[Rhodes22-list] Fun and Games with A Mac 26M, reply

Fri Jun 27 09:29:09 EDT 2008

If Elton delivered Macs, they would never have had the problem.  What did 
they do, leave it on his doorstep??

Mike
s/v Shanghaid'd Summer ('81)
       Nissequogue River, NY

From: "Hank" <hnw555 at gmail.com>Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 9:09 AM
> Ed,
>
> If you look at the site the guy created that was listed in his message, he
> fully documents everything he found with pictures.  It is quite obvious 
> that
> he knows what he is talking about.
>
> Hank
>
>
> On 6/27/08, Tootle <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Robert,
>>
>> And Stan thought he had issues with his people.  He ought to read it to 
>> his
>> guys, that is, if he can translate it to Spanish.
>>
>> And Stan knows the head fellow of MacGregor!
>>
>> If only half of this is true, I guess it means that MacGregor is going
>> under.  However, the dealer who delivered should have taken time to check
>> it
>> out.  Car dealerships used to check out a car prior to delivery.  Quick 
>> way
>> to ruin a business.
>>
>> On the otherhand, this guy may lack ordinary common boat sense and expect
>> after a long trip that everything is perfect.  That is why Stan either 
>> goes
>> thru the basics at the plant if it is a pick up or sends an experienced
>> person to assist with the initial set up.
>>
>> Ed K
>> Greenville, SC, USA
>> http://www.nabble.com/file/p18154416/economics%2B101.jpg 
>> economics+101.jpg
>>
>>
>> Robert Skinner wrote:
>> >
>> > I received the following message from a fellow sailor,
>> > and thought I'd pass it on.  While I have not verified
>> > the details and cannot vouch for the accuracy thereof,
>> > the general tone seems to indicate caution where Macs
>> > are concerned...
>> >
>> > /Robert
>> >
>> > -------- Original Message --------
>> > Subject: re: August sail
>> > Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:20:27 -0400
>> > From: "Jay Hersh aka Dr. Beer(R)" <jsh at doctorbeer.com>
>> >
>> > We bought a MacGregor 26M from a Colorado dealer named Kelly Hanson
>> > because
>> > they had showed at the Boston boat show and there are no MacGregor
>> dealers
>> > for 400 miles so it was going to have to be shipped to us anyway. We
>> > ordered it in March and Kelly Hanson got the check on April 1st. It
>> > cleared
>> > my bank account April 3rd, and sincethis takes 2 days for out of state
>> > checks, they must have deposited the day they got it. That was the last
>> > thing about this transaction they did in a prompt manner. The boat 
>> > didn't
>> > arrive until Memorial Day, a month late. It is riddled with problems.
>> > Major
>> > problems.
>> >
>> > - Engine won't go into reverse and starts in gear because the throttle
>> > cable was not installed correctly.
>> > - the Engine wasn't inspected by an authorized dealer BRP, the parent
>> > company of Evinrude, won't validate the warranty until I have this 
>> > done.
>> > - Steering linkage was either a bad design or incorrectly installed
>> > because
>> > you can't turn to starboard
>> > - the trailer torsion bars were never adjusted so the fenders were
>> rubbing
>> > the tires. Because the flatbed that was supposed to deliver it from CO
>> > broke down in PA the trailer was towed by some 3rd party shipper the 
>> > last
>> > 400 miles. This resulted in the side light wiring chafing away.
>> > - Speaker wire was used to extend the 14AWG marine grade wire that
>> > connects
>> > the 30 Amp main switch panel to the battery.
>> > - the connection between the 30 Amp panel and the battery had a 10 Amp
>> > fuse
>> > wired inline, not a 30 Amp. So if you flipped more than one switch on 
>> > the
>> > panel the fuse would blow
>> > - the 12 volt power socket which has 20 guage wiring and is designed 
>> > for
>> > no
>> > more than 10 Amps had the 30 Amp inline fuse wired into it
>> > - the engine wasn't connected to the batteries via the battery 
>> > selection
>> > switch
>> > - the 2nd battery I was sold ($195 for the battery, Perko battery 
>> > switch
>> > and installation) was a 75 Amp trolling motor battery
>> > - the main battery on the boat was a 450 Amp, not the proper size for 
>> > the
>> > ETec 50HP engine I ordered which the manufacturer spec says should have 
>> > a
>> > max cranking amperage of 1000 Amps
>> > - the stereo I bought was advertised and invoiced as a "Marine" stereo
>> but
>> > instead a car stereo was installed. It was installed in the wrong place
>> > and
>> > it wasn't even hooked up right. there was no fuse in the inline fuse
>> > holder
>> > and the wire on the positive wasn't stripped before being crimped in 
>> > the
>> > connector end
>> > - They stiffed me for the main sheet, genoa sheet and genoa cars
>> > - The $495 Genoa that is advertised as having a sewn on UV cover didn't
>> >
>> > This is just the short list. There are 2 full pages of defects on this
>> > boat.
>> >
>> > When I tried to contact Kelly Hanson both the Sales Director who had 
>> > sold
>> > me the boat (Jeff Stagg) and the Chief Financial Officer (Andrew Etzen)
>> > who
>> > I'd also dealt with previously ignored repeated emails and calls. I
>> posted
>> > something on the MacGregor Sailors web page and the owner of the 
>> > company
>> > Art Kelly called me names and said that if I'd only called him he'd 
>> > have
>> > corrected everything. So I called him and he said to email him the list
>> of
>> > problems and the pics I took of them. That was three weeks ago, and as
>> you
>> > might be guessing he didn't respond to my email.
>> >
>> > Next I contacted the East Coast Sales Rep who only recently started 
>> > with
>> > them and works part time while having a day job. He's a nice guy and he
>> > came out to my house near Boston two weeks aga and took a look at the
>> > lemon
>> > of a boat they sent me (we've nicknamed it the Albatross for now) and
>> when
>> > I told him that I should be getting refunded at lesat some of my $ for
>> the
>> > slipshod work his reply was that calling it slipshod "was being kind." 
>> > He
>> > put together an action list and sent it out to Colorado. The CO office
>> has
>> > done nothing. They haven't bothered to doing even the easy stuff on the
>> > action list like mailing me the missing parts and they have yet to send
>> me
>> > a dime.
>> >
>> > I've had to shell out $300 to have the trailer repaired earlier this 
>> > week
>> > so I could tow it to the closest Evinrude dealer to have the warranty
>> > inspection done, the throttle properly connected and a battery sized 
>> > for
>> > starting this engine installed. That's going to cost a bunch more $.
>> >
>> > In the meantime Kelly Hanson is blaming MacGregor for some of these
>> > problems since it's a custom built trailer and MacGregor installed the
>> > engine. They haven't owned up to the miserable and hazardous wiring job
>> > they did and refunded me the $ for the labor on it or the cost of the
>> > stereo plus installation. Summer starts
>> >
>> > The hybrid power sailer of the MacGregor is in principle a good design.
>> > MacGregor itself cuts just about every corner they can to squeeze a $1
>> > more
>> > profit out it. They make claims about the boat that just plain aren't
>> true
>> > which I won't go into those here. They don't stand behind their 2 year
>> > warranty, and they aren't even remotely close to being qualified to
>> > install
>> > engines on their boats.
>> >
>> > Kelly Hanson has a nice web site. They've been selling MacGregors for 
>> > 1.5
>> > to 2 years and have become the largest reseller. Almost nothing Jeff
>> Stagg
>> > their sales Director told me about the boat before I bought it is true.
>> He
>> > misrepresented so many things about it I don't know where to start. 
>> > There
>> > is no supervision of whoever is doing the install work on the boats of
>> the
>> > options they sell, and despite a lot of huffing and puffing from Art
>> Kelly
>> > (who also runs Freedom Boat Works) they don't stand behind the boats 
>> > they
>> > sell.
>> >
>> > So just like Ishmail in Moby Dick, I'm here to tell you my tale so that
>> > you
>> > might avoid my fate. Think twice or even thrice before you decide to 
>> > buy
>> a
>> > MacGregor because even if it is delivered in the condition it is 
>> > supposed
>> > to you'll spend lots and lots of money and time just replacing the 
>> > cheap
>> > hardware they use (most of which is designed for much smaller day
>> sailers)
>> > with quality stuff. Definitely DO NOT BUY A BOAT FROM KELLY HANSON
>> > MARINE!!!! Tell anyone you know that might be thinking of buying a
>> > MacGregor not to buy from Kelly Hanson Marine. Tell them to tell 
>> > everyone
>> > they know. Believe me you'll be doing people you never even met a huge,
>> > huge favor.
>> >
>> > If the boat weren't in the shop I'd probably be working another 10-12
>> hour
>> > day on it in the fading hope of getting to sail it this year instead of
>> > writing this email.
>> > Hope all your summers go better than mine has started out.
>> >
>> > Jay
>> >
>> > PS I've created the website KellyHansonMarineSucks.com and will be
>> posting
>> > a list of the defects the boat arrived with, pictures of the slipshod
>> work
>> > that was done by them and MacGregor, the timeline of events, and other
>> > details.
>> > __________________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> http://www.nabble.com/file/p18154416/economics%2B101.jpg 
>> economics+101.jpg
>> --
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>> http://www.nabble.com/Fun-and-Games-with-A-Mac-26M-tp18147880p18154416.html
>> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
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