Major issue with new Mercury RIB

[phorvati]

hellosailor, we were in the US at the time, getting ready to go cruising. That Mercury warranty work held us in Rhode Island until october. It was supposed to be done in July and they finished it in late september. But so far it's held up ok, thanks to the great repair work by a repair service guy at Life Raft and Survival company out if Portsmouth RI. I would not reccomend the rest of the company for anything, but this guy did a great job. I pretty much delt with him directly 'cause he was the only guy doing something in that facility. And he did excellent work.
Meanwhile, in Nassau in march I added another bead of 5200 along the joint between the hard transom and the inflatable tubes. Just in case 'cause we were really using it all day long, every day. But the tubes are holding up great despite the heavy use since october. So thumbs up for a small (smallest) RIB, made by mercury.
This hurricane season one of the tasks is to use my old mainsail leftovers and make a UV cover for the dighy. I have a feeling that one more season of the tropical sun will deteriorate the condition of the tubes beyond repair.
Petar

[hellosailor]

Petar, am I misremembering or wasn't there a longish thread about Life Raft and Survival company out if Portsmouth RI. also taking in someone's raft for a repack...and then basically sitting on it for months without doing anything, or returning phone calls? (Not casting aspersions here, just asking the question.)

There's got to be a better way to address the life raft issue. Radically better.

[ssullivan]

Acoustic couldn't be more correct.

I have tried buying things based on price for boats as well. It just doesn't pay. Unfortunately (for short term finances), it ends up costing less in the long run to buy the highest quality you can possibly afford.

Originally Posted by Acoustic

Mercury inflatables are the "price point" product and everyone I know who has owned one has had major headaches. They cut cost by cutting warranty by adding small print. Zodiac is even worse to deal with on warranties though and their stuff is way over priced yet only slightly better built than Mercury!

I bought an AB and have not had one problem in six years. In fact I have not even added air to it in two years. It still looks like new and shows NO signs of wear!! I once lost the o-ring for the floor drain and they sent me one at no cost and I had it in three days! With Zodiac that would have taken three months..

Achiles, Caribe & AB are all good companies to deal with but the lead goes to Achiles. I'll never ever buy another Zodiac product and that includes their sister companies like Brig, Avon & Bombard...

[jojo999]

I found some pretty good deals on used boats at Argo Boat Company.
They don't have most inflatables in stock but they can order then fairly quickly and at incredibly low prices

[waterworldly]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Bad news on Mercury not standing behind their products:

I have been eyeballing a Merc 310 Airfloor, hypalon dink. 10 years warranty of witch the last 5 are prorated.

The warranty seems pretty impressive on paper, but not so in reality if they ignore it. Time to call a lawyer..

This dealer says he is the biggest in the world, prices are good....

http://www.bustersmarine.com/inflatable_airdeck.html

The lawyer will cost more than the dink.