Approximately four years ago my family bought a boat from Lake Union Sea Ray in Fife, WA. The boat was bought on consignment through Lake Union Sea Ray. We were excited and nervous about making such an expensive purchase, and being new to boating. The boat was less than four years old, and had a beautiful cabin underneath it. We debated about purchasing the boat, but decided to take a leap of faith, and purchased the boat along with an extended warranty. The staff at Lake Union Sea Ray persuaded us to purchase the policy for $5,000, stating we would be covered from "bow to stern". Considering the boat was approximately $75,000, we thought it was a good measure to buy the additional warranty. Our sales person was "Randy". Being new to boating, we foolishly trusted him, forgetting trust should be earned, not freely given.
Over the next year and a half, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat. We took some pretty amazing trips, and, already, began planning for a larger, more expensive boat. That all came to a crashing halt, when we took our boat for an annual service. The boat mechanic informed us our boat had a leak in the transom, and this was a pretty common problem with the type of motor our boat had; Volvo Pentas. The cost to repair this leak, $25,000! We were not too worried, thinking our warranty would cover us. Over the next year, calls were made to Lake Union Sea Ray, Volvo, and the company that issued the warranty, which Lake Union Sea Ray was selling. Randy, initially, appeared to take our plea for help seriously, but eventually the issue came down to which party would be responsible for paying for the repair. The warranty company stated they would not cover the repair, and that it was stated in the approximate 25 page pamphlet that was given to us when we purchased it. In very small print, it did state it did not cover transoms. Lake Union Sea Ray was claiming ignorance, and did not feel they had any responsibility for the matter, even though they sold the boat and the warranty. So much for being covered from "bow to stern". We considered hiring an attorney and filing with the Attorney General. In the end, we grudgingly paid for the repair. We felt like we were victimized, and taken advantaged of being new to boating. Lake Union Sea Ray is a predatory company, and Randy was the biggest disappointment. At best he was incompetent, and at worst he was outright deceitful. The warranty they sold to us was worthless.
So what did we learn from this experience? 1. Avoid Lake Union Sea Ray and any boat sales person who goes by the name of Randy. 2. Always, always, insist on an inspection or survey of the boat by a person not related to the company selling the boat. 3. Make your sales rep verbally disclose anything the warranty will not cover. Make them read the pamphlet out loud, if necessary. 4. If we had looked online for this type of boat / problem, we would have avoided buying the boat. This turned out to be a common problem. Do your homework first. Don't give in to a romanticized impulse buy. It will probably bite you in the end. read more