Where's my Boat?

[Eric Fleming]

Anybody having problems getting their boat? I placed an order for a 2011 Tracker Targa V18 WT with the 150 Optimax and brake upgrade on March 21. I asked my Dealer to see how long delivery would take. He said he contacted Tracker and they said to him 12-15 days. It's now June 4 and still no boat. I am so put off by my first experience with Tracker Marine. Everytime I call all I get is a new date for delivery. I am seriously considering canceling my order and buying a new Lund or Alumacraft next spring. This is my 3rd new boat purchase and 4th overall since 2007. This is by far the worst experience and treatment I've received thus far. I'm more than a little worried about what the future holds for me with Tracker.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Have they given you a reason for the delay? Is it out of their control?



TOXIC

 

[joseph currier]

are you speaking to a salesman, the buisness assistant,or some guy that used to sell t-shirts? at the store or have you called tracker corprate? (sorry for the sarcasum twords bps but this one is to obvious)

with the restructure that took place recently i think you will recive better service if you move up the corprate ladder and ask to speak to someone at tracker headquarters not bps they are not the same, that can tell you definitvely when to expect the boat you have already shelled out good american greenbacks for.

(just a former commishion "tracker" salesman getting a chuckle out of what bps under thier new non comishion system calls customer service):lol:

 

[Eric Fleming]

Most of the time I can't get thru, all I get is voice mail. The only info I've been allowed to have is that they are back logged. I wish they would have been upfront with that. I sold my other boat because I was getting this one so quickly. I would have kept the other boat if I had known and I would be happily fishing. I don't have a problem waiting on the boat if I had been told that so I could've kept my other boat for a little while longer. This run around BS is just about as unprofessional as I've ever seen.

 

[joseph currier]

i hope you can light a fire under them? and get your needs met.

i wish you luck but i would not hold your breath, scince the company reorganizied

in febuary customer have had far fewer career profesanal (spelled wrong)

salesman,dealership managers, service managers, district managers to meet their needs

because the company decided not to continue to pay them as they had over the years, AND cutting their pay by 50% in most cases so the good ones quit and the rest had the settle for 9,10,11 $ / hour.

how many times are you going to jump through hoops for a customer on a boat sale for that ?

if your salesman is working on comishion he will make the earth stop spinning to sell you the next 3 boats your going to buy.

if you bought your boat at bps thats the way it is, if you bought at an independent

your recourse is to threaten to cancel the deal, and if it is at all possible the salesman will rush your boat to your area. sometimes there is such a thing as being to understanding, sure you get more flies with honey but have you ever seen how many land on a pile of dog S**T.

 

[TritonGlenn]

how many times are you going to jump through hoops for a customer on a boat sale for that ?

if your salesman is working on comishion he will make the earth stop spinning to sell you the next 3 boats your going to buy.

And that there folks, is the reason society is the way it is today. WIIFM. "What's In It For Me"? I try to tell them what's in it for them - a JOB. Many folks out there that are unemployed these days because they refuse to work for a certain wage (but collect unemployment every month instead), and people with the attitude noted by Joe Currier are not helping society and the economy with these antics and practices. If they don't want the job, find someone who does want it.



The rest had to "settle" for 9, 10, 11 dollars per hour? Heck, minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. These salesmen work most of their day in an air conditioned facility, not busting their backs out in a field somewhere picking vegetables.



Tell me... what else do these people have to do with their valuable time that is keeping them from doing everything in their power to make customers happy? Sitting on their butts shooting the bull with other salesmen? Oh yeah, that's worth 9, 10, 11 dollars an hour. I've walked into many BPS's and seen lots of salesmen leaning on boats, or shooting the breeze with each other while customers are walking through the boats by themselves. How about studying the features of the boats you are selling so when a customer asks about something you aren't stammering or saying "I don't know". Don't even try to argue that it doesn't happen, because I can play "stump the chump" with the best of them, and I'm not even asking hard questions. Basic stuff like maximum hp ratings, and the salesmen need to go diving into books or looking on the USCG tag. Unsatisfactory. I need a salesmen, not a research assistant. If you have to go looking everything up, I'll do it myself. Why should you get a commission for doing nothing? Paperwork? Please! I can get one person to specialize in paperwork, and save tons of money by not paying salesmen "commission" on boats they really aren't selling. There is a difference between selling and presenting. I don't need a presenter. I can read. I can see. I can touch. I can do research. Give me something to save me time. Impress me. Otherwise, you're wasting my time and Tracker Marine's money on your salary.



I'll stop right here and concede that cutting sales personnel salaries by 50% is wrong. If that actually happened, then I can fully understand the salesman being ticked off. If it was a 50% cut by going from commission to hourly, then there may be a reason for it - like the salemen just weren't "earning" commissions - but getting them anyway. If that was the case, I can fully understand the 50% cut in pay. It's a crappy economy. Businesses need to stay in business just like employees need to stay employed. But if they don't like the pay or situation - find another job and let someone else take over the job you just quit.



To answer your question about how many times are you going to jump through hoops for a customer on a boat sale for that kind of money, I'll tell you my answer right now - Every time. If I'm not happy with the money, I'll find another job. But I would NEVER take it out on the customer, as it's not their fault, and anyone who does such a thing, I have absolutely no respect for, and would never deal with them. Might be the reason I refuse to deal with a lot of sales people. I've walked onto a lot, payment in hand, to buy a vehicle, and have a salesman start slacking off - I'll walk, even if they have the exact vehicle I want.



Work for a living. Otherwise, you're just taking up space. Give it to some other person who will appreciate it. And if we eventually have to many people giving up their jobs because they "refuse" to work for that kind of money - don't complain when all of the immigrants on work visas are doing all of the jobs formerly held by Americans. We are heading in that direction folks. Don't be surprised. You have been notified. Disagree with me if you want - but let me know how that works out for you in a few years.



Break...



On the subject the original poster noted - this isn't a "change since the company reorganized". I'm not going to get into all the details of my own personal experience with Tracker Marine, as those days are long behind me. But I will say that I had a very similar experience and in the end, canceled my order and bought a Triton instead. Not bashing Nitro, or saying my current brand is better in any way. Just saying that I had a similar experience, and after a very ridiculous wait, I took my money elsewhere. That was almost 6 years ago... so this ain't nothing new. I've also known many other boat companies that did the same thing with the extended waits and new deadlines.



The major subject here to me is communication. I can wait. I can understand delays. I can understand problems. But when nobody can tell me what is happening, I get different stories from different people, and I'm waiting around with no boat to fish out of because nobody will tell me where my boat is - That's when I cancel my order and take my money to a different dealership or different boat brand.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[joseph currier]

glenn,

it appears you have judged me and the other pros with very little information about what has indeed transpired. I did just that walked away because the compensation was not worth the demands of doing the job correctly, with gusto and zeal.

donald trump, warren buffett, bill gates, steve jobs, johnny morris, and millions of pepole across the country work in air conditioned facilities lifting nothing but paper and their coffee cups.(clauses, blisters, sweat, and a sore back) are not the only things that qualify as hard work.

what do you suspect these pepole would tell you if you told them they have to work for 9,10,11 /hr. who are you to tell me that this is good money? what do you earn?

whats your price? at what dollar amount dose it not make financal sense to drive to work, bye lunch,drive home?? who are you to tell anyone that the above amounts are profitable unless you are familar with their financal situation. " you pay peanuts you get monkeys"

seems to me that is and always has been the one truth in buisness, wich is if there is nothing in it for me why should i do it???

these pepole are not in buisness to break even nor am i you call it greed i call it capitolisum.

as a salesman I personaly sold $1,750,000 dollars in boats a season on average, bye following up on leads, knowing my products, doing my due diligance in perscribing the correct boat and options to the correct customer.

that requires knowing your product line, spending time and extra effort getting to know your customers.

calling them on my days off, attending local tournements and showing my fellow fisherman my boat, taking them for a ride if they want. (yes i made a good living at it)

what movitavated me to become good at my job was sucess,money,reconnizion from my peers.

i "earned" and every good salesman "earns" his commishion, he follows the sale every step of the way, in this case the salesman would be pushing for the boat to be shipped,he would be keeping in touch with his customers keeping them in the loop. he as a experinced marine pro would inspect the boat prior to delivery as the customers avocate

he would make sure the customer was treated like an honnered guest why?

because when the customer trades up the good salesman will have "EARNED " his buisness.

at any rate it seems to me at least that you dont agree with the merit pay system.

wich follows the concept that the person who makes the company the most money gets compensated the best. and those that goof off leaning on boats while they could be calling customers or gaining product knowlage make very little. instead you have bad lazy salesman making the same as good hardworking ones. so..... the good ones depart for greener pastures as i have.

i'll stop on this subject now.



break..........

DAHOGMAN,

I agree with glen in that if none of what i was talking about above is being done for you? I would at least treaten to take my buisness elsewhere, and be prepared to do so after you gave them a DROP DEAD DATE. and they don't care

you earn your money and when you spend it you should be made to feel special, not like an inconveince.

hope all works out well for you and apoligize that your thread was hyjacked onto a diffrent subject that was not my intention.



JOE C.

 

[Eric Fleming]

I got a call from my Dealership today. They contacted Tracker and the new load date is 6/6/2011. This is after the last load date of 6/2/2011 has came and went. I'm missing the best Catfishing of the year. I want the boat but I'm getting more than a little miffed. I'm seriously considering canning the whole deal and mark it up to getting out lucky.

 

[Skip Peoples]

Dahogman,



If you think that sale and missed promises are bad, just wait until you need to have it services. I just bought my new Nitro from BPS March 22nd. It took them a week just to get it ready for me to pickup. They told me it was ready to pickup twice, and I traveled hour an half one way to pick it up, just to find out that it wasn

 

[TritonGlenn]

Joe,

You are correct. I did indeed judge you and others that feel the same way you do with little information about what has transpired because of the exact quoted items in my first post. If you would like to enlighten me and others with full details, I'd be happy to listen. However, if you stand by your assertion that it is acceptable to treat a customer poorly simply because you don't think it's worth the money they decided to pay you, then I stand firmly by my original assertion and opinion of you and others that think this way. I make no apologies for that, because I'm tired of hearing people slack off and blaming the amount of pay for it. If you moved on because of the pay, that's fine. I would have done the same - no argument there. However, if you stuck around for any amount of time and treated customers poorly because of the pay cut, that is completely unacceptable in my view. The customers didn't do squat to you - Tracker did. Take it up with Tracker.



To compare what you did as a boat salesman with Donald Trump, Bill Gates and the like is laughable. The facilities may be air conditioned like yours, but you do nothing remotely close to what these people do for a living. I laugh at the mere assumption that you could even put your job difficulty on the same level as the decision making positions these people are subjected to every day. If you fail to sell a boat, what happens? You don't get commission. If Bill Gates doesn't perform, what happens? People lose jobs, companies loose major income, stockholders lose money. Seriously, do you really want to compare what you did as a boat salesman to the importance of these businessmen?



Who am I to tell you that is enough money? I'm not. It's not my place. I didn't tell you to stick around and earn that much money. I also have no place telling you that the amount is profitable enough to maintain that job. HOWEVER - companies don't base salaries on what your particular financial situation is. How could they? Are they supposed to look at each employee and say, "Well, Jon has a family of 8, a mortgage, and two car payments, and now he won't be able to make ends meet unless we pay him $25 an hour, so we should immediately start paying him that amount. Oh... but Carl is a single, young man with no bills who lives in an apartment, so we can afford to only pay him $8 an hour." No, it's not fair to Carl, who works the same amount of hours. Businesses base employee pay on what they can afford to pay and make a profit. Admittedly, some are greedy. Obviously, it sounds like Tracker can't afford to keep the commission program.



What do I earn? None of your business. :lol: I'm not the one on here complaining about how much I got paid. But I'll briefly explain what I do in general, as I cannot get specific on this subject - I build course curriculum and teach military personnel from every service in a particular specialty what they need to know in order to do a specific mission and come home safely from deployments in hostile areas overseas. Do you really want to discuss what my price is? Freedom. The satisfaction of seeing my brothers and sisters in arms coming back home safely. Would I like more money? Sure. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to turn my nose up at a potential pay raise in the future. But it's not the determining factor of why I do what I do for a living. Do you really want to have that discussion? I just may be able to provide references from many happy "customers" that I've provided my services to.





Dahogman,

Sorry to have hi-jacked your thread. The discussion above is one I'm passionate about. I hope you get your boat soon, and I sincerely hope you don't have any more issues with Tracker. They make a good product, and there are Tracker employees that are worth dealing with. I hope you are blessed enough to be dealing with them in the future.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[joseph currier]

glenn,

nobody stuck around thats the point. no customers were treated badly unless letting them to be serviced by a much less qualified and therefor poorer service.

i and the majority of the qualified salesman and dealership managers did leave as soon as the unacceptable terms were disclosed to me and them.(in febuary)

it was done on a national scale and it is my contention that customer service will be greatly affected in a negitive way because of this policy established in febuary.(just ask skip from above)

my origanal post was to point out the "fact" that that indeed seems to be coming to fruition.

consider yourself enlighented.

you agian have written something judgemental and damming and i find your comments agresive , nasty, negitive and counterproductive to any intelegent exchange of ideas and information.

my origanal post was to recomend a course of action for dahogman when you hyjacked his thread to attempt to berate me and my coments because you have some problem with the concept of the comision salesman.

well i've already explained to you why he gives both his employer and the customer the best service possible.

but you seem stuck on thinking the comishion concept is anymore expensive to a company than hourly pay it is not it is just that a select few are going to earn more money than the majority because they are good at their jobs.

greedy buisnesses base pay on what they can get away with not paying not what they can afford what they can afford is far greater than you and i think thats why they call it profits.

as far as comparisions go i'll admit i went to extreams to make a point and if you did not understand then it's indeed a shame because you wont ever understand.

seems to me you are just looking to cyber bully and accuse me of treating customers bad though i never said anything of the sort, then you brag about your super secret military job i dont care i'm not impressed. your just a bully

 

[Rich Stern]

Ugh. This site has been around for 10+ years, and was formed to help improve things for Tracker and Nitro owners. For most of the time this site as existed, things got better.



I hate to think we're heading back to the bad 'ole days of Tracker service.

 

[TritonGlenn]

Rich,

I'm sure the vast majority of Tracker and Nitro owners, as well as people like me that don't own the brand, but still like the people and knowledge here, appreciate this site. I've been around since 2005, and I have seen it grow, as well as see a lot less complaints about the two brands (with occasional exceptions) I also sincerely hope that Tracker and Nitro aren't headed towards the "bad ol' days" of customer service.



Joe,

I'm not a bully. I'll leave you alone, since we obviously won't see eye to eye on this subject. Just two strong opposing points of view.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Rich Eder2]

Eric, Sorry for the slow service on your purchase. I can tell you as a Tracker salesman that it has been a late season Targa problem. It is my understanding that Tracker had stopped production on the Targa for 2011 because they thought they had enough in back log and they were gearing up for 2012 but the demand was too great and they had to restart production of 2011's. Having said that it took me 7 weeks to get one for a customer. Sorry for the slow service. Btw Glen I am proud of What I do and I do it professionally and to the best of my ability. I didn't like the "Stump the Chump" comment. V/R Rich Eder- Tracker Salesperson in St. Charles, Mo.

 

[TritonGlenn]

Rich,

Very glad to hear that you take pride in what you do, and I'm very happy to see someone who really knows the answer to the original posters question. If you took my "stump the chump" comment as an attack on you, then you took it wrong. I have worked in many stores throughout the country, and people regularly play "stump the chump" with me. It's a reference to people who come in and have absolutely no intention to buy, bit they ask every question under the sun in an attempt to trip up the salesman. It's done whether the salesman is knowledgeable or not. It's not saying the salesman is a chump, it's saying the person asking the questions is checking to see if he's a chump or not. It's not something I like to do to others, as I know how frustrating it can be when someone does it to me. However, it keeps you on your toes, as you are answering every question imaginable. I've started genuine conversations with unknowledgable salesmen. When they start bull****ing their way through the questions, that's when I generally play that game.



Funny, you were offended by that comment and you didn't understand it, but you didn't even get upset at the other guys comment about paying peanuts and getting monkeys.



I think it's time for everyone, including me, to just take a deep breath, laugh a little at the whole silly situation, and move on. If you were offended, I apologize, but you took it out of context.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Bruce Freeman]

dahogman. I hope you get your boat soon or move on. It it your money, spend it where you want. I tried to stay out of this conversation, but I have to add my .02. Joe and Glenn are pretty much saying the same thing. I don't know what the pay package at bps is vs a Tracker/Nitro Dealer? But I do know I can walk through the boat show area at bps in arundel mills and never be ask what I am looking for or at? Same thing at Nashville and Orlando. On that note, I can't walk through the fishing, hunting, clothing sections with out being ask if they could help me find something? If you are paid the same if you sell a boat or not? Your both right, why bother to buy or sell.

Now Rich, at the dealer level has to deal with the bad reputation from the bps sales and service? I won't name names but there is a reason I have a Champion now and not a Nitro/Tracker. The best boat I ever fished off of was a Nitro 929, Lake Erie with Woo Daves.

BF

 

[TOMMY RICH]

If it were me I would "drop" it and move on...you may be thanking yourself later!

No disrepect Rich but, Tracker seemed to be heading in the right direction for awhile.... seems everyone I've talked to lately and including myself is done with them.

My total overall experience from day one in 2002 has been anything but pleasent.

 

[Eric Fleming]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm going to see what happens with the latest load date of 6/6/2011. I think I'm going to ask for my deposit back if I don't take delivery of the boat this week. I have no issues with the Dealership, it's not BPS. My Dealer can't sell me what he can't get. I purchased a new 2008 Lowe FM 165 from him and he did everything right by me on it. I'm really liking those Lund Explorer's and the Smokercraft Pro Mag 182's and I've found some that are on the Dealers floor. I think I'll buy off the floor from now on though. Hopefully I'll get some good news in a few days. I could have bought this boat at another dealership back in March. The other dealership had the exact boat & package that I ordered on hand. I went with my Dealer because he was assured delivery of boat was not a issue. I forgot to order a cover for the boat when I ordered it in March. Now I don't know whether to order a cover for it or not. My luck is that I'll order the cover so it gets here in a timely fashion and then the boat won't show up and I'll be stuck with a several hundred dollar cover and no boat.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Good Luck

 

[Mini]

See if Tracker will throw the cover in....



give them one more try. (6/6)....after that, i would take my money elsewhere. If they cannot return a call BEFORE the actual sale. What do you think it will be like AFTER the sale?



Now dont get me wrong, I like Tracker Boats. I h ave good friends that work there. I know too many people in the corporate office. If I didnt I wouldnt be hanging around here for 10 plus years....I left the pro Staff after years of the same treatment. I understand that full price customers should come first, but why should I have to wait until July 4th to take delivery on a boat that was ordered in March? At that time I was informed that they "lost" my boat.....how do you "lose" a boat? that was the last tracker product I bought....the following year I didnt order one because I lost my job and I wasnt going to wait until half the boating season was over.



Would I run another Nitro? Sure, but the deal would have to get alot better than it is (or was) AND I would go to Corporate to pick it up. I would love to have a new Z9 CDC on a national level....but then I would have to fish national level tournaments but homie aint wasting money like that!



I will be happy with my used Ranger and have no ties to a boat company or motor manufacturer. At least until I can convince corporate into a better deal.

 

[Marty Klein]

Factory's test driver, a guy named Waldo, has it ... :wacko::lol::wacko::lol:

 

[Dennis D]

Took exactly 8 weeks to get my Targa 18 from BPS in Auburn Hills, MI and the salespeople

there have been outstanding, they kept me posted via email every week.



Boat was cleaned and fueled when I picked it up and have had no problems.

 

[Bob Bourget2]

For what it's worth, since BPS has decided to build in Foxboro, our sales have suffered......but........I get all the service work....:blink:

 

[Eric Fleming]

Update: I got a email last night from a Gentleman at Tracker asking me for contact information and Dealership info. I sent him what he asked for. When I got home from work I had a message waiting on my phone. I called him and he explained what was going on with my boat and assured me it would be at my Dealership by Friday. I talked with him and he seemed like a very nice guy and he even said I could keep the number for the future. I don't know why he responded personally to me but I am grateful that he did. He apologized for the delays and inconvenience. I thanked him for calling me and told him how nice it was to hear from a real person. I listened to him and his reasons were very sensible and I sensed no evasion on his part. I am not going to list what he said or his name or number as that would not be appropriate at this time. I will say I am inclined to take him at his word.



If the Gentleman reads this I would again like to Thank you for your time and diligence in this matter.



As far as the cover it's my fault I didn't order it and I'm not comfortable asking for freebies. If it came with the boat I sure wouldn't turn it down though.



Here's to hoping this purchase turns into the best boat I've ever owned.



Forever the Optimist!!!

 

[Mini]

Good to hear. I am willing to bet that "someone" read about your troubles here and had someone else respond to them.



I hope your boat is all that you want it to be!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Yep and that also means they read your little "Mini" rant on BPS and their boat program:unsure: Careful Bro....Don't bite the hand that feeds you!! Even though the truth hurts sometimes.



TOXIC

 

[Mini]

trust me Tox I didnt say anything here that I havent told Tracker personally.



I was asked if they did anything to make me mad....I responded in basically the same manner to them as I did here.



Would I run a Nitro? HELL yes. But the "deal" has to get better....

 

[Bob G.]

LMAO @ Mini rant

 

[Eric Fleming]

The Boat arrived Wednesday. Dealership rigged and tested it that day. They called me to pick it up today. I didn't have enough time after work to get today, so I'm picking it up tomorrow.

 

[JR F]

Good Luck !!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you get what you want..JR

 

[Eric Fleming]

I picked up my boat today. It was fully rigged and they had water tested it on the Lake. Boat is much larger than I had planned for. I had to unhook from my Jeep and lower trailer jack as far as it would go. I then had to push it in by hand, only cleared Garage door by 1/2 inch at top of windshield. My Garage is now very full. Storage abounds on this boat and aft livewell is cavernous. Can't wait to get it on the water. I now have to figure out how I'm going to mount my Minn Kota anchor winch's. I'm thinking on top of port aft gunnel and port bow. I just have to figure out how to access underneath the gunnel to mount the winch's.

 

[joseph seibel]

I too have ordered a new tracker targa 18 wt on

Feb. 12th! I am still waiting on it! My independent dealer have me as their 10th purchaser of the year. They currently have delivered purchaser #70 their boat when I stopped there the other day! When I call tracker customer service, I get the same runaround! My boat, as of this week, has a delivery ticket on it. But now they tell me it will take 16 days for the trucking company (Werner), to pick it up, and another week for delivery!!! I am really frustrated! Does anyone know how to get this expidited??? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Responded to new post.....

 

[edward hughes2]

If you ever get your boat,dont take it to BPS for service,they dont have a clue.