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On July 28, 2007 we went to Boat Tunes located at 307 N Goldenrod Road, Orlando, FL. We were looking for a used lower unit for a Mercury 115 hp. The sales person, Dave, had us look at several diagrams to try and figure out what type of motor we had. We were unsure, so we offered to go and get the serial numbers to verify. He told us not to worry and to come and look at a used one he had in stock. We did, and it looked good and the price seemed reasonable.
We attempted to call our repair man at that point to verify it would work with our motor and could not contact him. We again were leaving to get the serial numbers and Dave said not to worry about it that if it wasn't the right one to come and see him and he would take care of us.
We proceeded to pay for the transaction and Dave handed us an itemized receipt. Next to the sale of the used part was used part, no warranty, sold as is, No returns on used parts. We were concerned about this and asked Dave. His reply was basically for us not to worry that if it was the wrong one to come see him and he would take care of it.
A few days later our repairman went to install the part and it was not the correct part for our motor. He took it himself up to Boat Tunes to get a refund back to our credit card. He was told by Dave that there was NO WAY they could return it and it was non-refundable. We went back on August 11, 2007 and Dave was not there. We were again told we could not get a refund and must call the manager. We tried several times over the next few weeks to contact Richard and finally contacted him on 8/31. He told us he would check into it and get back with us. On Tuesday the 4th of September he did call back and told us they would refund it but we would have to pay a restock fee. I was in the middle of a meeting when I took Richard's call and did not want to argue the point at this time.
My wife went to return the part the same day and tried to explain that it was unfair to pay a restock fee since it was the sales person who not only sold us the wrong part but lied to the manager saying we had left and got our serial number. ( If we had, we would not have the wrong part) He then admitted to another manager that he did say he would take care of it but meant that we had to buy another part from him , and guess what... he had one for twice the money. If we bought this part we could get a full refund with no restock fee.
After being without a boat for over a month (and we are on the lake just about everyday), having to make phone call after phone call, making several trips to the store why would we or anybody else ever want to purchase anything from Boat Tunes!
We believe the sales person was just out to make a quick buck and told us whatever he had to to make the sale. As far as the unknown named manager my wife spoke with today, he took the side of his lying sales person.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Brought in my outboard motor with a bent prop blade and trouble gear shifting.
They replaced prop which was justified, but completely misdiagnosed the shift problem.
They knew prop shaft had been hit, thus problem would be in lower unit.
They however pulled the power unit to look at shift linkage.
After spending 475.00 and 3 weeks, waiting on insignificant parts, problem still there. Unable to shift properly.
Do not ever go there because they do not know what they are doing. The owner Bob is supposed to be cerified mechanic by Mercury and Yamaha, but missed my problem completely.
after running up the bill for $ 500 dollars i was told needs gear shaft repair, estimated at around $ 750 and is not worth it on my motor. do not ever go there unless u like to be ripped off.
boat tune rebuilt my mec 200 about a year and a half ago.it cost me 5, 654.68.i have like 40 hours on the new head.the first time i put it in the water the flywheel almost flew off.i found out 8 months later that the starter was on wrong, the oil linkage was on backwards, and that there were no plugs on the bleeders.yesterday the #2 piston went.bob the owner said.and i quote`sometimes mech forget a bolt or nut here and there.it happens he said.i found out after my rebuild that he had a young man do the work on my motor.the day i picked up my boat the kid was packing his tools and leaving.i asked Bob if he was going to do the right thing and fix my boat.he sais since i had taken it to another shop i should just let them fix it.i will make sure that everyone knows what a joke this place is.i will picket.take out an add, whatever it takes to let orlando know about these crooks.
This is by far the worst place for ANYTHING boating wise. Customer service does not exsits. I worked here for 3 weeks and personally watched the owner cuss out employees and call almost every customer dumb idiots when they had a problem or issue. I saw 2 customers boats get damaged by the owner Bob himself. His response was give them a 100 dollars in credit or tell them to take the boat somewhere else. Both boats were bought new at boat tune. In the 3 weeks I worked there I saw 3 employees quit. One started after I did. How this business is still around is anyone's guess. If you like to be given the run around and treated horribly go to boat tune. If not go to BMC or boat tree or any where but boat tune. If I could give it 0 stars or a negative I would
I had a very POOR experience with Boat Tune. They added cost to my estimate without prior communication and damaged my lower unit with a torch. They offered to repair their damage, only, if I paid additional for it. All for an impeller change on a perfectly working motor. Like many others here, I've owned several boats over 25+ years, and this was the first marina in which I've ever put in a negative report. I did agree on one item with the owner, when I stated I would not be back he agreed I shouldn't, since they couldn't perform to my standards. My standards include good communication, quality work and responsibility. None of which I felt were met. I do understand why they were able to get my boat in the week before Memorial Day when 2 other companies were not, now. I thought I got lucky, not so much, now.
Every one is right on about boat tune.Bob the owner will up charge you on every thing.I f the part will not fit he sold you .Bob will charge you a fee to restock. Bad business in every way.His best sales guy was let go after he up dated his sales team.His sales guys were being short handed on pay out on boats sales .That is just wrong in every way.Bob has a lot to learn about good business .I don't see how they stay in business.
After reading all of these posts it appears as though most of the boaters are new to the industry. When people get into boating they should desire to learn enough about their boat and motor so they can talk the talk. It is the Marine Dealerships responsibility to act somewhat as a fiduciary. This is critical because if the dealership isnt willing to place the needs of the inexperienced boater ahead of is immediate financial gain then why on earth would anyone stay in boating as a fun thing when they are being preyed upon. I have worked very closely with various traditional Marine mom and pop dealerships over the years. I learned many years ago that the only way for the boating public to be properly taken care of is to find legitimate dealerships with factory support and a long standing reputation. The rescent economic downturn combined with manufacturers desire to build sales has led to an explosion of independent
repair options. Many times these boaters try someone new for convenience sake only to end writing another of many bad reviews. The industry also has a responsibility to see that reputable dealerships are the prime source of information as well as parts. Tradionally parts were sold by a local dealer who everyone new well as they frequented the local diners or stores etc. All of this worked very well to maintain and foster a rewarding boating experience. The internet along with ultimate quest for the almighty dollar has created a wild west ghetto mentality of doing business that leaves the boating public bewildered and distrustfull. I have seen In my life the actual backsliding of an industry that was once a private club that one would rely on the relationship to avoid the pitfalls many on this page now experience.
RIP OFF ARTISTS! Victor the service manager should do jail time, he is a smooth talker who only wants your money, no concern for his customers. I just had the worst experience of my Boating life! I brought my boat there be cause it would not start, it turned over, cranked, but would not start. I brought it to Boat Tune for them to diagnose the issue. First they told me me my fuel pump was not working, then they told me my computer was not working, by the way my computer is now out dated and they needed to up grade the computer, then they replaced my computer without authorization from me a $2, 000 part apparently. They disconnected my Thru Hull Exhaust System and told me that they could not hook it back up because it might be the problem. Victor called me up to then tell me my boat had been hit by lightening and that I should call my insurance company to make a claim so it would be covered. Here is the funny part. My boat has been stored in a warehouse so how was it hit by lightening. While this was going on one of the service guys Ryan (Who does not know the first thing about boats) called me and told me that he recommended that I do do the GOLD Service which was an additional $1300.00 and I told him that I did not want that service because the boat did not even start. They had my boat for 8 weeks and still does not start.
I was so mad that all of this was going on that I decided to pick my boat up. Amazingly I have not heard from the owner of this company, Victor did call me only to confirm that I had picked up the boat and to ask for $2800.00 for boat that still does not start! I just received a papers that they are going to sue me for the money! Amazing! I am going to sue them for damaging my boat further!
This place is the biggest rip-off for marine "mechanics" I've ever seen. They always try to up charge, you never get an actual estimate that they stick to and they always come back with an additional problem that they were "unaware" of. After they burned me the second time I'm done with them. Avoid at all costs. I'm not going to write the entire account of my experience because it would take several pages, suffice it to say they charged me several hundred dollars to do something I didn't ask and they gave me back a worthless box of disassembled parts, oh they did offer to reassemble it for several hundred more dollars, uhhh no thanks. RIPP-OFF! AVOID!
I have also been a victim of BoatTune. Even after signing an estimate, they wanted to "upcharge" me for putting my engine on a computer because their salesman mistakenly listed the wrong engine on the estimate. I agreed to pay the "upcharge" if they agreed to perform on the contract as promised, and put my engine on the computer. Their computer scan could not read my engine. We were told by the salesman that their software might need to be updated. I was asked to pay for the entire service, including the upcharge, even though their computer would not read my engine. To add insult to injury, one of the gentleman cracked my engine cowling. While he admitted it was his fault for cracking my cowling, he did not offer to fix it or pay to have it repaired. Needless to say, my boat is in another shop, with a computer scan that worked, and having the cowling fixed. Thanks a lot BoatTune. I immediately stopped payment on my funds, and have reported them to the BBB. I would never recommend taking your boat there.
I'm reluctant to even give them two stars. Only reason they are getting that is because the sales people are super friendly and rather knowledgeable. Their service is horrid. I gave them my list of what I could afford to do and what needed to be done, and of course with any other problems noticed to notify me accordingly. They never notified me of anything. They returned the boat to me with the spark plugs not seated at all. I spun them out by hand. They never finished de-carbonizing the motor because they could not run it with the spark plugs not seated ($80 not completed). Considering my boat had the original water pump kit from the factory (7 years old) I told them to replace it and flush the motor because it was not circulating water properly ($215 partially completed). They did not flush it because the motor was never run to check if the problem was solved. I brought the boat back to them telling them about the problem. They said if it was something they did, they would take care of it. Otherwise it was going to be an additional $200.
I could've easily just ran the motor and blew it up, instead I told them about the problem not asking for anything at all. Then noticing another problem once I ran the motor, and bringing it back, it's like nothing mattered. I spent over $400 dollars replacing my trailer lights and services rendered there. Which I'm not even sure that my lower unit oil was even replaced.
My processes from now on will and always will be buying parts from them, but never paying for any service to be done again.
The old salesman, Dave, is not working at Boat Tune anymore. There is a new sales guy named Nathan working there. I went in the other day and he was a tremendous help. He knew about all the boats and the engines and was extremely helpful to my family and I. Obviously that Dave guy wasn't a good sales person and so they have replaced him with a very knowledgable, kind, young man. I suggest giving this place another try!
so you didn't have the proper info to get the right parts, you blamed the parts people. you had a mobile cheapo mechanic put the parts on . why don't you grow up and have a real repair place fix it and provide the parts? why would you involve two parties to do such a minor repair. you tried to save money and it back fired, you got what you deserved.
Hey you [censor] I know bob leatherman owner of boat tune and his broher glen who owns abc marines and been working for glen for 2 years. Hey are helpful and helped me out she I had no job or place to live. Hey aren't bad guys trying to make a quick buck. They take there time with people to try to help them out. If it wasn't for glen I wouldn't be At mmi or wherebi am at right now. It's usually the customers fault when something goes wrong that is why you should always double check before you make a transaction and or have a written and signed statement
This is typical! I was having my boat serviced and asked them to put an outdrive lock on for me. If you are familiar, they just unscrew one nut and screw on the lock. About a 2 minute job. They charged me a half hour labor, around $40. I asked why it was so expensive to install considering I was doing my other services in their shop. The service manger told me they had to tap the threads for it to fit. I walked out to the garage when the service manager wasn't looking and asked the mechanic who worked on my boat if he had to tap the threads. He said no and confirmed it just screwed right on. Needless to say, they would not take the labor for that off the bill.