customer service problems

[guy mcguire]

i have a 2000 901 with hull problems. now i am not bashing the boats,i have had 3 of them.none had problem like this one.i have been triing to get them to give me some solutions for 4 going on 5 months.finally got a call and they said it will have to go back to the factory for repairs.why does this take so long to do.any help or advice please!

 

[Jim B]

Are you dealing with a dealer? if you are i would think its the dealers fault for the delay not nitro's. I have had to send a boat back before and my dealer took care of it quickly with zero hassle on my part, i couldnt have asked for better service. As far as what to do im not sure, mabye call tracker marine customer service and let them know your concern with the delays.

 

[Terry Hutchison]

Well, Sorry I can't help with your problem but I will say it's ridiculous to have to send it back to the factory. They should be able to have an authorized rep come and fix it at the dealer. What if everybody with a new car had to send it back to the factory every time it had a problem? GEEZ!

Hutch

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Here we go again...looks things have not changed. Hope it goes good for ya'..

TEE

 

[TrepMan]

Tee - Before you say "Here we go again...looks things have not changed." let's hear the rest of the story! What the detailed problem is, how the dealer did/did-not handle it correctly, when Corporate got involved. And remember this is 2000 model boat so it's not quality issues of a new model.



Just being open minded...

 

[TOMMY RICH]

You can listen to the "rest of the story" if ya' want but, I heard it a thousand times unless the boat has been abused. I was referring to the fact of having to send it back to the factory. Sorry Trep..you won't get any flexibility here when it comes to even small things..espescially when it comes to "Tracker/Nitro" dealers.

TEE

 

[Michael Snow]

Okay, here goes...



FIRST, what's the actual problem?



Second, a trip back to nitro is a good thing. You have a fair chance of getting a new hull.



Third, the dealer is at fault for not riding Nitro's case or at least giving you a status that Nitro is dragging their feet.



MAKE SURE YOU TAKE EVERYTHING OFF THE BOAT... I mean spare tire, electronics, trolling motor, everything out of the lockers and glove box... and ANYTHING you've added. If they replace the hull, you may or may not get those things back. Of course, your dealer should tell you all of this. Now, if the trolling motor is the stock, typically-underpowered trolling motor, I'd say to leave it on and hope they give you a new one. But if you've upgraded it, make sure you keep it.

 

[TrepMan]

TEE - I know you and I can go round-and-round on dealers, i've got a great one that has stood behind every product i've bought (you know the story they fixed under warranty products that were NOT thiers and were out of warranty). But as i've NEVER had to have a hull repaired/replaced, I can NOT speak to that side.



Trep

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Your lucky Trep...I said the heck with the hull.."give me a new boat"!

 

[TrepMan]

I like my year/model better then the current ones for the most part. I do like the all welded hulls on all the new aluminium ones, and the 'glass consoles and such. But the layout of the Pro Crappie they shrunk the front livewell to nothing but a 3rd baitwell, and moved the passender seat up about 12 inches so they don't sit next to each other exactly (I know this was for better hole shot and balance). I do like the additional storage up front, the rod rack built into the rod locker and such. I'm just not easy to please !!! LOL

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Id don't know Trep..Just went to the Indy boat show over the weekend and there were a couple of 175's and 185's that I would not have brought home. The welds looked terrible..I mean terrible! They would have never got out of the factory if I was inspectin' em'. It seems when new boat lines first come out from Tracker/Nitro..the quality seems to be pretty good. Then when that particular model becomes popular and sales are good then quality suffers. I just don't understand it...AND don't give me the ol' quanity issues. If that were the case...Ranger still has a high volume(probably one the largest) and quality has never suffered. There are a lot of other good ones out there too that will stand behind their product..AND are proud of that quality! Can that be said about Tracker...Factory or Dealer? Your dealer may be good....but, only as good as the product itself.

TEE

 

[Bill McElroy]

....you get what you pay for....

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Not necessarily... you should get they advertise! And nothin' less!

 

[Bill McElroy]

you ARE,......a good package at a good price....it becomes very controversial after that!!..(The Dealer has more to do with an overall good/bad experience than the factory)



Some dealers are awesome,...some aren't worth the brochures they hand out. "Some" company's have set standards that their dealerships must adhere too...and if they don't,..they'll yank their franchise in a heartbeat....other companies don't care,..they'll sell their stuff to anybody!! DO YOUR HOMEWORK,...a dealerships reputation is usually pretty accurate!! (and usually "deserved")...so ask before you buy!!

 

[Jim B]

I was at an outdoor show two oweeks ago and i was looking at a triton aluminum. Talk about bad welds, the whole bow area underneath had indents and stretching where the stringers were welded in. Bad enough that even the paint wouldnt hide it. My father who is a very experienced welder said they way overheated the metal when they welded it and hewould be concerned with it being weak. There was more then one triton like that at the show, every aluminum one was. All the trackers i looked at seemed pretty good in the weld dpt.



TEE, i have seem some rangers with quality issues as well as plenty of other brands too. Remember they are all built by human hands, we all should know by now nobody is perfect and mistakes can and will happen.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Now lets' not miss the point here...All manufacturers can make some bad products but, like Mac said most won't stand for it..some will. Tracker/Nitro lets their dealers get away with rape.

As far as a Triton having waves..trust me that is normal. Try welding a good bead on .100 aluminum...you will get warpage regardless. Now if your a good welder and don't try to slam it all at once..it will be less.

Now my 02' 185 has better welds than any of the new ones..nice fine even bead. These boats I seen at the show didn't even have what I call a bead.

TEE

 

[Jim B]

TEE do you really think that only tracker/nitro can have bad dealers? The way most of the dealers i hear about on this site treat thier customers is the way it is in 90% of the marine industry. Its not related to any peticular boat maker, its just the way it is. I am truly lucky my nitro dealer is great and they treat the customer the way a customer should be treated and thats the reason i will go back there when the time comes to buy another boat. Other boat dealers in my area suck, i wouldnt buy a spark plug from my local ranger dealer never mind a boat and the dealer that until recently sold tritons in my area is terrible then there is the dealer i got my champion form that also sold lund and stratos. That place was so bad about everything after the sale that i had to deal directly with champion every time something went wrong and let me tell you how much of a hassle that was. it has nothing to do with what tracker lets dealers get away with its what customers let them get away with. As long as people keep walking in the door and spending money they will continue to treat people poorly. the only way they will change is when people stop coming thru the door.



I for one am very glad i dont have these problems and have a dealer that truly cares about its customers.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Feel the Pendulum finally starting to swing the other way???? Hmmmmmm???? I hope so. NITRO/Tracker didn't get as big as they are being stupid......Mac is right, you usually do get what you pay for and not to be confused with you pay for what you get. That makes TEE right also. There is a happy medium there. A good product at a fair price will always be in demand.



Does anybody really believe that a Bentley is worth $300,000+???? If it never needed an oil change, nothing ever broke and it lasted a million miles it wouldn't be worth that!!



TOXIC

 

[Bill McElroy]

LOL!!!..you got that right!! If I EVER have $300K to spend on a freakin' car, I wouldn't do it!! I'd rather buy 4 Suburban/Ranger combo's and give 3 of them away to my best friends before I'd buy one Bentley for myself!!

(Don't bother forming a line fella's....I won't live long enough to have 300K to give away!!LOL)



Mac

 

[guy mcguire]

details on the nitro.

i noticed small star shaped cracking on the bottom of the boat after the first summer,and they keep getting biger and bigger.at this point their are several of them all in the front of the hull.if u lay underneth it and look, they are all in a straight line with eachother from one side to the other.between each of the ribs

problem #2 early last spring i was running through a channel making a sharp turn and the steering wheel broke loose and droped down. it did not break completly off so i was able to get back. to the repair shop i went.he is the best around and does know what he is doing.we contacted nitro and after a month we got the ok, but once he got the boat i had him check it over.thats when we found a hole in the front center hatch. it was about a foot square and u could see the bottom of the hull.in that hatch i kept the tool box and most of the heavy stuff. the bouncing of the gear is probably what caused it,but the repair man said that it should not happen.the fiberglass bottom in the hatch was breaking all the way around the inside.that put a hold on the repairs until i was informed it was going back to the factory for the repairs, about three months later.

like i said before i am not bashing nitros. none of my other ones done this, and the repair shop says it shound not be comming apart like this.this boat also has areas where the fiberglass layers did not bond together and you can pull them apart with hands.the factory rep i talk to told me that some of this normal and not to worry about it.i dont think so. so here i am waiting to here something from them again.i think i will give it a week or so and go back to calling every couple of days to see whats happening.i will keep updating this as things happen.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

O.K...O.K...I'll step off now I know the "meaning of gettin' what you pay for" but, also remember when I purchased my boat I said,"This IS NOT what I ordered"!!!

I didn't order a boat that had been settin' on their lot for a year(trailer rusted and corroded beyond belief after close inspection) and definitely not one with a soft spot in the rear deck(which they would have to remove the deck).I just decided to go back to the Credit Union who in turn backed me and told BPS if I'm not happy...NO CHECK! Didn't want to do that really but, I just won't accept things like that.

Never have and never will!

TEE

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

and you shouldn't......





TOXIC