These are just many of the issues that I have faced or am facing at the moment. We really like the style/design/ride of the boat and initially had nothing but great things to say about our experience with Tidewater, however these types of issues show where Tidewater is lacking in their Quality control process and overall customer service. Lee at Tidewater has been a really nice person throughout this process however I am beginning to see that he has no real control or say over what happens when issues arise. Below are the issues that I have had to deal with with no real support/resolution from Tidewater, our dealer has been great in taking care of things that they can control but when it comes to Tidewater their support/customer service is sub par.
Rear Floor hatch damaged air in fiberglass (This has been an ongoing issue since August of 2017 right after we purchased the boat. Per Tidewater the mold for this piece had been retired. Tidewater stated in Jan. when the boat was dropped off for the 100hr service that they needed my hatch sent back to them to re-create the mold with no ETA of when this would be complete. The boat sat with no hatch for 2 weeks and then after going to Tidewater direct it was suggested that the dealer put a piece of wood or something else over the hole in the deck so that we could use the boat. Obviously this was not a safe solution so Lee (Tidewater Customer Service) offered to drive a temporary hatch down while the new one was being molded. We picked the boat up that Saturday and were assured that the new hatch would be ready the following week. 2 weeks later no news from Tidewater so I called and it was almost as if they (Lee) had not idea who I was or what I was calling about. After much discussion about the floor hatch and then again the model of our boat (even though they had the hull ID) he finally figured out what was going on and assured me that the new hatch would be delivered that same week. The hatch was delivered on Friday and upon opening the box Tidewater had drilled a
You should post this on The Hull Truth. There’s 3 or 4 threads about how ****ty those boats are and how bad the CS is. Resale is taking a hit and I cannot imagine what the new sales are doing. TW is blaming dealers but there’s way too many issues all over for it to be the dealers.
There’s one thread over there where the guy’s gel coat looks like Swiss cheese, Boat hull has a serious hook and the trim tabs were mounted with a caulk gun and a hatchet. On a $100k Boat.
Mark
Southport 28TE
2X Yamaha F250
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
I would try contacting Boat US as well. They have a strong consumer advocacy presence and close the gap between manufacturers and buyers. In some instances when they don’t get the answers they want they go public.
An air bubble in your lid is caused by poor lamination by an employee and poor inspection by finishing and quality control. Surprised it made it through two different lines. But they should be able to produce you a new lid in a matter of a day or two. And they probably have two different molds for that part. They shouldn’t have had to recreate a mold for your lid. They use that mold to produce that lid for every boat they build. So they are feeding you so BS on that one in my opinion.
Mark
Southport 28TE
2X Yamaha F250
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
I want to be fair to Tidewater at this point, They have reached out to me and have agreed to get the boat back to the factory to assess the issues mentioned above. We will see how this goes and hopefully see a negative turn into a positive. I feel at this point that it is fair to give them the opportunity to make this right however a brand new boat with these issues should have not been allowed to leave the factory in the first place. I will continue to update as we go through this process.
The only reason they reached out to you is because you posted it on THT and they’re getting slammed again. It’s hitting them where it counts. Good luck getting it all fixed.
Mark
Southport 28TE
2X Yamaha F250
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
I have posted it here, THT and tidewaterowners. Hopefully we have some good resolution out of this. I cannot imagine a boat mfg that leaves their customers high and dry will continue to flourish. All they have to do is do the right thing by people spending their hard earned dollars on their products and this kind of crap wouldn’t happen. The fact that they are in my home state and are right up the road from me makes me sick to think that products like this are coming out of SC.
I have called Emily at tidewater three times in the last week leaving a msg each time to please give me a call and yet still not return call. how busy can you be not to return a call. i was once told by a business that they had been so busy they had not had time to call so i asked them. “Then i guess you have not used your phone for the six days that i have been leaving msgs.?” he did not know what to say but i did get my issue resolved not long after that. i have no problem letting businesses know about their customer service. i built my professional turf business for almost 40 years on making sure that my customers came first. they were the reason that i was able to buy boats, go on vacations, pay a mortgage and do other things. it is a shame that it is taken for granted anymore. hope you get your issues taken care of shortly.
I always was led to believe that the dealer was to be the middle man between the owner and the manufacturer. Now if the dealer is causing the problems then I understand why youd go directly to the manufacturer.
I have a 2014 230 I think Tidewater’s quality control sucks but I had very little issues like rounded screws low cost stainless. crap like that. I don’t think I would buy another but I still like and use mine. oh they did forget to put the fresh water tank in. but that got done right away. not sure who your dealer is but I bet its Duncans . they did ok by me hope you get all you stuff straight.
another girl. the reason i called the mfg is because i have questions as to the boats description model name etc. it is an older boat so she can help me with this. no idea who this dealer was 11 years ago.
Have not posted here in a bit about these issues, I figured I would give everyone an update. Here we go…………
After many emails and phone calls to both Lee and Jimmy Metts I was able to get Tidewater to agree that the issues that were previously brought up in my first post were legitimate issues and warranted a return to the factory to be remedied. Tidewater agreed to send someone to pickup my boat and take it to the factory to have the warranty repairs taken care of and assured me that the boat would be returned to me in proper condition like it should have been. The boat was picked up Monday morning the 7th of May and guaranteed back to me by Friday the 11th. I called on Wednesday the 9th to see how the progress was coming along on the boat and was told that it had gone through “major surgery” and then asked for an explanation of this. I was informed that the entire t-top frame had been replaced and that the fiberglass work that had to be completed was more involved then they initially thought, etc. and that the boat would not be ready until the following week. I said ok, let’s push it to make sure it is right and I have no more trouble with it. I got an email a week later on the 17th from Lee stating that everything was great and the boat was in good shape stating that Lee himself, the plant manager and some other folks had gone over the boat and it was ready to go, stating they fixed all of the gelcoat issues, replaced cushions, re-did the caulk, repaired the hardtop etc. The boat arrived back the morning of the 18th and I was excited about being able to enjoy it again. Much to my dismay I immediately noticed new gouges in the hull that were not there before it was sent to TW, so naturally I began to scrutinize the boat. I then began to find that the deck cracks were not complete and repaired (some of them blatantly obvious), three additional cushions had holes in them(even the brand new one), the hardtop was not repaired and in fact was damaged further, big gouge in stern area next to trim tab etc. Basica
So, you’re happy with a major investment that isn’t right and has been a complete headache that the manufacturer won’t correctly fix. Makes perfect sense. Also, the more of these issues that keep cropping up with these boats is killing your resale. I feel for you TW owners, this stuff has to be frustrating.
Mark
Southport 28TE
2X Yamaha F250
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne