The compass on my Minn Kota is broken therefore the auto pilot will not work. It is under warranty, purchased in July 07. I contacted All Star in Dallas on Dilido Road and informed him of the problem and asked if they had the part on the shelf. He informed me they did and it would be 3-5 days to have it repaired. I inquired if he would be willing to repair it while I waited. The compass is held in position in the motor head by means of three o-ringed tabs slid on posts, the module is snapped in and there is one plug. He said it would take 3 -5 days. I asked if I removed the upper housing for him if he would then snap it in. His reply was that he would be happy to sell me the part but he would not jump this job in front of the others and it would take 3-5 days.

Okay, am I living on another planet or something? Is it an unreasonable expectation to think a service center would want to take five minutes, literally snap a part in, make some easy money on warranty and get a customer out the door with the problem solved or is it better to take the motor in, track it in maintenance, spend less than 5 minutes repairing it, hold it until the customer pciks it up to get it out the door?

If I am out in left field on this, please let me know.

Does sound kinda odd. Simple part, simple fix. I have never dealt with them personally. Its not like you are going to put him 3 days behind.

I'm sure there is an authorization procedure that they must follow. Maybe the procedure takes some time. E-mails back & forth? Think of it this way, if they repair it assuming it's going to be covered then it's not they loose money. You can try calling Southwest Parts. I believe they do repairs also.

Asked and answered. I asked if he needed to send the part in to get a decision or if he could just look at it and determine if it was a warranty issue. His reply was, "All I have to do is look at it but if it is under warranty and it is broken it is a warranty issue unless there are obvious signs of misuse."

The cover is not cracked, scuffed or broken so it is obvious I didn't drop it on the head. Okay let's say he decides it isn't a warranty issue. He won't even take the time to remove the four screws holding the cover on to look at it and make that determination when I bring it in? But if I do that, I'll void the warranty. But he'll be happy to take the time out of his busy repair day TO SELL ME A PART??

If he's that unhappy with his job that he needs to piss in everyone's Wheaties whenever he gets a chance, he needs to definitely find a new job.

Already have a call into SW. Hopefully sanity reigns there. It just doesn't seem right to make a customer travel 150 miles, half of which seems completely unnecessary to fix a problem that takes under 5 minutes. I've also emailed Minn Kota about this.

i won't go to that place ever again. they broke a part on my boat, hid it in the rod locker, locked it and didn't tell me anything. then denied doing it. just go to southwest parts, they will never do you wrong. good, honest people.

I had a Minn Kota shipped from N Orleans and while shipping the head and several parts within had cracked. I had someone in dire need of a trolling motor so I took it over to All Star to ask if they could do an emergency repair.
They also would not get on it right away but sold me the parts. I put the head back together in about 30 minutes. The clerk had checked my warranty and after I told him it had been damaged in shipping he still told me if I would leave it he would have it repaired under warranty.
I couldn't wait.

call bob r

I have had a couple of bad experiences with that place, and I also will never go back there. I get the feeling that they are more interested in the archery part of their business than the trolling motor part.

On Site at Lake Fork is one of the best places in the state to have trolling motor repairs done.

Good luck and sorry to hear of your problems!

well i just had a trolling motor, gps, trolling batterys, a on board charger and a livewell hooked up with no problem. yes you wait but at least you know they arent rushing to have it thrown together and not installed right. So I cant say anything bad about all star

Your comparing apples to oranges. You have absolutely no idea how itty bitty this job is. One Phillips head screwdriver to remove 4 screws and I even offered to do that for them. A blind or dead man or the village idiot could do it in under 5 minutes and have enough time left over to burn a cig. Anyone that had the expectation that any service provider would do as much work as you needed or any one of those things as a 'Do Drop In' while they waited for it would be an egotistical moron.

I think you missed his point. This post has turned into an All Star bash & he was defending them. At least that's how I read it.

The point that came across to me was that he had no idea how minuscule this job really is and I had unreasonable expectations to think an authorized Minn Kota service provider would be interested enough in a customer's problem to get him and his warranty problem in and out the door in under 5 minutes.

When did posting questionable service from providers become a bash on this forum? When we encounter a service provider that does poor work or is seemingly unreasonable, are we supposed to keep that a secret and let the next guy find out for himself? I don't think it is a bash if it is true.

I think and still do that they were being unreasonable. It wasn't like I was asking for a freebie. Warranty work pays and usually pays better than their service rates for non warranty work. I think the majority of service shops looking at any piece of equipment with such a minor need would say, "Sure we can do that for you." At least that has been my experience with car and boat dealerships and the shop that services the equipment I use in my business. If it is a job I have to wait like everyone else.

If this is their policy, they make the rules it's their business. However using the 'reasonable man approach' I think everyone would consider this a bit unreasonable.

It reminds me a cartoon I once say. The guy behind the parts counter is telling the customer, "Sir pointing at the part doesn't help, the computer says we don't have any."

This scenario is very common in the marine industry. Not to side with anyone here, each company sets their own policy. With that said let's play the devils advocate here. Say I dropped everything I was doing to help John Doe with, what he thought was a simple problem. I get involved with it and it may not be quite as simple as we thought, then John Smith walks in with the similar request only to find out that John Doe gets real upset because now I'm not working on his item but the other real quick job.Wha about the customer that have been waiting? What do I do as a business man to try and keep some kind of order in the repair shop? Well I try to schedule and work on things as a first come basis. This works sometimes and somtiems it doesn't.
All I'm trying to say is we, as humans, sometimes think that the importance is only with ourselves and not the other guy.
Unfortunately there is not a trolling motor repair shop or marine dealership on every corner like there is in the auto industry.

My .02 worth.

I have had All Star do work for me on several occassions. Some of the work was major some minor. They were consistant every time in requiring me to make an appointment with them. Each time the repair was completed in the amount of time and on the day they said it would be and the quality of the work and service was very good. If you call Southwest they are going to handle a repair request the exact same way. I have witnessed both.

You did not experience poor customer service in my opinion. I think you are trying to make something out of nothing!