Another AZ Champ Dealer Bites the Dust (my nightmare continues)

[Rackman]

Well.....here in Arizona we are not having any luck with "Champ" dealers.....we just had our latest casualty....First, the oldest Champ dealer in the country lost the Champion line.....for a variety of reasons....now, the new dealer just closed it's doors....taking my deposit for a new 200 Elite with em.....AARGH!

It looks like they fowarded my order over to Anglers Marine in CA but failed to foward my down payment......Anglers Marine and the local Champion Rep are working to get it back but it doesn't look good.....They did say that they are working with the factory to "credit" the down payment towards the purchase anyways.....lets hope!

On a brighter note.....My boat went into production today.....
and should be complete and ready for shipping in about two weeks...

If I wasn't such a loyal Champ owner I would have simply canceled this entire order and bought something else....I'm a little worried about warranty issues, seeing how the closest dealer (Anglers Marine) is about 7 hours away....lets hope I don't need to use it much!

Dan

[champion4life]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rackman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">....lets hope I don't need to use it much!</TD></TR></TABLE>


here here!!!!!

[MigAz]

This is sad news at best. To think that a renown manufacturer of a quality bass boat, arguably one of the best, is having marketing issues in AZ is unheard of! I live 5 minutes away from the dealership Rackman is alluding to and this is literally turning into a nightmare. If you come to AZ, you will see Champs have a MAJOR presence here.

Dan, I hope it turns out to be flawless transaction from here on out. ChampioN, can you hear us?

P.S. Rackman, turn on you IM funtionality. Oh, one more thing...you ready to to Charbroil?

[HaulinBass]

A dealer took your deposit knowing that they were probably going under, and didn't say anything to you about it. Real crappy on their part, to put it mildly.

[iron banks]

What the dealer did was no different than stealing. I would contact the authorities and get a nice lawyer to write them a letter.

[JeremyL]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iron banks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What the dealer did was no different than stealing. I would contact the authorities and get a nice lawyer to write them a letter. </TD></TR></TABLE>

If they filled Bankruptcy there is nothing you can do!

[gleninaz]

Dan-I knew all about Tempe but didn't know the new RV dealer went under. My 206 is a 2004 and I can tell you there has not been a single hull issue but have had a couple of significant motor problems under warranty. Tempe fixed both. I would just take the boat to Southwest for any motor issues since they have the best mechanics and can do your warranty work. Actually the Tempe thing was not Champions fault IMO but was a new owner of an old business buying it in a high market and then trying to survive a soft market. Sucks about the deposit but IMO that is up to Champion to cover it since you bought in good faith from their dealer. Hang in there.

[GregA]

Please keep us posted.

[Rackman]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gleninaz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually the Tempe thing was not Champions fault IMO but was a new owner of an old business buying it in a high market and then trying to survive a soft market.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not sure who's fault the Tempe Marine thing is....but the problem there basically started when they took on the Skeeter line as well....they are still in business and are selling quite a few Skeeter's out of there....soft market or not! Sounds like they should of had a contract in place that disallowed them from taking on another major bassboat line. Seems like Champ has lost a few long time dealers lately...for whatever reasons!....

As Migs mentioned Champ has (had) a huge presence here in AZ....they were easily the number 2 boat as far as numbers at any given tourney.....Now, you are not seeing any new Champs out there.....all these guys are switching....Champ may still be doing well nationally but I guarantee their numbers are in the toilet here in AZ....It's really sad!

Local dealer support and after sale service is of the upmost importatance when buying a boat.....This has me thinking that maybe I am making a big mistake by purchasing this boat from an out of state dealer....maybe I should just cancel the order and cross over to the dark side (Ranger).....as they have a solid dealer here in AZ!!!

It bothers me big time....that I have never been contacted by the Champ Rep....I had to learn all of this on my own...even the closing of this latest dealership and the transferring of my order to an out of state dealer...I even had to foward them the paperwork as they had no idea what was going on! Now I'm paying full price for a boat that I will have to drive a total of 16 hours to go get and then I will have no local support to boot!....someone remind me again why I'm doing this?

Sorry to rant.....I'm just so frustrated and not sure what to do!

Dan

[FEARTHETURTLE210]

You have every right to be concerned, but if your really sold on your new champ, why not call Champ and ask if there is a Genmar dealer close by that they would agree for you to go to and approve all future warranty work if there is any...As they say it cant hurt to ask...Good Luck!!

[Todd Morgan]

Rick Grover and Anglers will actually wind up being much better to have purchased from if you do have a problem....the 7 hour drive stinks....but they're very large and very solvent. No worries about them handling any issue that may come up.

This year will see a lot of dealerships fall by the wayside...and the strongest grow even stronger.

[Lea]

You are doing this because you know the brand!!

As Glen mentioned, the probs are very unlikely to come from the hull. As long as you have a good motor guy, you will be fine...

Regardless, Champion has a great customer service dept!!!!

Anglers is a great dealer.... As Todd says, you will be just fiine!!! I drove almost twice that distance. Never an issue!!!

[Lpolk]

I would just like to say. I hope the down payment thing works out. Being a previous owner of a champ. I drove about 200mi one way,not quite as far, but I will drive even further. If I had to go even further,my mind would be put at ease knowing the quality of this product. You just can't go wrong, stick with it and I think it will payoff in the long run. (Keep the faith)

[champ223]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lpolk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would just like to say. I hope the down payment thing works out. Being a previous owner of a champ. I drove about 200mi one way,not quite as far, but I will drive even further. If I had to go even further,my mind would be put at ease knowing the quality of this product. You just can't go wrong, stick with it and I think it will payoff in the long run. (Keep the faith) </TD></TR></TABLE>


I also drove a long way for mine about 13 hours round trip and I would definately go further if I have too. I do not have any dealers in my state one in Rhode island would be the closest but I knew that when I bought. my only condition would be that it have a merc cause I have a merc dealer about 20 min away to handle motor warranty. I had some minor issues like seat posts went bad I called champ and they sent me new one's no prob and ufp sent me some trailer stuff that needed fixing.

[ChampioNman]

It will be worth it and it will work out for the best (your) interest . Things like this happen, thankfully not all the time. when I bought mine I had the choice of 2 dealers in the Northeast on was in NY the other in RI about a split in milage but I went with the NY dealer. He sold OMC's being an OMC wrench I chose him over the RI dealer. The RI dealer had my NY dealer beat by $300.00. Back then that was the difference between an OMC/BRP and a Merc/Mariner. Yammie wasn't quite the playa they are now.

[Rackman]

Just thought I would give everyone a heads up on what has transpired so far....Well, Champ and Anglers Marine has indeed stepped up and made things right with me and my deal.....Finacially and otherwise!.....For one they reimbursed me for the deposit I had lost through the other dealer....That was cool

Also, it appears that there will be a new dealer here in AZ in the very near future....and in the meantime any warranty issues can be handled by another Genmar dealer if needed. They also have agreed to deliver the boat to my house rather than me having to make the long drive.... which was just simply awesome for them to do

Anyways, my boat should be nearly complete by now at the factory and it should be ready to ship by the end of the week or the first part of next week......I am going stir crazy without a boat (sold mine way too soon)...I actually fished out of my Kickboat the other day just to get a fix...LOL

I will post up some pics when my new girl arrives!

Dan

[Lea]

Great news!!!!! I knew they'd come thru for you!! Congratulations on your new Champion!!


To Champion and to Angler's Marine..

[JonW]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rackman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just thought I would give everyone a heads up on what has transpired so far....Well, Champ and Anglers Marine has indeed stepped up and made things right with me and my deal.....Finacially and otherwise!.....For one they reimbursed me for the deposit I had lost through the other dealer....That was cool

Also, it appears that there will be a new dealer here in AZ in the very near future....and in the meantime any warranty issues can be handled by another Genmar dealer if needed. They also have agreed to deliver the boat to my house rather than me having to make the long drive.... which was just simply awesome for them to do

Anyways, my boat should be nearly complete by now at the factory and it should be ready to ship by the end of the week or the first part of next week......I am going stir crazy without a boat (sold mine way too soon)...I actually fished out of my Kickboat the other day just to get a fix...LOL

I will post up some pics when my new girl arrives!

Dan
</TD></TR></TABLE>
That is FANTASTIC news!
Good for you ChampioN!

[Rebel1]

Great customer service on Champion's part.

[Champion in KS]

YES! Gotta love it! You will not have to compromise your fishing platform!