Print the value of index0
DFW Boats Paym KingScott Suggs Boat NOT AT ALL as advertised. Pictures showed a clean boat, but had multiple items of damage that dealer lied about. Lewisville Texas
I contacted DFW Boats about a used boat that they had for sale. They had advertised 24 pictures in their listing that showed the boat to be very clean and in very good condition. Nothing was broken, nothing was torn and the trailer tires looked brand new. Since I live in the Albany NY area and this dealer is in Texas, I didn't have the means to look at the boat in person. I therefore went by what the photos showed. I also asked the dealer if there was anything wrong with the boat and I was told that it's in great condition. I paid a local boat service center to test the motor and inspect the mechanical part of the boat, but not the condition of the hull of the boat as I was told it was in great condition and the pictures showed that.
I agreed to purchase the boat and immediately Paym that I had been speaking with told me that I needed to send them a check via overnight mail or they were going to sell it to someone else. They pressured me into buying it right away with the threat that they would sell it to someone else. I offered to give them a deposit while I was waiting for my bank to give me a certified check. I finally got the check and overnighted to them. I then hired a delivery company to tow the boat to NY. I called Pam and asked her about the boat cover and all canvas that comes with it. She said that everything will be packed in the boat and it will be 100% ready to be towed. I gave Paym's contact info to the delivery company and they set up the delivery.
The trip was supposed to take about 2-3 days and part way into the first day, the delivery driver called me because he had 2 flat tires. The tires were extremely bald and they both blew out while traveling. The trailer has 4 tires on it and the 2 that didn’t blow out were very bald also. So the driver had to locate a local tire company and I had to call them with a credit card to purchase 4 new tires.
About 2 days later, the driver showed up with the boat. Part of the bimini top was still up and it was completely torn and shredded from the drive. I asked why it wasn’t taken down and he said that the boat company, (Paym at DFW) had said it’s all set to travel and that it could be left up.
I then began inspecting the boat and found a long list of things that were wrong with it.
Below is a detail of all of these items. This is a copy of a letter that was sent to Paym King and Scott Suggs who is the owner.
List of items:
Email from Four Winns Dealer; Boats By George Hi Michael, The Four Winns Bimini canvas is: 072-3574 - Canvas, Bim top canvas only – $1083.34 plus shipping Again I’m sorry for the time frame. Thank you, Tom
Comments from Shipper regarding the bimini top: “The trailer had no damage while in transport as discussed when arrived to destination I do believe we had spoken about that same topic to the trailer as far as the top for the boat the dealer had advised us nothing else was able to be disassembled or to be taken off while in transit yes sir the wind was hitting the rag top and before we could figure out how to safely disassemble it she was already destroyed again due to the dealer advising us nothing else could be taken off as far as pictures they are deleted after 30 days our apologies although you do need to contact the dealer in regards to especially the trailer there is no possible way for us to brake he trailer without damage to the boat herself. Please call me if needed.”
2. Bow Cover: The bow cover is ripped in 4 places and needs to replaced. To save money, it can be repaired for an estimated cost of $250.
3. Cockpit Cover: The cockpit cover is also ripped. It has 2 large holes in it. The cost to repair this is also $250. Without the repairs to these, water can run in anytime that it rains.
4. New Wheels: One of the wheels is white and needs to be replaced. Both Paym and Scott acknowledged this already. The other wheel was destroyed due to a flat tire while in transport. Cost for 2 new wheels, $75 each, plus $20 each to have them mounted and balanced.
5. Trailer Light: The trailer light bracket on the left side is broken and needs to be replaced. It was in perfect condition per the pictures that were advertised on your website. Cost for new bracket is $44.
6. Clean and detail the boat: In all of the pictures that were advertised, the boat was very clean and detailed. The ad even said that it was we sanded and cleaned. I understand that it can get dirty during transport, however there was dirt, leaves, dead bugs and stagnant water in several places on the boat that are not open to the outside during transport. The boat was absolutely filthy when I received it. The cost to have it cleaned to look like it did in the pictures is $500.
7. Boat Buckles: In the pictures, there are 2 boat buckles that secure the boat to the trailer in the back of the boat. The boat was delivered without them. Cost to replace them is $45.
8. Wakeboard Tower Bolt: One of the main bolts on the tower was completely missing. Because of this, the tower rubbed up and down on the boat during transport and it scratched the boat very badly. You can see in the pictures that were advertised that there is no bolt in the tower. The boat should have never been released for transport like this. The cost to fix the scratch is $300. I had to call over 15 places to find the bolt and special order it. The cost was $25.10.
9. New Tires: The tires on the trailer were 100% illegal. The inside half of them were completely bald. There was not any tread at all on them. Because of this, the shipper had a blowout of 2 tires during transport. When they stopped to purchase new tires, the other 2 tires were the same. I therefore had to buy 4 new tires. Cost of these was exactly $362.61. The boat and trailer should have never been allowed to leave your lot with those tires. It’s extremely dangerous and a very big liability.
10. Time, Labor and Aggravation: Since I received the boat, I have spent countless days, trying to research and fix all of these issues. I have taken time off or work to visit dealers to try and get the right parts to address all of these issues. This entire experience has made me never want to own a boat again, however it’s not because of the boating industry, it’s simply because of how I was misled and then completely ignored by you.
Item Cost
Ripped Bimini Top $1,200.00
Bow Cover $250.00
Cockpit Cover $250.00
2 New Wheels $190.00
Fix Trailer Lite $44.00
Detail Boat $500.00
Boat Buckles $45.00
Fix Scratch by Tower $300.00
4 Tires & Wheel $362.61
Wakeboard Tower Bolt $25.10
$3,166.71
Time, Time off of Work, Labor and Aggravation $2,500.00 Total $5,666.71
1 Updates & Rebuttals
DFW Boats
Lewisville,Texas,
USA
Four Winns 240
#2REBUTTAL Individual responds
Wed, April 05, 2017
Mike I want to again apologize for not physically being there when your boat was picked up for transport. All of the damages you mentioned happened during transport.
You paid to have the boat thoroughly inspected cosmetically and mechanically by a third party dealership. The boat check out beautifully. The dealership suggested a couple of maintenance things to consider and you agreed for them to move forward with that. When DFW Boats went to pick up the boat from the dealership there was an incident in hitting a curb causing damage to wheels/tires. ( I am sorry I was out of town when the boat was picked up for transport) Scott Suggs (dfwboats owner) stepped in and handled everything from pick-up on. I do know DFW Boats did offer to pay for wheels and tires but you opted to hire and attorney and seek over $5000 in damages.
(Most experienced transporters ask that they we let them prepare the boat for transport, such as folding down and/or removing bimini tops/securing cushions/ removing covers etc. because every transporter's vehicle is not alike, and storage areas will vary per truck)
In long transports it is not adviseable to transport with covers or bimini tops on because the long trip and potential inclement weather conditions can bend bimini frames and destroy the cover and whip it around causing hull damage. (Experienced boat transporters are fully aware of this).
Mike I am very sorry for this horrific experience you had. I have learned a lot from this transaction, and will be very thorough with my customers and thier options regarding transporting.
We did have a similar situation two years ago, customer hired a transporter, there was extensive damage and the customer successfully sought damages from transporter with no problems. All good transporters are to carry a minimum of 500k in liability for incidents such as yours. I hope you have at filed with your transporter because they owe you every penny of the damages you listed with your complaint. DFW Boats is still willing to pay for the wheel and tire damage.
On behalf of DFWBoats, we do apologize.