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VTX production photos (sort of)


catalac

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Got my production photos today, 3 weeks after being sprayed, poor quality and only upto about 3/4 build point. I can say I am quite disappointed with the CSR at Malibu but I am still excited to get the boat.

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I ended up ordering a VLX and got my photos last week. They looked a lot like yours. Blury and not really that complete. I was dissapointed too. It seems as though Malibu would go out of their way to use a decent camera (they only cost a few hundred dollars at Costco) and send high resolution photos.

Like you, I'm looking forward to the boat, but I was also looking forward to showing off my production photos to friends and family. Unfortunately I'm excited about doing that now :(

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Do you guys know what plant your boat was manufactured at? When I got my pictures, they were blurry and dark like these.

I've seen some other really good pictures though.

My iRide was manufactured at the Tennesee plant. I just wondered if there was any correlation between plant and picture quality.

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I can imagine the disappointment... also a tough spot, since most mfg's wouldn't even offer such a nice perk of production photos -

with that said, it does appear inconsistent how some people get good photo coverage, and quality pics, and some don't.

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I'm always amazed when people are upset about production photos. First, no one else does it. Second, there are a lot of boats and people want a lot of pics throughout the process. It would take a lot of time to do everyones. Third, it's a boat. One you will be selling in 5 years anyway. Come on.

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As you know a business is only as good as it's people, I would suspect the good experiences with the production photos are basis the individual behind the camera.

I agree nice that they offer the service, but if they offer they should do it right or not at all. Not that I don't appreciate the effort of Malibu to offer the service, it's just a let down to get crappy photos.

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As you know a business is only as good as it's people, I would suspect the good experiences with the production photos are basis the individual behind the camera.

I agree nice that they offer the service, but if they offer they should do it right or not at all. Not that I don't appreciate the effort of Malibu to offer the service, it's just a let down to get crappy photos.

Last year they actually tried to do just that, end the practice all together. The hue & cry that went out just on this board was enormous, so they still do it when asked even though their policy is such that they don't advertise it anymore. I don't agree with that black & white outlook on this subject, they're doing the best they can with this. Would you rather not have any pictures at all? Think about that before you respond. Or would you rather have the prices of the boats go up that much more each year to justify having 1 person whose job is to go around taking production pictures? I wouldn't. Personally I'd rather see them concentrate & focus on building me a good product - if I get pics out of the deal, great. If not, how often will I go back & look at those anyway? I've got 2 sets of them now & I rarely look at either.

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As you know a business is only as good as it's people, I would suspect the good experiences with the production photos are basis the individual behind the camera.

I agree nice that they offer the service, but if they offer they should do it right or not at all. Not that I don't appreciate the effort of Malibu to offer the service, it's just a let down to get crappy photos.

Last year they actually tried to do just that, end the practice all together. The hue & cry that went out just on this board was enormous, so they still do it when asked even though their policy is such that they don't advertise it anymore. I don't agree with that black & white outlook on this subject, they're doing the best they can with this. Would you rather not have any pictures at all? Think about that before you respond. Or would you rather have the prices of the boats go up that much more each year to justify having 1 person whose job is to go around taking production pictures? I wouldn't. Personally I'd rather see them concentrate & focus on building me a good product - if I get pics out of the deal, great. If not, how often will I go back & look at those anyway? I've got 2 sets of them now & I rarely look at either.

Maybe on order they could still offer the production photos but charge for the service like an option, for geeks like me? (Maybe not.... that would open a real can of worms to satisfy individual expectations).

Anyway no big deal, the boat will be in my garage in a month or so.

PS The carpeted wedge is only available in Canada.

Edited by catalac
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I don't think it's geeky. You are excited about your new boat, the pictures help you pass the time. It's like when I was building a house. I went there every day to "check" on them. What was I checking? Nothing, I'm not a contractor or qualified home inspector. I was just excited about my house, like you are with your boat.

But like Wakegirl said, your boat will be here soon, and you'll soon have forgotten about your disappointment with the pictures.

Unless you're a super-geek, and would hold freinds and family hostage while you bore them to death with a slide show of your boat under construction...."here she is coming out of the mold, here it is when they were putting the engine in it, here's the carpet going in,etc,etc." Then I'd say the pictures you got are going to make for a sucky slideshow.

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As you know a business is only as good as it's people, I would suspect the good experiences with the production photos are basis the individual behind the camera.

I agree nice that they offer the service, but if they offer they should do it right or not at all. Not that I don't appreciate the effort of Malibu to offer the service, it's just a let down to get crappy photos.

Last year they actually tried to do just that, end the practice all together. The hue & cry that went out just on this board was enormous, so they still do it when asked even though their policy is such that they don't advertise it anymore. I don't agree with that black & white outlook on this subject, they're doing the best they can with this. Would you rather not have any pictures at all? Think about that before you respond. Or would you rather have the prices of the boats go up that much more each year to justify having 1 person whose job is to go around taking production pictures? I wouldn't. Personally I'd rather see them concentrate & focus on building me a good product - if I get pics out of the deal, great. If not, how often will I go back & look at those anyway? I've got 2 sets of them now & I rarely look at either.

I never meant the comment about my photos as a complaint, I was just stating that that's the way it was. The few pictures I received even had a comment apologizing for the poor quality, but my boat was buried behind some other boats and the lighting was not that good where my boat was.

As for not advertising, this link is from the 2007 web site

Production Photos Link on Malibu Site

It looks like they are advertising it as a benefit. Part of the text on the page says "...others request a photo journal of the process". and it implies on the site you can get a CD burned with pictures. By the way, the pictures at this link are a pretty good quality.

I do see it as a benefit. It's one more way Malibu can set itself apart from the competition. My boat purchase was my first. It took a while to get it and I was chomping at the bit to know where it was in the process and when I was going to get it.

I even wish they'd put a "this is how we make a boat" series on the web site. I would love to know how they prep the molds, what's required to get the different colors of gel coat, etc. Not only that, when you educate people on the process it may justify, in people's minds, why the cost of a boat like this is so high.

Here are a couple of the pictures I was sent, if it's any consolation yours look better than mine. As you can see, the wedge isn't on my boat yet. They must not have had the carpet in stock :lol:

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Edited to correct spelling and add pictures

Edited by B_Potts
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Interesting, I missed that on their site. They did try to do away with this completely, so I'm baffled that they're now openly advertising it on their site. That makes no sense at all. And I do agree, if they're going to advertise that they offer the service, they should do it right.

rts nailed it, the production pics are about the here & now, the fix to get you through. The perspective that you need to keep though, is that 6 months to a year from now, you'll have the boat & the pics won't matter all that much. The boat will.

BTW, great looking boats guys. :)

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As you know a business is only as good as it's people, I would suspect the good experiences with the production photos are basis the individual behind the camera.

I agree nice that they offer the service, but if they offer they should do it right or not at all. Not that I don't appreciate the effort of Malibu to offer the service, it's just a let down to get crappy photos.

Last year they actually tried to do just that, end the practice all together. The hue & cry that went out just on this board was enormous, so they still do it when asked even though their policy is such that they don't advertise it anymore. I don't agree with that black & white outlook on this subject, they're doing the best they can with this. Would you rather not have any pictures at all? Think about that before you respond. Or would you rather have the prices of the boats go up that much more each year to justify having 1 person whose job is to go around taking production pictures? I wouldn't. Personally I'd rather see them concentrate & focus on building me a good product - if I get pics out of the deal, great. If not, how often will I go back & look at those anyway? I've got 2 sets of them now & I rarely look at either.

I never meant the comment about my photos as a complaint, I was just stating that that's the way it was. The few pictures I received even had a comment apologizing for the poor quality, but my boat was buried behind some other boats and the lighting was not that good where my boat was.

As for not advertising, this link is from the 2007 web site

Production Photos Link on Malibu Site

It looks like they are advertising it as a benefit. Part of the text on the page says "...others request a photo journal of the process". and it implies on the site you can get a CD burned with pictures. By the way, the pictures at this link are a pretty good quality.

I do see it as a benefit. It's one more way Malibu can set itself apart from the competition. My boat purchase was my first. It took a while to get it and I was chomping at the bit to know where it was in the process and when I was going to get it.

I even wish they'd put a "this is how we make a boat" series on the web site. I would love to know how they prep the molds, what's required to get the different colors of gel coat, etc. Not only that, when you educate people on the process it may justify, in people's minds, why the cost of a boat like this is so high.

Here are a couple of the pictures I was sent, if it's any consolation yours look better than mine. As you can see, the wedge isn't on my boat yet. They must not have had the carpet in stock :lol:

post-1563-1174585251_thumb.jpgpost-1563-1174585276_thumb.jpgpost-1563-1174585287_thumb.jpg

post-1563-1174585310_thumb.jpgpost-1563-1174585335_thumb.jpg

Edited to correct spelling and add pictures

Man that is a fantastic looking boat. Whoever helped you out picking out those colors must be an amazing guy Whistling.gifThumbup.gif

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Man that is a fantastic looking boat. Whoever helped you out picking out those colors must be an amazing guy Whistling.gifThumbup.gif

Yea, it was my son who made the final color choice Tongue.gif (only kidding)

Funny thing is, with all this talk about... "oh, once you have the boat who cares about those pictures" I have to tell you the reason I could post those pictures so quickly is that I have them right here on my machine at work, almost a year after they were taken.

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Mine were pretty bad too....came from the TN plant. I received a couple of pics of the boat in the mold and then nothing else until the lake test. All pictures were poor quality but I did receive an apology from the csr. Even so, I was glad to get something just to show my boat was actually "alive"!

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I would pay more if I could get a fly in package to go for a plant tour and see my boat being built.... I think that would be cool... I think when the time comes to order a new boat, I will fly down and go for a tour..

By the way congrats on the new boat it looks sweet.... Thumbup.gif

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I would pay more if I could get a fly in package to go for a plant tour and see my boat being built.... I think that would be cool... I think when the time comes to order a new boat, I will fly down and go for a tour..

By the way congrats on the new boat it looks sweet.... Thumbup.gif

It's well worth it - I've done the tour twice. Hey, there's a good excuse to order another boat. Then you can take your own pics. I've had pics of a number of the boats I've had during the production process and it was great to look forward to getting them on a daily basis as the boat progressed. Some of the pics were great and some were so so. Gotta remember that the lighting isn't conducive to getting fantastic pics of the color. I was just appreciative to be able to see the boat while there was still snow on the ground here. I think its a nice touch that M will do this for us.

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