Aftersales

[Resolution]

In answer to the Op's general question about industry-wide attitude to aftersales I suspect it all comes down to economics. I think the builder needs innovate desirable new product and to build efficiently so they can leave enough margin in the sale for the dealer to make a decent slug. Then the dealer needs to take a long term, no nickel and diming attitude when it comes to service and warranty work on the basis that if they keep the customer happy they'll likely buy another boat in a few year's time - in which case a few man days and Easyjet flights are absolutely insignificant. Let alone if they start telling their mates about the excellent service they've received etc (or post positive stories on popular forums ) So the whole thing becomes a virtuous circle that is being funded 100% from a big fat healthy boat sales line. Of course it quickly becomes a vicious circle if you start to p**s customers off by being small minded and quibbling about stuff which seems to be the case with some dealers and manufacturers...

Good analysis, IMHO. I spent several years in a major yacht dealership where the manufacturer kept dealer margins so tight that there was never any realistic chance of breaking up to the virtuous circle. Not a pleasant situation.
Some other points to consider:
1. Reliability - we are used to cars and many other products that are mostly put together by robots and hence nearly fault-free. Yachts and motor boats have become far more complex in recent years, with more and more sophisticated kit, yet still mostly installed by (fallible) human hand. Are our expectations of reliability too high?
2. Geography - it is a real logistical problem when the boat is moved away from the vicinity of the dealer from whom the boat was purchased. Who should pay the extra cost of flying out decent engineers? Or should there be a discount on sales price if a buyer undertakes to keep the boat close to the dealer?
(No business connection now with any dealers. retired and away sailing.)

 

[jfm]

I agree all that Resolution, and MedMilo's comments that you quote

Successful dealers need to create the virtuous circle that MedMilo describes, and need enough margin to do that. And yes as you say Resolution a boat is always going to be less reliable than a robot-made car

EssexBoatyards are extraordinarily good at this imho and it is a real pleasure being a customer of theirs. It's interesting to see how they do it. It seems to me that they following may at least partly describes their formula:

1. They have plenty of energy and motivation -they are young and they own the business 100% between the 4 brothers who all work full time there. There is a strong can-do culture in the business;
2. they have a lot of resource relative to their overheads, due to a large but no frills site which they own freehold. No London West End offices, no glossy showrooms like Ferretti dealers, etc. I think this makes good business sense. These days a lot of customers are "self made" rahter than "silver spoon" and might themselves have plenty of cash and homes in the West End of London etc but they haven't forgotten their roots. They like the fact Essex minimise overheads which allows for keen pricing of their boats while still leaving enough margin for MedMilo's virtuous circle. Customers of EssexBoatyards have cake and eat it
3. They own their ecosystem: when my boats have been getting ready for handover, any time something needs fixing Essex just lift the boat out of the water and deal with it. No sucking of teeth at the £600 crane bill as you would get from a dealer in S coast UK, because they own the travelhoist. Likewise, when the boat has a snag, generally an EssexBoatyards employee fixes it, not an outside contractor that they found in yellow pages
4. They will travel. To deal with warranty issues on the three boats I've bought from them, they just send the parts and put their guys on a plane. In return, I have a gentleman's agreement with them that if the problem is small they can send me the part in a jiffy bag and I'll deal with it myself, but that sort of deal can be negotiated customer-by-customer
5. Principal-to-principal dealings - you never get to a point in any discussion where something needs authority from a boss, because you are dealing with the owners of the company. It is so refreshing to deal this way.

 

[Bazzer]

Is it me or is the already shameful service offered by "some" boat manufacturers getting worse.

I have had a number of small things that needed information about .

faulty windscreen wipers
replacement carpet piece
replacement Kitchen cooker vent fan

and just getting basic information out of them is hopeless.. windscreen wiper info took 6 weeks to come back with ...er ...it may be a PBC problem ..buy a new one!!

In most cases in I have just given up and put in the leg work to track down the right part and order it directly. Question is...is this really the sort of service we should be getting given our investment in these companies
I am beginning to consider changing brand next time I buy....god forbid I should need emergency information or something bought in a hurry !


Any one else had better luck ? is it just me?

If its Princess I know an amazing guy at the factory parts department who can source all sorts at reasonable costs, very helpful guy, PM me if you want his number.

 

[sonvida2]

Ref: Essex Boatyards. Although not "aftersales" so slight thread drift...

We had a brief dealing with James Barke of EBY a few years back. We paid a 5k deposit on a stock boat and later we decided not to proceed and James returned our deposit in full and without delay. We said that we will deal with them again when / if we return to the market.

I mentioned this to James and Trevor at the Southampton Boatshow last month but unfortunately the new range of Fairlines do not please us.

Agree with comments above, EBY are genuine IMO.

 

[boatingdave]

We just had a boat delivered by sea from EBY, later than originally planned, and she got damaged on the way round. It will be interesting to see how they deal with it. Besides the new faults that appeared (been fixed by Kings Marine in Chertsey at the behest of EBY) the other damage is in flow to be fixed (wave hit is and broke the flybridge screen and new covers). Only thing I'm disappointed with is the boat was delayed by a week and a half allegedly to carry out some additional work we requested (after seeing the boat and we were at that point very impressed) and the boat has been delivered with none of the additional work done and some of the original work not completed either. So why the further delay? I suspect a water leak that had been found by the surveyor and was deemed to have been fixed and hadn't been so required additional work. I have to say though, most of it minor and I'm sure we will be resolved although I just prefer 100% honesty. Still a lovely boat though .