Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

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Chalkmine
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Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#1 Post by Chalkmine » Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:20 am

I would like some advice and maybe a little piece of mind regarding a boat I bought in July of 2018. Maybe I am being unreasonable or maybe the manufacturer is, but that’s why I am here.

A little of the back story......I bought a brand new Crest Savannah with a 350hp Suzuki from a dealer in Ohio (no local dealers) and drove it to my lake home in Mississippi. Upon arrival I realized that there was something wrong with the boat the minute I pulled it off the trailer. Dashboard lights were blinking, steering sensor alarm was giving warnings, engine rpm wasn’t getting high enough to pull a skier, radio server was losing connection, and battery gauge wasn’t working.

I immediately thought that it was a ground wire issue and checked all the connections. Everything was secure but the boat was still having multiple issues. The dealer from Ohio sent their mechanic down to try and fix the boat with no luck. In this time we put 8 engine hours on the boat testing and trying to use it.

I talk with a man named Ernie from crest (who was a super nice guy) and he assured me they would get the boat fixed and he advised me to take the boat to harbor point marina in Alabama to have it worked on because that’s where crest wanted it taken. I loaded the boat up and took a 4 your one way drive to take the boat to get it fixed.

In the meantime while my boat is getting fixed.....mastercraft has purchased crest and Ernie is fired. Fast forward to today....December 5th of
2018 and I still don’t have my boat back.

As a consumer (who paid cash for the boat), I feel crest needs to either give us our money back, sell the boat, or give us a 2019 in return.

The Vice President offered us an identical 2019 crest but we have to pay 29k additional with the trade of our boat. The marina has also offered to help us sale it with a 10 percent commission added on (which I understand) but I feel crest should pay that.

As a consumer, I don’t feel like I should have to take a brand new boat back that has been such a lemon after 6 months of not working when the 2019s are out. Am I wrong thinking the manufacturer should take care of the consumer who buys a new boat and doesn’t get to use it for 6 months?

I would love to hear people’s opinions and maybe let people know what I am going through before people consider purchasing crest products.

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FLOUNDERPOUNDER225
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#2 Post by FLOUNDERPOUNDER225 » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:18 am

Have they identified the problem? Are they confident of the fix, maybe waiting on parts? If they fix your new boat and everything works as it should they should compensate you for your lost time with the boat, something like a couple annual services paid for, or some additional accessory that you might like etc... Legally I don't think they owe anything, it should be incumbent on them to take care of their customers. if they can't correctly fix your boat, and refuse to take care of you, now that's a different animal, and you have legal rights to enforce on them, with a lawyer if it comes to that, but I doubt it will. Boats are not Cars and the dealerships are not legally bound to manufactures as such, that's why people don't understand why warranty work is not treated the same at the boat dealership as say "XYZ Chevrolet Dealership" Good luck with this issue.
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BobL
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#3 Post by BobL » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:26 pm

Sorry to hear this.

One thing that stuck out is they want your boat plus $29k for an "identical" 2019 model? That seems crazy and if true, that offer is a slap in the face.

A few questions.

1 - What does the dealer in Alabama say about getting it fixed? Have they found the problem? Time frame? It is under warranty so Crest is legally responsible for fixing it. As mentioned, Lemon Laws do not apply to boats.

2 - If you don't have your boat back and working within the X weeks, I would get with the selling dealer (Ohio) and start asking for contact names inside of Crest. Start first with the regional sales rep for Crest then start moving up the chain. The dealer in Alabama has no finaincial skin in the game so they have no incentive to help. If the regional rep is no help, then start moving up the chain. After a little research, it appears that the CEO was Joe Curran and the COO Pat May (prior to being sold). Even though Mastercraft Holdings purchased them, I would imagine a lot of the Senior Management is still in place.

I would not get lawyers involved until you feel you have exhausted all options. Once anyone starts hearing the word "Lawyer", then they start to clam up and generally become less helpful.

Call, email, and write letters to every Crest contact you can get. If nothing happens then get the lawyers invovled.
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Oldchuck
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#4 Post by Oldchuck » Thu Dec 06, 2018 3:58 pm

Sorry to hear your pain. You have reason to be upset and angry.
I agree with contacting every Employee in the Crest food chain and keep documentation. Most companies do not want an unhappy customer to hurt future boat sales. I agree that they need to fix the boat at NO cost to you and in New condition and in a timely manner.
If all else fails, I would also do as suggested and get an attorney involved but only after all else has been tried as they will shut down waiting for their legal dept to sort things out. I think you will get satisfaction and a fixed boat but may not compensate for all the heartburn you have and will suffer in the process...

Maybe a lesson learned for all of us is to research all companies before we buy and try to ascertain the best we can how solent they are. Sometimes it may be difficult or impossible but some companies have been around for decades, have scores of dealerships, are still leading the pack and perhaps are the safest bet....

Keep us posted on your progress as we can all learn..

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steve1313
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#5 Post by steve1313 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 3:10 pm

This sounds like the start of a nightmare that probably won't end soon. But I've got to ask the OP.. Did you put the boat in the water and do a thorough shakedown cruise before you left Ohio? If it ran fine there and has all these problems now, you may have a tougher time because the boat was in good working order when you accepted it.
Steve
"Serendipity" - 2017 Sweetwater 2286 WB Tritoon w/ 150HP Yamaha
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Marc K
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#6 Post by Marc K » Fri Dec 07, 2018 3:53 pm

My thought process:
- Your dealer in Ohio was happy to take your money.
- Now he needs to step up to the plate. That's his job as the guy between the factory and the consumer.
- He is fully capable of buying your boat back at the price that you paid, or fixing it.
- Do not let him off the hook by allowing him to deflect to the manufacturer.
- HE sold you a defective product.
- Your dealer has a better chance of navigating the corporate maze at Crest, than you do. That is his function, he does it daily.

Importantly:
- Your dealer will hurt more from negative reports than the manufacturer will. The internet megaphone is powerful.
- This is your most powerful weapon.
- A good tech could diagnose the problem and fix it. It really isn't brain surgery.

Document every conversation by asking for an email confirming what is said by both sides.
This is avoid the BS of "He said, She said"

I feel for you - it is indeed a nightmare.

Marc
Big and ugly but we love our 1999/2000 Crest II DL with a Yamaha F115

Chalkmine
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#7 Post by Chalkmine » Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:15 pm

Just an update on this boat. As of today the current Vice President of crest has yet to even return our phone call or repond to our emails. He strictly doesn’t care. My boat is still at the dealership and a resolution has not been met. We have called and emailed weekly and he simply ignores the consumer.

At this point I would strongly advise not to buy a Crest product.

The dealer has fixed the boat but crest has not done anything they said they were going to do since the previous management was let go. We are stuck in limbo.

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bansil
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#8 Post by bansil » Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:16 pm

They fixed the boat?do you have it? Did you seatrial it?

If you have it and it runs good...walk away and enjoy your boat.

It definitely is electrical
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Marc K
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#9 Post by Marc K » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:06 pm

So, if I understand correctly:

You paid cash for the boat in November and it was faulty from first use.
Crest is telling you to go to Hell.
Your boat is at the dealer's location.
Your boat is now fixed.

Does this summarize it correctly? If so, I would be all kinds of pissed off.

Marc
Big and ugly but we love our 1999/2000 Crest II DL with a Yamaha F115

riplipper
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#10 Post by riplipper » Sun Feb 24, 2019 3:29 am

If the boat is fixed and running well, go enjoy it. I would ask what the initial issue was, just in case it happens again.
As mentioned above, the selling dealer is the one to help you deal with anything Crest related.

I feel your pain, sounds like a nightmare, but this is a lesson for all, buy local for this very reason.
I am the guy at the boat ramp that gives you dirty looks when you are a complete idiot and too stupid to know it.

kelley2403
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#11 Post by kelley2403 » Sun Feb 24, 2019 7:30 am

There are a couple of different Facebook pages associated with Crest. I would post on every pontoon page I could find. The dealer probably will have a Yelp page. I would go on there and post. Just state what has happened, don’t go crazy on the manufacturer yet. These guys check these pages daily ( I know we do ) and once you start getting a few bad reviews they will have to respond. I’d try google also. Good luck I hope all turns out well.

Chalkmine
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#12 Post by Chalkmine » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:57 am

The boat was bought New in JULY. We lost our entire latter half of boating season dealing with this. We did pay cash for it in 2018 and have a year old boat we have never got to enjoy. What we were promised from the previous management of crest is not what has happened. The boat is fixed but the VP of crest has dodged our calls and email for 2 months. It was finally “fixed” in December but we will not pick it up until a resolution is met. What’s a slap in the face is they offered us the same boat in 2019 if we brought 25k to the table.

I wish I could go into more specifics but I am being told not to devulge at this moment. All I am saying.......is don’t buy a Crest because there are much better companies to deal with than these guys.

As for the dealers, they couldn’t be nicer and I would highly recommend either one but not for a crest boat. The dealer I bought the boat from has dropped Crest for reasons that probably shouldn’t be mentioned.

I will keep everyone updated on whether they chose to do the right thing or not.

Chalkmine
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#13 Post by Chalkmine » Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:24 pm

Correction to earlier post. They want 29k boot for us to upgrade to a 2019. All while we have a brand new 2018 we bought in the middle of boating season that we have never got to use. Talk about pouring salt in the wounds.

I found there Facebook page. Thanks for that advice and I will use it if needed.

Chalkmine
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#14 Post by Chalkmine » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:08 am

Now Crest has offered us $2,400 dollars if we sign a legal document saying they are basically not responsible. What a great company they are proving to be. Attached is the document.
Attachments
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BobL
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Re: Advice on Crest Savannah Tritoon

#15 Post by BobL » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:32 am

That document does not appear to be anything but hush money for you to not "disparage" Crest or the dealer(s). They are trying to pay you to keep your mouth shut on social media and I assume that is a pretty standard document. All the other hold harmless stuff is pretty standard from a legal standpoint (even if you were not having problems).

So just to recap my understanding of the situation....

* You are in Mississippi.
* You buy the boat from dealer O in Ohio.
* You get home and there are problems.
* Dealer O sends someone from their place to try to fix it and can't.
* Crest gets involved and tells you to take it to dealer A in Alabama.
* Your contact inside Crest (a nice guy) gets fired or laid off.
* At some point, your boat gets fixed.
* You like both dealers and think they have been fair.
* I assume your boat is now fixed?

If all the above is correct, then do you still want something from Crest or the dealers (i.e. money for not being able to use the boat, new boat, etc.?)?

You justifiably have the red ass but you need to decide what you want. You have a bad taste in your mouth (and I understand) over a toy and you need to decide what, if anything, will make the bad taste go away. I highly doubt they will give you a new boat and I highly doubt $2,400 will make you happy. Even if you take the $2,400, it is likely you have been "blacklisted" and neither Dealer O or Dealer A will want to do you a lot of favors if something else goes wrong (even if Dealer O and A are nice right now, Crest will likely not help them out with your boat in the future).

I think the bottom line, they (Crest and possibly the dealers) want you to go away and I assume you want out.

My $0.02 is pay for 2 hours of an attorney's time and see if he/she can work with them to buy your boat back. If that does not work then get some kind of extended and TRANSFERRABLE warranty on your current boat then ask them to give you more than the $2400 initial offer (don't ask for something unreasonable - just enough to break even on your trade) and go trade your boat in on something else (obviously not another Crest).

Their position is the boat is fixed (again, I assume it is fixed), Dealer O came to you and then they arranged for Dealer A to fix it. While not on your time frame, they did what they were supposed to do from a legal standpoint (again, assuming my understanding of the chain of events is correct).

I think it SUCKS what happened (and is happening) but keep a cool head for now.

Crest should have stepped up to the plate but my assumption is the attorneys at MasterCraft Holdings (a publicly held company) have jumped in and are doing the legal thing and not the moral thing.
SOLD - 2009 20' Bentley w/4 Stroke 90hp Mercury
SOLD - 2011 SouthBay 522CR w/115 4 Stroke Mercury
2014 Xcursion 23RF XS package w/150 4 Stroke Mercury

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