Mercury Marine ripoff fraudulent business doesn't give a dam Fond du Lac Wisconsin
I purchased a T-34 Electric trolling motor 13 months ago from Wal-Mart in Northboro Mass for small boat fishing purposes. Wal-Mart has of course been courteous about this incident, however the manufacturer has not.
I have been fishing in small boats for many years with electric motors and are experienced with their operation. Upon deployment one day and attempted to lower the motor from it's locked up position down into the water to begin boating.
The small red unlock button is difficult to push and release with an index finger, so I used my left thumb. Nothing out of the ordinary was done on this action. The motor then lowered into the water, I was then immense pain from my left index finger being crushed in the hinge (scissor area) of the hinge.
I was in momentary shock. It was crushed so badly I could not get the motor to release from this position. If the boat sank, I was going with it. I then (while screaming in agony) had to break the motor lock to get my crushed finger out. I lost the nail and the recovery time was about 4 months. I have contacted the manufacturer (Mercury) to see what their response would be about replacing the broken motor. After many ignored attempts a lawyer called me back.
Mr. Todd Lemke advised me he would look into the situation and call me back. Ya right. After many attempts to contact him (calls and even a 93A letter Fed Ex to him) I was only again ignored. I can absolutely prove this motor is a poorly designed product that can be very dangerous to its operators. I still have the motor and the photo of my finger throughout it's healing.
What I want to know is HOW a company can so easily turn their head at something like this? I have consulted attorneys and they do feel Mercury Marine has been negligent in this case. Has anyone else out there had an incident with this company or an injury from its equipment? ANY input or advice would be appreciated.
Jeff
Worcester, Massachusetts
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Alice
Milwaukee,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Go through WalMart
#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, December 09, 2004
I don't know how old this complaint is or how helpful this might be, but as a former employee (sales to our dealer network) of a different marine manufacturer, I think I can help you to understand these manufacturers' business practices.
Manufacturers such as Mercury sell their products through dealers (like WalMart) and their primary loyalty is to those dealers. In dealing with consumers, even though Merc and others have customer service, they will do everything they can to resolve issues through a dealership, and only work with a consumer if the dealership itself is unwilling to resolve the issue. With such a business model, your BEST recourse is to go through WalMart, and not contact the manufacturer. You stated that WalMart has been helpful, well, then ask them to take back the motor for a replacement, refund or discount on future purchase. Then let THEM deal with the manufacturer.
Specific to your case, even though you were injured and had to break the motor lock, that does not clearly indicate a product defect, so I'm not too surprised that you didn't have much luck with Merc. As an experienced boater, I'm sure you know that motor locks are meant to be difficult to unlock/lock; it's meant as a safety feature which unfortunately in this case backfired. If you truly feel this is a larger issue of product design, then again advise WalMart (better if you can get together some other consumers) so they can stop stocking them; believe me, if WalMart stops stocking the product, that will force Merc to look at the design faster than any letter you write.
I will say that had WalMart been a dealership in my sales area, and had I been told of your incident, as a company rep I would have at the very least gotten you some free product, and I'm sorry you were not given this courtesy by Merc. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you've had a full recovery. Happy boating!