All,
In the spirit of being honest and balanced, I’d like to close out ‘water heater gate’.
Despite a little pressure being required, our
broker has paid for all of our
repairs.
When we purchased Susan Ann II it was agreed and understood that we’d be sailing around the world and that many of our issues would not be next door to a friendly
Lagoon dealer. As we are frequently on the move, logistically, it’s very difficult to organize support. Our
broker has tried, where possible, to help out but I think that often the response from
Lagoon is “it’s not covered” or more likely “it’s covered by the manufacturer”.
It seems that you buy a Ferrari (I’m by no means suggesting a Lagoon is a Ferrari, however I did 13.5kts today!) and then if the B$O stereo in your Ferrari stops working then it’s your responsibility to contact B&O about your issue and Ferrari play no part in the process. I can’t quite get my
head around this but buyers of new boats will need warranty details for all the major items, it’s defo faster to go direct. This is not a broker specific issue, we have friends who have done the same thing. Our AIS unit was changed out inside a week dealing direct with B&G. From the states to
St Martin. No questions. Good
work B&G! The same with our friends
VHF.
I think that maybe that fact that I’m new to this industry or am feeling isolated as we are a long way from the type of support I’d be used to (there’s no kwikfit / auto repair shop around the corner) that I felt like our warranty wasn’t being upheld as I’d expected.
My
advice is, keep up the communication, be transparent, honest and when you get a ‘no’, keep pushing. It’s a brand
new boat, your dream, it should run perfectly.
In the end, I sourced a new
water heater, fitted it and my broker has reimbursed me the full cost. Which considering our circumstances, is the best I can hope for. It’s faster for me to repair something and keep on with our plans than to have to plan a stop in a marina and book in an
engineer.
Whatever the cause of the issue, I’ve bought a spare anode and will check the water heater in 3 months. (Manual says check anode every 12 months).
Good news is, we have plenty of clean, hot water and all onboard are happy!!!