2012 Tracker Pro Guide V-175 WT - Cracked Hull

[whaler1]

that really sucks, sorry for your experience

[Prof T]

Tracker must have a customer relations dept.  The thing that resonates with a corporation like this is bad PR. Let's get an address and help this guy out by writing some e-mails, referring to this thread and the lack of response from the factory... as well as their dealer.

 

A manufacturing  defect can happen and that's why we pay  for warranties. That's right, they don't give them, they are included as part of the purchase price. But communication is cheap and when they refuse to keep an open line of dialog  with a guy who has been both patient and respectful, someone at the corporate level needs to know. (In fact, if they are any good, they want to know.)

 

Imagine how big the advertising budget is for Tracker. Dollars spent to get US, the boat buying segment of the market, to just give them a look. They lost me and I'm an aluminum boat guy with a 30 year old boat. Exactly the guy they need to drag that shiny new lure in front of!!!

 

Bottom line is that I'm glad they are fixing your boat, and I hope you never need this level of service again. But if you can get us a link or address, I'd be glad to send the first letter.

 

Gene

[TileMan Dan]

Gene's remarks are spot on. Just them looking at the number of members on this forum should get their attention. Every member has contacts with people outside of this forum. As you can see, those numbers grow exponentially.

[skipper19]

Seems this company has got a bad reputation with hulls cracking, and customer service that is of no help. You would think by now they would have lost their status with dealers. Especially Bass pro. Check this out from Google!

Rick of Cudahy, WI on Aug. 19, 2015.. (down a few complaints from the top)

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/boats/tracker.html

This is just despicable treatment of customers with problems of structural integrity on tracker boats. It's a life threatening problem in reality!

I certainly hope that you have better results than this! Sounds like they need a bad day in court!...

[lost a lure]

I pulled the "show up" trick at a dealer when I was waiting for my boat lift. They were surprised to see me. I called the lift manufacturer to get the real story then asked them where it was. Of course they gave me a line until I told them I spoke to the manufacturer. They went and picked up the lift that week and delivered.

Edited January 31, 2016 by lost a lure

[jayjay]

I feel your pain.I have a 2005 tracker Targa 17..Had almost same crack but on port side .Then it was out of warranty .So I had no choice but to fix myself .I'm lucky to be a union Boilermaker and welder.I had to remove council to remove floor , and foam to access area .Stringer was home and weld cracked .Welded from inside and outside.Boat looked like it was ready for the junk yard.Found other welds broken on stringers and ribs , no more to the bull though.

Tracker really didn't have much to say about damage .They told me to use 3m 5200

I did also cover inside with 3m 5200. That project was a real pain in the ,,,, However I was still paying on boat and had no choice

I still have boat and use it regularly, but it's ALWAYS on my mind .Also frequently check hull.

Its sucks and I hope you have a positive outcome..I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER TRACKER

[FleetTracker]

Thanks for all the kind responses guys.  The fact is they (Factory or Dealer) don't seem to care that this is an awful experience for me.  Just a number and they have plenty of people that continue to buy their boats across the country.  I will be providing a very thorough consumer review that I'm sure will make its way into the link above.  All I can do is continue to spread the word of this horrible experience and the way Tracker handles their "valued" customers.

Edited February 2, 2016 by FleetTracker

[Chas0218]

Seems this company has got a bad reputation with hulls cracking, and customer service that is of no help. You would think by now they would have lost their status with dealers. Especially Bass pro. Check this out from Google!

Rick of Cudahy, WI on Aug. 19, 2015.. (down a few complaints from the top)

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/boats/tracker.html

This is just despicable treatment of customers with problems of structural integrity on tracker boats. It's a life threatening problem in reality!

I certainly hope that you have better results than this! Sounds like they need a bad day in court!...

Might be why bass pro just bought Ranger boats....

[Roughrider IV]

I'd start getting phone numbers of people in charge of tracker itself, shake the tree till someone falls out.

[muskiedreams]

Seems this company has got a bad reputation with hulls cracking, and customer service that is of no help. You would think by now they would have lost their status with dealers. Especially Bass pro. Check this out from Google!

Rick of Cudahy, WI on Aug. 19, 2015.. (down a few complaints from the top)

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/boats/tracker.html

This is just despicable treatment of customers with problems of structural integrity on tracker boats. It's a life threatening problem in reality!

I certainly hope that you have better results than this! Sounds like they need a bad day in court!...

I'm surprised he gave them 2 stars. Probably because it sounded like the service guys wanted to help him but their hands were tied by management. I guess he didn't have any cracks though. If he did the water would have drained out. Most everyone else gave only 1 star. Probably no way to give 0 stars.

 

I have a friend who has a 17' single console with a 40 Merc. He hasn't used it that much in the last 8 or 9 years but I don't think he has had any problems. He didn't buy it though. He won it in a raffle.

[FleetTracker]

I have called Michelle at Tracker twice yesterday, and twice today, with no answer and leaving messages to call me back.  Still no call back.  Trying to understand what their 'plan' is on the repair and obtain more details on how long this is going to take.  The dealer declined to find out for me and told me to call Tracker if I wanted to.  Really helpful they are.  New status update:

 

History of Events:

 

12/4/15 - Identified problem of hull leak at my home in the driveway by filling boat with water

 

12/4/15 - called Bowers (dealer where I bought it); they said bring it in

 

12/5/15 - drove the boat 3hrs south and left it with Bowers

 

12/9/15 - Bowers calls and confirms significant hull crack; boat must be sent to factory

 

12/10/15 - I provide complete list of items to remove from my boat prior to shipment to the factory

 

12/11/15 - Bowers starts to remove items from my boat and keep them in storage

 

12/14/15 - Bowers completes the removal of all items from my boat; sends pictures of damaged hull and condition of boat with gear removed

 

12/19/15 - Bowers provides me with warranty return-to-factory paperwork to sign

 

12/21/15 - I signed and returned all paperwork back to Bowers; inquired on when it would be picked up

 

12/22/15 - Bowers indicated that no Tracker Factory trucks are scheduled to the North East for rest of year; would be first week in January

 

1/4/16 - Tracker Factory truck picks up my boat from Bowers and heads to the factory

 

1/6/16 - Bowers confirms that my boat made it to the factory

 

1/11/16 - I called the factory; they confirmed my boat was there, and couldn't tell me anything further; told me to talk to my dealer

 

1/18/16 - I emailed Bowers and asked for a status; they have not heard anything to date but said they would reach out to the factory

 

1/22/16 - I called Bowers to inquire on status; they still have not heard from the factory despite emails and calls in to them

 

1/26/16 – Emailed Bowers to inquire on status from Tracker – didn’t hear back…

 

1/28/16 – Called & emailed Michelle at Tracker to inquire on status; left message to call me back.  Got an out of office response via email.  Awesome.

 

1/29/16 – Bowers finally returns my email from 1/26 saying that Tracker plans to repair my boat and is starting the repair today; provides zero details

 

2/1/16 – Called Michelle at Tracker twice and left messages; still no call back.

 

2/1/16 – Emailed Bowers if they could find out more details of the repair and timing – they declined and told me to call Tracker. Great Service!

 

2/2/16 – Called Michelle at Tracker twice and left messages; still no call back.  

Edited February 2, 2016 by FleetTracker

[Xxx]

Take all your goodies off including the motor strip it down to the aluminumm, trailer the boat to nearest scrapyard collect your $100-200 dollars then back the trailer through the show room window unhook trailer and come home and rig your newest boat up. Oh buy a few cases of beer with the scrap money. That's were I'd be by now!!!!

[lakebound88]

Drink the beer before slamming through the window, it may make ya look sane. Sorry youre going through the bs Devin.

Sent from my XT1080 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

What an infuriating story. If you don't get satisfaction from Tracker or your dealer, perhaps involving Bass Pro could help. I know you didn't get the boat through them, but Bass Pro is often associated with Tracker and I'm sure would not enjoy the negative word being spread. Maybe someone in their boat sales could help reach the right people or get some satisfactory action for you.  

[Xxx]

I heard via. through the grape vine pro bass doesn't carry tracker anymore, I don't know who they picked up? Ranger maybe? I can't remember. This could be one of the reasons!

[FleetTracker]

Ranger did not sell themselves, as not even Ranger owned Ranger.  They were held by an equity firm called Fishing Holdings LLC.  Bass Pro bought Ranger (and Triton, Stratos) from Platinum Equity, who bailed Ranger out in 2010 during bankruptcy restructuring when they purchased the company from Fishing Holdings LLC.  From the articles out there, the new holdings firm sold the company to BPS without Ranger C-suits involvement or knowledge.

 

BPS does NOT plan to sell the Ranger/Triton/Stratos brand in their stores, and plans to keep the brand isolated and standalone.

 

None of this affects the close business relationship between Tracker and BPS.  Tracker will still live strong at BPS, unfortunately.

[FleetTracker]

Alright fellas - I Finally got a hold of the Factory today and spoke to a lady by the name of Sandy, who just confirmed that my boat has now completed the repair and is shipping from their factory back to the dealer today.  They anticipate it being at the dealer on Monday 2/8.  I asked for a description of what was done and she sent me a letter that was sent to my dealer yesterday.  Not surprised I haven't heard from the dealer about any of this... they are the worst communicators!!  The letter has such high level descriptions of what was done - I would rather speak to someone who knows exactly what was done and was involved in the repair.  Tracker isolates you from these people and you only get to talk to secretaries.

 

 

I'm now going to call the dealer and let them know I will be in next week to pick up my boat.

 

 

[Chas0218]

Glad you're getting it back and hope she holds up better this time around. Good to know they took care of it.

[skipper19]

Ahhh...finally some redemption! One less consumer affairs post!

Hope it is fixed to better quality than new.

I was almost ready to get a poll going on who wants to buy a new tracker boat...10,000 members here participating and copy it. Forward to customer service!

Hope you never experience the issue again!

Mark

[FleetTracker]

Talked to Bowers... let them know I got all the information about the boat from talking to the factory that he's had for the last 24hrs but never communicated.  They apologized and made excuses about being busy... blah blah don't care.

 

I asked him that if the boat indeed arrives on Monday 2/8 as planned, that I would like to pick it up first thing on Friday morning 2/12.  He could not and would not confirm that he could do that, saying they're still busy with boat shows and likely won't have time to "prepare" the boat.  I said that I don't want them to re-mount or do anything to the boat upon receipt, and that I will re-rig the boat myself.  He still could not guarantee availability next Friday.  Unbelievable.  I told him I would call him on Tuesday morning and between now and then I would expect him to align appropriate resources so that upon delivery of my boat on Monday, it is able to be picked up on Friday.

 

He had the nerve to say "what do you need it so fast for".  I told him that I obviously have a lot of re-rigging to do, including everything that was stripped from the boat, I have to mount a brand new 9.9hp kicker, wiring, trollmaster, etc., and that I need to do some custom aluminum bow modifications for a more rigid planer mast support platform.  All of that takes time and I've already lost over 2 months of the off-season and by the time I get the boat I'll only have 7 weeks until it hits the water.  Never again with these people... 

[FleetTracker]

Well who would have guessed things didn't hold up on the shipment plans for the boat back to the dealer??

 

I called the dealer yesterday and they said the boat didn't show up.  So I called Tracker and they said oh, it's still here... we'll try to get it on a truck today.  Gotta be kidding me!!

 

Guess I'll have to take a day off work next week to head down and pick it up from Bowers.  I'm busy this weekend ice fishing the NYS Pro Am on Oneida and then Sodus next weekend.  Need the boat back so I can work on it after work and rig it back up and make some more improvements.  One of these days i'll have good news and this will all be in the past.

[moemoe]

Save yourself the time and agony and move on from cracker before rerigging. You will have a clean boat to sell and have all your extras already taken off, I would chalk it up as lesson learned about crackers

[TileMan Dan]

I kinda have to agree with MoeMoe on this. After reading plenty of reviews about Tracker, your not a ifolated or occassional problem with those boats.

[Xxx]

I would have to agree with the above statements, as hard as you are of a fisherman, I'd stick with your bigger glass rides. But it wouldn't be the first time I was called a "pussy"cat

Edited February 10, 2016 by pap

[greenboatluke]

I hope this headache ends soon for you Devin, but I'm going to mention something no one else has...

GOOD LUCK IN THE PRO AM!!!

Get the boat when you can, enjoy the ice fishin!

Edited February 12, 2016 by greenboatluke