Possible. That is a good thing to ask ourselves every now and then, of course.
If you are, you are certainly not alone on this board. However, I think that in this case it is not entitled whining. When one pays a goodly lump of money, I think one is entitled to get that for which one paid.
More to the point of this thread, though, you properly and helpfully point out that when you take a risk, you can get the downside, both on money and time.
Thank you for that feedback. I appreciate it. 3 year manufacturer’s warranty AND I purchased the 8 year extended. No scenario would have had me envisioning being without our boat for a year.
A top attorney here in KC suggested I file suit under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and/or Missouri Consumer Protection Act. Both call for recovering attorney’s fees. He said I should sue, if not with him, then with another attorney. He wants a $5,000 retainer. I’d get it back if they reward attorney’s fees as part of the settlement/verdict, but that’s a lot of cash to lay out there. He said it’s as good of a warranty case as he’s seen and it easily wins 95 times out of 100.
The lawyer out of Dallas who was guaranteeing no fees if we lose and they’d also seek to collect attorney’s fees if we win, has backed off on going for a return and full refund. He still wants the case and guarantees no fees if we lose, but he says it’s a breach of warranty claim. He said we’d likely get about 20% of the value of a new Rotax motor. Not sure where he’s getting that number, but I’m being told a new Rotax motor with inter cooler and supercharger is about $10,000. That’s $2,000. Not horrible, but my math we are out over $6,000.
We lost lake fees, paid property tax on a boat we haven’t had in our possession for a year and paid insurance when we couldn’t even file a claim if needed as they’ve had the boat for a year. Add that to the depreciation from reputable tables and it’s easily $5,000 on the low end.
I filed a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General last September. They’ve tried mediating to no avail. I offer through the AG for the dealer to take our boat back and get us into a Yamaha AR195, which is comparable to our boat. He agreed through his Service Manager. Now they are treating it as a straight trade when my offer was no out of pocket cash and the same payment and term as our current loan. So from Breach of Warranty to Bait and Switch. Super fun!
They’ve said they have 56 hours of labor in our boat. First, that’s of NO fault of our own. Second, I now find out they get paid for warranty labor from the mfg. I just wanted to be a happy Surdyke Marine customer.
I’m in outside sales often bending over backwards to please customer, yet I cannot seem to get any customer service, even when I spend $40,000. Crazy!