying experience was just OK... But Service, those guys were great!

I was there several times in the first year and never had a bad experience.

Pat

Yeah, I took mine in to them for 1 round of service around the time of the ECM fix. very quick turnaround, boat was clean. The sales experienced turned me off so much that I had trouble going back after.

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How long is Malibu going to put up with C & M in Sacto and with Bell Aqua? I dont know a single person that has been happy with the dealer or the service center. The manager at the dealership is an absolute jerk. Bell Aqua has messed up more boats than it has fixed from what I can tell. Why do we have to put up with it?

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How long is Malibu going to put up with C & M in Sacto and with Bell Aqua? I dont know a single person that has been happy with the dealer or the service center. The manager at the dealership is an absolute jerk. Bell Aqua has messed up more boats than it has fixed from what I can tell. Why do we have to put up with it?

I have to take my boat in for warranty work but when I asked about where they kept them they said that they keep them outside. I said what if it rains, and they said that they would drain the water out of them everyday. That is total CRAP!!! that is why I have not taken it in yet. I going to the boat show at cal expo and talk to Kenny and let him know my concerns about bell aqua.

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