Bad Surprise...

[RDT-G23]

Greetings to everyone! I am the soon to be new owner of a 2017 G23. (It should be here at the end of June, but more on that in a minute...) I come to Nautique boats from a Cobalt. I have loved my Cobalt, but want to surf, I want more people and storage capacity, and all of the modern attributes that come with it. Like the Nautique, I ordered my Cobalt, and being the complete anal-retentive freak that I am (and also a very inquisitive one), I did the Cobalt factory tour 11 years ago - when my boat was about 80% done - which leads me to my first experience with Nautique this week... As with the Cobalt, I ordered my G23 with the intent to tour the factory - and see my boat at about 70-80% complete... That tour day was this past Monday. I called the factory last Tuesday to confirm all was still scheduled for this week. It was, but the boat was started a day late. That was no big deal to me, I just wanted to compare and contrast the two builders, and see my boat as it was almost complete. I flew to Orlando from Houston on a 5:30 a.m. flight, took care of some business at the Orlando airport, then "Uber'd" to the factory. I got there at 10 a.m. When my guide came to the lobby, he said, "I have bad news, your boat is not on the production line; in fact, it has been scrapped." He went on to tell me that they had found a flaw in the hull that they could not fix. Earlier that morning, he had himself searched the factory for it, knowing I was on my way - - to no avail. He was then told the aforementioned news... Naturally, I was shell-shocked. I was shocked at what had happened, but more so that nobody had contacted me to warn me in advance to allow for rescheduling of my tour. He asked if I still wanted my tour, which I did, and I enjoyed all of it - while still being in a funk over what had just happened. After the tour was done, my anger started building. I called my dealer to inform them of the way the rest of our transactions would occur. I am very happy that Nautique found this flaw; and I am very happy that it was found at the factory. I have no doubt that I will have a wonderful craft in the end. That said, the poor/lack-of communication - given the circumstances of the tour - has me "madder than a wet hen". I will have the boat at the end of the month; I can't wait. I'm sorry if my first post is a bit of a downer/criticism.

[xlair]

I understand your disappointment. Obviously a lack of communication but it's not the dealer's fault. This is a very isolated incident and you just got unlucky. Don't worry, your boat will be worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[RDT-G23]

I tend to agree. That said, this was not a good look for Nautique... I'm putting it behind me, and surely will chuckle about it someday... That day isn't today...

[surroundsound64]

Get some free swag out of it

[Shockthis]

Wow first world problems I guess. With all the real problems that are going on in the world right now, Ithink that this is pretty minimal. Just remember everything hapeens for a reason. Hopefully you are just happy that you family is healthy , and that you may enjoy the lake with them. People , places and things will never make anyone happy.

[Flyindutchman]

I totally get this. If I booked a day off, paid to travel, and had made all the appropriate inquiries to see my boat on the factory floor, I would also be pretty disappointed to receive that news upon arriving. Hopefully they have expedited the production of your boat to make up for the delay AND your dealer puts in a good word for you to get some swag or something. I sure hope your initial experiences on your actual boat are enjoyable and help put this misfire behind you! Good luck!

[jshack01]

If I've noticed anything about Nautique is that they are focused more on engineering and quality than anything else. Certainly service and support are top priorities as well. Getting pictures of your boat and factory tours seem to be a little further down the priority list. I would be frustrated too if this had happened to me. If its any consolation, we picked up our 2nd Nautique (2017 G23) just before Memorial Day and we are very, very happy.

Despite your disappointment there how was the tour? I'm actually going to be in Orlando in October and thought I would take a morning or afternoon and check it out? Worth it?

[nyryan2001]

The two best wakeboat builders right now are Nautique, with Mastecraft as a very close second, with Centurion as 3rd. Then a country mile.... then all the others.

the good thing is they found the issue, and your delivery likely won't be delayed more than a week.

have you talked to Ron Nace?

[RDT-G23]

jshack, The tour was decent. It took about an hour. When I did the Cobalt tour it took about 3 hours. Having said this, since I had the previous tour of a boat factory, I was pretty conversant-so we moved at a decent clip. If you have never done a tour, it is definitely worth it; you get a feel for all that is in the "sandwich" between the deck and the hull, quality control, materials, etc. I get "geeked up" over this stuff. Now that I have done two, that was probably my last; I have a good feel for boat construction at this point-from two companies at the top of their respective niches. I think most people in today's society aren't as interested in this stuff, which is fine; I'm a "gear head".

nyryan, I haven't talked to Ron Nace. What is his title/what does he do? Larry Shea did my tour.

[surroundsound64]

The two best wakeboat builders right now are Nautique, with Mastecraft as a very close second, with Centurion as 3rd. Then a country mile.... then all the others.

the good thing is they found the issue, and your delivery likely won't be delayed more than a week.

have you talked to Ron Nace?

the inbord or outboard mastercraft model?

ha

[Byeai]

Most boats conning down the assembly line are late on the build dates but to be honest ive never seen a boat scrapped I mean I could be wrong but seeing what has been saved I doubt it hope you enjoy you boat when finished

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[RDT-G23]

I have a nice update / "rest of the story" to the scenario that I detailed above. Yesterday, I received a call from Ron Nace. (They have been in dealer meetings for the past couple days, and he'd been tied up) He was quite nice, and told me what was wrong with the original boat. (Again, I'm happy they addressed it in the factory. My issue was the communication piece/lack thereof, given my scheduled tour.) He said he thought that this was a "first" for this unfortunate scenario, which I can certainly believe; consequently, they (Nautique) are putting in controls/a "check and balance" to insure that it (communication lapse) doesn't happen again. He/Nautique has offered to fly me back out (on their dime) to water test my boat. Additionally, they are documenting my boat's construction via pictures (as I've seen done here on the forum with others' boats).

I'm in the service business. "Recovery" is a huge part of our business in the event of a service failure. In that regard, Nautique has recovered quite well. Kudos to them! I always knew I'd love my boat, and now will have a nice story to tell with it that is testimony to Nautique's customer service. Nice work, Nautique!

[Wayward]

RDT-G23- I apologize ahead of time, but this is my "tough love" view of your situation...... Allowing factory tours is a courtesy IMO, and these boat companies can't put your factory tour as job#1 for their entire staff. The guys building these boats have more important things to worry about, than thinking about when you are going to pop in for a visit. This is a factory, and delays, and issues happen. The important thing is that they are trained to handle your issue appropriately. The guys handling your build, are not the guys handling your tour scheduling. Do you understand that every factory worker can't talk to every other employee at the factory every time a little issue comes up?....... Just to make sure Joe Schmoe will see his boat exactly 80% done when he flies in from Idaho?

i had a similar thing happen to me when I visited MC while my X30 was being built. It was supposed to be in rigging, but it was just starting to get sprayed. It was behind a couple of days, and I didn't get to see much of it. Stuff happens, and I understand you wanted to see your boat, but the builds don't take months. If your build was scrapped and started again, it's not like it was a week before you showed up. It was probably a day, possibly even just hours before you showed up.

i just don't think a consumer tour should be priority #1. QC and build should be. Factory tours should be priority #1000 imo.

ok, tough love over. I can totally understand your frustrations. That was definitely bad luck!! Rest easy in the fact that Nautique is extremely critical of build quality, and that you will be getting one of the best built fiberglass boats on the planet!!

also, Ron Nace is awesome. I had to deal with him on an issue on my '17 G23. Needless to say, my expectations were far exceeded.

[Kmayotte]

Wayward exactly my thoughts when I read this thread. You put it well. With experience in cs rep and production management I can easily see how this happened at a plant like Nautiques. Would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the production managers was informed of the situation .

Glad Nautique made it right for RDT-G23 and his experience is positive in the end. That's always the goal.

[nyryan2001]

RDT, great news... hence my reccomendation to give Ron a call. A+ guy. He is 100% all in on making things right if they fall short.