Disappointed in Yamaha Service

[Boat Crazy]

Calling and asking for an upgrade price I think would be your best deal. Nothing to lose..... right!!! All they can say is no or not agree to a price your satisfied with. Then again.. could be it works out for all involved. I think I have a # at work. I will check in the Am. May be the same # you called. I do feel your pain but will admit, I would not let inability to listen to the stereo stop me from enjoying my boat. I would be picking up my boat. They are good boats. All boat manufacturers have their problems and i know it is easy for me to type words and give advise when I am not in the same boat. (pun intended). I do feel your frustrastion.

 

[Williamsone46]

Yamaha customer service is some of the best that I have ever worked with for sure. @Julian is right though your experience will vary between dealers, not all dealers are equal.

 

[sysinu]

@Williamsone46 ! Not all dealers are equal, not truer words spoken. My story is 180 degrees other people's stories.

It has a lot to do with volume, I'm certain... but I can tell you that I would have a Cobalt right now if I didn't feel like my local Yamaha dealer would take care of me.

 

[Ronnie]

I took my boat in post season to have both leaking oil coolers replaced under warranty. It took a week for them to look at it and two weeks to get an install the parts. I didn't think that was excessive and I don't have any love for my dealer but do recognize that there is a big difference in customer service provided by their sales and service department personnel.

In my situation they advised me not to reclaim my boat until after the work was done. If I took it before and a related catastrophic failure occurred the warranty would not cover it, sounded reasonable too me so no late boating that year. If it was just a speaker issue I would have taken it back and dealt with it myself so I wouldn't lose any water time.

@ccrayjr , why not call the dealer have them re-assemble the stereo system / reinstall the speakers and make picking up the boat part of a family day or weekend on the water? possibly check out a different lake on the way home. Start early enough in the morning and the kids can sleep on the way there. I'd time it so I could be at the dealer when it opened. The dealer can ship you the parts and you can install them yourself at your convenience.

 

[Geiger41]

Pick that boat up and put some JL's in it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Boat Crazy]

@ccrayjr the # I used for customer service was 714 761 7300. The person I dealt with was Erika, however, I think she may have moved to a different position. Good luck getting this worked out to your satisfaction.

 

[PolarXJ]

My experience with my dealer so far has been great. Like many above have said, some dealers are better than others. I got lucky in that my local dealer competes yearly for Yamaha's highest customer satisfaction rating. They also sell a lot of units and are consistently at the top in that department as well. I think it really comes down to the individual dealership's relationship with Yamaha. The relationship my local dealer has is great. We had our local boat show last week and I got to meet the Yamaha rep that flew up for the show. He is a great guy and is just as enthusiastic about these boats as we are, which probably also helps our regional customer service.

 

[ccrayjr]

Thanks for the input. Called Yamaha this morning and the lady to me that the rep assigned to my case was not in yet... based in Cali. I asked if I could speak to another rep and I was told they would take a message for her and she would call me back. I called my dealer and asked him what was going on and was told that the speakers are on back order and Yamaha has not told them anything.
I am definitely envious of all of your positive experiences and disappointed in what I have experienced.

 

[ccrayjr]

Just called Yamaha again.... she had no update on anything.

 

[rkluck]

As many people have stated the dealer is a big part of the experience. If the dealer can't get parts then they could offer alternatives for you to consider. I have had great response from my dealer. As far as compared to other industries, I can say it is still different for each dealer. I belong to another group around Harley CVOs. Many people have the same bad experiences with their dealer and getting responses from the manufacturer. The same is true with cars. Even if there is a recall they may not have the parts and then when you do schedule the time don't always expect that it work out. In summary, my experience has been good because of the dealers I work with. I have my boat 2 hours from the dealer now and I still go back to him for everything because of how they treat their customers.

 

[ccrayjr]

Thanks for the input rkluck.
I use to spend a lot of time on lake hartwell in the mid to late 90's. We use to camp on the island on the right you can see from 85 when you cross over to SC from GA almost every weekend.

 

[spaz1868]

This is also the busiest season for boat service because everyone is trying to get on the water at the same time. Many boat service departments around our lake have at least a 2 week wait this time of year just to have your boat diagnosed. Like any other service department, they work on a queue and may not put their full attention on what may be perceived as a "minor" issue. They could be dealing with many other boats with more expensive or more time consuming repairs. I had some minor warranty items that I had taken care of on our boat so I made it a point to get it in the service department in the off season when they were probably just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. They were probably excited to work on a boat at that time. I was very satisfied with the service. They could have kept my boat for 2 months and I didn't care because I wasn't boating anyway.

 

[Julian]

Just called Yamaha again.... she had no update on anything.

What does this mean? She knew nothing about the claim? Didn't know what was happening with it? Didn't know if the parts were ordered?

 

[Glassman]

Just called Yamaha again.... she had no update on anything.

That there is part of the problem...right now it's between you, the dealer and Yamaha (and us)...how do you think they would react if it was out in the open and the whole wide world was reading this?

Do you Twitter? If you don't, you should. It's the best damn place to whine and moan about just about anything.

I had a big screen arrived damaged from Dell... they told me at least 4 weeks to ship a new one. I went on Twitter, had a reply in a couple of hours, had a new big screen, white glove delivery, the following week.
Had an issue with Verizon that they just couldn't get right....Tweeted about it...guess what, they sent a guy to my place in the pouring rain, he stood outside by the junction box on his cell phone until he got the top supervisor involved and the next day it was all good.

I could go on and on....but I'm seeking help for that.

 

[rkluck]

Thanks for the input rkluck.
I use to spend a lot of time on lake hartwell in the mid to late 90's. We use to camp on the island on the right you can see from 85 when you cross over to SC from GA almost every weekend.

We love it there. Used to be on Allatoona Lake and what a difference. We have gone past that island. There is another island up by us and people are always camping there to.

 

[rkluck]

Glassman as sad as it sounds you are right. Sometimes the social media is the best (maybe the only) play to get resolution. Also, escalation to a manager etc. can help. I would also say the dealer should be pushing Yamaha for resolution for you.

 

[ccrayjr]

In reference to my call... I called Yamaha again and was told by LeAnna that she just got in and there was no update and I would receive a call by the end of the day. Of course yesterday, she told me the system would update and she would have an update in the morning... I think she wanted to get off the phone and would not answer the question on whether she thought that my boat might not be fixed for 3-4 more weeks was excessive. Well, its 6:31 cst and I have received no return call. She knows about the claim, but evidently she is assigned to it and does not seen to care if my boats sit for a day or a month.

 

[ccrayjr]

glassman... I might have to give it a try!! Thanks!

 

[ccrayjr]

Glassman... tried twitter and no response. Looks like Yamaha shipped some of the parts to fix yesterday, but was told the others will not ship until June 18. So I am looking at my options and appreciate everyone advise and comments! If I can ever held any of you, please let me know!

 

[rkluck]

You know the Yamaha warehouse is in Kennesaw GA (they have the boats there too). So you should not have to wait but at the most two days if the parts are in the US. My dealer in Kennesaw is great. If you want I can call and see what they they say about getting the parts. Just let me know exactly what you are looking for. At least you would know for sure about the availability of the parts.