Rinker Service?

[Illinitech]

I bought a 2006 320 this spring, slipped it at Lake Shelbyville in IL right next to 2 other Rinkers ('08 320 and 2010 400) and across from a Regal 4060.  We have been there 10 straight weekends and can say that I can confirm both the owner's boating experience and their character.  One of them has several problems with his new 400 (RPM max's at 4000 and won't get on plane, electronics don't work, water in the middle bilge won't flow through to aft cabin pump and a few other little things.

He has tried to get someone from Rinker or the Clinton, IL dealer (where he purchased it) to come and take care of the problems and has had to write letters, pull teeth, etc. to get service.  Finally got a response after months. The 320 owner has heard a lot of complaints from others as well.

I have a split in my wastewater tank and can't find a replacement to fit so I called a different Rinker dealer and he said that Rinker would have to give him the part number because they don't provide a parts list to dealers for all the models.  I sent him the HIN number over 3 weeks ago and followed up yesterday and he says Rinker still hasn't responded.  He had another part number request that he was waiting on info from them too.  He said Randy Rinker is typically pretty good at taking care of business so he doesn't know what's up.

Long story........... but I am interested in upgrading next year to a 40 fter for the extra cabin space (and I would like to use the head) but after being present when the Regal 4060 owner called the dealer at night while we were on a cruise because his speakers were glowing and got a response in minutes and the fact that I can't seem to buy a Rinker part and my friends can't get service on a new boat makes me wonder why I would buy another?  I love the 320, but without service from the Mfg..............too big a pain.  Anyone have any opinions?  Did the sale of Rinker affect service?  Is this normal for Rinker lately concerning service? Got a part number for a tank (34"L x 15"W x 20"H  45gal.)?

[Le Meez]

I can't say enough about the service we're getting from our dealer. I can't speak for Rinker itself as any work we've had done has been by the dealer. Nothing major other than a vacu flush toilet ring seal kit and a vesselview GPS antenna. They even came to my marina to do the work. They had to get the antenna from Rinker and had it within the week. So far so good for us. On a side note, we traded our 26' Regal on the 34' Rinker. The Regal was definately a top of the line boat whereas the Rinker is a very solid value boat. We're very pleased.

[frodo13056]

I have an 08 320 and have similar experience with not only Rinker but with the dealer I purchased the boat from.

The 320 is my 7th and will be my last Rinker mainly due to lousy service and a "It's your fault you bought a Rinker" attitude from Rinker and from the dealer.

I'm pretty sure that in order for you to remove / replace your waste tank that the starboard engine will have to be removed  

What caused the split in the tank? If you browse this forum, you'll find that several of us 320 owners have had issues where when pumping out, the waste tank will actually collapse due to the vent line being too small. Of course Rinker and the dealer simply wrote us off as being too stupid to figure out how to properly pump out a waste tank. I installed a Big Orange unit that has a vacuum breaker valve that prevents the tank collapse but the fact that Rinker would not even recognize that this was an issue is simply a joke.

[Illinitech]

The split is in the plastic weld at the bottom of the hose fitting (part of the tank, not replaceable).  The hose is just short enough (came from the factory that way according to the previous owner) that it puts upward pressure on the hose bib and I think the vibration of pumping out caused the split.  It's only been pumped out about 20 times.  I noticed that end of the tank is indented as if it collapses slightly so I checked the vent but it is clear.

I measured and it looks like the house batteries may have to come out but a new tank should squeeze in.  That's why I need the same size tank (15" wide X 20" tall).  I can't find an aftermarket one that will fit without giving up a bunch of storage space.

[Rinker342]

Our Rinker dealer in Annapolis is pretty good.  Always available and ready to perform service, but his rates are out of sight..... which is not a Rinker issue at all.  Anyway, it sounds like many dealers around the country are not very responsive.  That could have something to do with the fact that they are losing their shirts in this economy and have let all their help go.

[Capt Ron]

Service is in the hands of the dealer. How many people on this site has gone to the auto manufacturer when the dealer fails to repair their car properly... not many if any. You go out and find another dealer who is better at solving problems. In my case the local dealer suck canal water for service. I called up Randy and asked if I could get my marina to provide warranty service because they were tops at it. They also were certified for all types of drives and etc so Randy agreed. My marina took care of the issues and Rinker paid the bills. Maybe Rinker would do the same for you given that their dealer sucks at service. Rinker should know about this as well. The dealer that sucked at service has now lost their dealership and now our marina is an authorize Rinker dealership. Changes will be made if Rinker knows about, however, they aren't setup for service, that's the dealers job.

[bat32]

For you guys in the Chicagoland area: I bought my Rinker last year from Ben Watts in Fox Lake and have had pretty good success with the service department, especially with warranty work.  I had quite a few small and a couple somewhat significant issues and they didn't question me once about it.  It was an hour and a half drive for me but it was worth the initial price on the boat anthe service afterwards.  They even came out to my marina a couple times (which is a two hour drive for them).

[Illinitech]

I am not sure where the communications problems with dealers and Rinker are but after waiting for almost a month for a part number/price on my leaking waste water tank through a Rinker dealer, I followed up and he said that Rinker wasn't answering his email.  I called another dealer in Indiana and he said that he has been having the same problem.  He wouldn't even take my request because he said they were super slow to answer him too and he would have to do the same thing................wait til they responded.

Frustrated, I spent some more time online searching for a phone number at Rinker and found an old abandoned Rinker website that had a phone number listed.  That number now goes to Nautic Global (current owners) who transferred me to the Rinker division.  I left a message and Becky called me back in 30 minutes.  She took my HIN #, said the part was current and said it would ship in 2-3 days.  Price was reasonable ($182 plus tax and shipping) compared to aftermarket tanks.

I thought some of you might like the number to order parts directly by calling Becky at ph. 574-457-5292 (according to my caller ID anyway). She was pleasant, efficient and prompt.  Too bad I have about 4 hours invested in trying to get this done and have a smelly bilge for a month.

[HALL'N]

Illinitech,
We too am at Shellbyville and the owner of a 2007 342 which we bought new from Clinton Marine. We have had nothing but grief over warranty issues. I have finally given up and just take care of all problems myself.
 We just spent over $1000.00 for PlasDeck to cover the @#$%y finish on the swim deck.
Hopefully I will never need to darken the doors at Clinton Marine and would recommend you don't  either.

Enough Said!

[sailor]

Rinker Dealer on Ky Lake (Ryan Marine)  near Murray Ky was excellent. Warranty work done with
little issues, Randy Rinker was contacted and the work was done.

[Illinitech]

HALL'N
From the comments on here it sounds like picking the dealer is the critical decision.  Unfortunately, as I am sure you know, the next closest dealer for us is hours away.  Clinton Marine may never get any business from J or K Dock owners again as the 400EC owner is really upset and justifiably so I might add.  The word is out about the quality (lack ) of service and we all hang out a lot so everyone knows.  We all go on Friday evening cruises on his boat so we've seen the planing problem ourselves.  Probably 25 owners at minimum between the 2 docks are aware of his issues...............at least 2-3 that were potential upgrade buyers of bigger cruisers. 

Funny..............Clinton Marine markets itself at the World's largest Rinker Dealer in 2009.  That will change if they keep it up.  If they are still hungry to improve their business, they will read this and make some changes.

I will look for you...........give me a shout sometime.  I saw you are involved in Ag.  I spent 15 years in my other life in Ag as well before switching to technology.  Probably have some things in common. Going to LOTO this weekend, but back to Shelbyville for the next 5 weekends after that.

[HALL'N]

By the way we're over on B dock beside Bug a Boo.
Smooth Riders folks were beside us.
Boat name is now H'all Aboard

[kwilk75]

Where to begin? This is Jeff Gibbs from Clinton Marine. As usual there are two sides to every story so here is mine. Randy with the 320 next to you has never expressed any displeasure with me or my service and has bought his last two boats from me in fact he referred to me the owner of the 400.  The 400 in question has had some issues as many boats do. To read what I have on this forum one would think that it has completely fallen apart. Later in this post I will copy and paste the latest list of items wrong with the boat the minor nature of them will amaze some of you. Last Thursday I personally spent the entire day on that 400. There were 9 items on the "list" 1.Would not plane or achive over 4000 RPM. I plugged into the engines with CDS found nothing wrong , lake tested the boat and acheived 4800 rpm just as it should. Spoke with the boat owner he said he might have had the DTS control in dock mode at the time in question which will electronically limit the rpm available. Problem Solved. 2. The vacuflush toilet would not operate as the pedal mechanism was sprung. This is the third time I have personally repaired this item on this boat in the last year. When too much pressure is applied to the foot pedal the mechanism becomes sprung, that was in fact the case with this one as evidenced by the old parts i left for the owner to inspect. This item is not warranty however I have replaced it three times now at no charge. Problem solved. 3. Depth finder not working. Unit was set in Fathoms not Feet once I corrected this setting depth finder reads pefectly both at idle and underway. Problem Solved. 4. Thruster Propeller missing, I put on a new thruster prop last spring I do not know why it is now missing but have ordered the replacement and intend to replace it at no charge, I was first notified of this in June of this year. pair. 5. Bottom Paint coming off. Upon the date of delivery the temperature was 40 degrees, I had had the boat for less than 24 Hours sandblasted and painted the boat in 40 degree temps. I advised the owner that to put it in the water at that time without proper curing at specified temperatures would result in the paint coming off. I was told that no matter what the boat has to be in the water that day or he didn't want it. Reluctantly I delivered the boat. Last July I pulled the boat and touched up the bottom paint in spots where it was coming off. Owner and I have a shared responsibility in htis matter and will resolve it between us. 6. Water intrusion in hull. This was caused by a plugged drain on the anchor locker which was verified and corrected by owner, this is a matter of maintenance that must be kept up by boat owners especially when their boat is exposed at the bow at the end of a slip as this one is. 7. Swim light bulb is out. I love these things especially considering that in the average Illinois lake or river it can be seen for all of maybe three feet. I have a new swim light for this boat and upon haul out will replace it, Problem pending. 8. and 9. Owwner rep;laced the fresh water pump at his own expense and the batteries at his expense , I was never notified of issues with either. I persoanlly repaired numerous items on this boat when it was new, it was a dealer repo from out west and 99% of the issues stemmed from that dealers impropoer setup and prep of the boat. The owner of this 400 called me in april after we completed installation of new canvas that was outstanding and said to me hey dude i think we got it all taken care of. Two to three weeks later I was emailed by Randy Rinker an email from this owner saying there were these 9 problems that had been outstanding for a year and he was going to sue. In talking wiht him that day it was related to me that out of the nine items no less than seven of them were new and I had in fact never been notified of them. When criticizing me and my dealership please bear in mind that all of the work I do on location at lake shelbyville is at my expense i am not paid any travel , fuel or other expense for these repairs as the warranty does plainly state FOB the delaership. I have many more customers at that lake than you will find posting on here and I recieve numerous repeat and referral bsuiness from them all based on the level of service i do provide again at my expense. In fact when you say that J or K dock will not buy anything from me I can give you three names on K dock that will buy from me and noone else so I think i am safe on K dock I guess one guy on J dock that decided to trash me to everyone he sees is counted as the enitre J and K dock HUH?

[kwilk75]

Sorry to be so long winded but when I am being trashed I feel the need to clarify. All of my cruiser customers have my cell number and I answer their calls at all hours of the day and night as late as three AM. I must respond to Hall'N. Glenn you know as well as i do that I bent over backwards to satisfy you, we bought back the first 2006 342 you had for a Mildew problem that turned out to be a couple of pillows. That boat is awesome I have sold and traded for it twice since and it is currently being well enjoyed by a customer on the illinois river that loves it. The finish on your swim platform if you remember I recommended we leave those couple small nicks alone that were in the non skid there and on the foredeck but you insisted they be repaired even after I told you that repairs in non skid areas are nearly impossible to blend and cannot be buffed and sanded as the smooth areas can. As I said then you were better off with a few very small nicks in those areas. I did as you are aware spend many hours and numerous trips to shelbyville all at my expense to satisfy you. Rinker boats are not perfect but neither are Sea Rays or any others as I have sold them all at one time or another no oone or no product is perfect. We do the best we can and provide a great value versus the competition. Anyone that wants to compare automobiles with boats is comparing apples and oranges try taking your new lexus down the roughest road you can find at 50% plus of its operating capacity then let it sit idle for 6 months at least every year and see what problems that might cause. Plus when is the last time your car dealer came to your home and fixed a tailight for you? That is how a boat is treated things break light bulbs go out and even once in a while they dont run. One thing we pride ourselves in is that while some small non critical issues take some time to remedy when the boats are 60 plus miles away we do always make sure that our customers are running and operable in season at all costs I loan outdrives make emergency calls do whatever it takes.. I spend most of my time making sure that I do not have customers that cannot use their boat when it is hot out and time for fun. Please Boaters Stop allowing minor issues to ruin your weekends have a beer and enjoy the fact that your air works your genny runs and the boat goes across the water. If the swim light doesn't light up oh well have another beer.

[Vuja De]

It's nice to hear the dealer's side of the story(s). 

You are a brave one to come on and defend yourself and your products Jeff.

I am not a dealer, just a customer, and you've made me realize that the dealer wants our boats running great as much as we do.  I can't imagine receiving 100's of angry calls all summer long at all hours of the day and night.  As an owner, I only care if my boat runs.  As a dealer, you have to worry about 100's of boats.

Thanks for the insight and I hope the problems posted earlier get resolved.  I'll be taking your advice and not sweat the small stuff, have a cold one and enjoy the summer while it lasts.