Reviews from Bryan (1)

Marina Review for Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

Reviewed by: Bryan on Mar 21, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 44'
Draft: 4.4'

Rating: 1

Owners beware. I spent $4000 in Charleston with Zimmerman marine on what ended up being a bad fuel pump on my generator. I was stunned they didn’t check that first. They destroyed my outboard. I’ve replaced almost every electric part on it after the electric start was placed under the flywheel got ripped off and shorted leaving us stranded in an anchorage. My port engine service was not done properly and my engine stopped. Found they didn’t service the filters and they froze when I paid them over $2k to service them. Around the same time I had a throttle replaced and the boat got stuck and wouldn’t engage in forward gear. To say they are sloppy is an understatement. They’ve basically treated me like garbage. I saw a post from them on here promoting their new trailer lift and it just brings back the memories of the nightmares their inexperienced staff caused us while leaving us stranded. I can accept mistakes but what I cannot accept is lack of accountability. When I called Steve Zimmerman he never returned my calls. Instead he referred the same local manager who presided over my debacles. I feel the cruising community is an intimate and small group and something like this should not go unannounced. They told me they were Yanmar and Yamaha certified and I confirmed with both companies that no one in Charleston is in fact certified. The local guy (to put it politely) misled me.

• WG Editor Comment:
  

  Zimmerman Response:
  
  We serviced this customer’s boat off and on over a period of six months. During that time, he did reach out to us about some issues, and we offered to reimburse him for those issues in order to settle and resolve any dispute. He accepted those refunds and authorized more work.
  
  Between our six locations, we service more than 1,000 boats a year. While we would love to see every job go well, not all do and if a customer complains we take it very seriously and do our best to resolve any issues. We ask customers to try to resolve their concerns directly with the manager they worked with, and failing that, we address the issues at the next level. When we contacted the customer about his balance due, he complained about the work and asked to speak to me. I asked the yard manager to reach out to him directly to find out more about the issues. The manager called and left messages but received no response. Months later we received a notice about a lawsuit claiming $50,000 in damages. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
  
  At no time did we represent, visually or verbally, at our Patriot’s Point service facility, authorized Yanmar, Yamaha, or Cummins service. We do have access to parts from those vendors at that location, and the technician who worked on his outboard has Yamaha certification. Our main website does list the various brands we represent, but the individual yard information does not have any such representation.
  
  There was a miscommunication about the engine filters, and we didn’t service them, nor did he pay us to service them. They were rusty prior to us working on the boat. Nothing we did caused them to be frozen.
  
  This customer has a non-standard (not US) outboard and parts and service are challenging. The parts indicated for that model did not fit. We identified the difference and ordered a second part and installed it. The first time we heard anything about an issue with the outboard was when he filed a lawsuit (later dismissed). The outboard was serviced and tested and proved to run. The service did not require or include removal of the flywheel cover or running any wires through the flywheel housing. If we had done so, it would have failed when tested. We replaced the carburetor priming wire, not the CDI wire.
  
  We feel that the complaint is grossly overstated and inaccurate.
  
  Steve Zimmerman
  President
  

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