Never Take Your Boat To Clearwater Yacht Service
My main points of contention with Clearwater
Yacht Services (CYS) are as follows:
1. Poor Diagnostic Abilities
- CYS demonstrated poor diagnostic abilities and
then charged me for the wasted effort. This is
evidenced in several places on the (b.) invoice
and (c.) spreadsheet.
2. Incompetent Mechanics - CYS
demonstrated poor mechanical abilities and subsequently
charged me for the additional labor involved to
repair their mistake and is evidenced in the (c.)
spreadsheet.
3. Additional Labor Hours - CYS
charged me mechanics labor rates for non-mechanic
activities and as a result added many labor hours
to the invoice thus inflating the total hours
for this job to 47.5. Total Bill With Parts $6000.
4. Poor Service - CYS returned
my boat with several grease stains on my new interior
and carpet, trash, and still not repaired as requested
in original work order (a.) and (d.) additional
pictures.
I took my 22' Sunbird with a 5.0 Fl Inboard/Outboard
to Clearwater Yacht Service to have the following
items repaired
1. The boat had been leaking slowly into the
bilge for several years through an unknown source.
2. Recently oil had started leaking from the motor
into the bilge from an unknown source.
3. Recently motor had started to over-heat while
underway.
4. Recently motor started running poorly.
These are the points of contention on a line
item basis: (see spreadsheet.):
1. Line 5 thru 14 - Identified area of
leak to be assembly at bottom of dipstick tube.
At this point the mechanic has diagnosed my problem
as a leaky dipstick assembly. 4 hours later they
determine that this is not the problem. Why was
I charged $400 for this service? One mechanic
told me if there is any rust present on the oil
pan it's just a matter of time before the rust
eats through the oil pan anyway, so they replace
it first thing.
2. Line 30 thru 34 - Cleaned & Prep'd
Oil Pan Gasket Surfaces. This is not work that
should be billed at a mechanic's labor rate of
$100/hr. This is a helper's job and should be
billed at a lower rate than mechanic's labor.
3. Line 37 thru 40 - Received Notification
Oil Pan had arrived at VOLVO Repair Center. CYS
charged me $150 to pick up my oil pan from the
part store. Again, mechanics labor rate should
not be applied to trips to the part store.
4. Line 44 thru 46 - Received Notification
Engine Mounts had arrived at VOLVO Parts Distributor.
Note: This trip to the part store was on the same
day as #3 above and was also to the same location.
Why not pick them up at the same time? Again,
not mechanic's labor rate here for part delivery.
5. Line 51 thru 55 - Moved Engine from
Storage and Installed New oil pan & Engine
Mount Lower Sections. The engine was put back
into the boat too early ($500) and then was subsequently
removed again at my insistence because the source
of the leak had not been detected. It is much
easier to find the leak while the engine is out
of the boat. See line 79.
6. Line 68 thru 71 - Removed Raw Water
Pump. This was determined to be the cause of my
motor overheating issue. This service was preformed
however; my boat still overheats just as it did
before I took it to CYS.
7. Line 73 thru 78 - Began Removing Spark
Plugs for Replacement - 1 Broke (metal housing
of plug). This is poor mechanics. Why should I
have to pay for something they broke while performing
their service? This later cost me $800 dollars
in labor not to mention the machine shop service
to remove the plug, and the additional gaskets
required to put these parts back together. See
lines 87-89, 92-93, 103, 107-116 for more detail.
8. Line 94 thru 99 - Researched Several
Sources to Find Needed Gaskets. CYS charged me
$225 to look up gaskets in a part book. The gaskets
were subsequently never located and my old gasket
was used. I'm not sure what to call this except
robbery!
9. Line 103 - Re-assembled Engine. This
part of the project was to be done for FREE as
stated on Line 79. These tasks were already completed
and charged for on Line 55.
10. Line 104 thru 105 - Picked Up New Y-Pipe
& Mounting Gasket. Charged me again to pick
up a part. Not mechanic labor rate.
11. Line 17 thru 19 - Transported Vessel
to Boat ramp - Sea Trialed. My boat runs poorly
and still overheats. If these things were tested
why weren't these items noticed at this point?
$275 to test a boat?
I received my boat from CYS still not running
properly or cooling properly. The oil leak was
fixed along with the water leak. The new carpet
was ruined, the boat was filthy with grease, and
the inside of my boat contained 7 weeks worth
of mechanics trash, food wrappers, and extra boat
parts not even from my boat?
I am willing to pay for all parts required to
repair my vessel, including the ones needed to
repair the "broken spark plug" issue.
I am also willing to pay for the labor required
to repair my oil and water leak since these two
issues were resolved properly. I am not willing
to pay for any labor hours spent:
· Retrieving parts
· Cleaning surfaces
· Looking up parts
· Testing my boat
· Removal of the broken sparkplug
· Second motor removal & replacement
These are not billable labor hours. Nor are
they hours that should be billed at $100/hr.
Additional Information
As part of a prior arrangement made with CYS,
I was to receive a $2500 credit, which was to
be applied to this invoice. The first notification
I received for the work performed to date, was
already in excess of $3,800 of which I was to
pay $1890 in order to "Keep them working
on my boat" which I did. It was at this time
I asked how the mechanics were going to locate
the water leak with the motor already put back
in the boat. This is when CYS agreed to remove
the motor at their expense. The leak was then
located, the "Y- pipe" was replaced
and the motor was reinstalled "at their expense".
My question is how can the invoice for the remainder
of the work take another 15 hours if most of it
was at their expense? From line 79 should be at
their expense (with the exception of line 106-107
where they installed the Y-Pipe - 2 hours) since
all of it pertains to either them breaking off
a spark plug or reinstalling my motor at their
expense.
The additional testing, picking up parts or researching
their location is all added expense in order to
drive up the bill.
| First Invoice - 832.91 Parts/
27 hrs. Labor |
3782.21 |
| My First CC Payment |
1890.10 |
| Balance |
1892.11 |
| My Credit With CYC |
2500.00 |
| New Balance |
+607.89 |
|
|
| Second Invoice 15 Hours Of
Labor & 400.23 Parts |
1979.75 |
| Tax |
403.12 |
My second CC Payment |
1771.86 |
| Total Invoice |
6161.96 |
I am currently in the process of obtaining 3
additional estimates for the same work and statements
from other shop owners in the area regarding the
practices of charging labor rates to "research"
and "transport" parts back to the shop.
Additionally I am also looking at practices regarding
poor diagnostics, shop labor hours for the same
type of work.
Kevin Jackman
|
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