Malibu just lost its biggest dealer

[MaliWop]

According to Wizard Lake Marine this morning, there is nothing official in regards to their relationship with Malibu coming to an end. They claim that they will for sure know what is going to happen by the end of the week. But everything that is out on the net is rumours as they have made no official announcements themselves. Although I feel that the writing is on the wall, I have yet to see anything official. Just speculation. I was told that if the relationship came to an end, they would still be handling the warranty on the boats they sold.

 

1 hour ago, asp13 said:

I hope Malibu goes somewhere else, I wonder if Seca would be an option. 

Seca would be my first guess if Malibu is in fact changing dealers. They are already established in Kelowna and have now setup shop in Calgary. I can't see their current dealership with Tige being as much of a threat to Malibu as Nautique was with Wizard.

I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and watch it all unfold.

[pennery]

13 hours ago, Malibu Mel said:

Ok thank you for clarifying. It's too easy to jump to conclusions when reading the posts. I have always had a great experience with Wizard lake and that was the number 1 reason I purchased a Malibu from them. I dont suppose you know how this will affect service and warranty do you?

Wizard likely was unaware of the situation (or at least there were no decisions made) as they were just recently notified (By a letter from Malibu's lawyer) that there 1 year contract (Why would Malibu only give 1 year contracts) was not being renewed.  I suspect Malibu gave them the Ultimatum to Drop the other brands they carry and they will renew.   If I was Don, Ron or Gord I would have let Malibu walk as well.  Why would they put all of their eggs in Malibu's basket?   Wizard still committed to 100 Malibu's this year and from what I heard sales have still been about 50/50 Nautique/Malibu.   I would think they are going to have a difficult time finding a dealer that can commit to 100 boats in Alberta.   The reality is that Nautique has been better to work with and is starting to put out a better product than Malibu for less money.     They are also only concerned about their own product and improving it so the sales will come.  Malibu seems more concerned with the amount of Nautiques Wizard is selling and less concerned with how they are going to improve their product or pricing to compete.   Always seem to be trying to imitate rather than create.   

As far as the service issues with Wizard Lake Marine, we are certainly limited with our dealers here is Alberta and certainly lacking on great dealers. I think Wizard lake marine is one of the best if not the best.  They sell a ton of boats so they are a busy dealership and are sometimes difficult to deal with however we need to remember how difficult times can be in Marine sales.   They have limited employees and alot of work to do..  Also the amount of boats they still have in stock is rare for this time of year regardless and they are paying out a lot of money in interest to stock these boats.  they have had some great years and they have alot of repeat customers because they sell the best brands for the best prices.   A dealership can only go so far with one brand.  If you look at the amount of Nautiques sold in Alberta previous to Wizard lake Marine and look at the numbers now I would think Malibu would be working to get some of that share back.   They are too busy being political.    

[BadgerBoater55]

3 hours ago, RedOwl said:

If they'll sell me THIS for $80,000 USD I will put the check in the mail tomorrow...

 

 

Are the prices in Canadian dollars?  Would be $104k Canadian to equal $80k U.S.

[ryangb]

Yup prices are in Cdn $

[IXFE]

7 hours ago, pennery said:

Wizard likely was unaware of the situation (or at least there were no decisions made) as they were just recently notified (By a letter from Malibu's lawyer) that there 1 year contract (Why would Malibu only give 1 year contracts) was not being renewed.  I suspect Malibu gave them the Ultimatum to Drop the other brands they carry and they will renew.   If I was Don, Ron or Gord I would have let Malibu walk as well.  Why would they put all of their eggs in Malibu's basket?   Wizard still committed to 100 Malibu's this year and from what I heard sales have still been about 50/50 Nautique/Malibu.   I would think they are going to have a difficult time finding a dealer that can commit to 100 boats in Alberta.   The reality is that Nautique has been better to work with and is starting to put out a better product than Malibu for less money.     They are also only concerned about their own product and improving it so the sales will come.  Malibu seems more concerned with the amount of Nautiques Wizard is selling and less concerned with how they are going to improve their product or pricing to compete.   Always seem to be trying to imitate rather than create.   

As far as the service issues with Wizard Lake Marine, we are certainly limited with our dealers here is Alberta and certainly lacking on great dealers. I think Wizard lake marine is one of the best if not the best.  They sell a ton of boats so they are a busy dealership and are sometimes difficult to deal with however we need to remember how difficult times can be in Marine sales.   They have limited employees and alot of work to do..  Also the amount of boats they still have in stock is rare for this time of year regardless and they are paying out a lot of money in interest to stock these boats.  they have had some great years and they have alot of repeat customers because they sell the best brands for the best prices.   A dealership can only go so far with one brand.  If you look at the amount of Nautiques sold in Alberta previous to Wizard lake Marine and look at the numbers now I would think Malibu would be working to get some of that share back.   They are too busy being political.    

 

Why do you suspect that Malibu gave them an ultimatum to drop the other brands?  The only company known for that sort of behavior is MC.  There are sooooo many Malibu dealers that carry other brands, I can't imagine Malibu would pick that fight.  But I have no inside knowledge on Wizard Lake situation.  Do you?  Or are you just making stuff up?    

Also, one year contracts are the norm for this industry.  

[85 Barefoot]

 

It is interesting that Malibu does have a brand new VP of sals and marketing as of about 2 weeks ago.  Like IXFE's thoughts, many, if not the majority of malibu dealers have other lines.  Since, apparently, WLM hasn't confirmed anything, thread seems awfully speculative.  

[KokaneeKonsumer]

1 hour ago, 85 Barefoot said:

 

It is interesting that Malibu does have a brand new VP of sals and marketing as of about 2 weeks ago.  Like IXFE's thoughts, many, if not the majority of malibu dealers have other lines.  Since, apparently, WLM hasn't confirmed anything, thread seems awfully speculative.  

Go to the Malibu website and look at dealer search and you'll notice the absence of WLM in both AB and BC.

I'm kind of in shock.  Don and family have had Malibu, my god, since the early 90's.  There are so many 'Bu's in AB/BC from them.  Consider the warranty component and the service piece..... it will be interesting going forward.

 

[DarkSide]

Just a little Devils advocate, as I have never dealt with WLM or any other dealer in that region.  However just from a 20,000 ft looking down perspective.  Malibu has a 2:1 market share vs. Nautique.  If I have a dealer that is selling as many or more Nautique vs. Malibu then there is something going on.  

The downside is it could take a new dealer a bit of time come up to speed and build trust with the customers.  However a competing dealer may turn what I  am perceiving to be a good dealer into a great dealer.  Competition forces improvement.

 

[wakebrdr94]

12 hours ago, pennery said:

Wizard likely was unaware of the situation (or at least there were no decisions made) as they were just recently notified (By a letter from Malibu's lawyer) that there 1 year contract (Why would Malibu only give 1 year contracts) was not being renewed.  I suspect Malibu gave them the Ultimatum to Drop the other brands they carry and they will renew.   If I was Don, Ron or Gord I would have let Malibu walk as well.  Why would they put all of their eggs in Malibu's basket?   Wizard still committed to 100 Malibu's this year and from what I heard sales have still been about 50/50 Nautique/Malibu.   I would think they are going to have a difficult time finding a dealer that can commit to 100 boats in Alberta.   The reality is that Nautique has been better to work with and is starting to put out a better product than Malibu for less money.     They are also only concerned about their own product and improving it so the sales will come.  Malibu seems more concerned with the amount of Nautiques Wizard is selling and less concerned with how they are going to improve their product or pricing to compete.   Always seem to be trying to imitate rather than create.   

As far as the service issues with Wizard Lake Marine, we are certainly limited with our dealers here is Alberta and certainly lacking on great dealers. I think Wizard lake marine is one of the best if not the best.  They sell a ton of boats so they are a busy dealership and are sometimes difficult to deal with however we need to remember how difficult times can be in Marine sales.   They have limited employees and alot of work to do..  Also the amount of boats they still have in stock is rare for this time of year regardless and they are paying out a lot of money in interest to stock these boats.  they have had some great years and they have alot of repeat customers because they sell the best brands for the best prices.   A dealership can only go so far with one brand.  If you look at the amount of Nautiques sold in Alberta previous to Wizard lake Marine and look at the numbers now I would think Malibu would be working to get some of that share back.   They are too busy being political.    

"A better product for less money"?  Which model are you comparing this to?  It seems if Nautique has put all of its eggs in the G basket.  

[catalac]

With my 15vlx sitting in the garage I sure hope I don't have warranty work needing to be done, not sure I'd trust anyone but wizard to work on it. Oh well after 4 mb's maybe time to try a nautique next time round been looking at them for a while now. 

[nohlan4]

Not surprised with this the way that they pushed nautique when the dollar slumped. Also the way that they dealt with me when I was trying to order a new BU, glad I went nautique now. Side note Ron has since changed his instagram tag from @maliburon to @wizardron, so I would say there is some hard feelings somewhere.

[Afun]

On June 27, 2016 at 9:29 AM, 23LSVOwner said:

I heard Malibu dropped them.

Maybe Jackie Springer got in the face of the dealer owner....I've heard of this happening before. Just saying...the company is quite bullish

[asp13]

They just posted about it on their website http://www.wizardlakemarine.com/news/malibu-boats-cancels-wizard-lake-marines-partnership/

 

Also on the Wizard homepage first thing you see says "Malibu Boats CANCELS Wizard Lake Marines Partnership!" 

[Steve B.]

This kinda makes clear it wasn't WLM. (Although there are 2 sides to every story)...

 

"We are no longer able to perform any warranty repairs for any Malibu or Axis products due to their decision.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause our customers, but this decision was not ours." 

The lack of warranty for 'bu owners, lets face it, that sucks. That little tidbit may tick off current owners enough to go Nautique or other models at WLM in the future, because their customers are so loyal to them.

Steve B.

[RTS]

On 6/29/2016 at 11:30 PM, KokaneeKonsumer said:

Go to the Malibu website and look at dealer search and you'll notice the absence of WLM in both AB and BC.

Then watch your email and cell phone blow up with spam from Mailbu and calls from whoever the local dealer is.

I, for one, will NEVER go to Malibu's or Tommy's (my local dealer) website again.

[Josh4mc]

15 minutes ago, RTS said:

Then watch your email and cell phone blow up with spam from Mailbu and calls from whoever the local dealer is.

I, for one, will NEVER go to Malibu's or Tommy's (my local dealer) website again.

I always put in a fake phone number so this doesn't happen. Email is easy enough to block.

[Malibu Mel]

A very disappointing outcome! WLM has always been very gracious and helpful to me as a customer. The fact that warranty cannot be touched by them pisses me off! I'm very curious what kind of correspondence comes from Malibu on this. I'm also very interested in hearing where I now have to go for any work if required this season. If it now means I'm driving 3 to 5 hours down the highway to get to the approved dealer for our area I may need to reconsider which boat our family uses. Convenience and customer service are very important to me. 

[RedOwl]

What are the odds we ever find out the true story of what happened in this situation?

[asp13]

Just saw this on the Malibu Facebook:

We're proud to announce Saskatoon Watersports is now the Malibu and Axis Wake Research dealer for Alberta, Canada! 
http://www.saskatoonwatersports.com/
#thetruthisonthewater #notrimtabs

[IXFE]

So… I decided to poke around and get the real story about what really happened at Wizard Lake.  What can I say, my curiosity got the best of me.  

It turns out WL is not the #1 Malibu dealer.  They were not even in the top 10 last year.  I guess Malibu has been trying to work with WL for some time, encouraging them to come up with a plan to get back to where they once were from a sales perspective, but they’ve never responded.  So Malibu finally decided not to renew their annual contract.  The reason they hadn't announced anything before today is because Malibu didn’t want to impact WL’s ongoing sales.  Looks like the announcement has been made now.  My guess is WL spilled the beans first with their webpage, forcing the announcement on Facebook, but that's just speculation on my part.  

As a boat owner who loves my local dealer, I can sure understand why owners might be upset of concerned.  But as a business minded individual, I’m not sure Malibu had a choice.  I mean, are they supposed to just stand by and watch their sales tank in a big region like that?  I can see why they made the change.  Sometimes you need to reboot things.  I’ve faced similar situations like this at my work, and it’s never easy but often necessary. 

Anyway, that’s what I learned.  Take it for what it’s worth…

[thtrog]

Good info, but why was Wizard Lake so highly awarded at the last Malibu sales meeting in November??? They recieved top Axis sales, top 10 Malibu sales of tier 6 dealers, and Malibu CSI award...guess Malibu expects more. 

Edited July 2, 2016 by thtrog

[bamabonners]

I find it pretty unprofessional thing that WLM did - posting an announcement on their site like they were completely taken off guard (based on what IXFE posted).   I've seen this with a dealer change in my area.   The dealer always blames Malibu and acts like they didn't know anything about what was coming.  These dealers know what is going on...they have contracts and they have reps that they deal with on a regular basis. 

Edited July 2, 2016 by bamabonners

[23LSVOwner]

19 minutes ago, bamabonners said:

I find it pretty unprofessional thing that WLM did - posting an announcement on their site like they were completely taken off guard (based on what IXFE posted).   I've seen this with a dealer change in my area.   The dealer always blames Malibu and acts like they didn't know anything about what was coming.  These dealers know what is going on...they have contracts and they have reps that they deal with on a regular basis. 

Well said Sir.

[Ronnie]

I'd suggest to not get too caught up in the Drama. If you've been around these boats for a while, you've seen it before. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for both sides. You can bet it was all about the numbers for both sides and the money trail. It's our hobby but it's their business. They are going to do what's right for each other. We all know that the customers in that area will be taken care of by another dealer. Lets all hope the new dealer will take good care of everyone involved.

[oldjeep]

How big a dealership (physically) is WLM?  I'm always amazed at how small MN Inboard seems for being the now #1 dealer in the country.  Granted they have a pretty big offsite repair facility and the second (better looking) place up north, but you would never look at the facilities and thing - these guys are the biggest dealers.  As far as I know the only other thing they sell is some fancy pontoons and I can't say that I've ever seen one at the dealership by me.