# boat repair critique



## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

*Boat repair critique*

If you need to get your boat repaired in Northern Utah, stay away from Lee's Marine in Hyrum. He is rude, overpriced and treats his customers like they are idiots. Refuses to stand behind the products he sells.

I have been insulted by him for the last time. Even though I live near Hyrum and his place is convenient, I will be taking my boat to Don's out in Smithfield. Also, stay away from interstate batteries. Poor product to say the least.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I don't know anything about these providers, but when you Interstate batteries you have just treated us all the same way that Lee does. Interstate is nothing more than a license from Johnson Control who makes all of their batteries. I sold their batteries from three different dealers and they are the best by far, excluding the gel cell type batteries. Mention all of the best ones like Die Hard, and on and on they are all Johnson Control. Interstate just is the most expensive, but Costco, Sams, Wal-Mart, Sears, AutoZone all sell them and numerous other places. 
I am curious to know what your issue is, being the skeptic that I am and having sold them for about ten years, most of the time it is not the battery that is the problem, it is something else draining it, but many customers won't listen until they get another battery and have the exact same issue leaving them stranded a second time, but they were too hardheaded to listen.


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

I received a $120 deep cycle battery with reversed polarity, and the only thing Interstate would do, I spoke with the distributor in SLC, was replace it with a so-called good used battery. That one didn't work, so I took it to Autozone to get it checked, and it had a bad cell. So much for warranty. Not worth small claims, as it's their word against mine. But they are telling me that I was the one who reversed the polarity. I also talked to another outfit that sells batteries, and they said they dropped interstate because they never held up. Very thin lead in the core.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Reversed the polarity? Call Interstate directly in Woods Cross. If it were any other you would get a free exchange, they should have at least prorated it. I would make a big stink, that is very poor service, such that I have a hard time believing it...that is unheard of.


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

Maybe I ought to clarify, that I made the mistake of not returning it right away. After I bought it, it sat in my garage for a couple months. When it came time to use it, I thought I ought to hook up the charger to it to make sure it was fully charged. My charger is just a small one that takes all night to charge if the battery isn't completely dead. If it's completely dead, it may take a good 24 hours. I hooked up the negative to negative first, then tried to do the positive. When I touched the connector to the post, it arched and put a burn on the post as well as the connector on the charger cable. I even took the charger down to Lee's Marine so the delivery guy and Lee could see those burn marks. Didn't matter. They still wanted to blame me. So the company when I spoke to them on the phone, said that they would drain the battery and reverse the polarity back to where it should be. I received a phone call from them a week later saying that they couldn't get it to work, so they had found a good used battery to give me. And that so-called good used battery had a dead cell. So, I went to Autozone, had them check it, they discovered the bad cell, and I ended up buying another $110 battery. End of story. And now, even with the new battery, my boat won't start. I had hooked up the reversed interstate battery to it and tried to start it. Of course, nothing happened, so possibly I did something to the starting mechanism. But then, again, it could be a bad connection and have nothing to do with the battery. I'll find out after Don has had a chance to look at it.


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> Reversed the polarity? Call Interstate directly in Woods Cross. If it were any other you would get a free exchange, they should have at least prorated it. I would make a big stink, that is very poor service, such that I have a hard time believing it...that is unheard of.


I did talk to Woods Cross as I mentioned. That is all they would do. So I am doing the only thing I have left available to me, and that is letting as many people as I can know what a rotten deal I had.

And besides that, they blame me for the reverse polarity! Interstate does, Lee's does. But everybody else I've talked to in the know about it, says the chances of me reversing the polarity are next to zero, even if I had hooked it up wrong.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I once had a guy come in for a battery check as the gauge was being goofy since he got this new battery about two months ago. I noticed a 20 oz opened beer in the cup holder and the negative hooked up to the black cable going right to the solenoid-Houston we have a problem. It actually ran for about two months that way, I have no idea how though. Letting it sit certainly was a mistake, I would not take no for an answer. Call Norm Miller himself and demand some satisfaction; your story has me riled up too now. Good luck! I would guess that you have a fuse burnt somewhere or a wire fried.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: Boat repair critique*

I'm sorry that you had problems with Lee's.
I have had very good experiences with them.
They charge a lot though but I think that all repair shops do.
I guess the old saying that you can't please everyone, all the time it a true statement.

I have heard good things about Don's and I will be taking my Evenrude to him this fall for a tune up.


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

For the most part I have always bought Interstate batteries, and I have always had good luck with them. A couple of years ago I noticed high ratings in Consumer Reports for a WalMart brand battery. I have been running the EverStart 29DC Marine battery for a couple of years and have zero complaints. I have two in my boat and with starting the engine, running the refrigerator, stereo, lights, etc...they have never failed me.

Last year I made the mistake of not checking that they were 100% charged before storing them for the winter. I have a nice, expensive charger and it indicated they had gone "bad" during the winter. This was frustrating since they weren't even a year old. I contacted WalMart and they tested them and their tester said they were good. So, I am thinking my digital charger, and their digital tester had varying degrees of "good and bad". I was hoping they would prorate the batteries. They handed me two new batteries and warrantied the old ones free of charge. Impressive.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Group-Size-29DC-Marine-Battery/20531543


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

bwhntr said:


> high ratings in Consumer Reports for a WalMart brand battery. I have been running the EverStart 29DC Marine battery for a couple of years and have zero complaints.


Those are good ones and identical to the Interstate at a much better price from a retailer that won't hose you. Any of them that has the removable lids and round date sticker are made by Johnson Control, they are all good ones! I just bought the 27DC (12" long compared to the 13" 29DC) from AutoZone for $75 with the 25% off coupon or I would have gotten the 27DC from Costco for $80. I see that Sam's under the name Energizer (also made by JC) now only gives a one year free replacement warranty and no longer has the 3 year prorated warranty as of June. If you really want to pack a punch go with the 6 volt batteries connected in series for a little less money assuming that you are using them for accessories or electric trolling motor and not for cranking the engine; not sure how they work for cranking as none of the manufactures list CCA for 6 volts, but they do very well for the slow draws for a little less money than two deep cycle batteries.


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

Great advice. I run these in a Sea Ray cabin cruiser. So I do alot of cranking and I don't run an electric trolling motor. Mostly the radio, lights, water pumps, and refrigerator are what pull from them. Then of course starting the motor. 

I do however run (2) six volts in my fifth wheel. With flourescent lighting and the six volt batteries, I go a week without needing a charge. I highly recommend the 6 volt batteries in series to anybody with a camp trailer. I am pretty sure my 6 volt batteries are the Energizer brand from Sam's.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

*Re: Boat repair critique*

took my little 15 horse johnson to dicks boat shop in clearfiled 2 and a half months ago. had a tiller problem. and it was a bit sticky shifting from forward to neutral. wanted the tiller problme fixed. after 2 weeks, called to check. no progress. they were supposedly trying to find a part for the bottom end. called 2 weeks later. didnt even know anything about the motor but would get right on it. stpped in 2 weeks later. got the run around, still trying to find a 'part'. finally called and said i was going to pick it up and they said - dont know if its in parts on the bench or what... i said put it together and i will pick it up today. got there... charged me 100 bucks for the time they supposdely worked on it... never even touched the tiller problem which is what i told them to fix. 2.5 months and nothing done and 100 bucks out of pocket.

poor service. never called, never got a bid, never got the problem identified. complete wasted company. i will never go back there and based on my experience would never refer anyone there either.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

Sounds like you should both file BBB reports on them. that is exactly the type of stuff that needs to be broadcast to consumers.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Lee has always been square with me. Batteries are a bad deal for a dealer because an improper hook up or not immediately charging them after they've been run down is likely to kill them. If Lee could get reimbursed from Interstate I'm sure he'd gladly warranty the battery, but I'm sure he knows his battery rep would also likely conclude the failure was the result of operator error so it would have to come out of his pocket. To be fair, Lee is in a bad place with this one.........and honestly, I don't know if the result would've been any different if you would've purchased it over at Don's.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

mine gets worse. had a good buddy who knows his way around small outboards come over to the shop today and we pulled the bottom end of my little 15 horese johnson off... the one that supposedly was worked on for 3 hours and the fluid replaced. dicks boat shop of clearfield never pulled it off and the oil that was in it was thin, black, smelly and definitely very old. it had fine grit, emulsified water and crud in it. after 15 minutes of examination on the top end, problem identified as a missing tiller gear tooth that allowed the start, slow and fast modes to be out of sync in relation to the tiller, pulled it out and will order a replacement. will be filing complaints to everyone i can. the bbb, the other manufacturerers represented at that place, etc.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

all is well that ends well i suppose - went back to dicks boat shop yesterday and asked them to refund my money. took a jar of the nasty oil with me. they were not happy but in the end fully refunded my money.


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

At least you got your money back. I got nothing. By the way, all that was wrong with my boat was a blown fuse. Still, after the way I was treated by Lee himself, I will never do business with him again. Nor will I recommend him to anyone. I also talked to his nephew that used to work for him. I taught the kid in school, so I've known him quite a while. He has nothing good to say about Lee. Lee Screwed up, blamed the kid and fired him. Yeah, I know there's always two sides to the story. But he has nothing good to say about his uncle, and believes he overcharges customers. The kid worked on my boat two or three years ago, and did a great job. I was kind of bummed he was gone when I took my boat in the last time. Now I know why.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

Kingfisher said:


> all is well that ends well i suppose - went back to dicks boat shop yesterday and asked them to refund my money. took a jar of the nasty oil with me. they were not happy but in the end fully refunded my money.


Good for you! I'm glad you got it squared away. Them giving you your money back is basically like admitting they were wrong.


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## RobK (Jul 3, 2008)

there is a guy in Richmond that does it out of his garage . he does a good job for less .

http://local.yahoo.com/info-63922323-cache-marine-sm-eng-repair-richmond


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