Warning - Beware of Mechanics at Orleans Boat World

[Wallyboss]

What I still don't understand is why would they have removed the water pump to change the serpentine belt. I don't know that engine but usually loosening the belt tensionner gives you enough slack to pull the belt off.

[joco]

any garage is as best as there worst mecanincs they have actualy..you can have the best ,mecanics in the shop but if you have the worst one to..you get bad comment and bad result on reviews and so on.

so the prob is not the garage but the mecanics...alot off good ones i use to no in other garage ..just went on there own start there own little thing.


i think bad service or bad repare. should be said. but good one to...a lot off time we get bad ones but the good one they dont show up as often.


i did saw in the past threy should be a site where you can guive some comments and some %% on all place we go.all garage cars or boats etc..

to many place rip off people on mecanincs cars or boats..those should be publicies a lot more.

again a site that that we can go to and see.the truth.


joco

[joco]

the prob...there is less and less mecanincs in all type off it.

and the good one are hard to keep.

and other time its because the shop is realy rushing to do to mutch in less time..hey everyone want there boat fast.season is short.but there is a limit to do this.

and actulay they should be a section on this site just for that.

review on garage and everything.

joco

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Hey Joco....I'm in the "service/product support" environment and I can tell you first hand that this is the bread and butter for ANY company!!....sure sales might make a small margin of profit but it's the service revenue as well as part sales that makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If I had mechanics/technicians that were the "worse ones around" they would be on the unemployment/welfare line as fast as I could kick their ar$es there... .......there's no excuse for that crap!!!....it's the owners responsibility to do the interviews and hire top notch guys!

[joco]

Hey Joco....I'm in the "service/product support" environment and I can tell you first hand that this is the bread and butter for ANY company!!....sure sales might make a small margin of profit but it's the service revenue as well as part sales that makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If I had mechanics/technicians that were the "worse ones around" they would be on the unemployment/welfare line as fast as I could kick their ar$es there... .......there's no excuse for that crap!!!....it's the owners responsibility to do the interviews and hire top notch guys!

you are right.

no excuse...but hey.there still bad mecnics in most places...i no a few i went before for my boats in maniwaki 3 garage there and all garage got me bad and good service.depending the time i went and so on.

like i said hard to keep good mecaninic..i got familly in car mecanics and that is there worst prob..get good one and keep them..garage go get some in other garage..etc.

and some garage finish they got few apretice..that are ok..but apprentice and dont no mutch.

so the best again is the make your researche and your homework and find the best for your$ and tread ike this can help to do that.

anyway.kayak =no garage probs.

joco

[mikemicropterus]

I had to pipe in on this one guys.

If you want a good shop look at

# 1 How many years have been in business or are they new owners of a already existing business??.

#2 See how old the oldest mechanic is and look for his/her certificates he/she has attained. Do they have a Master tech?? Are all the techs certified or did they just hire them?? How many family members are on staff??? Nepotism can ruin a good business, just like it does the government.

#3 See how many young techs they employ

#4 Is the shop clean and organized ?? All the special tools on site???

#5 Does the shop participate in any outside activities, i.e. sponsors for other non business activities??

#6 Is the owner there and do they have any personal issues????

#7 Ask for a list customers who have been there a long time not just new customers and not just the customers who buy expensive boats.

#8 Do they service only their own customers or do they service walk-ins in the same fashion??

#9 Are they only sales orientated or are they service orientated? Some shops are only interested in new sales.

I come from a motorcycle background to the marine industry; from a licensed industry to a hire off the street, no license, seasonal industry. I am a licensed motorcycle mechanic (MOT) since 1984. I road raced for 4 years and now I participate in bass tournaments.


I have worked for 3 major marine/marina dealers in this area. Carlstan Mfg back in the mid 80’s, Laurentian marine sales in the 90’s and Hurts marina late 90’s and 2000. I was up for the position of FSM for Mercury and OMC and also Suzuki. I was service manager for Carlstans and Laurentian also supervised the outboard side of things at Hurts.

From all this I can tell you that only at Carlstans were they TRULY concerned for customer service. Hurst was concerned with only selling BIG boats and new boats, profit margin. I was a glorified PDI tech at Hurts and I developed their only quality control procedure for outboard rigging and PDI. I can’t say what I want about Laurentian because they are a sponsor here and bobber won’t let me. But even if they offered me a job to-day at ten times what I was getting I wouldn’t go back there ever. I’d never go back to Hurts, I would consider Carlstans but they are no longer in business.

I have watched so many bad things said about mechanics that are not true and to say we are all rip off artists is distasteful and just truly an ignorant statement. It’s got a lot to do with poor management practices rather than bad mechanics.

I got my Master tech from OMC twice, 88 and 98, and when I wrote my Mercury recertification test in 2001, I got 96 %, the highest mark in the class. In fact at Hurts one of the other techs used my course notes to pass his mater tech after failing it the first time. When I started at Hurts I was the only master tech there and they had mechanics there for 12 years who had never bothered to try and write the test. While at Hurts I was called many times by the Mercury FSM to help him with Optimax issues he couldn’t figure out himself.

At other shops I was saddled with inexperienced techs who thought they wanted to be mechanics only to discover it wasn’t their cup of tea. It is a seasonal job and if the shops don’t pay enough you loose techs each season only to hire inexperienced the next year.

I was at Laurentian for 7 years and ask anyone they got good service but I left and the person who replaced me only had 3 years worth of experience. I left with a Master tech and 15 years of experience. So you had a shop with lots of experience one year and not much the next. That is the scenario in a lot of the shops in this area and that is most likely one of the biggest problems.

Lake and Trail, now out of business, was looking for a service manager a few years back. Just for a joke I sent Scott and email and asked for $65,000 a year and a bas boat to play with and I would turn his service around. I’m worth every penny as that is what they pay FSM’s and that is what I am qualified to be. I never got a reply and they hired their sales guy to be service manager, a neophyte with no experience. That’s what the decision of the management was and now they are out of business only a few years later and for those few seasons I garnered customers based on their poor customer service. They were focused on selling high priced bass boats and not taking care of the little guy with the 9.9 etc so they got a bad reputation in this area and it bit them in the butt or bottom line. Now I’m sure they have a different slight on the situation but one of the owners is still trying to make a living in this industry so he didn’t quit. And it wasn’t because people went to the states to buy boats. It came down to bad management.

So there are shops out there who have employees who give a S&*^T but faced with some of the or lack of management skills of the owners, they can’t do their job properly. That’s why I work for myself.

I’m not saying I’m perfect and get it right the first time every time but I get it right 96% of the time and that is good for my customers and I make a second effort for the most part. I try to save my customers money and give them prompt service which is not always possible. I am the one you first meet and the one you last see and the one who deals with my mistakes, that is what I consider good customer service.

And to cgates Chris thanks for your vote of confidence. I think twice at our tournaments I have fixed your motor’s issues quickly and without charge, I wonder what OBW would have charged you for what I did free of charge. What a world we live in, can’t get a break from a member of your own organization, SEESH. Insert rolling eyes here

Have a good day guys and remember Be careful out there….and take your mechanic to lunch sometime your fun time relies on his being happy and liking you….LOL

[jwhite]

I'll vouch for Mike....he definately knows his stuff. He fixed me up last summer and the fee was very reasonable. He takes pride in his work and it shows.

You won't have to worry about him rushing you out the door when you settle the bill.....he will talk your ear off until your wife honks the horn and lets you know it's time to go.

[mikemicropterus]

I'll vouch for Mike....he definately knows his stuff. He fixed me up last summer and the fee was very reasonable. He takes pride in his work and it shows.

You won't have to worry about him rushing you out the door when you settle the bill.....he will talk your ear off until your wife honks the horn and lets you know it's time to go

.

[Claudio]

I'll vouch for Mike....he definately knows his stuff. He fixed me up last summer and the fee was very reasonable. He takes pride in his work and it shows.

You won't have to worry about him rushing you out the door when you settle the bill.....he will talk your ear off until your wife honks the horn and lets you know it's time to go

.

As far as I'm concerned, Mike gets a big vote of confidence from me as well. Wouldn't think of taking my Opti anywhere else. Far too many Marine service departments around here have left me shaking my head in the past far too often.

See you soon Mike, waiting on Seastar's reply, should be interesting.

[dougv]

End result was $800 to replace the waterpump because the bearing and housing had been damaged when the pump was flopping around on the end of the crankshaft. $450 for the part + labor and the taxman.

[jwhite]

End result was $800 to replace the waterpump because the bearing and housing had been damaged when the pump was flopping around on the end of the crankshaft. $450 for the part + labor and the taxman.

That's a bloody shame. Lack of quality control and good customer service caused this. Too bad OBW sent you packing regardless of what you posted here. They fawked up big time and should be held accoutable...too bad you aren't really a lawyer because it would be fun to see how this would play out.

Instead of making this right they chose to come on here and make you look like the bad guy.....hopefully this story makes people think twice about trusting OBW with their business.

[dougv]

I'm moving on....$800 to fix the OBW screwup, not gonna dwell on it anymore and just enjoy the rest of my summer. Get's me steamed everytime I think about it so I ain't gonna think about it anymore.

I trust God will sort this out his way - the only way the guys from OBW will catch fish till the end of time will be if someone throws it at them.

Just a tidbit if someone did want to chase something like this to the end - small claims court is the way to go. Represent yourself and with things like receipts for work done, pictures of poor workmanship, etc there is a very good chance you'd win. Only catch is ya gotta sit in court room all day waiting for your case to be called....maybe for $8000 but not for $800.

[Woodsman]

Only catch is ya gotta sit in court room all day waiting for your case to be called....maybe for $8000 but not for $800.

I don't about you Doug but I sure don't make anything close to $800 a day at work. It would be worth my time.

[dougv]

I don't make anything near $800 a day either. But I don't get paid unless I work either...a day or 2 off to chase this is a day or 2 without pay. My customers wouldn't appreciate me taking 1-2 days away from their contracts either when they are working on project deadlines..gotta keep my customers happy over the long term or I don't eat.