fuel gage problems

[henry robertson]

i just joined and have a new/to me 31 te 1998 seems to be a good boat inspite of the problems the albin corp officers caused and refused to fix
i have three fuel tanks and the pannel switch seems to be three position
right position always shows full on single guage middle and left position on switch has no effect.
can't find access to fuel senders and don't want to pull center caulked and screwed hatch if not necessary. any help would be appreciated
henry
beaufort SC
terra nova

[Tuxedo]

Henry -

I also have a 1998 31. On my boat, there is only one gauge, and it's in the center tank under the large caulked-in panel. The switch only works in the far right position.

Be sure you have all 3 tanks interconnected (valves in the aft lazzerette), since the fuel draws from and returns to the center tank only.

The fuel gauge sender (Tempo) leaves a lot to be desired. I replaced mine with a WEMA that is actually accurate. Removing the access panel is not that big a deal.

Sorry about your experience with Albin. I have a ton of experience with these boats, having been an Albin dealer, and owning 2 31's, this one since new. I'll be glad to help anyway I can.

Maybe we should rendezvous somewhere around the Edisto sometime. Did you buy the convertible that was for sale in HH?

[Tuxedo]

Henry -

If you don't mind my asking, how was Albin even involved in the purchase of a nine year-old boat that was well out of warranty. I know customer support is not the greatest, but I just wonder what their role was in the deal. If you don't want to answer on the public board, you could PM me, or ignore me for being too nosey.

Like I said, I don't have anything to do with Albin anymore, but I do have some experience and I'll be glad to help you out.

[Mariner]

I expect you to explain what it was exactly that Albin did to mess up your transaction or boat, or I will delete your post.

I'm not trying to censor here, but we currently enjoy support from Albin, and I want to keep it that way. I am in no way saying you can't be critical, but I expect you to back it up with details. If you do that, it will provide readers with the information they need to make an informed assessment of your opinion, as well as for Albin to respond.

You have until tomorrow. And I do expect it to be on the public record.

[jcollins]

Easy men. We're all friends here.
Henry - You'll find very loyal supporters here. You should explain what you mean.
Mariner - Give him a chance. Sometimes we all "type" faster than we think.

[chiefrcd]

.....and everyone's experience is different. I purchased a 5 year old Albin thru CYS in Deltaville, they are the local Albin Dealer, and they were terriffic. I've now have owned the boat for three years and although I get much of my work done at another marina, they still answer every question I have regarding my Albin. I could not be more pleased with there customer service. or their sales staff.

[henry robertson]

p posted a detail reply to abmin.
summary:
bought my albin, a factory trade in from cos cob ,conn headquarters-- 22 feb--fred(pres) promised 5 week repairs and his assist craig comfirmed this as reliable. boat finally released in may--lost reservation deposit on planned cruise and had higher delivery cost--corp. officers un concerned throughout. my broaker had to go to factory to give them scope or repairs report and revisit to plied my case to get repairs started.
boat advertised with certain equip. that was on board at inspection not received and promised new carpets and replacement cabinet lock units never deliverse. all this despite constant calls by me and my broaker.
i/4 inch of e mails available for review.--they caused me and my wife much anguish and ruined the boat buying experience. this is my 10 th boat since i was 13 so i am not new at this.
sorry i ruffled feathers as i thought i used reserve originally. i would love to know a honest albin dealer so i can get parts
henry robertson beaufort sc

[Mariner]

Ok, so If I may summarize your complaints:

1. Boat was aproximately four weeks late due to repairs taking longer than expected
2. Late delivery caused you to lose a deposit in a marina where you intended to stay
3. Delivery cost was more than you expected
4. Equipment on board at inspection was not included at time of transfer
5. New carpets were promised, but not included
6. New cabinet lock was promised, but not included
7. Company representatives not concerned with your claims


Thank you for presenting the whole picture. Please feel free to further clarify anything I may have gotten wrong as I had a bit of a hard time interpreting your post.

[Mariner]

Now, I'm going to take off my site admin hat, and put on my member hat.

I see where you would have a considerable gripe with them regarding the time it took to complete the repairs. One thing I will point out, however, is that given the initial assessment of five weeks of repairs, it is pretty obvious that this boat was in need of a LOT of repairs. Did you purchase a boat contingent to repairs being made, or did you purchase it as-is and then pay for the repairs out of pocket? The first rule in home remodeling is that it will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect. I'm sure the same applies to fixing up boats. So, it doesn't surprise me that something like this could happen. You have a good cause to complain, but I have to wonder if perhaps if you'd been more understanding about this initial setback, maybe the subsequent issues would not have become such sticking points. I personally, would never finalize a transaction until all agreed upon repairs had been performed. When I bought my house, it took about a month longer than the initial agreement allowed for, but I didn't complain. I knew it was a tough situation (purchasing a home out of foreclosure), and to expect the unexpected. In the end, we all walked away satisfied; even the guy who lost his house.

Puting down a non-refundable deposit on a stay in a marina before even having posession of the boat doesn't sound like something I would do. You did. Good for you. But I wouldn't have done it.

Did Albin perform the delivery? Did they arrange it? By how much was the estimate off? I can tell you from experience, yacht delivery charges are almost ALWAYS above and beyond what is initially quoted. This is exacerbated by the steadily rising cost of fuel.

If new carpets were part of the deal, and were not included, why did you accept delivery of the boat? I assume this was in writing, right?

Working, as I do, in a customer service oriented business, I can tell you how frustrating it can be when you encounter a client who is more demanding, less understanding, and generally a larger pain in the ass than all your other clients. You typically come to the conclusion that there is nothing you can do to please them, and that they are just the type who like to complain. At that point, they usually become your lowest priority. From a strict business standpoint, it makes sense. If there's nothing you can do to solve the problem, why waste your time and energy trying? From a personal standpoint, it also makes sense. Why be accomodating for someone who is not polite to you?

[TonyAmalfitano]

Well now, that was well said.

[jcollins]

Mariner - Well said. Thank you.
Henry- Thanks for explaining everything. I truly hope things get better. The Albin is a great boat.

[RicM]

While it would seem that we have the right to expect things to be delivered on time, within budget, and as expected, it has been my observation that this has never actually occurred in a boatyard. Boatyards that I have dealt with usually involve a resposible looking person at the front desk and an irascible, profane, OCD, and ADD riddled staff bearly clinging to a living derived from a boating public that they universally despise, even if they like you as an individual, which they will pretend to do if it suits them on that day.
As much as I have read in nautical history this goes back as long as there have been boats and boatyards.
If customer service, fairness and promptness are concerns we would be better off "carring" rather than "boating".
Now before you send me stories of your favorite boat mechanic and how he saved your lunch, this is an observation about boatyards, not individuals. I have yet to run into someone with a better than love/hate relationship with their boatyard.

[Pitou]

I've always said .... if I could be reincarnated I want to come back as the owner of a boat yard so I can say ...... No boating for you "parts aren't in yet !" It's inherent to the industry. Just like the rest of life boating brings the good the bad and the ugly (blew a cooloant hose running in last night). Relax, stay calm and your enjoyment will follow

[rt11002003]

Sounds like good advice in the previous posts. Before retirement, I, too, worked in a service oriented business, providing services to the library world . Found out that much of the time most of the problems were communications ones. We tend to hear what we want to hear and think we said what we wanted to say. Written communications are somewhat better, but problems still arise.

My wife is a great one for projects that I'm not up to handling. With her last one she asked me if she should make the final payment when the contractor still had a couple of small things to finish. I reminded her of past projects; she paid the contractor anyway. He never returned.

Will we ever learn? As long as we believe in the goodness in human nature, probably not. Just need to understand there are a few rotten apples in the barrel and keep it in mind.

Now to our great boatyard, it is the one at Alred Marina in Guntersville, AL. When we moved Bella Donna to the Marina she needed some work. We discussed what needed to be done, got an estimate of cost and time and wrote up the service order. The timeline was longer, because of parts, and the estimate was way off.

None of it became a problem. The yard kept us advised of the parts situation so we always had an idea when things might be finished.

When everything was completed we went to pay the invoice. There was a hugh credit. When I inquired as to why, the manager replied he was sticking to his estimate on labor. That it was his problem not ours.

We've had a number of smaller jobs done there since. Never a problem. Most of the time the person working on the boat calls us if it looks like there's some issue or the office refers us to person if we have any questions.

It's a good place to do business, boating business.

[TD]

Thanks Tom for the fuel gauge info. I have a 35TE 2000 w/twin 370 Cummins I purchased last year and have not had time to figure out the fuel system yet. I think mine works axactly like you describe. My only problem is after fuel fill and useage of about half a tank the gauge won't settle out for more than an hour so can't trust it when I am fishing offshore in the Pacific all day. Does the WEMA gauge solve this situation? I think my access is probably through the cockpit center bumper storage bin. It has about 6 screws and very accessible. I know the tanks are connected with about a 1 1/2 or 2 inch fuel line but, when I fill I still fill on both sides. I haven't come close to testing if it really holds 370 gallons as advertised.
Any words of wisdom you have on this will be greatly appreciated.
Terry