ComplaintsforHans' Boat Works, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took my boat to Hans boat works for yearly maintenance and winterization to include a wrap for weather protection. When i picked the boat up it was wrapped and wasn't unwrapped for several months. Upon unwrapping it we realized that along the melted areas of the wrap the clear coat in various areas was discolored. in addition the tower had been put down and the cables snapped as there was nothing under it to brace it (as they typically do) the tower caused a large area behind the driver seat to take off the paint clear through to the fiberglass. the boat was dropped off on 5/12/22 after we had emailed back and fourth pictures and they apologized and said to bring it in and they would get it ALL fixed. admitting they were at fault and that it wasn't wrapped properly. After getting it and looking over the owner called me and said its a lot for his business to have to eat and he might have me turn into MY INS and he can cover the deductible. I told him that I wasn't ok with this and they said they would work on getting the custom paint and parts and see where it went from there. TO date they still have my boat, they do not respond and update me as to wheats taking place until several times of reaching out, now they are back to saying they want me to turn into my insurance and they don't know the wrap caused this as they haven't seen this before. This is not my Insurance's issue and is a direct result of their work not being done properly, they need to correct this and in a timely manner as we are still without the boat and half way through the season....2 Holidays will go by at the minimum before this will be resolved and My family is without their summer vacation toy.

  Business response

  07/05/2022

  6-30-2022

  Re: Hans Boat Works, Inc response to BBB ID 174***37

  Mrs. ***** has been a long-time customer. She takes excellent care of her boat. We have serviced it and maintained it for several years, without incident. 
  With regards to the tower cables breaking and hitting the deck: 
  This has been an ongoing problem for MB Sports boats. We had been a dealer for MB Sports boats until approximately 2017 when they had a management change in their business. Over the years, we have changed out many sets of these cables under warranty due to the problem that Mrs. ***** experienced. 
  The cables are designed to hold the tower in the down position and to support the weight of the tower when released. 
  Between the poor design and the wear and tear on the cables, the cables broke on both sides when it was stored over winter. The trip between Visalia and Clovis on Interstate 99 is what most likely caused them to fail. 
  When the boat was dropped off after the tower cables failed, we told Mrs. ***** that if the boat was still under warranty, this would be MB Sports’ responsibility to pay for it. Since the boat is out of warranty, MB would not cover this failure. We were/are in no way responsible for this common failure on this MB Sports boat. However, we informed Mrs. ***** that we would take care of the cables and the gelcoat chip repair as a matter of goodwill and due to our long-term relationship with her. Both the cables and the custom teal gelcoat had to be ordered from an MB Sports dealer. 
  Almost all the dealers in CA have dropped MB Sports as dealers and this has contributed to the difficulty in getting parts for this repair. We must order from out of state dealer. MB Sports is based in California, yet it had to ship the parts to the out of state dealer, then back to us. 
  Once we received the parts, we did the repairs within the week, also in the heat of our busy season, all for good will. 
  Regarding the discoloration of the Silver flake on the deck and sides: 
  We have explained to Mrs. ***** that the discoloration is from moisture sitting between the plastic wrap and the gelcoat during the time it was in storage over winter. We have seen this on many brands of boats over the years. Typically, this happens on brands that use a cheaper brand of gelcoat. The discoloration will normally correct itself and the moisture works its way back out of the gelcoat over time. 
  This moisture has taken 5-7 months to penetrate the coating and will also take time to also bake back out. Gelcoat is microscopically very porous. 
  This is something completely out of our control and to grind it down and repair the flake is going to make the area worse. 
  I explained to Mrs. ***** that if she wants this kind of repair, she needs to file a claim with her insurance company and let them cover it. 
  This is not negligence on our part, and it will correct itself over time. 

  Mrs. ***** was told that her boat was ready to leave last Friday (06/24/2022). She has not come to pick it up. The boat has been stored indoors. This will end this coming Friday and the boat will be moved outdoors and storage fees will be as assessed.

  As to Mrs. Tuell's claims that we should reimburse her for "time lost on our boat", NONE of these issues affect using the boat. It was Mrs. Tuell's decision to not pick up the boat that is resulting in her loss of use. She could have used the boat during the time we were waiting for the parts and brought it back when the parts arrived.

  We are truly sorry that our efforts were still not enough to satisfy our customer, but we have gone above and beyond to try to keep our long-time customer happy.

  Thank you,

  Hans Steiner/President

  Hans Boat Works, Inc. 

  
  

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