BLOG: Great expectations

Piecing together a new boat has taught me a great deal about compromise and management of expectation. A question that remains unanswered however is where should a rational person draw the line on expectation when buying a boat ?

I paid a premium for my hull and received an appropriate level of service - with the boat builder interstate, however, any potential issues needed to be dealt with remotely by myself. I guess that's the nature of the beast when dealing with an organisation that doesn't have a network of localised dealerships.

I'm happy with my boat - the ride, handling and capability exceed expectations, first trip out however I noticed the live bait tank leaking heavily - I was loading up the tank with slimies and was looking forward to live baiting a few kings when I noticed the side pocket full of water and the bait tank leaking profusely into the hull. The slimies won their freedom that day and we stuck to using lures. A couple of hours with a tube of Sikaflex along with a 3/4 inch blanking plug solved the bait tanks problem and whilst the fix was simple, it got me thinking about expectations when buying a new boat and how most people seem to accept that there will be a few minor issues that will require attention.

If a new car suffers any form of defect, the expectation is that the problem will be rectified promptly and correctly with the consumer offered a loan vehicle where appropriate. When it comes to boats however I think that there is a mixed level of customer expectation - some customers expect the dealer to fix anything and everything that falters, others put the issues down to expected "teething problems" and rectify any faults themselves. With life generally busy for all of us, I can appreciate why someone would rather fix a problem themselves rather than spending precious weekends off the water couriering their pride and joy to and from a workshop or waiting for a busy dealer or manufacturer to attend to what might otherwise be a problem with a simple resolution.

When I took delivery of my new boat I ran a critical eye over the rig and pondered whether having an eye for detail is a blessing or a curse! Lofty expectations can sometimes lead to dissatisfaction if your expectations are irrationally high.

So as consumers, what level of quality should we expect? Where does a rational person draw a line in the sand and tick the box that says "I'm happy" and what exactly constitutes an acceptable "teething problem" when buying a new boat? Love to hear your thoughts...