So I bought my big sparkly boat in October and with 118 hours I figured I would get a little work done on it to bring the peace of mind you need when you're 14 miles from the launch ramp and it's almost dark.

I went to Boatmasters in Livermore to pick up supplies for a 100hr service. Water impeller, spark plugs, fuel filter, gear case oil. I also dropped the coin for Merc boat oil, prop wrench, spare keys, the pump for the gear case oil, a trailer lock, and whatever else I couldn't get through TW.

This all took a couple trips. When I was set I went to Lake's house and we worked on the boat. When we were done, we fired it up and ran like crap and died. The model numbers on the spark plugs didn't match what we pulled out so I called Boatmasters on my drive home and asked if they were the wrong plugs. The guy said they were the right ones. In both cases I said clearly that I had an Optimax ProXS.

The fuel filter was stuck and we couldn't get it off so I had to take the boat in anyway to get that done and we didn't do the impeller because we ran out of time with the spark plug issue. I took the boat in to Boatmasters a few days later for the impeller, fuel filter, and whatever was wrong with it.

Boatmasters is the closest shop to my house and I was interested in establishing a good relationship. I play it pretty laid back on these kind of deals and to be honest I played it like I was pretty dumb too. By that I mean I just walked in like Joe Lunchbucket off the street and acted like I didn't know much about boats. I wanted to see how things went.

The next day I get a call that it was the wrong spark plugs (it was the regular Opti plugs). I asked if they were going to charge me for putting the right ones in since they give me the wrong ones. They said yes. I bit my tongue. When I got the boat back the bill was for $374 which included $47 in labor for the plugs and a $20 tube for the speedometer plus the labor to fix it.

I never asked for the speedo to be fixed and wouldn't have. Boat speedos are worthless and anyone with a bass boat knows it. Now my speedo says I'm going 80mph. That's real helpful. All this went down and I wasn't super stoked but I just shined it on.

A few weeks later I got to the bottom of the issue I was having with my trailer brakes when I realized the line had snapped off at the caliper. I took it in to Boatmasters again. They called the next day and quoted me $1,200 to fix it.

At this point I'd about had enough of their program. I asked for an itemized list of what they planned to do. The guys said he could fax it. I asked him to read it to me. He quoted me 2 new calipers, 2 new rotors, a new master cylinder, a new reverse solenoid, repairing the line, bleeding the brakes, installing flexible brake line tubing and servicing all 4 trailer hubs.

I took my rig there to get the brakes fixed and I told them I was open to suggestion in terms of what it would take to fix it. But I had positively no interest in servicing the trailer hubs. This felt exactly like the speedometer deal - basically trying to hit me for a bunch of unnecessary work. I asked how much for 2 calipers, new master, reverse solenoid, brake line repair, and bleed the brakes. The quote was $845.

Putting my thinking hat on I decided to call the insurance co. to see if this kind of stuff would be covered. It wasn't and I understand why since there was no explicit accident that caused it (though very well something might have hit the line). I did have a great chat with Stan Vandenberg at 800 BASS BOAT. Glad there was that silver lining to this story.

So that night I called to tell Boatmasters insurance wasn't going to cover it and that I couldn't do the work with them. The next morning I get a call and the guy says he noticed that my lower unit is leaking gear case oil... He said something about it potentially being covered under warranty, but at the point my mind went blank thinking about how this just seemed all very wrong.

For the 3 weeks prior the boat had been sitting in my side yard on brand new clean pavers. If a single drop of gear case lube would have dripped out I would have seen it and I never did. 3 drops did drip when I back the boat in later that day and the stain is still there. I told him I'd be by to get the boat in a few hours. When I picked it up they said that for the brake line issue I should have claimed that I ran over debris on the road and that broke the brake line. I guess I'm not a good liar.

When I got home that night I changed the gear case lube myself. Now, flash back to when Lake and I did it the first time. When we did it the first time, there were 2 washers on the drain screw (there should have only been one). This caused us a problem because we didn't see the second one that was stuck to the motor when it was draining (the lube draining out obscured it from view).

Here's a photo I took as we were draining it. I took these photos for the site as part of the boat article. You can see how it is impossible to see the washer up in the hole.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7913-draining.jpg

Here's another photo when we were getting set to do the service. You can see one of the 1 blue washer on the drain screw and the 2 new washers on the paper towel

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7912-gettingset.jpg

Here's a shot while pumping the lube out the top hole. You can see the old blue washer in that hole. Just 1 here as you would expect.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7914-pumpout.jpg

So when we put the screw in after pumping the new lube in, I had a new washer on the screw and it was then that I saw the existing washer on the boat side of things. We looked at it for a bit and decided to just leave the one washer on the boat side since prying it off would have meant allowing fluid to leak out.

We both stared right at it and puzzled over it. There is positively no doubt in my mind that the washer was there when I put the screw in. 100% certain. Now flash forward to me in the back yard doing my gear case oil myself. I pull the drain screw and the washer is gone!

Suddenly I had a real good idea where the leak was coming from. I confirmed after running the boat 30 miles on Pedro yesterday with no leak whatsoever. The interesting angle here is that I don't think the boys at Boatmasters were going after me on the magically leaky lower unit, they were going after Merc to do something on it warranty. I just looked like the right guy to do it on.

Meanwhile I took my rig to a mechanic friend in SJ who I trust. They repaired the brake line, replaced both calipers and bled the brakes. $410 later my brakes work perfectly. I could have gotten away with just doing one caliper (the zerk fitting on one was jacked up and could have been replaced by itself) but I did both for the peace of mind.

This post is going to make a big wave but for the guys getting work on their boats I just can't sit here and not say something. Everything in this post is 100% fact.

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I purchased an older boat last year. I know owning a boat can at times feel like holding a ticking time bomb but a new boat, sorry about your luck.

As far as BM, my personal feelings are that they are one of the few in the Tri-Valley area that has weathered the economic downturn. Their competition has been thinned down therefore they have become very busy. I took my boat here a couple times before the panic set in there. People were pretty friendly and they did quality work on my boat. I thought it was a bit pricey but work was quality. Happy, no, but satisfied.

I brought my boat in there late this summer and had them take care of some electrical issues I was having. They replaced my voltage regulator and fixed my running lights. I put my boat in the water a week later and found my running lights were not working. Frustrating but I understand these things happen.

Called them and told them that they weren't working. Told me I had to wait a week until they could take a look at it. Not real happy since it was a refix, I took it in a week later. They told me to pull it around back and they would take look at it immediately since they were running out of trailer room.

They worked on it for about 5 minutes and I was "good to go." Took it again, no running lights. (Worked on trailer, not on the water).

Brought it back this time overnight. When I went to pick it up I was greeted by a $50 bill. As you could imagine I was pissed.

I asked why would I pay for something you already fixed and charged me for. His response was he was 'cutting me a deal.' His mechanic was working for three hours on the problem.

I asked him to pull up my old receipt of service from my last visit. He said he couldn't do that because the computer doesn't allow it. (I am sure he would have no problem if my bill was outstanding).

I shouldn't have but I paid it and left pissed.

I will tow my boat three hours through rush hour traffic to have it serviced before ever spending another $ in that place.

I have never blasted a company before on a forum or any public place like this but after reading the previous post it really fired me up.

Chris - like you I can't recall being so critical of a business in any post I've ever made here in 10+ years. I pondered this for a week before posting anything. What really got me was the thing with the lower unit. I could have handled the stuff with trying to hit me up with a bunch of extra unnecessary work, but when I drove home the last time and saw that my lower unit was dripping gear case oil that's what really set me off.

It's not like we had done the gear case lube and the boat had sat since then. I took the boat out to McClure and ran it hard and fast for a tournament. If there had been fluid dripping out afterwards, I would have noticed it. I'm really detail oriented when it comes to equipment and even though I'm just learning this particular boat I'm constantly looking over the boat when I use it, clean it, and work on it. The fact that the washer was gone when I took it apart just blew my mind.

Thanks for the post Rob. That is just amazing. I had a couple unsatisfactory lessons at the boat mechanics with my first boat, never through boatmasters, but I certainly wont try there now. This kind of stuff is just wrong on so many levels.

But hey, enjoy that speedometer }(

cz

Hey Rob you should contact Mecury and let them know what they tried to do. I bet there would be reprocusions!

www.mattlures.com

True, but I've spent enough time dealing with all this already. I found out yesterday that they gave me the wrong gear case lube for my lower unit both times. This is from Merc directly that they gave me the wrong stuff.

They gave me the orange stuff, not the green high performance stuff for the ProXS. Now I have to deal with that and do the lower unit for the 3rd time.

Dood the opti, my EFI and your Pro XS all use the high pro green stuff. They have to know this. Could have been another ploy to help shorten the life of the lower unit. I told you how sceptical I was of that stuff when we put it in.

I know you have spent to much time dealing with this. Its fustrating but at least after this you have pretty much re done everything they had a hand in. Well that is except the fuel filter :o

This is simply unreal. Now I know why I see boats from as far away as Fresno sitting at Capitol City Marine (formally C&C) when I go in there. I guess it is hard to find a good shop. I am lucky that I have a old boat that nobody will touch and that I found a independent mechanic that does good honest work on my motor.

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Rob, if your still on the Central Coast. John (Jr.) Spears is very good. He is well respected around this area. Alot of the Pro's use him.....I strongly suggest giving him a call for when you need a mechanic agaiin.....BassMan

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/4392-ranger_boats.gif

For what it's worth, I've had nothing but positive experiences at Boatmaster's having them service my Optimax 225 and have friends that have been using them for the last 15-20 years. I buy all of my 2 stroke oil there and they seem pretty busy. They have a good reputation from what I've heard. They moved to that location after many years in their Dublin facility. If they were rip off artists I don't think they'd have made it this far. People make honest mistakes all the time. No one has a flawless track record, shops always have a few "we really screwed this customer" stories they can tell over the years. I'm sorry you had a bad experience but I'm optimistic they didn't intentionally mess with you.

On the other hand, I have NEVER had a good experience at several bay area Toyota dealerships getting my vehicles serviced....gave up on those guys years ago.

Great info Rob. I'm probably a year away from getting a fiberglass rig but want to start my homework now. Thanks!

Marcus - just an FYI - I had GREAT experiences with Melody Toyota for service on my Tundra. They even did an ENTIRE brake job that wasn't factory covered for me FREE. That was brakes, rotors calipers, pads for free. Cut me other deals too. Just too far to go now for my other Toyota :(

Todd
http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/toddiwamoto.htm