Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/30/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I submitted a warranty claim for a Dowco boat cover I purchased in June 2020. While I initially expected this cover to provide durable protection for my boat, it has unfortunately required extensive maintenance and repairs after just two years of ****** date, I have spent over $200 on repairs by a professional marine upholsterer to reinforce areas over the trolling motor and aft with higher-grade Sunbrella material. However, even with these reinforcements, the material over the trolling motor prop and console has now degraded and torn. Additionally, I have had to hand-stitch approximately 75% of the edge seams after the factory stitching failed, as the cover could no longer fit snugly around the boat.Beyond structural issues, the cover now sheds a significant amount of ***** material over the boat, making it unusable. Please note that the cover was only ever used as a storage cover, not for towing. Compounding these issues, the cover was not designed to fully cover my Ultrex trolling motor from the start, leading to another repair when it ripped completely.Given the considerable effort and expense Ive incurred to maintain this cover, I expected Dowco to stand behind their product, but all they offered was a possible 25% off of a new cover, after I shipped it to them at my expense for evaluation. Further, they were only offering to warranty the brand new cover for 6 months (remainder of initial warranty period).

  Business Response

  Date: 11/04/2024

  We have offered to return Mr. ******** cover for review for defect.  It is almost out of warranty and the repairs would be pro-rated which has all been explained to him.  If material is defective, we will work with him to fix and charge the pro-rated amount.  I have attached our teams correspondence and we have not heard back from him on him shipping the cover to us for evaluation.

   

  All he has to do is respond to the emails for return and let us see what is happening with his cover.  We are more than willing to help him if he returns the cover for evaluation.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recieved a boat cover as a gift for my alumnacraft. The cover isn't even 4 years old and has rips all over it. Contacted their ****** free warranty department and because I don't have proof of purchase and there was a previous owner to our 30k boat they won't replace the cover. The craftsmanship on the cover is terrible. For a **** cover you'd think the quality would be 100x better.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Cover marred paint on boar in several places due to not fitting properly. The boat cover edge extends too far down the sides of the boat causing marring. It even removed paint from two areas. The cover was put on properly and kept tight as it should but still damaged the paint on my new boat. Also, the fron cover that is velcroed to the front blows off when traveling. It had to be duct tapped down to hold.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2023

  Dear **** *****,
  We hope this message finds you well. We recently received your complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau regarding your experience with our company. We take all customer feedback seriously and appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

  First and foremost, we apologize for any inconvenience or dissatisfaction you may have experienced. Your experience and satisfaction with our product is very important to us.  I understand that you did not reach out to our customer service department.  We strive to provide exceptional service to all our customers, and we wish you would have contacted our customer service department and this dedicated team would have addressed your issue and would have worked diligently to find a suitable solution for you.

  As we reviewed your complaint, we reached out to you and you did not want a resolution, we understand you wanted to contact the BBB to make sure other customers are aware of this issue.  We value your business and want to ensure your satisfaction. Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future with any issues. We look forward to the opportunity to make things right and restore your confidence in our company.

  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
  Sincerely,

  **** ********

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/19/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  
  I did not expect anything but denial from DOWCO after reading the posts and talking to other boat owners to include Marine Dealer personnel. My main reason was to have them alter their cover as needed. I paid close to $50,000 for my boat and to have it damaged by a cover that was poorly engineered is wrong. DOWCO has lost its credibility in my mind and will lose more in the future if they continue to keep that cover fitting below the gunnels of a boat. Alumacraft boats have a slotted rail to have clips installed to secure the cover and they did not want to go to that method. The Lund boats use this method of securing and have no paint damage problems at all. I feel that if they should listen here and change the cover from not going below the gunnels my time spent on filing the complaint would be spent well. DOWCO really needs to admit their mistakes and take the proper action. I will continue to use the cover as a mooring cover for storage, never to travel with it again. The time spent altering the cover on my boat each time I travel is too time consuming.
  
  I also want to point out why didn't DOWCO contact me and have me send that cover in and add the cotton fabric to the entire length of the cover? I must think it was they would be admitting a mistake. As for them, not finding a call recorded from me on their phone system makes me a liar in their minds and I do not appreciate that tone I received from them when speaking on the phone to the rep.
  Poor businesspeople for sure!
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/09/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Purchased a boat motor cover. Purchased Cover stated ******* G3 **** CCJ ********************* My boat has a Minnkota Terrova trolling motor. When cover arrived, cover did not fit. Was 8 inches too short. Contacted Dowco about a return and was told this did not fall under warranty as their products state Original OEM. Their original OEM for ******* G3 **** CCJ ******************** only applies to Minnkota ********************** Their website should specifically state ******************** option only applies to Minnkota **********************" I have attached link to website for ****** G3 **** CCJ with ************** option. ************************************************************************************************ Upon return Dowco will charge 30% ($225) restocking fee for motor cover they do not appropriately label on their website. I would like a full refund in the amount of $752.12 as charged on Dowco order number CO00215814. I do not wish to be charged a restocking fee when they will just sell cover as new to next customer.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/31/2023

  Good afternoon, in response to the attached and above noted complaint, we will be refunding the customer his funds in full.  He had not asked for his money back to our team prior to writing to you, but we will reach out to the customer and refund his money with no stocking fee.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

   

  In response to Dowco stating I did not ask for my money back in full prior to contacting the BBB. I would not have contacted the BBB if Dowco had not told me that I would not be receiving a full refund based on their ************** from their CSR "this does not qualify for a full refund and you will be charged a 30% restocking fee as this TM is not the *** product."
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/28/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a new **** Boat in March of 2022. One option I opted to purchase was a cover as I have to store my boat outdoors. The boat cover option on the **** Website lists for $860. At the end of August of 2022, I noticed the material had come apart along the edge of the cover (photo of damage attached). I contacted Dowco and filed a warranty claim. The responses from Dowco were very fast.I was instructed to box the cover up and return it with a provided RMA # at my own cost ($32). The cover was returned to me very fast. It was packaged in the same box I shipped it to them in. Box was torn and had the same tape on it that I used to seal the box. I thought this was a little uncaring and unprofessional. I looked at the cover and discovered they had sewn patches onto the cover to repair it. I thought that this also was unprofessional and poorly done (photos attached). I think that this whole situation is unacceptable. I contacted Dowco and was told the failure was not a workmanship issue. I disagreed and told them I wanted a new cover. This of course was denied... Twice.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/07/2022

  n response to ***************************** claim, after inspecting Mr. ********** cover first hand we determined, the issue with the cover, was due to over-tightening while in use, causing the seam to be put under extra pressure, and tear, we repaired this. While we believe this repair, at our cost and goodwill to be adequate, we will further offer to repair the full panel of his cover, and have offered him this to him. We have not heard back from him on this offer.

   

  Regards,

  ******

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/08/2022

  Complaint: 18142565
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  I have attached an email string that contains all communication between myself and Dowco Marine to date.

  Nowhere in our communications did Dowco Marine inform me that they determined the issue with the cover was due to over-tightening while in use, causing the seam to be put under extra pressure, and tear. They did however inform me that they patched it as good will because the tear was not in a seam and obviously not a workmanship defect. Was it a seam failure or wasn't it ?

  Dowco Marine did not make an offer of any further repair to the the panel as they stated. 

  There was no further communication between myself and Dowco after the last email in the string that I have attached.

  Dowco Marine offered the BBB a different explanation of what has transpired.

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/17/2022

  Following up on this response, the customer ********************************* has accepted our offer to replace the panel of the boat cover that failed him.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/18/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************