DFM got the job done. It was completed late. They did not charge me for the warranty work. I was disappointed.
Here's are the details:
After the end of the '17 boating season, I trailered my boat 2 hours north back to DFM where I had my boat system installed. While I was never very happy with the install job, it was, at least I thought, at the time a good deal. Having now spoken with no less than 5 other installers, I now believe the cost was actually high for what I got. Regardless, the first time (July of 2016) that I took my boat to DFM the work was done on time and the shop did as they promised. Ultimately it was an okay, job, not great but okay.
During the '17 boating season one of the amps went into protection mode and I took it to a marine stereo shop in Santa Rosa. The 2nd shop tells me to call back to DFM where the work was done as it should be under warranty with DFM. DFM tells me I need to bring the boat in, I argue that it is 4-5 hours round trip for me to get to Lakeport and they agree to let me send the amp to them.
Now this is the first small but important mistake. Had they asked a few more questions they would have been able to tell me that the amp was out of warranty, that even if it was the amp with the issue it could not have been replaced. If they had checked their records (which later they admitted they no longer had) they could have told me that there was almost no warranty work they could have done, as the parts were out of warranty and DFM did not rewire the boat, just install the parts.
They get the amp in the mail, after some number of days and 2 calls fro me, they finally check it and it's fine, so the issue is elsewhere.
This is the second issue, at this point, I really wish they had known that I was not entitled to warranty work and that they should have just sent my amp back to me, then let me get the boat to someone closer to me to have the stereo system serviced.
This is where the issues compound.
The plan with Danny was to drop my boat off to be worked on while I was on a 3 week trip, he said they would handle troubleshooting it between other jobs. When I dropped my boat off for warranty work, we talked about another rather sizable list of things I wanted to have done to the boat stereo, he took notes while we discussed them.
DFM had my boat for the 3 weeks, while I was on my trip. My expectation was that I would get a quote for the upgrades I wanted and updates about the issue I had brought it in for. There was no communication while I was overseas, even though I had stated clearly that they could text or call whenever they like, I would get the communications while I was traveling.
When I get back stateside I call expecting to hear they solved the issue or at least isolated it, and that they had an estimate for the other work we talked about. Instead I hear that they never found time to work on my boat, and that my boat, which I had brought to them freshly detailed and free of any nonessential clutter, had been sitting outside in the rain. This means that my fresh detail was getting ruined by the rain for no purpose, I could have had it safely in it's garage waiting it's turn. They had not done any troubleshooting in the over 3 weeks they had it. I expressed my disappointment and asked them to make it a priority. Some days later they called back having isolated the warranty issue to a faulty speaker.
This was when Danny checked his records. He tells me that he had changed point of sale systems over a year ago. Since they did not keep the records from the legacy system, he had no record of the work he had done on my boat. If he didn't have the records, that meant it was on the old system, as the old system had been replaced over a year ago, logically, my gear was out of warranty. This is the information I wish I had gotten months ago, when this saga began.
To their credit they did isolate the issue, and they did get the rear stereo receiver working, they did not charge me for that work, nor should they have it. Credit to Danny on this point.
In the end it took them over 4 weeks to isolate a short circuited speaker and fix the auxiliary receiver on the swim deck. To their credit, this didn't cost me any money, however it cost me hours of my time, following up with them, driving the boat 2+ hours north, mailing them the amplifier and in general being frustrated with the situation.
I did not have a good experience, I hope your experience with them is better. Overall they seem competent if not a bit distracted, they do seem to over promise and sadly under deliver. My boat will not be going back there, but their service could work for you, I would just recommend calling them regularly for updates, if they don't call you. read more
