Warranty Work- Candlewood East Marina

[zrp62]

Hello everyone,

I just bought a 2023 Cobalt CS22 in January to use this summer in MA. I bought it in Florida and drove it up to leave here year round. After this summer there is some warranty work that needs to be done. It is not time sensitive as we won't need the boat for months. Candlewood East Marina said that they are not taking any new customers and are refusing to do the work. It is the only dealer in the CT/MA area that I am aware of. I am not sure what to do now and was surprised they could just deny the work indefinitely. What is the point of a warranty if dealers won't honor them. If anyone has advice, I would greatly appreciate it

Thank you,
Zach

[Holy Smokes]

Sounds like a "should have purchased through us" reply. Check with Cobalt customer service to get direction.

[AsLan7]

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So glad you found us zpr62.

Sorry to hear about your Cobalt woes.


I would definitely call the world headquarters in Neodesha KS. They’ll make things right with you and the dealer you need.

Any pics?

And welcome aboard mate.

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[Krob1114]

Hello everyone,

I just bought a 2023 Cobalt CS22 in January to use this summer in MA. I bought it in Florida and drove it up to leave here year round. After this summer there is some warranty work that needs to be done. It is not time sensitive as we won't need the boat for months. Candlewood East Marina said that they are not taking any new customers and are refusing to do the work. It is the only dealer in the CT/MA area that I am aware of. I am not sure what to do now and was surprised they could just deny the work indefinitely. What is the point of a warranty if dealers won't honor them. If anyone has advice, I would greatly appreciate it

Thank you,
Zach

Must be nice to own a business that doesn't need new customers.

[kas232ca]

Hello everyone,

I just bought a 2023 Cobalt CS22 in January to use this summer in MA. I bought it in Florida and drove it up to leave here year round. After this summer there is some warranty work that needs to be done. It is not time sensitive as we won't need the boat for months. Candlewood East Marina said that they are not taking any new customers and are refusing to do the work. It is the only dealer in the CT/MA area that I am aware of. I am not sure what to do now and was surprised they could just deny the work indefinitely. What is the point of a warranty if dealers won't honor them. If anyone has advice, I would greatly appreciate it

Thank you,
Zach

Must be nice to own a business that doesn't need new customers.

Probably like the rest of us that can't find employees. I've been in this business for 45 years (started at 15) and it's the worst job market ever. We have great growth possibility, but for the last 3 summers we have had to restrict ordering on our website to existing customers (80% of business is existing customers). We are in So Cal, but finally have decided to build a new lab in the southeast, probably Atlanta.

[zrp62]

Hello everyone!

Luckily I did not have to elevate the situation to customer service or HQ. We found a dealer that was farther away in NY called 'Boats by George.' We were able to bring in boat the next day. They took pictures and notes of everything we had wrong and submitted a warranty claim. It took maybe 5-10 minutes. Now, I will just bring it back to them in April once the parts come in. Even if they are short staffed, this took no time at all.

The CT dealer did however, try to sell me on their 'Fall Trade in Program', yeah because I want to trade in my boat to you guys after it's only a few months old?? Furthermore, when we were boat shopping months ago, their price on a CS22 was $15,000 more on a model that was $15,000 cheaper than the one we got. So a $30,000 swing. Yeah, I will bring my business elsewhere!

[Holy Smokes]

Great outcome!

Boats by George, as I've heard, is a top-tier, high-volume dealer that takes care of the Cobalt family members. Sounds like you can attest to the same.