I am hacked off at Stratos

[Marsh Skeeter]

A friend of mine ordered a Stratos 294 7-weeks ago and when it came in it had some things wrong with it that should have never happened. Shame on Stratos. He ordered a Hamby's, it was not installed, he ordered a 80lbs thrust trolling motor - the wrong one was installed, the rod box won't open all the way with the trolling motor up - trolling motor mounted too far back, no spare tire as ordered, and it has a leak from somewhere around the hull connections. All of this stuff is fixable - but it should not have happened on a 30K boat.

My 2 Cents.

[Glenn_S]

Maybe with the exception of the leaks, I believe all of those issues are more dealer than manufacturer. And ALL manufacturers have minor issues from the factory. Not every boat, but a good portion of them. Yes, even Ranger's have issues from the factory.

Before you rip on Stratos, you should be sure where the issue really lies. NOW, if those items are rigged at the factory, then I would say there MAY be a problem with that particular build.

The next question is, did the dealer respond to the issues in a timely manner? Again, the dealer is the key in this whole buying process. Why did they not check the boat against the order ticket?

I would question the dealer before the manufacturer.

[Jason Phillips]

Glenn,

99% of everything is installed at the factory on a Stratos. The only thing dealers should have to do is wire up the batteries, slap on a prop, windshields, etc. and wipe her down. Everything else is pretty much done.

Craig,

My question is have you seen all of this, or is this through a friend. I respect you for sticking up with him, but some of this is kinda strange. The trolling motors are put on using a template. The boats are put into a large tank to test all pumps and for leaks, and all compartments are opened and checked by QC. If all of those things happened, there was a MAJOR failure in more than one area of the production process. I understand the frustration, but I can assure you the factory (through your dealer) will correct all issues. I wish that every car, truck, and boat ever built never had to go back to the dealer because of issues like that, but it does happen. The question is how fast the problems can be corrected and if they are to your liking.


Modified by 1niceBlazer at 2:55 PM 3/21/2006

[Marsh Skeeter]

As I understand it. The only thing the dealer had to do was add batteries and a prop.

Glenn. This is first hand information. I saw this boat on Friday and was on the maiden voyage on Saturday.

[stratman201]

Yep, It looks as thought Stratos missed a few inspection items on this boat. This is a mutual friend of mine and Marsh Skeeters. The Hamby's was not on the boat as ordered. I did see this for myself. Not sure about the leak as it could be a hull connection that is not quite right or there is a possibility that the drain plug was crossed threaded when tightened. (we will have to see) Seems as though my spare tire was supplied by the factory not my dealer so this was a miss also. As far as the trolling motor goes, I have not seen it yet. I know I do not have a problem opening my rod locker with the trolling motor up.
I agree that Stratos should have caught these items, but one thing is for sure, between the dealer and Stratos they will make it right. Remember, this is the same company who gave me a $1,200.00 upgrade in a motor because the motor I ordered was backordered and Stratos did not want me to wait any longer, and this is the same dealer that let me exchange a 1.5 year old trolling motor for a new one for just the price difference. That is great service.
See ya soon Marsh Skeeter

[Glenn_S]

Ahh, my mistake.

I know when I bought my Crestliner, most of the rigging was done by the dealer. i assumed that it was that way on my Stratos as well.

Either way, the ball got dropped, and it is time for the dealer to step up. These issues should be taken care of to the buyers satisfaction immediately.

[Todd Morgan]

OK..........The Hamby's option may not have been marked on the order form. While it is now a factory option there is no place on the order to check it.

The trolling motor placement is not an error....that's where it goes. All 294's with Minn Kota's are like this.

I don't know about the leak.......I've seen bad pumps in the past cause it.

Here's the deal.......the dealer is the last line of defense......I sell 150+ Stratos' a year and I still have time to walk out and compare the order form to what I got in. True the factory sometimes doesn't send what we order......but sometimes we miss things on the order form. Either way......I don't call the customer to come get the boat if everything is not there that was ordered.

I don't see where you have a right to be hacked about anything.....maybe your anonymous buddy...but not you. One thing for sure.....posting this on here isn't getting it fixed.

[Neilslure]

TIP: You say the rod locker lid wont open because it hits the TM. Loosen the screw on the TM hold the shaft into the mount. If you turn the head so the control cable is angled slightly upward you can open it. My boat is a ft. shorter and I have my shaft up about as high as I can get it and have no trouble opening my lid. This should solve that problem.

How do you know that you have a leak? If you pulled the plug at the end of the day and found a little water drained out it could be from 2 places. (1) melted ice from cooler that drains into the bilge. (2) Took a little water over the transom as you were coming off of plane. Water will go in around the boot where cables come out as well as go under the rear hatch lid.

Also did your buddy take the time to check all this before taking delivery?

[Marsh Skeeter]

I don't know if the Hambys was on the order form or not, but just to let you know the dealer has said that he can not install the Hambys and that he will have to send it to a fiberglass shop to have it done.

And if the trolling motor is in the right spot - then thats a big problem, because right now the rod locker open only about half way.............man that user friendly

As far as I am concerned, I don't care if you order a 30K boat, Car, etc. Anyone can expect small problems, but it seems as if they missed it on this one.

About the only thing that I can agree with you on is that I don't have the right to be hacked. You are right, not my boat, not my problem.

And posting it here may not get it fixed, but maybe it will get people thinking (buyers, sellers, dealers) to get it right so someone else doesn't have to go through this again.

[Todd Morgan]

Maybe having his dealer check the order will save the next customer from having this happen.....I've not seen a thing posted in this thread so far that would make me contact Stratos to inform them of a problem.

Had the dealer done his job, you wouldn't be on here posting this cause the boat wouldn't have gone out the gate without the proper ordered equipment. Factory's fault or not.

[Jason Phillips]

Well said.

[Hogwild2]

Todd is correct. I know from first hand experience that if it is a factory problem Stratos will make it right, but it is a dealer issue allot/most of the time. If the boat colors are not right - that is a different issue, I think.....the buyer doesnt have to accept the boat. Correct me if Im wrong Todd.