Lakota WaterSports

[RickT]

In a recent thread (which was subsequently deleted) one of our dealer's integrity was called into question at a personal level, based on their recent handling of a customer's issue. While there are always 2 sides to every story, sometimes one issue paints the dealer in a very unfair light in relation to the outstanding job they do everyday of the year. Lakota Watersports and its ownership is without a doubt one of our most respected and outstanding dealerships. They have been a leader within our company in scoring some of the highest and most consistent customer satisfaction scores we have, and they have won the President's award for outstanding Customer Service. They are an integral part of helping our company grow by being an active member of our Dealer Advisory Board as well as our Dealer Certicification initiative. That side of the story sometimes gets overlooked in relation to individual posts concerning a dealer's performance and rarely reflects the dealer's true identity.

Rick

[wake08]

Like I mentioned in that specific thread...they have excellent service and would good recommend them to anyone

[mark540]

It was my thread, and I did acknowledge that Lakota seems to be a good place to deal with when buying a boat new especially from Matt. The scores, I would imagine, reflect a new boat buying experience or service event. I did not buy my boat from them for good reason and that is why my experience seems to have been less than favorable, and is why I was asking the forum if they felt response I got was appropriate.

Rick, I appreciate your apology in the other thread, and I know that you need support your dealers as they are the life-blood of your business, my expereience may not be typical, but then again the situation may not be tyipical either.

I did not post the actual e-mails just paraphrased, as I felt the details were not appropriate for the forum. If you would like to see the e-mail string Rick, please pm me for my e-mail.


And I know Ed G I don't have a high thread count, but I do read the forum and have found it very beneficial on a number of topics, but I do try and search first and ask questions if need be later.

Thanks, Mark

[03outbackVT]

I do not know Rick or anyone involved in this issue. I am sure that all that are involved are great people that are just caught up in one of life's silly little scenarios. Further, I can appreciate Ricks stance and his need to protect his dealer. However, it appears that there is a lack of understanding for the given scenario and his comments did not address the issue. Seemed more like a parent protecting a kid........and at least in my case, more half the time the kids are guilty :shock:

[mark540]

Appreciate the Welcome Ed G, in this case the dealer and I didn't quite hit it off, no outrageous claims were made, so no reason to run and hide. Just was looking for others opinion on an experience.

The dealer i actually purchased through was great, so all is good.

[03outbackVT]

you didn't read far back enough.

We have had some pretty wild comments about dealers from people who never come back to these boards after they "hit and run".

One guy claimed that the Orlando dealer ripped him off by selling him a huge lemon that had purposely hidden flaws,

another came on here saying that his trailer fell into pieces while he was traveling a highway in Tenn and cars were crashing all over the place.

Skiers Choice actually contacted the state police to try to help him.

Members on this board are real protective of each other and our favorite dealers. It's all good. You'll be doing the same thing in no time.

Time to let this settle and move on.

If no-one has said it up till now, welcome to the kangaroo clan!

Hi Ed,

Actually, there was no need to read farther back. I believe I understand the issue quite well. The issue was that a dealer provided very poor service because he was upset that the boat was not purchased at his dealership. The other scenarios you referenced were not in question, nor did I reference them. That was your attempt to blur the issue. As the national sales manager for the company I work for, that type of service is simply not acceptable. Regardless of where the product is purchased you each dealer has the opportunity to make that person walking in the door their customer for life. I understand that in this case, that did not happen. If it did the customer who started this thread would not have done so.

Yet, I will say that you did not disappoint. I knew when I made that post that you, Ed G, would be the only one who responded...................

[zabooda]

It looks like SC has investigated the issue and found the issue doesn't merit any further action and the dealer would like to maintain the reputation that they have earned. I would think this issue was closed with the SC statement.

[Sled491]

MARK540,

I get what you are saying. But I guess at this point I think this thing has been beat to death. You are right, the issue may have been glossed over. It's not the service and there awards that are at issue, it is there reaction to your buying your boat elsewhere.

Like Ed G said, welcome to the clan, hopefully your future posts will be about great experiences on your boat.

[KarMobLSV06]

I know where you are coming from, but I can relate to dealer's frustration too.

My parents ownd an Apple Computer store in the 80's. People would drive 60 miles one way to save a few bucks on a personal computer then come home and want free advice on how to set them up, do this, that etc. Most of the time it was their first computer and they had no clue. Because they were an Apple dealer the customer expected them to do it, but they had no loyalty to the local dealer.

I know a boat is different, but the dealers do have territories for a reason. I think the manufacturers want the territories adhered to as well, that's why they have them. I bought my boat from them as my "local" dealer because I wanted to be afforded the best service. That's how it works.

I believe Lakota probably feels they were not given the opportunity to put you in a boat. I'm sure they could have gotten the boat from the same dealer you ended up going to, or from SC, but through the proper channels. You may not have known this, so it was probably just a big misunderstanding to start off.

Lakota has always been a pleasure to deal with and gone above and beyond my expectations. They are very knowledgeable of their products and offer great advice on not only the boats but all watersports accessories etc. I can't wait to see their new building and what that will allow them to do in the future.

Enjoy!

[liquidlite]

Matt and those guys at Lakota are great. I didn't buy a new boat from them, but they made everything easy on my purchase of a used lsv from a private seller. They inspected the boat, did some work, and answered all of my questions. I def recommend those guys down there, matt especially.

[smokedog2]

Well, I was going to let this thread slip into oblivion (or at least off the front page) since my well articulated reply was deleted with the original thread and I did not keep a copy. :cry:

Allow me to add that I like Chad.

First, because Mat’s head is getting as big as a house and second,
Chad does the actual work on the boats

- more importantly my boat. :wink:

Ok, back to taxes. :evil:





Note: three different little faces, so cool I scare myself.