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Random Quote: You think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?
I saw a topic on another board that had a bunch of unhappy customers. One of the posts mentioned a bad rep with the BBB, so I looked it up.
I bought a boat from Ed's. I would not say that I have a beef with them. But I did get the distinct impression they are customer service challenged. The minute I handed them the check and signed the papers, the service attitude changed. It went from “how can I help you”, to “next”.
I do have an outstanding warranty item. I called them to have it looked at and the service department said come back in a few months when we are not busy. I will have a beef with them if the warranty work is not done properly.
If someone has had a good service experience at Ed’s then post it. I am curious.
Jeff thanks for asking the question – get at the whole truth.
Just another point of view...I am a small business owner, and I also choose not to associate with my local BBB. The way it works is...you pay extremely high 'initiation' fees to belong to the BBB. Should you choose not to belong to the BBB, they you get either a 'No Response at this time' or 'The business you are inquiring about has a problem with participation in our program' messages. I personally choose to spend those monies on memberships to local buisiness groups that promote networking and such. The local BBB does not offer any other types of services whatsoever, other than a reporting database of companies that choose to participate in their program. I've personally seen companies that went from a 'negative' annotation at the BBB, to a 'positive' one just by paying the annual membership fee.
I personally do not put much stock in the BBB reporting system.
I think many people are very mislead by the BBB. They are a private company that stays in business based on people buying memberships. The veiws they reflect are based solely on how you pay. Check out this site at www.ripoffreport.com. They created that site after so many people were scammed after trusting the BBB's report and then finding out that since they are a BBB member the report is good no matter what is reported.
Last year I sold a boat the the regional directer of the BBB. So their reports must not hold much salt with them. Also for reference Yamaha and Mecury both have negative reports as well. I am sure bombardier does too I just haven't checked.
As far as how they report I will throw this out at yall and see what you think. If you are not familar with their process I will summarize. If you file a complaint they mail it the company which then responds. After the response the BBB asks the customer if they are happy or not. If the customer says yes then the file is closed. If the customer says no they leave it open and mark it "unsatisfied." This is the problem. The BBB has no thought or judgement into the issue it is based soley on what the customer replies. I can see where this would help many years ago but with the current technology I think customers get in touch with the right people to make a decisions. When a customer has a problem we address it right there on the spot and if they are writing to the BBB it has already been reveiwed. At this point we have a choice. I can reply to every letter and the account will read "This company has replied to all complaints but the consumer was not always satisfied" or I can not reply and it will state "This company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unanswered complaints."
ed's- thanks for clearing that up. the BBB is one measure of customer satisfaction, just like gallup, jd powers, etc, etc.
ALL of them exist only because they charge the companies they purport to represent
a customer-oriented company can and will do a much better job of measuring their loyalty & satisfaction indexes by doing it themselves- and by demonstrating their success in generating repeat business
I need to put in my 2 cents here. This forum and others like it is the best better business beruea. I had a problem with Defender marine I tried and tried to resolve with them and to no avail. I then went public with my grief here. Then I emailed them the post. So they could see that I was not one voice, one ear but many voices and many buying dollars as well. Well about two days later theyed made amends. Now don't get me wrong I will not deal with defender again But you can see that this was the better option. Also With Ed's I have read many good things. So who knows but now were more informed than we were yesterday. Now our decisions are that much more informed. As for ED I'll ask you. " who are your best customers, Informed ones or not?"
Like Tim Kilbride I am also a small business owner and also reside in Metairie. Many years back I wanted to check on a new supplier. At the same time I felt it may be a good tool to join the BBB.
Called to inquire about both. Never got thru. Phone would just ring with no answer. After a few weeks trying I went to their office. While sitting in the waiting area to speak to someone
I could see the employees (about 5) in the work area through the glass wall.Some walling around, some on phones. While waiting I made a call to them from my cell phone to see how they would respond. I could hear the phone ringing and see the light blinking.
No one answered the phone. I got up and left.
What city? Not Metairie..but New Orleans, La, where my business is located.
That is great info. I always assumed that the BBB was a gov't entity that was there to protect consumers. The advise is given so often to contact them concerning a company. Now we know. Great job Ed on not getting defensive on your reply.
The ONLY entity that I am familiar with that 'tries' to get the consumer an unbiased report on products is Consumer Reports. I stand corrected here, but to the best of my knowledge, they do not accept any type of advertisement dollars...thus they won't be swayed by a big dollar advertising campaign. The products I have researched with Consumer Reports...and have chosen on their recommendation, have been for the most part accurate.
As rcouret stated and in my experiences, the BBB is a joke. I do not put stock in the JDPower or any other type of 'reports'. It's all about the bucks. My hat's off to Ed's Marine for standing up for what they believe. I feel that anyone who is an informed buyer, will at least use the Internet to do 'some' research on their purchase. With all of the different forums I visit...'Home Theater Forum', Ford Truck World, this one, and many others, you will find out what other consumers with your interest 'Really' think about certain products and dealers.
This forum is a prime example of that. Just take the Bennett/Lenco tab debate for instance.
KilbrideTP seeing as how you like consumer reports and you have a boat or are interested in boats, I'd suggest you subscribe to PowerBoat Reports. $49.00 a year. No advertising. If it's good they say so. If it's junk they say so.
I bought my boat/motor/trailer from Ed's and had a great experience overall, including staying at a local hotel during NASCAR race week. Boy did I stick out like a sore thumb...but I still had fun and have recommended others to Ed's. Turns out someone else from my town bought their boat from Ed's, too. Not bad considering it is 10 hours away!
I subscribe to powerboat reports and have done so since they started-funny thing though they are not saying a word about the Yammi problems that have occured in the HPDI's.
I have suggested to the editor that when they do a review of electronics that they rate the instruction manual too-no response.
Rec. they do an article on which boat manufacturers use tinned marine grade wire in the boats-no response.
So I'm a little leary about PBR.
My three cents.
Its funny how a customer related problem has now turned into a bbb problem. The original post came from tidal fish and was started by a guy who was upset at the price he had to pay for some trimwork on his livewell.many replys followed with upset and angry customers who all agreed that eds was a joke. I too was in the market for a Maycraft and looked elsewhere because of eds reputation. If one did a search on eds, one would find a lot of bad publicity surrounding their operation ( not just on this board ). I have yet to hear eds respond to any of their customer service problems on this board or any other, except to shift blame to the BBB.
My .02 cents
At the Heart of this matter is why the Hull Truth Exists. NO pressure from advertisers...NO big company to put pressure on the persons running this site... etc. This site airs the good and the bad... sometimes it gets out of hand.. but most of us are smart enough to wade thru the crap and wave the bullshit flag when we see it. This site exists for several reasons... Wileys tireless work, AND those who have purchased captains club memberships and t-shirts etc.. The site is beholden to NO ONE. A quick history lesson is that those of us who came over with Wiley in the first few days ... came here because SWS had closed thier forum due to their advertisers complaining about the frankness of the discussions on their site. That led to Wiley starting "the hull truth".... The information on this site and the ability to tell "the hull truth" about manufactuers ...both good and bad exists because their are no BIG advertisers to answer to.... use your own judgement as to whether this site has been a success or not.
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The minute I handed them the check and signed the papers, the service attitude changed. It went from “how can I help you”, to “next”.
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BBB Report and Ed's Marine Superstore 
