Boat Servicing South Metro

[HellaBass]

I live in Lakeville, I need to get the Hydraulis steerting bleed in my boat, are there any boat dealer/service places down in my area?

[kurtkwe]

R and R Marine in Shakopee has been good to me and my neighbors as well. My brother has a Honda and he uses Dan's Southside in Bloomington. I tried Prior Lake Marine on one occasion but will not be going back. Hope this helps.

[cyberamish]

I hope R & R's service staff is leaps and bounds ahead of it's sales staff! I walked out on them about a week ago and after discussing the ordeal with my father-in-law he told me he had the same experience 25 yrs ago! Walked out on them and bought a new boat in Chaska instead.

[markkstanley]

R an R service is good. I use them even though several other places are much closer. Prior Lake is not on my favorites list. Just my input.

[buzzin for bass]

I have to say that I'm surprised to hear such a complaint about R & R. I've only purchased one boat and it was a cheap little used one, which led me to believe I would get poor help from the sales people. I was right with regards to my experience at several locations, but the sales person from R & R that I worked with was extremely helpful and was even quick to return my calls after I had already purchased the boat. Also, I found the service to be great, I had gone about double past my warranty and they replaced the part for free anyway, it was a cheap part, but again, I was expecting a lot more trouble. All I know is I'll be checking with them the next time I need service, or a new boat.

[Ray Esboldt]

R&R Marine in Shakopee, despite being 40 miles from my house, is the only place I'll have my boat serviced. They are also the only place I would buy a new boat.

I know one of the mechanics very well and have met some of the others. These guys want you on the water and out of their shop. Fix it once the right way.

Also, the two brothers that own the joint are real decent to their employees. That would assure me that they want their customers treated the same way.

[cyberamish]

I obviously caught them on a bad day.... I was prob having one too. I did go back and ended up buying a boat from them and was treated well.

[TBone1]

Everybody has their "days". I'm on my third boat from R&R. They are outstanding from sales to service.

[lots of luck]

What about the price of R&R's used boats, are they set in stone or are those prices VERY negotiable?

[Walleye Guy]

A buddy of mine always had his Crestliner Sportfish with a Volvo Penta I/O drive serviced at R & R every fall. One year on our annual trip to Lake Vermilion we lauched the boat and (this was the first trip the boat made into the water that year) while backing away from the dock at the public access the hub assembly holding the prop on came off because R & R forgot to put the retainer screw in. We lost the hub but found the prop and washer. Now you are probably saying that there is a possibility that the pin could have fallen out on the way up to Lake Vermilion. Maybe. However on the same trip we discovered that R & R Marine also drained all the antifreeze out of the block and did not refill it. We caught this issue before the engine overheated.

He called R & R to tell them about his problem and to see if they had a hub that could be picked up and brought up to Lake Vermilion by a guy who was coming up later that night. R & R did have a hub and locking screw THAT HE COULD BUY. They took no responsibility for either issue whatsoever.

Mostly like an isolated incident. However they failed to correct the problem with a reasonable and fair solution which compounded the problem.

Needless to say he has never been back. Now he goes to the original Crystal Pierz Marine and couldn't be happier.

[Ray Esboldt]

Yep. Every boat dealership has stories good and bad associated with them. Some more good than bad, and vice versa of course. But, boy, the stories I could tell you about about one big dealership...

[Walleye Guy]

Ray,

I could not agree more with your view. However when somebody makes a mistake the opportunity to fix a problem can be more important in the boat owner's view than the original service requested. In this case they dismissed their role in the problem. Being more accomodating to fix the situation would have saved a customer. One side note: He bought the boat at R & R and he has already stated that his replacement Crestliner won't be purchase from them. Basically a lost customer. It's unfortunate but I would probably have the same view if this happened to me. The tough part is finding a new dealer who will stand up to tough situations like the one detailed above.

[Ray Esboldt]

WG,

I agree. And, you don't just lose one customer there. You probably lose a few of his buddies too. Cars, boats, covered wagons, whatever - you don't want to miss an opportunity to be a hero if you're in the service business.

[fishlakeman]

I think there are good and bad experiences at every marine dealership, it just seems that this industry has many problems in the customer satisfaction area. With that being said, I would reccomend taking it to a smaller dealer, where you don't have to go through many people to get to the one in charge. The big dealers just don't care, they deal in way too large of volume to service their customers approiately. I bought my boat new this year and it has spent 4 weeks in the shop. It would have been much longer I'm sure if the chin didn't get a hold of my post on this web site. When there were FM'er talking about where they weren't buying their next boat because of my situation, it threw a glass of cold water in their face. I really wished it hadn't ended up that way, but nothing was getting done, so I had to take action.

I have had really good service from Rapid Sport in years past. Very Helpful!

[Nozama02]

Does anyone have any stories or insights on Link Recreational? I've had some issues with them, and just curious if others had?

Thanks