insane marina charge

[nuru05]

I'm not quite sure what to do here. I had my marina install a Bimini from atlantic towers over the winter and I just got the bill. I knew it was going to be kind of expensive but nothing like this. I spoke to the people at the factory and they said that "2 people should be able to DIY install it in about 1-2 days or 20-30 hours" what I got back from the marina was 51 hours for a total of about $7800. The engineer at the factory looked at a picture of my boat and said it looked like a very simple installation that would be on the easy side of what they see so they should have easily done it in 1-2 days

I don't want to be unreasonable but this seems insane to me. They have all the tools and equipment right at their fingertips and they are a literal boat builder so I would assume they should be able to at least outpace a husband wife combo doing it dockside.

So what do I do, are these things normally up for negotiation? or how do you normally handle these disputes? I don't want to be a dick but I feel like I should pay such a high price for them taking their sweet time to do a very simple job.

[Kettlewell]

So what do I do, are these things normally up for negotiation? or how do you normally handle these disputes? I don't want to be a dick but I feel like I should pay such a high price for them taking their sweet time to do a very simple job.

Too late now, but always get a quote before hand. I would talk to the marina manager about it too. There may be room for negotiation. This is one reason I almost never have the boatyard do any work on my boat. Plus, start looking around for a new marina to go to. I'm in that process now since the boatyard raised their rates by 50% on some services.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by nuru05

..... I spoke to the people at the factory and they said that "2 people should be able to DIY install it in about 1-2 days or 20-30 hours" what I got back from the marina was 51 hours for a total of about $7800.

51hrs / 2 people = 25.5hrs.

The factory said it would take 2 people approximately 20-30 hours. It took two people 25.5 hrs. That seems right on the button.

I don't see where the confusion is coming in. The $152.94/man hour seems like a steep rate, but I assume you asked what their labor rate was going to be ahead of time.

I'm guessing you assumed the labor was at a rate for both guys? That's not usually how labor is billed.

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Too late now, but always get a quote before hand. I would talk to the marina manager about it too. There may be room for negotiation. This is one reason I almost never have the boatyard do any work on my boat. Plus, start looking around for a new marina to go to. I'm in that process now since the boatyard raised their rates by 50% on some services.

They told me they had never done one of these so they didn't know what it would come to, I suppose in hind sight I should have gone a different route. I just assumed it would take about what the factory told me it would. It's not a marina that we stay at we were just passing through on our way south and got stuck there for the winter due to scheduling.

[CSY Man]

Picture of bimini?

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by Shrew

51hrs / 2 people = 25.5hrs.

The factory said it would take 2 people approximately 20-30 hours. It took two people 25.5 hrs. That seems right on the button.

I don't see where the confusion is coming in. The $152.94/man hour seems like a steep rate, but I assume you asked what their labor rate was going to be ahead of time.

I'm guessing you assumed the labor was at a rate for both guys? That's not usually how labor is billed.

No the guy at the factory said it would take 20-30 hours total (10-15 each) I even spoke to him after I got the bill and he said he looked at the pics of my boat and said it should have been half of what they billed me at the most

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Picture of bimini?

https://imgur.com/ssI188A

They hadn't added the legs yet but essentially there are 4 legs that you bolt the feet down and the tops have clamps that clip the pipes of the bimini

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by nuru05

So what do I do, are these things normally up for negotiation? or how do you normally handle these disputes? I don't want to be a dick but I feel like I should pay such a high price for them taking their sweet time to do a very simple job.

It is rather like talking to the umpire in baseball.


You can talk to them and express concern that the charges are unreasonable but there's a fine line---you don't want to overdo it and be seen as a problem customer.


Usually the best outcome you can hope for is that they will be more conservative in their billing in the future. They might take something off the bill, but don't expect it.


You can then decide whether you want to continue to work with them for this sort of thing. You might conclude that you're better off storing the boat for the winter somewhere else that has a reputation for high quality winter maintenance and reasonable prices.

[Thomas1985]

Ouch... unfortunately probably a learning experience. I have been there done that more than once.

If you can do something yourself... do it. Marinas are going to be costly.

At this point I'd tell the marina you are shocked at the cost. See if they will work with you on it. At very least they will likely let you pay in installments.

As a contractor in vertical construction we rather get paid over time than not at all.

[Thomas1985]

Originally Posted by nuru05

https://imgur.com/ssI188A

They hadn't added the legs yet but essentially there are 4 legs that you bolt the feet down and the tops have clamps that clip the pipes of the bimini

On the bright side it’s a nice looking Bimini.

[Kello]

To be Frank (just don't tell my friend Frank ) what is insane is that you aren't a newbie, and you used a MARINA to do the work. That's right up there with using yard employees to work on your boat (other than bottom paint ...). From your limited info and pic I agree that the price is insane - what can you do about it?? Besides , you can use this "failure" as a learning experience: pester the marina to justify the high expense. Likely you will get nowhere, but you will gain experience for how to deal with sh!theads and scheisters. Just remember you might run into any of these people in the future at some other marina or yard.

Otherwise, I'm baffled that any marina would offer the services of working on tenants boats what marina did this happen at?

[kayakerChuck]

Originally Posted by nuru05

They told me they had never done one of these so they didn't know what it would come to,

The workers are paid by the hour, and if they have not done this before, will typically spend a whole bunch of time reading the instructions and looking at similar installs on the internet. It's very bad for them to mess up- if they put a hole in the wrong place, they just created unbillable hours or ran up your bill some more. They probably had to run to the hardware store, etc. (Even well stocked shops don't have everything.)

I run a marine canvas shop. When I'm quoting jobs I have not done before, I very carefully explain that I can't give a good estimate of hours/costs. Then, I will take what seems like a reasonable number and double it. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.

[FlyingScot]

Where are you that the labor per hour is that high?
I'ver personally witnessed two very distinct working speeds from marina employees. One is when the customer is paying without a firm quote (SLOW) and the other is when the marina is eating the bill or it's fixed price (FAST).
It once took 2 guys 3 hours to hang plastic in our salon of our 40 foot catamaran. Guess who was paying...
Those same two guys worked 4 times faster when they had to make a correction when the marina was paying.

[MicHughV]

Marina labor rates are up there these days....in the $150/hr range.....
Marina's will "add on" their fee to allow an outside contractor to work on the boat while at the marina. ie, a contractor may bill the job at $3,000, but if billed thru' the marina can easily double.
All sorts of bs reasons given for this.
Yes, it sucks, but now that you know the game, you'll be better informed next time around.

[Thomas1985]

I’m so spoiled…

Our marina basically said do whatever you want just use vaccum collection and don’t dump the paint chips in the lake