I was referred to Chris at Sutherland Marine a about a year and a half ago, he seemed like an honest guy. Boy was that a huge and costly mistake.
January 1st of 2013 I had his shop rebuild my carbs/reeds on my 150 Evinrude V6, clean out the bowls, steering hydraulics replaced and just go over the motor as it was leaking gas. I paid $942.00 for this service. I didn't use the boat very much in 2013.
May of 2014 it wouldn't start so I brought it back to Sutherland Marine. I had the gas tank flushed (apparently the non ethanol gas had gone bad they told me), lower engine covers and bushings replaced, 100 hour service/tune up, spark plugs, water pump, 2 water tests and much more for another $2078.00. It stalled out 12 times trying to pull away from the boat ramp, and throughout the day. It wouldn't stay running. Just a thought, if the gas had gone bad and they drained the tank, wouldn't you think that perhaps, just perhaps, the carbs and/or lines needed to be cleaned out as well? Especially since they were draining the tank and doing a 100 hour service/tune up?
To make matters worse, they had broken the starboard fender on my trailer, when I asked the mechanic he said he never stepped on it, he used a ladder. Then there is Robb a confrontative mgr of sorts. Robb said no one touched the fender am I sure it wasn't broken when I brought it in? Seriously...Really... this is where they wanted to go. Robb tried to damage the good fender by tugging and yanking, in an attempt to show just how brittle they were and how easy they break, but could only induce some stress cracks in it. Although no one at their shop had been near them.
I had let her sit for several months unused in a shady area, prior to bringing it to the shop for the no start problem. It took several bottles of soft scrub with bleach, a kitchen sponge and lots of elbow grease to get everything clean again. I scrubbed every inch of the trailer fenders and the boat over a long weekend. At 230 lbs, I had been climbing up and down that fender into and out of the boat for three days and they were solid as a rock. No signs of stress or marks at all, none and I was up close. As i had said with soft scrub and a kitchen sponge. Sutherland Marine wants me to believe that it broke by a miracle without anyone near it. Perhaps there are ghosts or gremlins that break boat parts on their property. Chris the owner, had his son and Robb tell me that I could pay for 2 new fenders at their cost of $54.95 each (and yet online at local boatyards the very same fenders are $34.95 each, so apparently cost means plus an additional $20.00 each) and they would install them at no charge.
Can you imagine you bring in your boat, they break things, lie to you about it and then want you to pay for what they broke. There were also lines now hanging down under the starboard gunnel that hadn't been hanging down before, more gremlins, as according to Robb, "no one went near that area" either.
September 7th +/- I took her to the water, hit a shoal, dinged the prop and bent the prop shaft so I brought it back to them to recondition the prop and the prop shaft and to see why she won't idle. Another $1200.00.
September 23rd 2014, I took the boat out to Lake Tarpon to test her out and the 1 foot wide light strip on the back center of my trailer are smashed, Chris said they were brittle too. I stated they were not smashed prior to bringing my boat to him and brittle is one thing smashed flat is another. My trailer had been backed into something or something had beeen driven into my trailer. The engine ran well at high rpm, but stalled out at idle again, multiple times.
From Jan 1st of 2013 to Sept 22 of 2014 I have given Sutherland Marine a total of $4220.00 and have a boat motor that won't idle, new fenders that are the wrong size and have approx 4-6 inches of play so that when you step on them they tilt up and you fall off, with pieces of wood underneath in an attempt to make them fit and smashed tail lights on my trailer.
They hid the parts they had replaced under the center console in a cardboard box next to my batteries because...oh hell, I have no idea why.
This might once have been a place to have a boat repaired, now its a place to dump large amounts of money for shoddy work.
Best to give your cash to a local charity and do the work yourself or absolutely find another mechanic.
If you are looking for honest, good work at a fair price, this is the wrong place.
Run don't walk from this business.
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