I am writing this to serve as a warning to everyone! I apologize that this isnt swap related, but I feel obligated to protect fellow outdoorsman from the head and heartache associated with purchasing an Encore Bentley boat, or really anything for that matter, from Boat & RV in Ridgeland, SC. Heres what Ive sent to the warranty manager at Encores manufacturing facility in Lexington, SC: Hi Matthew, You and I spoke back in May regarding the issues we had/continue to have with our Bentley Fish & Cruise, which we ordered brand new from Boat & RV in Rigeland back in May 2013. Below you will find the information that my husband put together: The following circuits had automotive butt splices that corroded: -Fuel sending unit (also had multiple splices per wire) -Live well pump -Both front navigational lights -Rear anchor light Not using sealed, marine grade splices, allowed corrosion to wick up the copper wiring as well. This makes the wiring non-repairable. The plastic battery hold down is broken. There are wires that are routed underneath the boat that are not ran through the conduit. These wires are rubbing on the aluminum cross members and will eventually rub through their insulation. The bait well drain is not sized properly, and will overflow during operation. The finish inside the bait well is flaking off. This started after Boat and RV took the boat in for repair. The horn hasn’t worked since the first time the boat was taken out. The finish on the pedestal seat bases is coming off and corroding. The front docking lights are collecting water. One of them is currently inoperable. Condensation present in dash gauges. The door hinges have been put together using self tapping screws. All of them have been backing out, and there are many that have stripped the hole they made. The sharp pieces of aluminum from using the self tapping screws are still in place around those holes. Why weren’t rivets used instead? Two screws holding the windshield on are loose. Their holes are stripped out because they are installed in thin fiberglass with no backing plate. None of the stainless steel hardware is insulated from the aluminum. This causes galvanic corrosion. As this boat was supposedly built for saltwater use, this is unacceptable. I should also note, the hose clamps that were used to install the fuel lines to the engine, were not marine quality. These are already rusting as well. All in all, it is very clear this boat was not built to acceptable standards, even for a freshwater boat. We were told that our boat was being built specifically for saltwater use. It clearly was not. Per our discussion back in May, we have continued to receive the runaround from Boat & RV. The manager of their service department, Kathy McGrady, told me expressly that they do not and will not handle any of our concerns or repairs in regards to this matter. When given this same information, Kathy told me that I needed to take this up with Encore Bentley and provided me with your companys contact phone number. She also claimed that Boat & RV had no service records of anything to do with our boat (which is not true; they picked up the boat and kept it for almost 9 weeks last summer to address the sink drain problem). I would like to schedule a time that is mutually convenient for you, myself and my husband to figure out the course of action we are to take. We need to set that call up for early this week, no later than Wednesday. -----
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 04:23:40 +0000