Scott Smith
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- Sep 5, 2002
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Went up to the cabin on Friday to open the place up after a long winter and to take last years new pontoon in for it's 20 hour motor tune up.
Upon arrival, much to my horror, I noticed that the cover and contraption I had constructed for the pontoon, which I thought was pretty much bulletproof, had collapsed under the winters snowfall. After getting a ladder and peering inside, I noticed that I now had what a redneck would consider a pretty classy above ground pool...!!
Needless to say, I was a little peeved. Especially since I had asked a neighbor (who is a bit "nutty" to say the least) to call me if their were any problems with the cabin or the boat. Unfortunately I never saw the neighbor all weekend to "chat" with him, he was'nt home, he may have been "committed" (northern Michigan winters are very long and lonely - think Jack Nicholson in "The Shining").
Anyhow, I drained the water off the covers (I used 3 covers)and got them off the boat. My custom snap-on Crestliner cover was destroyed (torn in 4 different places). The other 2 were torn a bit also, but they were after market cheapos. I was really upset over the custom cover though, it's the same color as the boat and was custom made for that model, it fits it like a glove and is big $ to replace.
On saturday, I hooked up the rig to my truck and hauled it to "PIONEER HILLS MARINE" in Roscommon Mi. by Higgins Lake. This is about 25 miles away from my cabin, and I passed 3 local dealers in the process which are mere minutes from my cabin, but from past experiences I would'nt trust any of them to change my spark plugs.
Anyhow, Pioneer Hills Marine is a Crestliner dealer. I did a search via the internet a few weeks ago to try to locate a crestliner dealer near my cabin and they popped up. I had no idea what to expect since I've never been there or seen them before. But upon my arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find a very large modern looking facility with what turned out to be a very, very friendly staff.
I was directed to the repair building which is a very large and modernly equipped pole barn. A very friendly and personable woman wrote my work order up, she paged the repair manager to the front and introduced me to him, he then assigned a mechanic to my boat and called him to the front for an introduction, I was very impressed. All 4 of us then looked at my boat, they remarked that it appeared I left my cover off all winter. I then told them my story. They apparently felt sorry for me and immediately assigned one of the "grandkids" to get the boat detailed, at NO CHARGE...!! The repair manager then looked at my cover, called a canvas guy from the garage and had him look at it. He immediately took the cover and for $40.00 said he'd have it patched with matching fabric and back on the rig by the end of the day. I was blown away..!! The repair manager then told me he'd have his mechanic take care of the 20 hour tune up, then go over the entire boat, bow to stern and try to uncover any overlooked warranty issues and have them repaired immediately. I was speechless, I did'nt even ask them to do this. The repair manager then said it would take about a week if all checked out fine. I told them this would be fine as I would'nt be back up until May 15th, and asked them if this would be OK, expecting a storage fee. Service manager said that would be fine and that they would store it free of charge...INSIDE...!!!
Now don't get the wrong idea here, this was no mom and pop operation here, they had hundreds of boats all over the grounds. At least a half dozen mechanics from what I could see and many other employees in crisp uniforms walking all over the grounds. I was blown away to say the least by there operation and friendly CUSTOMER oriented service.
Finally, a boat repair experience that I am feeling pretty darn good about...!!!
Upon arrival, much to my horror, I noticed that the cover and contraption I had constructed for the pontoon, which I thought was pretty much bulletproof, had collapsed under the winters snowfall. After getting a ladder and peering inside, I noticed that I now had what a redneck would consider a pretty classy above ground pool...!!
Needless to say, I was a little peeved. Especially since I had asked a neighbor (who is a bit "nutty" to say the least) to call me if their were any problems with the cabin or the boat. Unfortunately I never saw the neighbor all weekend to "chat" with him, he was'nt home, he may have been "committed" (northern Michigan winters are very long and lonely - think Jack Nicholson in "The Shining").
Anyhow, I drained the water off the covers (I used 3 covers)and got them off the boat. My custom snap-on Crestliner cover was destroyed (torn in 4 different places). The other 2 were torn a bit also, but they were after market cheapos. I was really upset over the custom cover though, it's the same color as the boat and was custom made for that model, it fits it like a glove and is big $ to replace.
On saturday, I hooked up the rig to my truck and hauled it to "PIONEER HILLS MARINE" in Roscommon Mi. by Higgins Lake. This is about 25 miles away from my cabin, and I passed 3 local dealers in the process which are mere minutes from my cabin, but from past experiences I would'nt trust any of them to change my spark plugs.
Anyhow, Pioneer Hills Marine is a Crestliner dealer. I did a search via the internet a few weeks ago to try to locate a crestliner dealer near my cabin and they popped up. I had no idea what to expect since I've never been there or seen them before. But upon my arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to find a very large modern looking facility with what turned out to be a very, very friendly staff.
I was directed to the repair building which is a very large and modernly equipped pole barn. A very friendly and personable woman wrote my work order up, she paged the repair manager to the front and introduced me to him, he then assigned a mechanic to my boat and called him to the front for an introduction, I was very impressed. All 4 of us then looked at my boat, they remarked that it appeared I left my cover off all winter. I then told them my story. They apparently felt sorry for me and immediately assigned one of the "grandkids" to get the boat detailed, at NO CHARGE...!! The repair manager then looked at my cover, called a canvas guy from the garage and had him look at it. He immediately took the cover and for $40.00 said he'd have it patched with matching fabric and back on the rig by the end of the day. I was blown away..!! The repair manager then told me he'd have his mechanic take care of the 20 hour tune up, then go over the entire boat, bow to stern and try to uncover any overlooked warranty issues and have them repaired immediately. I was speechless, I did'nt even ask them to do this. The repair manager then said it would take about a week if all checked out fine. I told them this would be fine as I would'nt be back up until May 15th, and asked them if this would be OK, expecting a storage fee. Service manager said that would be fine and that they would store it free of charge...INSIDE...!!!
Now don't get the wrong idea here, this was no mom and pop operation here, they had hundreds of boats all over the grounds. At least a half dozen mechanics from what I could see and many other employees in crisp uniforms walking all over the grounds. I was blown away to say the least by there operation and friendly CUSTOMER oriented service.
Finally, a boat repair experience that I am feeling pretty darn good about...!!!
