$1500 to recertify a $2200 4 man, Offshore life raft

[nuku34]

To the OP: You didn't mention how old the raft is. If you are very safety conscious and its more than 5 years old, its probably a good idea to skip the re-certification and buy a new one. I personally don't store my 4 person raft in a hard case on deck; its in a valise in my big cockpit locker. On deck storage is hard on rafts as they are exposed to wide temperature fluctuations.



I have a buddy here in NZ who, when the first 3 year service is due on his 4 man $2,000 raft, just buys a new one and sells the old one on our local auction site Trademe. There are plenty of folks who are willing to buy a used 3 year-old uncertified raft for $700-$1,000. His new raft cost him $1,000-$1,300, its certified, and he's a happy chappie.


Here in NZ you need the raft professionally certified if you want to go offshore to another country or if you are doing a local offshore race. Since I do neither, I do my own service and save heaps of $. Servicing a raft is not rocket science.

[Bellinghamster]

Prices don't look too wildly unreasonable but it sure adds up fast.
The standouts to me were first aid kit, cylinder hydrotest and fill. I think I pay around $40 for hydro and $30 for 20lbr CO2 cylinders at my local welding shop. The other liferaft specific (valve, straps, etc.) Are just going to be spendy by their nature.

If it makes you feel any better, it cost nearly $8k to have 2 rafts recertified this past spring. Granted they were 10 man canisters and were a couple years out of date due to covid so lots of stuff was due for replacement.

[djsaxton]

The revere 4 man liferaft is a 2018 with a 12 year lifespan.
This is the first service as I’ve been dockside for last three years
question
With recent comments, I’m leaning towards letting them keep it .
Do you think there can be any repercussions to me?

[Skipper Kenny]

Originally Posted by Shrew

OR when I had a Honda 2HP for service (valve adjustment) which cost $650, while a new motor was $900. (again, at the time).

Six hours of labor and fifty bucks for parts?

Typically with cam follower engines, if the clearance is drifting, the seats/valves are shot anyway and will continue to drift.

[bodgy]

i'd tell them to shove it. Seems you were purposely misled, $398 quoted and a vague parts at cost. $1100!!!! Like they didnt know?

Another example of waterfront piracy.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by djsaxton

The revere 4 man liferaft is a 2018 with a 12 year lifespan.
This is the first service as I’ve been dockside for last three years
question
With recent comments, I’m leaning towards letting them keep it .
Do you think there can be any repercussions to me?

I would expect them to take you to court.

[AiniA]

The fact that D cell batteries are $5.95 each is all you need to know. They should have been able to give a reasonable estimate of the total cost. It is not the first time they have serviced this kind of raft. I would pay the bill, but make it known in your sailing community that this company's business practices, while not illegal, are shady.

[djsaxton]

Here’s what happened in the end I sent this email

I was not sure what to do so I posted on a sailing forum asked people what they thought of paying $1500 for a re recertified life raft that is $2200 for a new life raft with 12 year life versus six-year life, I showed the quote and invoice , (service, and inspect 199 and recertification 199+ parts which will not be known until the raft is open).
I got well over 20 replies, and started out with a few people saying well that’s what it is.
Then some people question some of the parts and service costs but I disregard that. It’s business. I understand that. then a few people started saying how they spent so much getting this and that fixed and like me we’re invoiced, 3/4 of the value of new.
But the Majority of the people, said, don’t pay move on, and the responsibility was totally yours to contact me for a decision before proceeding when you found out that parts and service were almost 3/4 of the value of a new one and giving me the choice to pay the $199 inspection fee or proceed, after all this is your industry you should know what things cost and what market value is
it was pointed out that in a lot of states auto repair industry isn’t allowed to proceed without giving you a accurate cost after an inspection and they can’t believe that it’s not the case here .
So the first few days of the forum I was thinking well this is what I asked for,then towards the end of the forum, I’m thinking that you guys might have a problem by not informing me and giving me a choice before proceeding

How could this not have come up in your company before for you and why it is not a company policy to contact the client if costs are projected to get over 50% of replacement value.

It is easy to let the client know what’s going on. Once I had the facts it took me less than a minute to make a decision.
So I put this out to you and your company what do you think should happen here I have already put more energy into this than I cared to. It’s not a life-changing event, so I’ll do whatever you want me to do just let me know.

I got an email back, asking me to contact the owner I did and we talked and his point was he service the commercial fishing fleet not normally the little guy. He did not acknowledge my suggestion, that he should contact the owners after inspection, if the price would exceeded common sense.

So he was quite insistent that he wanted to do right by me which was awesome and he asked me what I would wanna pay I told him 1200 he said how about 1100 I showed up the next day at their shop, gave them the $1100 and a $50 Domino’s Pizza certificate for the guys in the shop and told them they had a very good owner I guess it was worth my energy but I’m not sure I made a difference but maybe but
I bet the shop guys remember the pizza and the satisfied customer