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I bought a 2003 19 Twin Vee Baycat brand new in July of 2004. Within a couple days of bringing the boat home a buddy of mine emailed me a thread talking about a problem with interior gel coat cracks on TV boats that year. Well the TV warranty says that you have 90 days to report any interior gel coat cracks. I went out and looked at my garage kept TV and sure enough there are atleast 50 hairline cracks all over the floor of the boat. That splatter look that they give these rolled edge boats was really doing a good job hiding them. Anyway, my next call was obviously to Twin Vee. They said no problem, don't worry about them. They are just cosmetic. We will get it taken care of. Well the warranty also said do not use the boat once a defect has been noticed. I was suppose to head to ME in a couple days. So agian I asked the guys at Twin vee about that. Their "Tech guy" no problem use it until we can figure out whether we need to bring it back to the factory or not. Ok , I felt pretty good about the new ownership at that point. Well winter came TV was still trying to figure out what material, Where, etc. So that winter went by and no fix yet. Spoke again to Dan McCarthy in the fall of 2005 (this winter that has just ended) Sent him pictures and everything. He now lets me know that the dealer on Long Island is handling the repair for this problem. After looking at the pictures Dan tells me "Get it out to Lond Island and I will warranty it" Ok all is good now (or so I thought) After several scheduling problems with the guys out on LI I finally got close about three weeks ago. The guy at LI said he spoke to Dan at TV and everything is a go they are just waiting on TV to get them the material. Says he will call me and tell me when I can bring it out the next week. The guy at LI tells me to take everything off the boat that I can. So I did. Trolling motor, Flip Cooler seat, Grab rail, Batteries, Electronics, Everything but the console. So here we go now. After not hearing from the LI guys for almost two weeks I called them. I asked "did you get the material yet?" He said yeah, we are almost done with the 11 boats that were ahead of yours. I said so when should I bring it. He said "I think there is a warranty issue with Twin vee about your boat" Now I'm starting to get steamed. I call Twin Vee and speak to Dan again. He still seems to think no big deal. Then after again not hearing back from Dan. I call him and he says "Dave East has changed what he is going to warranty now" "He is just gonna cover 2004 boats with this problem"
Can you Believe this. They tell me yes...String me along...and then say no. Thats like me selling a boat to someone, telling them there is a three year warranty and then when they call back in two years with a problem I say sorry but I changed the warranty to one year. Tough $#!+ .
To top it all off. I use to be a dealer for these guys. They dumped me as a dealer without even letting me know. I called to order two boats and they said sorry your not a dealer anymore. Thats how I found out.
Im a guy who has always backed Twin Vee. Well, If they don't stay on the good foot with this those days are over.
This is a company that does not care about their dealers or the poor people that by their boats.
Don't buy into this great so called warranty that they have. They will obviously just change whatever is'nt working in their favor and screw the poor guy that bought it.
Im gonna spend the $1000+ dollars to do the repair myself and get rid of it. Saw a nice Jones Brother 23 Cape Fisherman for a good # down in VA...It will be nice to support a company that supports its consumers.......
Sorry to hear about your problems with TV. I was not impressed with their boats and heard one to many stories so I bought a Sea Cat and so far so good.
I was sorry to hear the news too. I was hoping they would be a stand up company but i guess i was wrong.
The funniest thing about the conversation was when i said "If this happened in the auto industry there would be a recall" I mean im not anywhere near the only guy with this problem. There were 11 other boats in line for the same problem I had. Anyway his response was hysterical. He said " when someone buys a SUV and then beats it up off road the auto manufaturer would'nt cover that" Duh man. These cracks were in my floor before my boat ever saw water!!!!!! Friggin retards. Atleast be honest with me and say. We are just a $#1++y company that does'nt care so go screw yourself. That would have been better than stringing me along. I would have taken the boat back to the dealer the next day if they told me then they were'nt gonna cover it, and insisted for my money back. Which the dealer said he would do.
Man am I steamed....I left a message for the President but im sure just like the rest of the employees there I won't even get a call back.
I get the feeling this is no surprise to anyone. Im gonna ask this question then. WHAT OTHER SITES SHOULD I POST THIS ON TO REALLY HAVE THE MOST IMPACT???ESPECIALLY FLORIDA SITES??
DEFECTIVE? WHERE ARE YOU? PAPA BEAR? BOLTON? BULLSHIPPER? ETC?
Something smells funny, You used to be a TV dealer and they dumped you? You bought one of their boats and it turns out to be the piece of poo you PRAISED when you wanted into someones wallet.Now you are wanting to BASH away, you probably defended them when you were a DEALER. Do you have ANY feelings for the people YOU sold those boats to? Are they denying your claim because you pissed someone off and they dumped you or is it really poor warranty (they were doing 11 in front of yours) are any of the ones you sold haveing warranty problems? I don't like TV (think they're below average quality) but something does not add up. I AM NOT BASHING YOU just don't think we have both sides.
You have a point and your view point is very logical. I'm know foulhook is having some problems and frankly I went through the same thing with TV. It seems there is a common theme to making claims with them.
Step 1 is to tell dealer that you have a claim.
Step 2 is the dealer tells you to call TV.
Step 3 is to hear from Dan that they are not having ANY problems whatsoever with thier hulls and that damage does occur when you abuse your boat and run it in seas that you have no business being in. Then he will tell you he owns the same boat and has been back and forth to the bahamas on his and has had no problems. So feeling defeated you say whatever but what about the warranty. THis is when Dan says Well the damages may not be covered, Ill have to bring it up in next weeks meeting with the board, as if the warranty is some abstract at will document that can be amended anytime. Three weeks later nobody calls you. So
Step 4
Call TV again and say whats the deal. If your lucky they decided, then Dan will tell you that your lucky because the warranty that they begin to imply does not cover your damages also covers the fact that TV may at its option make the owner bring the hull back to the factory for repairs (FROM HONOLULU HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then you argue a little and make a few posts on tht and next thing ya know the warranty is in effect and things are good and everybody says I should feel lucky that there gonna honor the warranty..
Step 5
Tv honors the warranty and sends thier guy out to do the repairs because the relationship between the dealer and TV sucks and they dont trust eachother because they both have been at odds for months regarding multiple issues. The TV
You have a point and your view point is very logical. I'm know foulhook is having some problems and frankly I went through the same thing with TV. It seems there is a common theme to making claims with them.
Step 1 is to tell dealer that you have a claim.
Step 2 is the dealer tells you to call TV.
Step 3 is to hear from Dan that they are not having ANY problems whatsoever with thier hulls and that damage does occur when you abuse your boat and run it in seas that you have no business being in. Then he will tell you he owns the same boat and has been back and forth to the bahamas on his and has had no problems. So feeling defeated you say whatever but what about the warranty. THis is when Dan says Well the damages may not be covered, Ill have to bring it up in next weeks meeting with the board, as if the warranty is some abstract at will document that can be amended anytime. Three weeks later nobody calls you. So
Step 4
Call TV again and say whats the deal. If your lucky they decided, then Dan will tell you that your lucky because the warranty that they begin to imply does not cover your damages also covers the fact that TV may at its option make the owner bring the hull back to the factory for repairs (FROM HONOLULU HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then you argue a little and make a few posts on tht and next thing ya know the warranty is in effect and things are good and everybody says I should feel lucky that there gonna honor the warranty..
Step 5
Tv honors the warranty and sends thier guy out to do the repairs because the relationship between the dealer and TV sucks and they dont trust eachother because they both have been at odds for months regarding multiple issues. The TV guy starts on one of the several TV's sitting in the dealers lot and you start to talk to him and watch him work. You ask him "How the hell are you gonna do all this work yourself" and he looks at you and shrugs his shoulders but says Ill have your boat ship shape as fast as I can. The dealership won't give him a helper because " whos gonna pay for him?"
Step 6
One month on the first boat and the owner is not stisfied the 800 pounds of glass and other things have been added to his boat to fix it and his surveyor says the boat isnt worth squat, except for the engines of course. But he starts on your boat and does a pretty good job, except he barely finished and had to leave because TV hasnt paid for his living expenses for more than two weeks, after being here for two months.
Step 7
Feel lucky that TV honored the warranty and flew a guy out to Hawaii to fix things, which I really do appreciate and I hope the fix works, but you do a little research and find that there are several TV boats, unusually 2003 boats, turning up with the same problems. Then you hear all the BS posted by other owners.
WELL
I dont know..... I work two jobs just to keep things going and I paid for four months of no boat and now I have to hope the fix works. So the moral to this step by step guide is when you first make your claim expect to go through the steps, but in the end they will probably fix you boat. As to the part about being a dealer, The guy I bought my boat from owns the same model and loves the boat. But he is feeling real bad now becuase so many people that he sold boats to are having problems. Needless to say he is selling his.....
Well gang there is my story. As the saying goes, We report, you decide...............
I'm with ya guys! Jsut haven't been around for a week. The only big warranty prob I had was with a 20' when I put 70 Suzi 4 strokes on and the boat would take water over the transom into the rigging tubes and make it's way into the hull. Which at that point we had to drill drain holes for garber plugs. Well the hp rating is for 70's but 70 2 STROKES!!! We had to take the 70's off and put 50's on the boat performed terrible. Well the customer want a new boat and is threatening a lawsuit but frotunately for me it's no longer my problem b/c I'm no longer the dealer.
Other than that, a couple of minor gel coat things here and there. Nothing ever structural.
I have had some sinkers on the 26' model with bats in the bilge, hatches leaking taking out the bilge pumps, boat sinks, BAD design and engineering.
Something smells funny, You used to be a TV dealer and they dumped you? You bought one of their boats and it turns out to be the piece of poo you PRAISED when you wanted into someones wallet.Now you are wanting to BASH away, you probably defended them when you were a DEALER. Do you have ANY feelings for the people YOU sold those boats to? Are they denying your claim because you pissed someone off and they dumped you or is it really poor warranty (they were doing 11 in front of yours) are any of the ones you sold haveing warranty problems? I don't like TV (think they're below average quality) but something does not add up. I AM NOT BASHING YOU just don't think we have both sides.
Wow, I'll try to give you a little more insight. I came up to an exsisting small TV dealer in NJ in 2001. We were also Crestliner, Yamaha, etc. We were cancelled in 2003. I was'nt there long enough nor did I sell enough to experience any big problems. I did experience their dealer service when we had a 20ft that had a large crack in the skeg under the transom. We had the boat sold but needed to fix the problem before we gave delivery obviously. TV just kept not calling us back, not returning emails, etc. After four months of getting the run around we just hired a glass guy to do it so the customer could take delivery. It cost us $1000 to do the job right. Had to go from the deck down to do it right. The old owner here eventually had his attorney write a letter. Twin vee said no way are we paying $1000 and said we will give you $100 and thats it.
All I knew was that the boats ride nice. Real nice. They were afordable for a 30 year old guy on a budget like me. Well I found out the hard way that you get what you pay for and that this company does'nt give a crap about me.
When they dumped us I was surprised. A little pissed because I was calling to put an order in for a couple sold boat. But in no way caused a stink. We were doing better with our other boats anyway.
I don't think you will find one dealer that will "Defend" the way twin vee treats their dealers.
Believe what you want. If I'm not playing out my story exactly the way it went then I welcome TV to sue me for slander. Can't sue for slander if its the truth.
This was the warning I got from Dan Macarthy. I told him I don't have to make anything up. My story along with many others are enough.
I just found out the hard way what kind of company they are.
When I was selling TV they were owned by Dunshee who was horrible. It seemed like the new guy East was gonna be different. I discovered those cracks 2-3 days after purchase. Before the boat ever saw water. The dealer told me he would refund my money if I wanted, but because TV came accross like it was no big deal and they would take care of it no problem I kept it.
Before you go posting that all over the net, you may want to resolve the problem, Careful posting things that may cost them money. You are ina Manufacturers Warranty situation. Also implied warranty, merchantability of goods etc. Even though it is a pain in the Ass, you must follow the rules of the warranty as it applied when you bought the boat. In other words, you need to show that YOU followed the procedure THEY specified. That YOU speant your VALUABLE time and incurred EXPENSES doing so, and that THEY willfully IGNORED their responsibility as stated within their warranty.Document every communication etc. Put it all together in a coherent fashion, and take them to the courthouse. If you go the shit talking route, it may bite you in the caboose later. PM me if you want.
__________________ "a doughnut is only one step above a rent rod"
No foul hook post away the factory has gone to hell and the inmates have taken over. They screwed most of their dealers (putting some out of buisness cause they only sold TV) and have in fact stated they don't need to honor some warrenties because they are new owners.
Dave, I am sure your advice is well researched. I was speaking more to actually getting the problem resolved, and getting back to where the buyer wants to be. Rather than beating ones chest. When it comes down to money for the repair (as it appears TV will not be doing it) he will need to show reasonability to win an award from the court.
__________________ "a doughnut is only one step above a rent rod"
Dave, I am sure your advice is well researched. I was speaking more to actually getting the problem resolved, and getting back to where the buyer wants to be. Rather than beating ones chest. When it comes down to money for the repair (as it appears TV will not be doing it) he will need to show reasonability to win an award from the court.
Hey doughnut,
I know what you are saying. I took the high road for almost 2 years on this issue. Have not yelled and screamed. Gave them the benifit of the doubt. I hoped they just had lines crossed.
The facts are: I bought this boat in July of 2004 (a 2003 leftover)
I reported the cracks 2-3 days after taking delivery (well within their 90 day warranty)
I also contacted the dealer. I was in a bit of a panic when I called the dealer and he said If i wanted a refund I could bring it back. They were just great.
When Twin Vee called me back (Dan Macarthy) they made it sound like no big deal. No sweat kinda thing. "Its obviously a factory defect that occured before you took delivery" He also said I would not be charged for shipping if they needed it back to the factory again because this obviously was cracked before I bought it. If I knew they were gonna do this I would have gladly taken my money back. Thats a no brainer
For over a year and even three weeks ago they were still fixing this boat for me. as of last week they are not. My boat is now in the garage stripped because the told me to strip it and get ready to bring it out to Long Island.
Should I send them a bill for the day I spent stripping the boat and the day I will spend putting it back together now??
Only in the last 3 weeks they decided to change their policy to only 2004 boats and newer. Thats friggin unacceptable.
Well now they are not doing $#!+ for me. I gave them three chances to change their mind. They made their bed and Im gonna make them sleep in it. Its gonna cost me atleast $1000 to do this repair myself. Not to mention alot of time. But like I said I run a Marina so I have access to the materials I need. I don't need them anymore.
I will make it a point to tell anyone thinking about buying a Twin vee my story...That I can promise.
I have to go with Papa Bear! I don't think Doughnut read all of foulhooks posts and the actions he has already taken! You can find a lot of stuff on TV on the internet if you look!
Sorry to hear of your your troubles with your boat. Perhaps a Twin Vee story with a happy ending will give you some hope. I just got my boat back from the Twin Vee factory on Thursday. I took it up to them in early March and they got it back to me in the time promised with all the work done to my satisfaction( other than some overspray and a couple of other little attention to detail sort of things that fall into the I can live with it category especially when you consider the magnitude of the repairs) They did a ton of work to the boat and even put rhino liner on the deck.
If you research my earlier posts about my problems you will find that I too was not happy about how things were going but I managed to get my issues worked out with the factory and ultimately get things corrected.
I will be back on the water this week. I am confident that the boat is back to 100%. When the boat is right you can not beat the ride. Hang in there and document, document , document! Unhappy customers do not do any company any good, especially in the age of the internet when we as consumers can share information and experiences.
Again, hang in there, it took me awhile to get on track with Twin Vee but once we were both on the same page all went well and I am a satisfied customer.
Sorry to hear of your your troubles with your boat. Perhaps a Twin Vee story with a happy ending will give you some hope. I just got my boat back from the Twin Vee factory on Thursday. I took it up to them in early March and they got it back to me in the time promised with all the work done to my satisfaction( other than some overspray and a couple of other little attention to detail sort of things that fall into the I can live with it category especially when you consider the magnitude of the repairs) They did a ton of work to the boat and even put rhino liner on the deck.
If you research my earlier posts about my problems you will find that I too was not happy about how things were going but I managed to get my issues worked out with the factory and ultimately get things corrected.
I will be back on the water this week. I am confident that the boat is back to 100%. When the boat is right you can not beat the ride. Hang in there and document, document , document! Unhappy customers do not do any company any good, especially in the age of the internet when we as consumers can share information and experiences.
Again, hang in there, it took me awhile to get on track with Twin Vee but once we were both on the same page all went well and I am a satisfied customer.
Fireman Bill
Did you have cracks in your deck?Just wondering,I do not own a T/V and am sorry to hear some of the Horror stoies about the New Ownership.Most likely will be their demise.The Rhino lining might be a nice touch.....But.....do you think they may have done that to cover detection of any future cracking or any that you may have had??Not trying to be a S/A$$,just an observation.
TWIN VEE SCREWS ANOTHER CUSTOMER 
