Malibu Customer Service or Contact?

[skibug]

I don't want to throw anyone under the bus; so, I will just plainly ask is there is anyone out there with a decent contact at Malibu? Trying to get an issue/question addressed on my 2012 TXi. And yes, I have been communicating with the local dealer; who in turn is communicating with the factory. In my estimation, the response is slow for a rather simple decision to whether they are going to stand behind their product.

[LeonL]

I don't have a number or email, but the guy you want to talk to is Dennis Kelly. He's not in customer service. He is the promo team coordinator, but he's a great guy who will get you some help.

[Sethro]

I'm sure the names have changed, but I will share a lifetime hull warranty experience I had with Malibu a few years back...I'll just copy and paste my post from a few years back:

 

I thought I would share an experience regarding the Malibu Boats plant in TN, and specifically dealing with a warranty issue on a 10 year old Echelon that I purchased new.

 

A couple of years ago, I noticed the floor sinking between the stringers and the gunnel, starting at the observer's/driver's seat running all the way back under the gas tank on both sides. The floor had a concave appearance and dipped roughly 1/2 inch. In addition, the flip up piece covering the mufflers and the drive shaft was failing...the honeycomb material (I think) was breaking down. I realized the problem didn't affect performance in any way, but it definitely bothered me.

 

I decided to call the factory, and I got John Sisson's name as the man to explain my problem to. I made the initial phone call last June, and prepared myself for the worst, as I was skeptical of the response I would receive as the boat was 10 years old with 650hrs. I had my arguments all thought out in advance. I spoke with John, and he immediately told me that was obviously a problem and something Malibu would fix. John said it was rare, though something they had seen (and fixed) in the past. One possible explanation to the problem was not getting the two part foam under the floor mixed EXACTLY right, allowing the floor to settle over time. He stated there might be some labor costs as the warranty was materials only, but added he would work with me on that. I was basically told that whenever I could get my boat to TN, they would fix the problem, and suggested the winter layup for obvious reasons. John told me he would have Kerri Johns contact me so we could set up some kind of plan.

 

As promised, Kerri contacted me and we set up a tentative plan for sometime around the end of September. I didn't want the boat going in foul winter weather, and I figured I could just use the other boats in my group of skiing friends for the estimated two week turn around for the repair. Well the time came, and Kerri found a truck that would be passing through my area and I was going to meet the truck along the highway for the driver to pick up my boat. She couldn't promise the quick turn around as there were some promo boats ahead of mine, so I asked if we could just go ahead and wait till it got colder, which wasn't a problem. I ended up taking the boat to my dealer in early November as they were receiving a shipment of boats, and mine could tag along as a "back haul" to the factory to save shipping costs. I told Kerri not to hurry as the extra garage space for the winter would be nice.

 

As everyone knows, the boat building business took a dive and for various reasons Kerri explained the boat would probably be at the factory for much longer than she anticipated. I again thanked her for keeping me updated, and said I would patient as I enjoyed the extra garage space and didn't really want the boat traveling on messy winter roads anyway. I caught wind of our own GalaxyToad going to the factory for a tour, so I asked him to check on my boat if he got a chance...he did and took a picture of it sitting on the lot, which was a nice touch. After the repairs were done, it became quite a juggling act to try and coordinate the shipping back to my area...not many new boats leaving the factory for mine to hitch a ride with.

 

Fastforward to April and I received this e-mail from Kerri:

 

Hi Seth. We are getting close. It will leave this week, I just don’t know the exact day. We’ll deliver to Munson so they can offload it since I have to make this a 2 boat load to keep expenses down. I’m thinking it will deliver this Thursday or Friday. Would you be able to p/up quickly? Munson is busting at the seams right now getting boats ready for the season. I will be in touch soon. Thanks! Oh, and since we deemed this to be completely warrantable and your boat is in such immaculate condition, we know you’ve not been abusive at all with it and we’ve decided to take care of all warranty repairs and transportation costs. We just apologize that it even happened in the first place and that we weren’t able to get to the repairs as quickly as originally anticipated. Thank you for your patience.

 

Kerri R. Johns

 

I was figuring I would have to spend somewhere around $800 for the round trip transportation to TN, so to me this was like hitting the lotto. The transportation costs included Munson's hoisting the boat to/from the semi trailer (twice) and Malibu's heat shrinkable shipping covers for both trips. I picked the boat up at Munson's and was overwhelmingly pleased with the repairs. The new carpet matched very well and I now have a removable rear floor section like the newer boats instead of my old hinged section, which I was never very fond of. In addition, my bilge was cleaner than when I sent it to them, so the small details were taken care of as well.

 

I just wanted to share the unbelievably positive experience I had with Malibu. Will I buy another Malibu? No doubt there....just as soon as I can convince my wife that we NEED an 03-06 RLXI or 99-04 SSLXI. Or better yet convince her a new boat straight from the factory is necessary...someday that day will come.

 

Seth

[nam1975]

Local dealers run the spectrum.....great,good,bad, and clueless.

 

I'm sure the factory will help, or move on to the next dealer down the road?

 

[skibug]

Thanks for all the feedback. BTW this is a factory team promo boat I bought from the promo guy. I am guessing that Dennis will know this boat. I think I have made the right connections with this thread initiative. @nam1975, yes this is a new (6 months) dealer in our area that picked up Malibu. Dealers really have no incentive to move these types of things along; but, when I called Malibu directly (the factory) they told me I had to work it through the dealer. My issue should be a cut and dry matter, IMHO.

[skiboat38]

Call the promo member you purchased it from....he has all the numbers you need