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How would you handle this?


NCSurfing

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Need some opinions on how best to handle this situation. 

Been doing business with my dealer for 5 yrs now and they have always been very good to me and the following is a great example of this. My 7" screen was acting up so I called the head of service and explained the issue/sent video and he said he needed the boat to test it. Biggest challenge with stuff like this for me is that the dealer is 2.5 hrs from my lake house, which is where I keep my boat. I travel a bit for work thus, the last thing I want to do on multiple Saturday's is drive 5 hrs roundtrip to dropoff/pickup and miss time with my kids and as well as being without my boat. Thus, the service manager generously offered to send someone to pickup the boat which they did on Monday. Even better, they verified the screen was bad, had a new one overnighted, installed it and delivered the boat back to me today. Awesome yes?  Now here is where it goes bad.....

Get to the ramp and turn the screen on to check all functions and the stereo won't power. So I open the passengers seat only to find that my amp board was ripped out and stolen with everything attached to it.  4 Wetsounds amps (3 Syn-4 and 1 Syn-1), my factory RFX-6000 and of course all my distro blocks, wiring etc.  Factory side harness ripped to shreds as well.  I'll skip the part about it could have been worse (they didn't touch my in boat speakers, rev8s or sub) however, I am livid to say the least.  Of course, I call the dealer and one of the first things they say is "well you know we aren't responsible for theft while the boat is on our property"  

What would you do?  How would you handle the situation with the dealer and what do you believe is fair?  They are filing a police report and I've already filed a claim with Progressive however, I know this is going to get complicated as I'm out over $4k ....

 

 

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Edited by NCSurfing
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Wow, so sorry for the disaster. Interesting situation with the dealer going all out for you with the repair, then the response with the theft. My 1st action is to get more info. Where was the boat stored - inside or out, any surveillance cameras to review. Possibility of an inside job?  Bottom line is they have insurance and I would think unless you were explicitly warned they are not liable and/or you signed something, they should make it right. Lastly, we are assuming there is no way this happened before they took it or after they returned it.

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Agreed with above, they should have insurance and possibly surveillance on property for instances like this.  Maybe talk to your insurance agent, and then see if he can call your dealer and ask for their insurance information?

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This sucks... just to be clear, did it for sure happen at the dealership? I'd be really suspicious that it just so happened to get ripped off while at the dealer. I don't know how you would ever trust them again. I'm sure they have several nice boats there, did anything else get stolen? Hopefully the insurance companies can sort this stuff out. Other than the inconvenience of having to get it all replaced, I've usually made out OK with car stereo theft claims.

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Thanks guys.

-Absolutely no chance of it happening before or after. I pulled the boat out of the water listening to tunes and locked it in the garage and they picked it up next morning. They returned it today at noon with the cover on and I pulled it to the ramp hours later and for the hours in between it was in my driveway, mid-day with me home. 

-The service manager was gone for the day and I was told he would call first thing in the AM as I told them I wanted to know where the boat was stored at all times, were there any anomolies (cover half off, etc), do they have surveillance and was there trouble with any other boats? 

My knee jerk reaction is that it's their insurance that should own this..not mine. Inside job thought also crossed my mind however, I just can't see this with these guys. 

Edited by NCSurfing
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This really sucks as do all theft situations.  I'm going against everyone else and gonna say this will be on your insurance unfortunately.  I'm an insurance agent and can almost guarantee it'll be put on you.  I know your pissed and hope your deductible isn't too high for comp but this isn't their fault (unless they actually stole the stuff).  I wouldn't destroy your relationship with the dealer over this.  Yes they have a policy but it's more to protect their unsold boats or possibly if they were to wreck yours while testing it.    Hope progressive takes care of you as I have progressive as well so curious to hear how you make out.

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Sucks, I hate thieves. However, just imagine how pissed you'd be if you drove 5 hours to have the same thing happen... up until the last few responses, I was with you on thinking the dealer should take care of this on their insurance, not you. Guess I'm wrong... 

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Sorry this happened.  Really sucks.

Similar scenario, but with my truck.  Had it at the dealer for a recall.  They fixed whatever needed to be fixed, and had it parked out in front of the service bays.  The truck is a DRW long bed crew cab (I call it the Queen Mary).  Sticks way out of any parking space.  Anyway, they had a delivery driver back into it, then drive away.  

Some of their crew saw it happen, but the driver denied liability.  Long story short, the dealer replaced the bumper on his dime, and made sure it didn't show up on CarFax.  Not $4000 like you are facing, but I would guess they probably would have charged me $2k if I had to pay for it.

And I don't have that good of a relationship with the car dealer.

Long way of saying, there is hope that they will step up.

Good luck.

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3 minutes ago, Pnwrider said:

Sucks, I hate thieves. However, just imagine how pissed you'd be if you drove 5 hours to have the same thing happen... up until the last few responses, I was with you on thinking the dealer should take care of this on their insurance, not you. Guess I'm wrong... 

When you leave your vehicle with someone, they are usually very limited in their liability.  Next time you valet ur car, read the ticket.  They are not liable for any theft or any vehicle damage not directly caused by their employees.  Very similar if you leave your car/boat at dealership. Comprehensive type claims will almost always go on your insurance if not always.  If they are directly liable, you would have a case.  It could happen anywhere and not directly their fault, their insurance wouldn't cover it anyways.

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I would ask them if their insurance can cover it, but I would not break the relationship over it.  

And for sure, if they don't step up their security game, I might start to get concerned.  

 

 

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I agree with  others above.  First thing is to see if you can get a look at the surveillance camera feed.  Second, confirm where the boat was left while at the dealer.  Where there any other boats parked near yours.  Was there any other reported thefts on other boats during the same time frame?  In my opinion if this theft was carried out by outsiders they would have hit several boats while taking the risk.  If just your boat was the only one hit I would suspect an inside job.  Someone at the dealer saw what you had and grabbed it.  Finally, I would handle/follow up on the police report yourself.  Ask the locals if they ever received other theft reports involving the dealer.  

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59 minutes ago, t a said:

When you leave your vehicle with someone, they are usually very limited in their liability.  Next time you valet ur car, read the ticket.  They are not liable for any theft or any vehicle damage not directly caused by their employees.  Very similar if you leave your car/boat at dealership. Comprehensive type claims will almost always go on your insurance if not always.  If they are directly liable, you would have a case.  It could happen anywhere and not directly their fault, their insurance wouldn't cover it anyways.

Cool story, but put yourself in your clients shoes. How would you feel? I, like most on here, would think the insurance should fall on whoever is in possession of the boat. Why should my insurance cover the boat when it's not with me? Do you get it now? 

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2 minutes ago, Pnwrider said:

Cool story, but put yourself in your clients shoes. How would you feel? I, like most on here, would think the insurance should fall on whoever is in possession of the boat. Why should my insurance cover the boat when it's not with me? Do you get it now? 

I get it, not making these decisions myself.  I would be frustrated as well.  Just letting the OP know what to expect given my experience in the field.  You are liable for your belongings whether it's the dealership burrowing your car/boat/whatever or your grandmother.  If you let your grandmother borrow your car and it's broken into while in her possession, it goes on your insurance not hers.  The dealership, even if they wanted to take responsibility, the insurance they have would look at the situation and say they are not directly liable so it would fall on OP's insurance in the end.  If the dealer were going to be responsible they would likely have to eat the cost which I don't see happening.  Asking them to pay your deductible though would not be out of the question.

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My money is on the driver that picked up or dropped off.  They were smart in a way about what they did.  They only took things that would not be so obvious as to prolong the time you would notice.  If the in boat speakers or towers were missing you would have likely noticed that prior to them leaving, especially all the in boat speakers because in their mind you may have wanted to check to see the display was working.  So they steal everything out of site.  If it was on the lot and some random person did it I would expect them to take some other stuff too.  I understand the comments about not wanted to burn the bridge with the dealer but what about the dealer burning the bridge with you.  I would not trust them with my boat after this unless they stepped up and fixed the situation.  Otherwise why would you ever take your boat back to them.  I would make it known to everyone in the area and as many local reviews as possible if they do not do you right.  That is my two cents.

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39 minutes ago, Pnwrider said:

Cool story, but put yourself in your clients shoes. How would you feel? I, like most on here, would think the insurance should fall on whoever is in possession of the boat. Why should my insurance cover the boat when it's not with me? Do you get it now? 

Good luck enforcing that. I know people who have had issues with things disappearing at a lot of the NW dealerships, and have never heard of the dealership insurance covering it.

I don't agree with it myself. But that seems to be how it always shakes out. Frankly I wouldn't leave anything in my boat that I wasn't prepared to lose/protect myself. I remove the ski gear, the tower speakers, the stereo faceplate, etc. Or I realize I'm risking it.

Now that I've been working for a dealership, I can't believe the stuff people leave in their boat while at the dealer..... besides all the stereo gear..... from super large inflated tubes, high end wakeboards or waterskis, to rare bottles of wine or tons of coke, to wallets & expensive sunglasses. And they won't even bother to bring their cover & still expect us to cover it or store it (and 900 other boats) indoors.

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Sucks!!

As TA stated you have insurance to cover these types of things. The big question is if you initially set up coverage correctly. If so, your insurance (Progressive) will sort it out with your dealers insurance. No question its stressful and a pain in the a**, but your insurance should let you know if you are covered. You should be able to replace it now and get reimbursed.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Bill_AirJunky said:

Good luck enforcing that. I know people who have had issues with things disappearing at a lot of the NW dealerships, and have never heard of the dealership insurance covering it.

I don't agree with it myself. But that seems to be how it always shakes out. Frankly I wouldn't leave anything in my boat that I wasn't prepared to lose/protect myself. I remove the ski gear, the tower speakers, the stereo faceplate, etc. Or I realize I'm risking it.

Now that I've been working for a dealership, I can't believe the stuff people leave in their boat while at the dealer..... besides all the stereo gear..... from super large inflated tubes, high end wakeboards or waterskis, to rare bottles of wine or tons of coke, to wallets & expensive sunglasses. And they won't even bother to bring their cover & still expect us to cover it or store it (and 900 other boats) indoors.

Loose stuff is one thing, but amps that are screwed down to the boat? Should I remove ballast tanks next time my boat goes to the dealer for warranty work? Honestly, I'm learning from this just like the op (except for the deductible), I was just surprised his insurance and rates would be affected by this... 

  • Like 3
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His rates will likely not be affected, generally, with comprehensive claims, rates will not go up since they are mostly out of your control. This could vary some company to company but most the time you will not be punished for these types of claims other than paying the deductible.

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Talk to your insurance company.  I don't know about Progressive, but the better ones will usually make you whole first, and then they'll get involved with the other entity to square up who is liable, and if necessary, sue them for reimbursement.  The added bonus of this is that you won't be damaging your relationship with the dealer.  I have my opinion and everything on who should pay for what, but that won't really help too much.  Best of luck!

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@11LSV15 had some good points. If there were no other break ins at the lot it would lead me to believe the driver had something to do with it.  Don't know how you could prove that but 5 hrs is a long time he'd be away from work.  He could have easily dropped by a friends house and "looked the other way."  And who doesn't take the tower speakers unless they are trying to hide it. No real thief would give a crap if you noticed.

 

Edit:. I would let your insurance company know that you strongly suspect him as well.  They may put some pressure on him depending on how big the claim is.

Edited by t a
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Update guys....which provides a level of clarity. My contact at the dealer just sent me a message as follows;

"The police are here doing reports and taking pictures of the other boats that were hit, 4 boats total - 3 were customers and our 23 LSV (demo). I will get you a copy of the report as soon as it's available"

No surveillance footage unfortunately...apparently this is the first time it's happened at this scale. This gives me some level of closure...if anything, my anger has shifted to compassion for the other parties who feel the same way I do this morning. Why do people do this sh*t?  We all work too hard  to enjoy these things and now I will spend my Saturday prepping for a rebuild.

Will share more updates as I have them...still waiting to hear from my insurance company. I also need to figure out what my expectations will be from the dealer (if any at this point)....

  • Like 2
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Good news -- you are insured.  You'll be made whole aside from your deductible.  Pat yourself on the back for that.  And if there's a claim against the dealer to be made, your insurance company will now be subrogated and will assert that claim against the dealer and its carrier.  Maybe not if you are the only progressive-insured boat that got hit, but if there are several $8000 claims, maybe so.

Bad news -- you have to cover the deductible, you've got some down time with the stereo, and you're going to have dealer trust issues for a while.

What I'd do is get the insurance claim initiated with your carrier, then once that's going, have a heart to heart with the dealer.  You just recently bought a real nice and expensive boat from them and you don't want to have to worry about whether your windshield is still going to be attached when you get it back from service.  Let 'em know that you have made the claim through your insurance but you're still going to be out the deductible, and you're still going to be out your time waiting to get everything re-installed.  Ask them what they can do to make it right for you and regain your trust.  I mean one thing you could ask for is that they cover your deductible expense, or at least give you a corresponding service credit or something like that.

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Terrible.  

Confirms my overall theory.  The dealership is not a terrific place for your boat to be.

its kinda like a hospital.  The more often you are in the hospital the more apt you are to get caught up in other issues: infection, diseases, malpractice, adverse reactions etc.

You do have good dealer service though-- out of 6 dealers I've dealt with... 1-2 might have offered to come get the boat like they did.

 

  • Like 3
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