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Business Profile

Boat Dealers

South Austin Marine
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BBB Accredited BusinessA+Rated by BBB

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for South Austin Marine's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
    • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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    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.

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    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/11/2023

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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.
      Boat Information:Dealer Name: South Austin Marine Service Dealer: South Austin Marine Boat Hull ID: ************ Purchase date: June 1, 2022 Purchase price $399,995 We bought our boat in June 2022, after which it started having issues with the **** steering cylinder, the anchor windlass, and a recalled part since Sept 25, 2022.From September 25, 2022 until February 25, 2022, we paid a total of $4750 to Safe Harbor ****** ($950 per month for 5 months) without being able to use our boat.After 5 months of patiently waiting, we were told that our boats steering issue was fixed.However, on Saturday October 1, 2023, one year and one month after the problem started, at approximately 6:43pm, while being steered out of Rough Hollow ******, the steering power went out, causing the boat to be out of control and collided into two ****** metal poles on two different occasions. Several witnesses were on the boat including 5 adults and 4 children who could have been severely injured. The right rear of the boat has two areas of damage from the two collisions. As a passenger, boat owner ***************************** injured her left arm and is suffering from neck pain from having to physically push the boat off of the poles in order to avoid further collisions.Of note, this was only our third outing with the boat since February 2023 when we were told that the steering issue has been fixed. Moreover, the Air Conditioning unit also malfunctioned as of September 22, 2023.Due to multiple defects and prolonged attempts of repair, followed by a continuous failure to repair and a potential life-threatening accident, we no longer feel safe owning a Regal boat.After subtracting a generous 5% depreciation from the total 9 months of useable time during which we seldom took the boat out, we demand that you refund the 95% residual value of $380,000 plus the 5 months of unusable ****** ******* of $4750 for a total of $384,750 plus any taxes and fees which was paid during our purchase.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/11/2023

      I am sorry to hear that you and your family have had a few issues with the new Regal boat you purchased from South Austin Marine. The main issue regarding the steering was manufactured by ***** and Regal boat company installed the components.

      South Austin Marine is the selling dealer and did not manufacturer any of the parts on the boat or engine. The first time we were aware there was a issue with the steering we immediately went out to your boat to diagnose the problem. We found there was a leak in the steering system and ordered an new actuator. The part was on factory back order from ***** which is out of our control, unfortunately this has been a common issue in most industries since COVID. Once the parts arrived we went to your boat and installed them.  South Austin Marine responded immediately after the second steering failure and diagnosed bad sensors inside of the steering actuator. We immediately contacted ***** on this and have been working with ***** on a resolution.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 10/11/2023

      Complaint: 20720761

      I am rejecting this response because: it is unacceptable to have to continually have the same steering problem that we have had for more than a year now.

      Please refund and take your boat back to work on it on your own time and resources as we no longer wish to pay for a ****** to park a non-working boat

      Regards,

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

      Business Response

      Date: 11/30/2023

      We have come to an agreement and are selling their boat for them for no commission. This has been resolved.

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