New Honwave 3.8ie ... Opinions sought please

[Andy]

I had a problem with my T40 which was then replaced, but my dealer was a bit better. However, it seems that these dealers have to get authorisation from Honda before they can replace. This is not the customers fault, but the dealer not wanting to take chances. Really, its the dealers responsibility to refund you if your not happy about the build quality, if the dealer is not able to resell the item, or Honda will not replace for the dealer, then that's not your fault, but this then becomes an issue with Honda and the dealer, and Honda not having watched the build quality (China made).

As a matter of interest my first one was 14mm too short on the rear tube where it joins the transom, so the floor would not go down properly.

I had the same problem, that the dealer had to get authorisation from Honda for a replacement before he did anything. We blew it up at their premises and their young mechanic agreed it was made wrong.

I think you need to make a decision that if your not happy, then return it to them, by hand. Get them to blow it up and look at it. If your not happy with their response to replace it, then leave it with them. You can then choose to take them to court for a full refund, which you WILL win, but takes time. If you paid by debit card contact your bank and get them to do a reverse charge (Refund). If you paid by credit card you may also be entitled to do this.
Tell them what you intend to do and if court is the preferred method, you can ask for all your expenses as well, and they have to pay a court fee for filing the paperwork.

The fact that Honda will not replace the item is NOT your problem ! The person that sold you the item HAS to by law refund, or replace it, IF you agree to a replacement.

What we did was inflate a replacement at the same time to check it, before I took it away.

Good luck

[Mitch]

Sometimes it's difficult to tell & possibly the only way is to take it out & try it.
I had the 2015 second hand one which I got reasonably cheap, this was the first boat I had & wasn't very happy with it right from the start, I went out of poole with a few of the lads from here & basically couldn't keep up with them but at one point I got 19knts out of here but I had to hang on for my life & when coming back in again I couldn't keep up with the rest of the lads & it kept wanting to go to port all the time.
when out with my mate I could only get about 12 knots out of her & the engine sounded like it was racing all the time.
later went out of Hythe with some lads from the forum & again couldn't keep up with them so we tried different things & found at wot the boat would only do about 16 knots & I couldn't keep it from going to starboard, I didn't feel safe in it. the other lads said it wasn't planning right.
So after about 8 months I phoned the supplier in Exeter & he said to bring it down & they would look at it, which they did & they said there was something not quite right but when they checked with other boats it was difficult to see the difference, i asked them to ty it on the water which they said they would do. A week later i phoned up and they said they hadn't got round to it so they offered me a new one still in the box & worked out a deal so i paid a bit extra for the new one but came out a bit better price wise.
When i tried the boat out what a difference, it would now plane properly, go in a straight line & not only could i keep up with the other lads but actually catch them up if i stopped to look at things, so i was well happy with the boat & the supplier.

[Andy]

While I have been involved in the retail trade for a huge amount of years, but not the boating trade for very long, it seems that most people are very much "Old school" in the way they do boat business. Whenever a problem occurs, they seem to be able to solve it in a nice manner.

Unlike the new boys on the internet block trying to invade our shores, like amazon, ebay, hotel booking sites etc. These guys attitude seems to be "If you dont like it, we will ban you from our site", a typical reply from a 17 year old PHP programmer without any retail experience, or for that matter life experience.

In some ways we need to continue to buy from the people that do support us, so that we get an old fashioned "Service". A product sold on ebay might come with a 12 month warranty, but ebay dont want to know after 30 days, and I am sure we have all bought an ebay product, for the seller to disappear after 30 days never to return !

[Martin]

I look at it like this....
Would you buy a house with a wonky wall ?

If that boat floor is not correctly aligned, if the keel is off centre or if the boat has any other abnormalities then send the bloody thing back..
We are getting too accepting in this country, The more we do it, the more it becomes the norm.

Send it back-REJECTED !!!
Get a replacement or get your money back.

I'd buy a second hand Honwave tommorrow without problem, but would i buy one with an offset floor or wonky keel??
No Way !

Martin

[ChrisParish]

I see your point, Martin. It’s a bit late for me - I have done quite a few mods.

[koalauk]

Awaiting a response from Honda.

Dealer agreed to refund if Honda doesn't replace the boat!

Nevertheless, bad experience so far. I am sure once it's all sorted I will enjoy the boat. Now waiting for that promised Indian summer hot days in November

[chris moody]

I'd say that was a good experience. You will receive either a replacement boat from Honda or a refund from the dealer. Seems like the ideal outcome either way.

Awaiting a response from Honda.

Dealer agreed to refund if Honda doesn't replace the boat!

Nevertheless, bad experience so far. I am sure once it's all sorted I will enjoy the boat. Now waiting for that promised Indian summer hot days in November