Dealer Installation of Missing Rod Holders

[PhilD]

I just took delivery of a new Boston Whaler [unidentified boat], and to my surprise [the Boston Whaler factory production] forgot to include four rod holders in the bow. These rod holders double as mounting points for the bow seating backrests. The dealer admitted [the error], and the dealer is going to fix [the omissions of the four rod holders at the factory] by installing the rod holders.

Q1: will a problem occur in the longterm [by having the four rod holders installed at the dealer instead of at the factory]?

Q2: [in the future will there be] water intrusion into the foam if [the four rod holders] are not properly [installed]?

[Phil T]

Make sure the dealer uses the factory provided installation instructions (ask for a copy for your records) from Engineering.

You want prevent them getting some yard nitwit cutting into your boat.

Have the dealer document the added installed accessory was dealer installed and included in the factory warranty.

[PhilD]

You want prevent them getting some yard nitwit cutting into your boat.

You must have been to this yard before.

Make sure the dealer uses the factory provided installation instructions (ask for a copy for your records) from Engineering. Have the dealer document the added installed accessory was dealer installed and included in the factory warranty.

Great points -- thanks. They are parts sent from Boston Whaler, and this is a Boston Whaler dealer.

Overall I'm less than pleased with the final product: other things were wrong. I'm giving them the chance to make [the missing four rod holders] right. [Three] people signed off on this [new but never identified boat] before it left Florida.

[jimh]

Negotiate an option to reject the boat deal if you are not satisfied with the work done at the dealer.

[PhilD]

The Boston Whaler factory sent the parts [to the dealer] and is going to honor the warranty because [the installation of the four rod holders that were omitted during assembly of the boat at the factory] is being done by [an authorized Boston Whaler] dealer.

ASIDE: The new [boat now identified as a] 210 MONTAUK is in the water.

[jimh]

Overall I'm less than pleased with the final product: other things were wrong. I'm giving them the chance to make [the missing four rod holders] right. [Three] people signed off on this [new but never identified boat] before it left Florida.

I am sure the dealer will get this right, and your 210 MONTAUK will be an excellent boat.

That Boston Whaler built this boat and neglected to install four rod holders that were required on the production order, and three stages of quality control failed to notice the omission is hard to believe. More likely there was a mistake in entering the order, and the four rod holders were not on the build sheet for this particular boat. The omission could have been an error made at the factory or at the dealership.

Another possible cause for the omission: the factory might not have had the necessary rod holders on hand. Rather than set the boat aside in the production schedule, the boat might have been built and shipped without the rod holders, with the plan being to have the dealer install them once they became available.

ASIDE: back in the 1970'a I worked for an electronics manufacturer which was a subsidiary of a large corporation. We had a custom systems division that built very expensive electronics to a particular configuration. These products sold for many hundred thousand dollars--real money in the 1970's--and there was always pressure at the end of the month to ship one of these systems if at all possible. Until the system was actually shipped, it could not be counted as part of that month's dollar value of production. On occasion, manufacturing would crate-up and ship some big system to the customer, knowing that it was not completely assembled. As long as it went out the door before the last day of the month, they could count it as a sold product. The shipment might take a week to reach the customer, and generally several technicians would then be sent to the customer's location to coordinate the installation in the customer's facility. Any incomplete work on the system would then be done during installation. Of course, the added cost of the "installation" did not reflect on the manufacturing budget and their monthly performance. As a guy just out of college and working at my first real job, I thought it was a strange way to run the plant, but I guess for senior management a month of poor numbers of production was something to really avoid.

[Phil T]

With the increased demand in recreational boats, Boston Whaler expanded its production facilities and increased hiring 16-24 months ago.

It has long been known the quality of newly produced boats would suffer until the experience level of production staff increased and production levels matched the level of production staffing.

To date the reports on quality deficiencies of newly delivered boats have validated the expectations. The items of deficient quality have been limited to defective 3rd party supplied items, poor workmenship on finishing and mistakes in options installed.

In almost all reports, the owners reported the selling dealer or factory corrected the problems to the owners satisfaction.

[PhilD]

More likely there was a mistake in entering the order, and the four rod holders were not on the build sheet for this particular boat.

Believe it or not, everyone missed [the omission of the four rod holders}, and they owned up to it.

On the 210 MONTAUK in the build section on their web site, all of the bow options are listed separately. However the option for a SUN LOUNGE is supposed to include the bow backrests and the rod holders as part of that option, as the SUN LOUNGE option does with the bow cushions, the filler platform, the filler cushion, and so on. In fact, if you select the SUN LOUNGE option, the BOW BACKREST option is grayed out and cannot be selected.

My observation: the SUN LOUNGE options seems like it must be a rarely chosen by the customers for the 210 MONTAUK. The only other example of a 210 MONTAUK that I have seen in a youTube Channel presentation by a Boston Whaler dealer for the purpose of advertising a 210 MONTAUK boat for sale. Compare at

https://youtu.be/jm-7YeIq0Hs?t=89

jimh: to your point that perhaps there was a mistake in the order made by the dealer and sent to Boston Whaler: I wanted the option for the head holding tank pump-out. I told the dealer, but somehow both of us missed it on the dealer's order sheet; naturally, Boston Whaler didn't include that option when it built the boat--so that's on me.

[PhilD]

It has long been known the quality of newly produced boats would suffer until the experience level of production staff increased and production levels matched the level of production staffing....In almost all reports, the owners reported the selling dealer or factory corrected the problems to the owners satisfaction.

I'd be lying if I said everything was perfect on this newly-built [210 MONTAUK] boat. There are some fit and finish defects that I need to correct myself.

But I'm happy with the overall result

[The 210 MONTAUK is] a smaller and MUCH simpler boat than what I've had in the past. I am looking forward to a full season of fun on the water with friends and family.

[jimh]

On the 210 MONTAUK in the build section on their web site, all of the bow options are listed separately. However the option for a SUN LOUNGE is supposed to include the bow backrests and the rod holders as part of that option, as the SUN LOUNGE option does with the bow cushions, the filler platform, the filler cushion, and so on. In fact, if you select the SUN LOUNGE option, the BOW BACKREST option is grayed out and cannot be selected.

Based on this comment, it sounds like the problem is in the DESIGN of the FORM on the WEBSITE.

Just to verify your comment, I just visited WHALER.COM and built a 210 MONTAUK boat. I selected the SEATING--SUN LOUNGE option. As you described, when that was done the SEATING-BOW CUSHION BACKRESTS was not able to be selected. In fact, there is a notice in italic text that says that the bow cushion backrest option has the following limitation :

Option not available with Seating - sun lounge

This suggests that the web designer was told these two options could not be combined. Apparently you've now got a more-or-less special order option on the boat you just had modified by the dealer.

My inference is the web site design should be changed to show explicitly what components are included in the SUN LOUNGE option, in indeed, the backrests are supposed to be a regular part of the SUN LOUNGE option. As it shows now, I don't see a basis to make that inference.

[PhilD]

On the seating selection page:

[x] Seating - sun lounge (bow and sun lounge filler cushions, includes bow backrests) (not compatible with pedestal fishing seat)

[jimh]

On the seating selection page:

[x] Seating - sun lounge (bow and sun lounge filler cushions, includes bow backrests) (not compatible with pedestal fishing seat)

What is the URL to the page you are citing?

The page I am referencing is at

https://www.bostonwhaler.com/build-and- ... 1MTK.html#

and I am at "4. CHOOSE SEATING OPTIONS"

Here is what I am seeing. FIrst time around:

Fig. 1. From the BOSTONWHALER.COM website, from the "configurator" for selecting options on a 210
MONTAUK. Captured on April 30, 2023 at 2 p.m.

priorSeatingOptionsPage.jpg (69.47 KiB) Viewed 3676 times

Now rather strangely, 15-minutes later is looks like this:

Fig. 2. From the BOSTONWHALER.COM website, from the "configurator" for selecting options on a 210 MONTAUK. Captured on April 30, 2023 at 2:15 p.m.

seatingOptionsPage.jpg (55.59 KiB) Viewed 3677 times

But then with some more exploration, I found that you can expand the option to get more descriptions by clicking on the red CARET symbol, which then rotates to point up instead of down and reveals this clarification:

Fig. 3. Hidden description for SUN LOUNGE option.

hiddenDescription.jpg (14.09 KiB) Viewed 3674 times

With that new information, I see that the website designer is off the hook. The ball got dropped somewhere down stream from the website form. The problem might be that the OUTPUT of the website that processes the form input and creates the actual list of the components to be used omits the backrest for the sun lounge. Or, somebody even further downstream goofed up.

[PhilD]

Happy to report that the dealer took care of getting the new [rod holder] parts and doing the install [of the missing rod holders].

ASIDE: Other than the horrible steering wheel—which I had to upgrade—the [2023 210 MONTAUK] boat is admirable, and I'm loving the speed and acceleration of the 200[-HP engine].

[PhilD]

[My boating is] on the ocean, but in a protected inlet, so when I take out the family they like to ride in the bow. The main reason I got the 210 MONTAUK was because it can fit four in the bow comfortably. My build sheet had the sun lounge, which is a package deal for the bow backrests and rod holders, bow cushion, and a filler piece that goes between the cooler seat and the bow/storage locker. My slip is at a Boston Whaler dealer so they were able to get it resolved quickly.

But yes -- very surprised that they missed it. And when it came to the sun lounge filler, the bolts were all loose and it can't actually lock into place like it's supposed to because they put the locks in the wrong place. I can fix that myself easily, but on a brand new boat you're hoping for perfection.

There was also an defect with the head. When I placed the order, they asked if I wanted the pump-out head and I said yes. It didn't get added to the order, and I didn't notice it, so the boat arrived with no head and that's on me. I could always add one later but for now I'm using the extra space to store all the cushions.