Munson Ski & Marine
31695 N Us Highway 12
Volo, IL
60073
Phone: (815) 363-5400

Complaint Description:

We brought our 2003 boat into Munson Ski in Volo, where we had purchased it new and have always had it serviced, to have it winterized and stored in the Fall of 2006, the boat was in working order when we dropped it off. Our boat was detailed, the prop replaced, summarized and all but a minor fire repair completed a month later than usual this year. The fire damage was due to a burn down by the Volo Fire Department in October, the winds shifted and caused damage to most of the boats stored at Munson Ski. We were notified of the occurrence two months after it happened in late December 2006. Due to the amount of repairs needing to be done to all the boats that Munson Ski stores, they did not have all the repairs done on our boat until the end of May 2007. We picked up our boat on 5/26/07 and put it in the water at our marina. Due to prior obligations and weather we didn't actually take it out and drive it until 6/17/07. After about 20 minutes of driving it, the boat never would go over 25 MPH and then it died, about 10 minutes later it started up again and we returned it to our slip at the marina and called (John) Munson Ski for service. Munson Ski (John) said they would be out to take a look at it that Wednesday, 6/20 or Thursday, 6/21. They never showed up or called. We called again on Friday, 6/22 to remind them of the missed appointments and they finally showed up on Saturday, 6/23. They thought they had installed the wrong size prop so replaced it that day, it still didn't go over 25 MPH, they didn't know what the problem was so they took it back to their shop. We waited to hear from on the status, we called (John) and left several messages that weren't returned. I tried again on Thursday, 6/28 at first John who had been my husband's contact didn't even realized our boat was still there, then did a little checking and said the screens were discolored in the fuel injector and the parts would be in that afternoon, they would call me and let me know the parts showed up, they never called. I called again, Friday 6/29 spoke with Terry, and she said she would check into it and call me with an update, they installed the new screens and water tested it but the fuel injector screens didn't make a difference. Then they seemed to think now that the cause of the problem was a crack in the hull of the boat that would be causing the water to be absorbed into the fiberglass causing it to bog, there was no crack when we dropped it off, they detailed it, if there was one wouldn't we have been notified? That was still not the problem. They wouldn't have any mechanics back until Tuesday, 7/3 as they work with a skelton crew on the weekends and are off on Mondays. I called that Tuesday, no return call, so I called again for an update and Kim said was too busy with the holiday coming up to call me back, at that time she told me that if I were to pay for a tune up, which is required on the boat at 100 hours (we only have 54 hours), they would be able to tell better what the problem was, I told her no. I called again on Thursday, 7/5, no return phone call so I stopped in, at that time I was told by John there was something stuck in the exhaust, they would call later with an update again, no phone call. My husband called back and was told they would have a Mercury Representative out on Friday, 7/6 and would call with an update, no phone call, my husband called at the end of the day and the Mercury Representative would be out on Tuesday, 7/10 and would call, still no phone call, so my husband called and left a message. Munson finally did call and tell us our boat was fixed and ready to pick up but will not issue us a letter detailing what exactly was wrong, how it became that way and what they did to repair the problem, and they wanted to charge us $246 to make warrantable repairs.

Desired Resolution:
A letter detailing exactly what was wrong with our boat and exactly what was done to repair it.

Nicole MacDonald