WARNING - SKIPPER MARINE ELECTRONICS
Laxlt
I went into Skipper's Torrance, CA store on March 24, 1997, to buy a new
transducer for my Furuno FCV 667. I asked the sales person if he could
connect the new transducer to my unit to ensure it worked. His tech
plugged it in and it worked just fine (This took about 2-3 minutes). The
tech noted my mounting nuts were loose and asked if I wanted to have them
tightened, but said that if he opened the unit to do so he would have to
charge me a min. $25.00 service charge. I said no thank you I'll do it
myself.
When the salesperson started to write up my new transducer, he asked where
I had purchased the unit. When I said I had not purchased it at Skipper,
he began berating and lecturing me. When he handed me an invoice to sign
for the transducer, it had a $25.00 bench test fee on it. When I
questioned the charge, the salesperson began loudly berating me again
(with my wife and children (5 and 7 years) standing nearby).
I realized I didn't have to listen to this, and told the salesperson,
"Have a nice day." as I walked out of the store. The salesperson shouted,
"Enjoy the free service A--H--E!", as I and my family walked out without
making the purchase.
I'd like to hear about your experiences with Skipper.
mrt...@bellatlantic.net
Hi...
Although I've never bought anything from Skipper, I once did receive a
copy of their catalog. I read through it and laughed so hard, tears
came to my eyes. I can't believe that anyone would fall for their
"bench-tuning" scam. You'd have to assume that the folks at Northstar,
Raytheon, Furuno and every other quality marine electronics manufacturer
were all idiots, because they obviously sent you something that was not
factory checked on the assembly line.
What scares me is that so much of today's electronic products have a
"Factory Warranty Void If Seal Is Broken" label on them. Does anyone
honestly think that a few electronic geeks at skipper know all there is
to know about a Furuno, and a Raytheon, and Si-Tex, and evrything
else? And they know it better than the factory-trained guys? What a
joke.
My advice to anyone buying marine electronics is to divide these items
into two categories. Easy installations like VHF radios, and
complicated installations like radars. The "easy" ones should be able
to be installed by most anyone with a little bit of 12v knowledge, and
the more complicated ones might be left to a qualified installer if you
feel uncomfortable with the project. Buy from a good, reliable source,
one that's local so that if you do have to return it, shipping isn't
necessary. For many electronic products, I think West Marine is a good
choice because they will allow you to return just about anything, and
they will also give you good advice on the installation.
Mike/Toy Soldier [rock...@tiac.net]
(Just visiting relatives today!]