Boatyard billing

[thomaslong]

Our Albin CB 32+2 powered by a Yanmar recently needed to have the exhaust elbow replaced, along with the throttle and gear control cables. The bill was not cheap, as you can imagine, because the mechanic had to move the exhaust hose out of the way to get to the elbow and remove at least two sections of headliner to access the throttle and gear shift cables for replacement.

What blew me away was that the yard charged me more than $400 to clean up my boat that they had trashed in the process of the repair, which I can attest is a nasty job. And worse, they charged the same rate for cleaning that they did for the actual mechanical work.

This seems like gouging to me. I have patronized this boatyard for 35 years and three generations of ownership. Am I wrong to feel ripped off?

[catalina_mike]

No you are not wrong to feel that way. Feelings are just that... However like when they install a pool they tell you upfront and in the contract all the stuff they might damage and they are not going to fix it! A boat is a tough thing to work on and you should at a minimum have a cordial discussion with the manager about how you are feeling. Then see what happens... at the least you will feel better calmly expressing how and why you feel the way you do.

[Jack]

It does seem to be increasing. I wintered at a smaller yard this past season for lower rates on hauling and shrink wrap. My mistake was asking them do do some repairs and maintenance. Their labor rate is the same as the bigger yard but their capability is less so they logged far too much time. One example is three hours to winterize my fresh water system on a 28TE. That's about two and a half hours too long. They need to rip us off in order to stay in business. My friend insists on bringing his own help in to the yard and is not cheated.
I would love to see an audit on how many gloves are charged for versus how many were purchased by the marina. Or bottom paint or brushes. Each boat owner pays for a set of gloves or paint by the gallon even if they are used on more than one boat. I've seen the workers painting bottoms of two boats side by side and I'm sure the owners didn't share the cost of the materials. There's a systemic dishonesty in the industry.