ComplaintsforLowe Metal Boats

• Initial Complaint

  05/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Reached out to *** ****** from the warranty department at Lowe boats back on august 6th of 2020. Our 20 Bay Lowe boat had a crack in the bottom of the haul and *** told us to have it welded at a certified welder since all of the dealer locations near us were over two hours away. Ok September 22nd of 2020 we reached back out to *** because the same crack in the haul had cracked again and the boat sounded like it was hollow on one side vs the other and we thought it may be something internal causing the weld to crack. We were never answered back, which is one of the many things wrong with Lowe’s customers service is that they do not return emails or phone calls or voicemails. We then took the boat to have it re welded since *** never answered my question originally. It has since cracked again so we took it 2 1/2 hours away from our house to a dealer where Lowe picked it up. They told us they sent a scope into the boat and that the problem was something inside of the haul and they had to get engineers involved to fix it. We dropped the boat off and it was picked up on Valentine’s Day of 2022 we were just called on Friday the 6th of may to be told our boat was at the dealer. We were never told they were done with it or what they did. After finally getting in touch with them today 5/16 they told us they won’t fix anything on or in the hill because we took the boat to get welded a second time when we were never told what to do since they wouldn’t answer us. It seems they are trying to find any loophole in the warranty to hold us responsible so they don’t have to fix it. We now have a 50,000 boat that is unsafe for us to take our children on.

  Business response

  05/25/2022

  We received your letter in regards to a complaint filed by ******** ********.  You are correct, there are two sides to the story so I will detail what transpired from our perspective.

  In late 2020, *** ******* was contacted by the ********s about a crack in the hull.  It was described to be a small crack.  *** explained to them we would repair it, but we were backed up so it would take some time to be able to get to their boat.  *** authorized at that time, a certified welder to do the small repair so that it would take less time, and they could use their boat again.  The next communication after it was repaired was an email stating that it was leaking again and they were going to take it to the dealer for them to look at it.  *** did not reach out again after that, as he was waiting to take it to the dealer (sometimes people wait months to take their boat back to the dealer).  This contact never came, as they elected to take their boat back to the repair shop that did the work the first time because they "needed their boat."  They never received authorization for the second repair (if a hull crack repair leaks we always want to bring it in for evaluation before doing anything).  They also had it repaired a third time without authorization because they did not want to wait for the repair to be completed at the factory.

  In later 2021, the ********'s contacted *** again, stating that the repairs did not work and they wanted their boat fixed.  *** told them we would bring it in for evaluation to see what was going on.  This is when he was made aware that they had taken it in for repairs without telling Lowe Boats.  We brought it to the factory for evaluation at no charge to the customer, and discovered that there were extensive repairs done incorrectly, making it impossible to repair the hull.  Had they brought it to us after the first repair failed, we may have been able to fix the issue.  The repairs they had done were done so without our knowledge or authorization.

  The ********s also produced an email they said they sent and received no reply to.  We checked the server, as all our emails are logged, and we never received this email.  That being said, they took action without any communication from Lowe Boats, thus voiding the warranty on their boat.  They stated they did this because they could not be without their boat.  We cannot warranty repairs done without our knowledge and authorization.

  Customer response

  05/25/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  They just found a scape goat to not have to back their shoddy product, and  to cover themselves by not fixing the issue and voiding our warranty. We also called *** and sent him the email back in 2020 and never got a response which has been an issue with this the whole time. We were never told that it would void our warranty if we had it fixed again because he would not answer.  *** even stated to us he tried to call us but seemed to call another homeowner somehow instead.
  There is no proof that us having it welded at the repair shop is what cause the supports inside the boat to collapse which is what you all are saying the issue is! There is also no proof stating that the first “authorized” time is what broke the supports. 
  Not to mention how shady it was that they sent it back to the dealer that’s almost 3 hours away from us without calling us to let us know that they we’re sending it back or the fact that they couldn’t even call us and tell us what they did to our boat which was nothing! It then took them over a week to call us back after multiple emails and phone calls to see what they did to the boat. I simply just want my product fixed at this point so I can sell it and not feel guilty about selling a shoddy product to someone. I will never own a Lowe boat or product again after this experience and based off of other peoples reviews and experiences I am not the only one.
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ********

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They built a boat that collects water in the hull. Warranty was used to have it fixed but still brings on water. Will not give us a replacement for a new boat or try fix it in reasonable time due to them having many boats they built that have hull problems.

  Business response

  05/12/2022

  We are currently working with the customer and dealer to get the vessel brought back for evaluation to see what the next step in resolving this matter may be.  The customer has stated they will drop the boat off at the dealership on 5/13/2022 at that time we will issue a return authorization to get the boat picked up and returned to us.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩