New PerfectPass product??

[Scottie]

Well apparently we've started some drama that I was not aware of. Our side of the story, short and to the point.

My business partner arranged for JBP to receive a free Ride Steady unit and agreed that we would make an install video in exchange for its use. After learning of this I began to think about what was going to happen once we posted the install video. We would start getting phone calls about how to install them, technical questions, and of course where to buy them. It would only make sense if they were available in our store. We made the install video and produced it but before I went to publish it I asked my business partner if we were going to be allowed to sell them, to which his answer was no. I called RideSteady and asked could we sell their product to which they replied no. I told the owner that with the launch of the Thrust Vector Wake I needed to have a speed control in the store but I did not want to go out and reinvent the wheel by making our own when he had already done it well. His response was that he felt like he could not support our volume. I said ok, well I'll have to offer some sort of speed control to our Wake surf customers and I'd prefer it to be a RS, but I understood and then set out to find an alternative.

Everyone knows that we used to sell alot of Perfect Pass units. Before RS came out they were popular. The older servo style system was a bit outdated and the logical choice for DIY guys was RS. We asked PP to help us develop a new version and they agreed to work with us. They said they could handle our volume and we believe they have a great product, especially now that they have an APS version.

My business partner and I had a discussion about the free sample on Monday and agreed we should either pay for the unit or send it back....at this point it's probably best to pay for it which we'll be glad to do. I'll reach out to RS about that tomorrow.

We never intended to market the RS unit as a PP, and most of you know that we're not dishonest. The RS unit is coming off our test boat next week and when our new Twin Engine PP unit gets here we'll install it, post a video and promote it for the quality product that it is.

While unfortunate, this situation could have been avoided had the RS team been able to handle our volume and agreed to allow us to sell product for them. I wish it would have worked out but it did not. We'll attempt to make it right and hopefully we're able to.

Fair explanation here, and I respect making a statement. I think the use of the RS unit should've been handled better, but you seem to be aware of that, and it is what it is.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Fair explanation here, and I respect making a statement. I think the use of the RS unit should've been handled better, but you seem to be aware of that, and it is what it is.

Yes in hindsight I see how it comes off negatively. We own that and will attempt to make it right.

 

[Ridesteady]

@JetBoatPilot There's parts of your statement that have me a little confused.

Like, what event happened on Monday to cause you to realize that you should return your Ridesteady unit that you had for 16 months? In that time, you used it for well over a year to develop your products, never provided the agreed upon promotional video, agreed to work with our competitor to compete with us, made videos pushing our competition, made claims of "technical superiority" of our competition over us, etc., but none of that prompted a question of returning / paying for your Ridesteady. So what was it on Monday that brought on this conscience? And when were you planning on actually doing that, because you never got in touch with anyone here.

Look, I'm as ready as anyone to put this behind us. And I will. Forgive me if I'm just a bit incredulous of your statement.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

I will call you tomorrow to settle up. We can discuss on the phone if you like. I agree that we should have made the decision sooner....that part was wrong and for that I apologize to you.

We did have the conversation on Monday, hard as that may be to believe, it is a true statement. Had planned to call this week but have been slammed.

From here forward let's communicate via PM or email.

 

[Spooling]

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[Arcadyus]

@JetBoatPilot There's parts of your statement that have me a little confused.

Like, what event happened on Monday to cause you to realize that you should return your Ridesteady unit that you had for 16 months? In that time, you used it for well over a year to develop your products, never provided the agreed upon promotional video, agreed to work with our competitor to compete with us, made videos pushing our competition, made claims of "technical superiority" of our competition over us, etc., but none of that prompted a question of returning / paying for your Ridesteady. So what was it on Monday that brought on this conscience? And when were you planning on actually doing that, because you never got in touch with anyone here.

Look, I'm as ready as anyone to put this behind us. And I will. Forgive me if I'm just a bit incredulous of your statement.

Is it true you couldn’t handle JBP volume?

 

[Ridesteady]

Is it true you couldn’t handle JBP volume?

It’s true that we can’t turn on extra volume on a dime. It takes forecasting with long lead times on custom parts. There was never any mention of what volumes were expected so I have no idea if we could have supported it or not. I frankly used it as an excuse to politely deny his offer.

 

[the MfM]

I will call you tomorrow to settle up. We can discuss on the phone if you like. I agree that we should have made the decision sooner....that part was wrong and for that I apologize to you.

We did have the conversation on Monday, hard as that may be to believe, it is a true statement. Had planned to call this week but have been slammed.

From here forward let's communicate via PM or email.

What kind of testing have you done that makes you say the new perfect pass system is superior?

 

[zipper]

I waited to chime in until JBP responded.
I have no skin in this game (thread) as I do not have RS or PP on our boat. But I would be concerned, as RS, that JBP having it for 16mos and "9 or 10 months of development" that PP pulled a page out of the China play book and copied the intellectual property for their own use/benefit. Shame...reconsidering my purchase of SeaDek in a couple of weeks. I feel slimy doing business with people who operate like that, and don't hold up to their end of the agreement. That is my $.02 or $$$.00 in SeaDek.

 

[jcyamaharider]

If I didnt already have a speed controlled boat from the factory I would have been getting RS, but since I did there was no need. I found it odd that Ride Steady was installed on an already speed controlled boat......

 

[suke]

Well since folks without the APS don't have a choice but perfect pass can we make a plea that you make an enhanced unit for our boats as well?

 

[JetBoatPilot]

PP sales bullets outlining technical advantages will be posted to our website today.

As for the timing, we bought our 212 last July and installed the RS just before the hurricane in October. We did test with it and had every intention of producing the video. We like the RS unit and apart from some small technical glitches which were probably due to my inexperience as an installer we had planned to try to get behind it fully and promote it.

In the end it just did not make good sense to promote it on YouTube if we were not going to be able to put them in our store.

We contacted PP after the RS folks declined to sell to us. We shared with them the potential for growing their Yamaha sales because of our release of the TVW and JBP getting into the surf game. We told them what we needed. a more plug and play style unit in order to be competitive. PP quickly designed, tested and shipped us a prototype and it works really well. Bear in mind this type of control has been around for a while and the PP folks had already been using it, just not for Yamaha boats. They did not need to study the PP unit to learn trade secrets. Their team has been doing this for 25 years.

Again, we're aware of how this looks. We handled the sample poorly. We're going to make it right if possible with RS and we wish them the best as they grow their brand.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

If I didnt already have a speed controlled boat from the factory I would have been getting RS, but since I did there was no need. I found it odd that Ride Steady was installed on an already speed controlled boat......

The 212X does not come with a speed control.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Well since folks without the APS don't have a choice but perfect pass can we make a plea that you make an enhanced unit for our boats as well?

I think the older style PP units for boats without the APS will still be available for at least this year. I'm still studying to see if those same technical improvements carry over to the servo style PP systems.

 

[Jameson Clark]

A saying comes to mind here...

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck.... It is probably a duck.

 

[seanmclean]

While this whole issue looks suspect, I'm not quite sure I'd brandish JBP with the tag that they used the free unit as a means of corporate espionage. Either company could have spent $1400 on one at retail and done it under the radar.

 

[Bearsar240]

@Ridesteady I think a group buy in January is due!

 

[the MfM]

I think the older style PP units for boats without the APS will still be available for at least this year. I'm still studying to see if those same technical improvements carry over to the servo style PP systems.

Do you need beta testers?

 

[jcyamaharider]

The 212X does not come with a speed control.

Oh yeah.....I was mistaken.... That is strange of Yamaha to put it in the 242X but not he 212X.

 

[fireflymedic]

Sausage. It is true what they say about sausage. Moving on now.