{"id":60434,"date":"2023-06-15T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/?p=60434"},"modified":"2023-06-15T12:53:08","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T16:53:08","slug":"tell-tales-great-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/yachts\/tell-tales-great-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying the Course"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Steve <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n “Some disgruntled owners remain tight-lipped, cut their losses and move on to a ski chalet in Colorado.”<\/span>\n Steve Haefele<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sorry, sir. we cannot service your boat, as its warranty has expired. Here\u2019s a list of boatyards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So stated the terse reply my friend Larry received after he contacted his boat\u2019s builder about a leak. \u201cI didn\u2019t ask \u2019em to pay for it. I just asked \u2019em to fix it,\u201d Larry said in disbelief. \u201cI get better support from the damn cable company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t his first time being frustrated. A few years back, the rudder of Larry\u2019s expedition yacht claimed asylum in Panama and fell to the bottom of the canal on the boat\u2019s maiden voyage. He called the builder and was told to call back on Monday because the office was closing for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe incident could have crippled international trade, for God\u2019s sake,\u201d Larry complained. The rudder is still living in Panama, and Larry sold the boat, but he loves to share the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry is a serial boat buyer\u2014the sort of guy smart builders would love to have as a repeat customer. He can afford the best, is willing to pay for it and has enough mileage left on his clock for more than a few boats. The builders in Larry\u2019s stories often cater to folks like him, have high opinions of their products and aren\u2019t shy about their top-shelf pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs this one for sale yet?\u201d I asked Larry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also shared his frustrations with a yachtbuilder pal who navigates these same waters and has a family of customers that is cultlike in its passion for his brand. \u201cCoyle,\u201d he said, \u201ckeeping customers in this market happy can be challenging if you don\u2019t remember one simple rule: Warranty is an investment.\u201d This bit of wisdom was passed down to my pal from a pioneer in the trade, after my pal asked him how he dealt with extended warranties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More from Jay Coyle:<\/strong> Tell Tales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds like you have a specific claim in mind,\u201d the old builder responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, a fresh paint job on a boat with a warranty well past its expiration date,\u201d my pal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you hear of this from the owner directly?\u201d the builder asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we were having dinner at the New York Yacht Club,\u201d my pal explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect!\u201d the builder said with a smile. He considered the expense of satisfying the warranty gracefully to be part of his advertising budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both good and bad news travel down the dock quickly. Some disgruntled owners remain tight-lipped, cut their losses and move on to a ski chalet in Colorado. However, committed enthusiasts move on to new rides, seeking advice from others who suffer the same addiction. My builder pal insists there\u2019s nothing to be saved by failing to maintain and properly fund a somewhat flexible warranty program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry has penned a letter expressing his disappointment, while word of his service challenge is already spreading down the dock. Most builders with any sort of shelf life get it, but, in this case, I suspect the damage is already done. Larry may also be penning a for-sale sign and perhaps a want ad too: \u201cCommitted enthusiast seeking committed builder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A committed yacht enthusiast seeks a committed builder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Jay Coyle","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"163","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Committed yacht owners and boat buyers value their warranties, and sometimes it's difficult finding a builder to meet in the middle.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[163],"tags":[2069,569,164],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}