Reviews: Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

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Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

24 Patriots Point Rd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
Cooper River

Lat / Lon: N 32° 47.230' / W 079° 54.395'
Hours: 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM Monday - Friday and by appointment
Contact: Cory McDonald
Phone: (843) 849-2458
Fax: (843) 971-7245
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.zimmermanmarine.com/charleston-sc

4.20(5)

4.20 out of 5 stars

Review for Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

Reviewed by: William Russell on Nov 20, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 37'
Draft: 3.7'

Rating: 5

Cory the yard manager, Justyna the administrative assistant at Zimmerman Marine provided exceptional customer service over the past two years and during my recent haul-out for running gear service and bottom painting. Their staff is attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely cared about my needs. The quality of work was outstanding, and they kept me informed throughout the process. I would be remiss if I didn't mentioned John their ace mechanic who seems to be able to fix anything. Their professionalism, great personalities and commitment to excellence has made my experiences seamless and stress-free. Great service at a fair price. What more can I say? I highly recommend Zimmerman Marine for anyone seeking reliable marine services; they truly go above and beyond for their customers!

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Review for Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

Reviewed by: David Peek , Precious Time, on Mar 2, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 47'
Draft: 3.2'

Rating: 5

I just completed a lower Zeus POD replacement on my Meridian 441 with Zimmerman Marine in Charleston. This was a complicated repair with two previous haul-outs further north with two other shops that could not find the problem. My discussion with the "initial" manager at this shop, however, did not go well at all and I wasted over a week before receiving a call from the "new" manager, Cory. Wow, what a difference! I suddenly received the respect of a "customer" and a genuine apology for the delays I endured. Corey articulated a perfect plan of what was to happen next with my repair. Unknown to him, their Admin Assistant, Justyna, with her communication skills and responsiveness to all my questions as well as my discussion with John, the mechanic, and his impressive depth of knowledge, were the only two reasons I didn't walk just a few days prior to their management change. This management change, having now witnessed both versions, was a fantastic improvement for this shop and a very necessary one.
The quality of work I received was excellent! My repair ranged from dismantling my starboard lower gear case POD, understanding the problem, showing me exactly why I needed a replacement, investigating excessive blow-by and fixing it without soaking me with a large or unnecessary bill, to repairing my under lights! I'm so happy with this Zimmerman shop now! This is my second service in Charleston, and I will be scheduling my work to be done here as much as possible! Thank you, Cory, Justyna, and John and everyone else involved in my repair and turning this nightmare into a successful repair!

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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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Review for Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

Reviewed by: John Geerlings on Jan 16, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Came in with a potentially serious issue.
Mobile service man came right over and fixed it. Couldn’t be happier with service and skill of repairman. Very nice and professional people to deal with. Almost wish there was more to do.
Very happy camper.

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Review for Zimmerman Marine - Charleston

Reviewed by: John Geerlings on Jan 14, 2021
Vessel Type: Sail
LOA: 34'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Came in with a potentially serious issue.
Mobile service man came right over and fixed it. Couldnt be happier with service and skill of repairman. Very nice and professional people to deal with. Almost wish there was more to do.
Very happy camper.

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