My marina was supposed to wash my boat... Painted it too what would you do?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Every boat that is hauled at any yard for any reason is typically pressure washed while in the slings. They do not remove paint uneccessarily. A bottom that is in good condition will go back in the same way.

Last two times I hauled, at two different yards, one in FL one in NY, pressure washing the boat as soon as it came out of the water was not optional. And yes the paint remained on the boat.

[paulanthony]

Originally Posted by Dehler 25

In Florida as probably other states as they seem to copy legislation from each other, an estimate has no binding restriction when it comes to boats. If you get a repair estimate on a car they are obligated by law to inform you if the repair exceeds the estimate by an established amount. I had an estimate on keel work for $2500-$3000 depending on what was involved for the removal. They exceeded the estimate by $7000 and not one word as to the increase until I was presented the bill and there was no recourse for me other than to pay. At the very least you have a fresh bottom.

This is a big hit... We expect estimates to run 10 - 15% over no more. This is too much. I would have been embarrassed to present you the bill.

The trouble is when they strip it down and then inform you of the revised price you can't really decide not to continue and take your boat home with a bag of bits either. Your snookered and they have you by the short and curley's.

I think we should hold these service providers to fixed price supply then that way they will start to get their estimates a bit more accurate.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by PrairieBones

I asked my Marina to haul and wash my boat. They were backed up. This was about three weeks ago.

Today I got a Voicemail saying they hauled it, washed it and painted it, and tried to upsell me on a cutlass bearing (my boat was surveyed last year I was told the bearing is going but will last another few years.)

I didn't call them back yet, what should I do?

I don't want to pay for it. There was no service forms or anything signed. I bought the boat two years ago and was told it had 'long term' five year paint on it, which was confirmed? By the surveyor...

Two points :

1) There is no such thing as long term five year paint.

2) I am surprised that a surveyor is willing to tell you that a failing cutlass bearing will last another few years. I would say anything more than an hour or two would be good going. Still, it's not as though it could sink the boat, is it? Oh......

With the greatest of respect, I think you need to wise up as a customer.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by paulanthony

This is a big hit... We expect estimates to run 10 - 15% over no more. This is too much. I would have been embarrassed to present you the bill.

The trouble is when they strip it down and then inform you of the revised price you can't really decide not to continue and take your boat home with a bag of bits either. Your snookered and they have you by the short and curley's.

I think we should hold these service providers to fixed price supply then that way they will start to get their estimates a bit more accurate.

Paul, there are different kinds of work. If you go to a boatyard that doesn't know exactly how much it costs, for example, to bottom paint a boat, X, Y or Z coats, then you are in the wrong place.

OTOH, there are some jobs that require either destructive or non-destructive demolition to determine what needs to be repaired.

The issue, like all businesses are three basic ones: business sense (cost and schedule), technical skill (not always a given in boating or any other business) and communication.

As consumers, we sometimes tend to get trapped into the "but if I don't use him I have to start over" syndrome. Or: all boatyards and boat workers are crooks and scoundrels. I haven't found that at all.

It's a two way street.

While I now have some time available to me, even when I was working full time, I never had my boat hauled out when I wasn't there (in over 35 years of boating here). Not everyone, of course, has this "luxury," but just think of the improved communications that could have occurred had the OP been there when they hauled his boat.

[darylat8750]

At a yard near Baltimore they had a price listed for picking the boat up, power wash and relaunch. If you found something you needed to do the price went up if you needed more than an hour. A lot of commercial and police boats did that and I saw several private boats do it about mid summer.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Every boat that is hauled at any yard for any reason is typically pressure washed while in the slings. They do not remove paint uneccessarily. A bottom that is in good condition will go back in the same way.

If pressure washing did get the paint off, I could have saved about $3000 on that bottom paint stripping job.

[paulanthony]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Paul, there are different kinds of work. If you go to a boatyard that doesn't know exactly how much it costs, for example, to bottom paint a boat, X, Y or Z coats, then you are in the wrong place.

OTOH, there are some jobs that require either destructive or non-destructive demolition to determine what needs to be repaired.

The issue, like all businesses are three basic ones: business sense (cost and schedule), technical skill (not always a given in boating or any other business) and communication.

As consumers, we sometimes tend to get trapped into the "but if I don't use him I have to start over" syndrome. Or: all boatyards and boat workers are crooks and scoundrels. I haven't found that at all.

It's a two way street.

While I now have some time available to me, even when I was working full time, I never had my boat hauled out when I wasn't there (in over 35 years of boating here). Not everyone, of course, has this "luxury," but just think of the improved communications that could have occurred had the OP been there when they hauled his boat.

I know what you mean..

Effective communication at all junctures is the key with a responsibility for such on being on both sides.

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

While I now have some time available to me, even when I was working full time, I never had my boat hauled out when I wasn't there (in over 35 years of boating here). Not everyone, of course, has this "luxury," but just think of the improved communications that could have occurred had the OP been there when they hauled his boat.

We only have experience with one boatyard (survey haulout and bottom job) so far, but I found them to be like most car mechanics, wondering why they had to talk to this woman. Any service provider who has spent any time with both of us will quickly realize that I know more about our boat than he does - his very high paying job has given me the luxury of being a full time boat babe and I have put in the research and the sweat equity to earn that right. I also have better communication skills than he does for this kind of thing. But at the boatyard, it is all eyerolls and "We know what we are doing, lady, let us do it." Come to think of it, the diesel mechanic was the same way.

Anyway, this attitude makes effective communication really hard. To the point that I sometimes need to tell my partner what we need and send him to talk to people. You know it is bad when a game of telephone is your best hope for communication.

[Stu Jackson]

That is really a shame. Pure male chauvinistic stupidity.

Just remind 'em of the hundreds of women who do things they'd never even dream of: astronauts, pilots, skippers (like you!), etc.

Then there's also this: I am the customer.

Works (sometimes) for even us guys!

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Greenhand

We only have experience with one boatyard (survey haulout and bottom job) so far, but I found them to be like most car mechanics, wondering why they had to talk to this woman. Any service provider who has spent any time with both of us will quickly realize that I know more about our boat than he does - his very high paying job has given me the luxury of being a full time boat babe and I have put in the research and the sweat equity to earn that right. I also have better communication skills than he does for this kind of thing. But at the boatyard, it is all eyerolls and "We know what we are doing, lady, let us do it." Come to think of it, the diesel mechanic was the same way.

Anyway, this attitude makes effective communication really hard. To the point that I sometimes need to tell my partner what we need and send him to talk to people. You know it is bad when a game of telephone is your best hope for communication.

[paulanthony]

Originally Posted by Greenhand

We only have experience with one boatyard (survey haulout and bottom job) so far, but I found them to be like most car mechanics, wondering why they had to talk to this woman. Any service provider who has spent any time with both of us will quickly realize that I know more about our boat than he does - his very high paying job has given me the luxury of being a full time boat babe and I have put in the research and the sweat equity to earn that right. I also have better communication skills than he does for this kind of thing. But at the boatyard, it is all eyerolls and "We know what we are doing, lady, let us do it." Come to think of it, the diesel mechanic was the same way.

Anyway, this attitude makes effective communication really hard. To the point that I sometimes need to tell my partner what we need and send him to talk to people. You know it is bad when a game of telephone is your best hope for communication.

Is "he does" your husband? You can't complain that people have a sexist attitude towards you and then immediately reinforce a negative stereotype by referring to yourself as a "boat babe" - It is intellectually dishonest!

[bmz]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

At a yard near Baltimore they had a price listed for picking the boat up, power wash and relaunch. If you found something you needed to do the price went up if you needed more than an hour. A lot of commercial and police boats did that and I saw several private boats do it about mid summer.

What was the price? I have found that in the Annapolis area it costs half as much to have a diver scrape the bottom--and do a better job; that's why a don't understand why anyone would have a boat hauled just for a wash.

[darylat8750]

Originally Posted by bmz

What was the price? I have found that in the Annapolis area it costs half as much to have a diver scrape the bottom--and do a better job; that's why a don't understand why anyone would have a boat hauled just for a wash.

I don't recall the price. I was there a couple of years ago and I didn't need to have it done.

[FastCruiser]

Originally Posted by skipmac

OK, guess I'm confused. How do you haul a boat?

What I was refering to was to wash the boat, it dosent need to be hauled, the bottom can be scrubbed with the boat in the water,

Hauling the boat to wash the bottom is a waste of money when it can be done in the water by yourself or a diver if you dont want to get your feet wet.

[hellosailor]

No written contract? No written estimate?


then I doubt the yard could seize the boat, or enforce any type of lien against it. Those states that allow oral contracts to be enforced generally want some reason to believe the contract existed, and any business that is not using written work orders or contracts is trying to play games anyway. Like saying "No, we didn't drop your boat, we never had any work order telling us to lift it. Aliens came down in the middle of the night and abducted it!"


Perhaps, since they are so overloaded and backed up, offer them a way out and say "Are you sure you called the right guy? The right boat? I just asked for the haul and wash, I never asked for bottom paint. I'm certain of that."


If the boat really needed paint and I wanted to keep using the marina, I might offer to pay them for the paint--not at retail but at market price--and not the labor.


If they tried to seize the boat or lien it, I'd remind them that doing either could be grossly & criminally illegal. I had a little problem with a tow yard once, and when I suggested that the car was titled property, that I HAD the title, and that the local state police barracks was fifteen minutes away, all of a sudden they could release the car without any problem.


A cash business with no receipts and work orders can be nice, but a boatyard has no business doing things that way.

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by paulanthony

You can't complain that people have a sexist attitude towards you and then immediately reinforce a negative stereotype by referring to yourself as a "boat babe" - It is intellectually dishonest!

If you want to be intellectual about it, it is an ironic redefining of the term when coupled with "research and sweat equity" in the same sentence.