Tampa Bay area Sea Ray and Boston Whaler Boats
Michael & Joy Rothwell
this post, if you are seriously considering the purchase of a new or
pre-owned Sea Ray or Boston Whaler boat, contact me and put me to work for
you in delivering the dream! I am (and have been for several years!) a Sea
Ray and 'Whaler product specialist. Even if you're considering another
brand...feel free to email me with any questions you may have! I am always
happy to assist people who are "afflicted" with the "water gene" to get
boating in a boat that fulfills their needs, as well as a dealership that
exceeds our customer expectations, where service, and extra amenities are
concerned. Please view our website and check me out. Please mention my
name when you do. Website below...
Mike Rothwell
MarineMax/Gulfwind
**Three Tampa-bay area locations, and 48 more locations nationwide to serve
you!!!
MarineMax/Gulfwind-Tampa
2605-43rd St.
Tampa, FL 33605
(813)-621-2424
MarineMax/Gulfwind-Clearwater
18019-U.S. Highway 19
Clearwater, FL
(727)-526-2628
MarineMax/Gulfwind-Apollo Beach-Land's End
1220 Apollo Beach Blvd.
Apollo Beach, FL 33572
(813)-641-3333
Website: http://www.marinemax.com/
Yours in Boating! :)
Mike Rothwell
tpase...@mindspring.com
sear...@hotmail.com
mike.r...@marinemax.com
ae...@flight.net
<tpase...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>I would simply ask that if anyone in the immediate Tampa Bay area who reads
>this post, if you are seriously considering the purchase of a new or
>pre-owned Sea Ray or Boston Whaler boat, contact me and put me to work for
>you in delivering the dream! I am (and have been for several years!) a Sea
>Ray and 'Whaler product specialist. Even if you're considering another
>brand...feel free to email me with any questions you may have! I am always
>happy to assist people who are "afflicted" with the "water gene" to get
>boating in a boat that fulfills their needs, as well as a dealership that
>exceeds our customer expectations, where service, and extra amenities are
>concerned. Please view our website and check me out. Please mention my
>name when you do. Website below...
>
>Mike Rothwell
>
>MarineMax/Gulfwind
>
Sorry that you have to take the brunt of this,
but.............................
I attempted to purchase a 215EC from MarineMax/Gulfwind, but was so
disgusted with the way they do business, that I bought another brand.
Their assinine pricing policy, with a price tag listing a bogus
inflated retail and a supposed "already discounted" fixed selling
price, along with a "this is the selling price, like it or not"
mentality, is ridiculous.
A salesman at Gulfwind in Clearwater let me walk for $500!!!!!!!!!!!
"The price shown is the bottom line price, and it's not negotiable" I
was told. When I found the boat for $4K lesss at another dealer, the
local MarineMax told me "you won't get warranty service here, and
you'll have to trailer it to the dealer who sold it to you." That was
the final insult.
By the way, I bought a boat that is 2' longer, of better build
quality, fully loaded (fridge, fresh water system, potty, camper
canvas, etc., etc.), with a Volvo 5.7L DuoProp (the 215EC had a
formidable 5.0/Alpha) for LESS money!
MarineMax/Gulfwind can take a long walk on a short pier as far as I'm
concerned, however I will thank them for allowing me the opportunity
to walk, and buy a bigger, better equipped boat in the process.
Karl Denninger
Anyone who deals with chains that have this kind of "nose in the air"
attitude is absolutely insane.
Its not limited to MarineMax either. I've seen this in several other SeaRay
dealers - and its COMPLETELY unjustified. Chicago SeaRay pulled this crap
on me last year - the result for them was a lost sale. Considering that
I had my checkbook in my back pocket at the time (and spent the money
somewhere ELSE!) they can chalk up an immediate loss to their attitude.
SeaRay builds a *decent* boat. Not a top quality boat, but a DECENT boat.
The nose-in-the-air attitude is COMPLETELY uncalled for and, at least for
this guy, has made certain that I will NEVER purchase one of their models.
--
--
Karl Denninger (ka...@denninger.net) Web: http://childrens-justice.org
Isn't it time we started putting KIDS first? See the above URL for
a plan to do exactly that!
Harry Krause
>
>
> SeaRay builds a *decent* boat. Not a top quality boat, but a DECENT boat.
> The nose-in-the-air attitude is COMPLETELY uncalled for and, at least for
> this guy, has made certain that I will NEVER purchase one of their models.
>
Why do I just know that *everyone* at SeaRay now is engaged in loud
cheering and toasting, knowing that Karl isn't going to sue or shoot
them?
--
Harry Krause
------------
That's a nice suit. Didn't they have it in your size?
Larry W4CSC
>
>I attempted to purchase a 215EC from MarineMax/Gulfwind, but was so
>disgusted with the way they do business, that I bought another brand.
>Their assinine pricing policy, with a price tag listing a bogus
>inflated retail and a supposed "already discounted" fixed selling
>price, along with a "this is the selling price, like it or not"
>mentality, is ridiculous.
>
>A salesman at Gulfwind in Clearwater let me walk for $500!!!!!!!!!!!
>"The price shown is the bottom line price, and it's not negotiable" I
>was told. When I found the boat for $4K lesss at another dealer, the
>local MarineMax told me "you won't get warranty service here, and
>you'll have to trailer it to the dealer who sold it to you." That was
>the final insult.
I was told this by the big cheeze at Sea Ray of Charleston, right in
front of the astonished, but very nice, service manager at the front
door. MY sin was posting the problems I initially had in my Sea Ray
on this very forum! Sea Ray dealers are under NO obligation to
service ANY Sea Ray boat they do not sell, whatsoever. That
information came from the warranty manager at Sea Ray I spoke with on
the phone to find out what's up. I would have to return my Sea Ray to
my dealer in Birmingham for service, because that's where I saved
$3500 when I bought the left-over '97 boat.....Sea Ray dealers are
under no obligation to Sea Ray to fix the defects, under warranty or
not, of any Sea Ray they do not sell. Consequently, I'd never buy
another Sea Ray or Brunswick product under a worthless warranty...
He didn't like me posting my safety alert to rec.boats about the 3/8"
gasline and gas tank installed on my 5/16" Mercury engine hose barb
that fell off going 50 mph, slipped through the HUGE, oversized hose
clamps that held them to the engine compartment bulkhead, fell down in
the bilge and siphoned the bilge full of gas to the point the bilge
pump float was FLOATING IN GAS! My intention, at that time, was to
alert OTHER owners to look at their gaslines....not to trash Sea Ray.
I still don't trash Sea Ray. Once I got all the production screwups
fixed, it has been a helluva nice, fun boat to own! Some Brunswick
bean counter simply chose to cut corners and make my Sea Ray CHEAP.
Sea Ray has sent me new seats, to replace the ones that mildewed
INSIDE because they were made by some cheap furniture company of
COTTON BACKED vinyl with cheap foam that gets soggy.....NOT the closed
cell foam and MILDEW PROOF seat coverings they should have. It's a
JETBOAT, not a yacht, dammit! It's SUPPOSED to get WET!
>
>By the way, I bought a boat that is 2' longer, of better build
>quality, fully loaded (fridge, fresh water system, potty, camper
>canvas, etc., etc.), with a Volvo 5.7L DuoProp (the 215EC had a
>formidable 5.0/Alpha) for LESS money!
Care to share, at your personal expense of course, the NAME of this
boat company?
>
>MarineMax/Gulfwind can take a long walk on a short pier as far as I'm
>concerned, however I will thank them for allowing me the opportunity
>to walk, and buy a bigger, better equipped boat in the process.
So can't Sea Ray of Charleston, as far as I'm concerned. They are
another megadealer with lots of stores all over the place.
Larry....you lurkers can tell 'em I said something about it, again. I
don't give a damn!
Wsp770
"new way of doing business in the marine industry.'
The new way sucks.
Travis should be dissolved in no more than a year or two.
Hopefully, MarineMax will follow.
Russ Glindmeier, CFP
Wsp770 wrote in message <20000308105936...@ng-ce1.aol.com>...
MarineMax operation.
Russ
Phoenix
I am not familiar with MarineMax or Travis, what are the problems you see
with the mega marine superstores?
--
Jim
"Russ Glindmeier, CFP" <ru...@att.net> wrote in message
news:dtwx4.12797$vd7.7...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Russ Glindmeier, CFP
Phoenix wrote in message ...
>Russ,
>I am not familiar with MarineMax or Travis, what are the problems you see
>with the mega marine superstores?
>
>--
pretty. I'd hardly consider it a mega marine superstore. Just a poorly
managed dealership with delusions of grandeur. However, my experience has
been echoed by other posters here from other parts of the country. On a
personal level, my biggest problem is their attitude toward the customer.
They genuinely believe that they've built a better mousetrap and that every
consumer should easily see the added value and the superiority of their
dealerships. They expect the consumer to be willing to pay substantially
more for the boats they sell, when compared to deals that can be had from
other independent dealerships, and be grateful for the opportunity to buy
from them. This is reflected in their non-negotiable pricing strategy,
which I have found to be easily beaten by independent dealers. If you fail
to agree with their assessment of things you are treated as persona non
grata from that moment forward. Rather than roll up their sleeves and work
in a competitive marketplace to earn the deal, the minute you bring
competition to the table they pout, pack up their marbles, and tell you that
you're not the kind of customer they wish to work with. You are no longer
welcome in their store at that point. Pretty sad, actually. I can't
imagine what it would be like to work for such an organization.
On a more grand scale, I'm not sure I like having a retail organization have
that much power over both the retail marketplace and the manufacturer of the
product. The business model of MarineMax is fashioned after the AutoNation
phenomenon. I'm not real thrilled with that organization either.
MarineMax's idea of competing in the marketplace is to simply buy out the
competition with heavily leveraged money. Write a check, make the problem
go away, and then re-write the rules. IMO, the saddest result of the
MarineMax legacy is that I believe Sea Ray's market share will ultimately be
hurt by MM's policies.
Of course much of this could be fixed by management taking a friendlier
attitude toward their customers. Indeed that may in fact be the case in
some of their dealerships. Obviously I haven't had the opportunity to visit
very many of them. But I would still have a problem with their pricing
strategy. I just don't understand why they price their boats so high. It
seems to me, that if their objective was to be THE Sea Ray dealership in the
US, then the strategy would be to sell the boats at the thinnest margins
possible to bring the independent dealers to their knees. Once the
competition was severely weakened, then walk in and see if they still refuse
to sell out. Perhaps their pockets aren't deep enough to pull off such a
strategy. I really can't put my finger directly on it, but something about
the operation just rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not impressed by it. It
just feels like a step backward.
Russ
L8apex
price was far less than anyone else for a comparable boat, i paid 3000 less
than the closest competitor's price for the same boat. true the retail
price quoted was ridiculously high, but they gave me so much off without
asking that the net result was about a 12 % discount from retail on the
entire price of boat and options. no other dealer i contacted would even
try to beat them, everyone at the dealer ship has been anything but rude,
they have fixed everything and anything that i have requested, and ususally
within 48 hours. i checked out the dealership before i purchased from them,
and the references checked out fine. i would highly recommend travis, at
least the bradenton dealer, to anyone.
david
sarasota florida
Larry W4CSC
<jfga...@spamless.mediaonedotnet> wrote:
>Russ,
>I am not familiar with MarineMax or Travis, what are the problems you see
>with the mega marine superstores?
>
>--
>
>Jim
>
Can you say "Price Fixing"? Without cursing, this time, try it.....
Larry
Larry W4CSC
<ru...@att.net> wrote:
>Well, I've only had experience with my local MarineMax store, and it wasn't
>pretty. I'd hardly consider it a mega marine superstore. Just a poorly
>managed dealership with delusions of grandeur. However, my experience has
>been echoed by other posters here from other parts of the country. On a
>personal level, my biggest problem is their attitude toward the customer.
I bought my Sea Ray from a dealer in a quonset hut. You could tell he
was a Sea Ray dealer because it was a NEW quonset hut....first class.
The sales department was in the front end of the quonset hut, unless
of course, they were servicing a LARGE Sea Ray when the need to extend
the excellent service department arose. Store usage was "dynamic" in
that respect...(c; Saved me thousand not having to pay for all that
fluff and real estate taxes.....
Larry....He's a Regal dealer now. Birmingham's largest! Go
see.....Dead Ahead Marine Products. No stuckup attitude. Run by
BOATERS, not accountants! You didn't need a chauffeur to get treated
very nicely.
David S. Pendleton
MarineMax dealer. We have two Whaler dealers here in MN, an 'independent'
and a MarineMax dealer. Personally, I think MarineMax sucks. Last year, I
owned a SeaRay from my Whaler/SeaRay/MarineMax dealer. The service was
terrible. I own a Whaler now, from an 'independent' dealer. I only know so
much about MarineMax, I suspect they have brought the same ethics of car
sales to the boat business...
"Wsp770" <wsp...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000308105936...@ng-ce1.aol.com...
Phoenix
Since I haven't been in a MarineMax store I was very interested in your
assessment. I saw a similar attitude with NationsBank (now Bank of
America). That kind of "attitude" comes from the top down, and they will
either realize that the customer is their reason for being, or they will go
belly up. Home Depot is a perfect example of a company that tries to place
the customer at the top of the priority list, and their profit and stock
value reflects it.
I don't mind a company making profit, in fact, I want them to make a profit,
but they damn well better provide value or there are too many options,
especially in the boating industry.
Thanks for the feedback.
--
Jim
"Russ Glindmeier, CFP" <ru...@att.net> wrote in message
news:R3Ax4.70$Q76....@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> Phoenix wrote in message ...
> >Russ,
> >I am not familiar with MarineMax or Travis, what are the problems you see
> >with the mega marine superstores?
> >
> >--
> Well, I've only had experience with my local MarineMax store, and it
wasn't
> pretty. I'd hardly consider it a mega marine superstore. Just a poorly
> managed dealership with delusions of grandeur. However, my experience has
> been echoed by other posters here from other parts of the country. On a
> personal level, my biggest problem is their attitude toward the customer.
JDavis1277
best price, up front, so I could compare it to the other quotes I had.
He politely told me that his store dosen't do business that way.
No problem! It's a free country and a free marketplace. I was not offended, I
just gave my money to my local dealer who ultimately offered me the best deal.
Butch
ae...@flight.net
<ru...@att.net> wrote:
>I really can't put my finger directly on it, but something about
>the operation just rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not impressed by it. It
>just feels like a step backward.
>
>Russ
Nice assessment Russ.
The fly in the ointment for me occurred when I was quoted a price of
$5K less, from an independent dealer, OVER THE PHONE. I spend 2 hours
at MarineMax, and couldn't get them to come down $500 on the price,
yet during a 3 minute phone call with an independent dealer, I was
quoted $5K less.
It truly makes me wonder how much better a deal I could have
negotiated had I gone in to the independent dealer with a deposit
check filled out in their name. If you can beat a price with a phone
call, something is very wrong indeed.
What finally made my decision NEVER to buy a Sea Ray product was when
I was told "good luck getting warranty work done," and "you'll have to
trailer the boat to the dealer from whom you bought it for warranty
service." It amazes me that Sea Ray would support this type of
behavior. What the hell would happen if I was relocated to another
state with my new Sea Ray?
I would have bought the 215EC, brand new off the showroom floor, and
now I'm in the market for something in the 30' range, but Sea Ray has
lost a sale on both from my perspective.
Larry W4CSC
there about 30 years, that I know of. Nice thing about it is he's
also the HONDA dealer! A big Whaler with twin Honda 130's isn't new
around here. He also sells Merc and some other lines. AS far as I
know, he's always been an independent.
Larry....His number is 843-747-9614. I never bought a boat from him,
though. If you're from out-of-town, get a great price, what do you
care?