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January 2025 by Timothy Leiser
We had a slip here for the last 4 years or so' done storage and service with them as well. Over the years - we have realized that the sales team is fantastic... But not much else. Just a few of the 'issues' we had over the years:
- Service department is a MESS with the staff. You are lucky if you ever hear back from them unless you go in and make it happen in-person...
- never once dropped our boat in the slip on time. Often 3+ weeks beyond request date (and no... This was not weather related delays).
- has 'lost' our deposit several times over the years - requiring us to get bank statements to PROVE we paid them. Then it becomes a 'so sorry - we are training new staff' conversation.
- requested to get trailer to take home - which took them over a month to find. Never called me back, 2 in-person conversations about finding it, and then they charged us for trailer storage. Ended up working with their GM to get resolved. Best part - they never refunded the trailer storage money, nor applied a credit like they said they would.
- boat was stuck in slip almost every time due to lake of marina care and dredging.
- had an issue with our boat in the marina, called service to help us... They sent what appeared to be the 10 year old daughter of the service manager... Which then required her to go back and get her mom to help us.
BEWARE: They don't do all services. If you have something done to the boat that they contract to a 3rd party to do for them - they are not liable for any mistakes. We knew this only because we asked - otherwise we would have been clueless if it happened or not.
Just a huge list of things that do not justify paying the ridiculous prices they charge. Save your money. For that price, I would teach anyone how to trailer and drop their boat personally. The only reason they get away with this crap is because of their location. We are pulling all our business from them from here on out once the boat is out of storage. Almost ruined the whole boating experience every year...
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August 2024 by Justin Whitty
Can a person leave negative stars? One star simply isn't a low enough rating for Skipper Buds in Oshkosh. Let's wind this tape all the way back to the spring of 2020. My wife and I decided to buy a pontoon boat because, well covid closed the world and we were looking for something we could do outside with all the social distancing orders in place. So we bought a pontoon boat, which was a royal pain through skippers. We inked a deal, put our deposit down, and got the run around from finance for 2 weeks before I finally told them... "Forget it, we will just pay cash." After which point they magically found a lender to work with us. Fine, money was cheap, so we took their financing. A week later we finally got our boat and we were told there was this elaborate walk through on the boat as well as a trailer fitting. When we picked up the boat with our trailer there was nothing of the sort and the people assisting us acted like we were speaking french. Our salesperson was conveniently "out of the office" on the day we picked up the boat as well. That was the first mess! So they did walk us through the boat, reluctantly, and they acted like we were stealing from them, but they did load our boat on the trailer and move the winch post for us. Moving the winch post is something I'm more than capable of doing myself, but of course I didn't bring tools to do it because the salesperson said it was a part of the pickup and delivery. Now, on to the first month of boat ownership, in the first month we had doors that wouldn't open, trim pieces fall off, seats break, and the first time we opened the bimini top there were cuts in it! Upon further inspection of the boat we found massive dents and scratches on the inside of the pontoons which appeared to be from the way they move boats around in their yard. We brough these dents and scratches to their attention and at first they tried to blame us and said we should file a claim with our insurance company. We quite literally had taken the boat out once and with our trailer bunks there was no possible way to cause the damage on the pontoons. We brought the boat in and their service team agreed, there was no way we could have damaged the pontoons with our trailer. After almost two weeks of back and forth as to how they were going to make it right they agreed to replace the pontoons. They also agreed to fix the bimini top and all the trim that had started to fall off the boat. Doors wouldn't close properly, etc. It took almost exactly a year for them to make good on their promises and even after we picked the boat up we found the bimini top wasn't fixed. They blamed a shortage of materials and we gave them more time to fix that. It's now 2024 and we still don't have our bimini top! Also, just recently, the swivel bracket cracked when greasing it, which we took to Skipper buds. They told us the swivel bracket would be covered under warranty, which I didn't expect, but was happy with. I also spoke to another marina and they stated the swivel bracket would have a 50/50 chance of being covered so they gave me an out of warranty quote as well. Considering Skippers said they were confident it would be covered under warranty we gave them the work. ALSO I asked for an out of warranty quote and they ignored my request. So fast forward a month and surprise, mercury has denied the claim. Skippers now wants us to pay for the work after not giving us a quote like we asked and their saying it's $800 more than the other marina quoted us for the same job. This is an absolute mess and one that was avoidable if they had just given us a quote for out of warranty repair like we asked. I would have picked up the boat and taken it to the other marina knowing the most it would cost us was $X,XXX. I am absolutely furious and if someone buys a boat from these crooks they're going to absolutely regret it! I have photos and all correspondence to back this up. It is absolutely ridiculous!
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August 2024 by Colin Van De Loo
I regret to share my ongoing frustration with Skipper Buds boat dealership in Oshkosh, WI. Despite bringing our boat back five times for repairs due to a leaking engine oil issue, they have failed to resolve the problem each time. The oil leak persists without any improvement, which is incredibly disappointing considering the amount of time and money invested in purchasing and maintaining our boat. Additionally, the customer service at Skipper Buds has been less than satisfactory. The staff has been consistently rude and unhelpful, making the entire experience even more frustrating. While we have not yet sought service elsewhere, we are now considering taking our boat to Ken's Motorsports in Little Chute, WI. We've heard positive feedback about their ability to service Mercury engines, and we hope they can provide the expertise and attention to detail that Skipper Buds has failed to deliver. Our experience with Skipper Buds in Oshkosh has left us wary and disappointed. If you are considering purchasing or servicing a boat at this dealership, we strongly advise caution. Based on our repeated issues and poor customer service, it's essential to explore other options thoroughly. We hope that sharing our experience will help others make informed decisions when it comes to choosing a reliable dealership for their boating needs.
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August 2024 by Sarah Hessel
Employees delivering a boat to Long Lake near Campbellsport were mean and dangerous. The boat launch was busy. At least 8 or 9 boats on the water waiting to get out and several waiting to get in. The Skipperbud truck and massive pontoon showed up and just cut everyone in line on both sides. When anyone questioned them they just shouted “this is from Skipperbuds!”
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June 2024 by Kue Xiong
I don’t know much about fixing boat or what the parts are but I took a round rubber gasket and gave it to the woman that was at the counter in the sales department. Again I told her what I knew about and even showed her a picture of what the part is for. As she was walking away turned back and kept rolling her eye “again what is this for” I told her “it’s a rubber gasket for a 50hp mercury boat motor” still standing there with the part in her hands rolling her eye. Then she says “didn’t you say it’s for a part”? I replied “Oh for the air filter”. She says “right” with such a rude tone. Again I dont much about boat parts and I told her what I could and showed her the part online but she didn’t even bother to look. She comes back all nice and says “sorry I was asking you so much about the part bout we don’t carry air filter parts. I just grab my part and left. I’m sure she’s seen this part so many times I seriously can’t be the first to bring in a rubber gasket. Felt like I was dealing with 10 year old! But never going back!!
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June 2024 by Katie V
The sales team is fine but once you purchase, buyer beware. When you spend 6 figures on a new boat you expect the boat to be ready with everything promised. Our boat is still missing all kinds of extras we paid for and we are being told they are too busy to take care of it, it's going to be another month before they can work on it. It was purchased in February so I'm not sure why they haven't been able to get it done in the 4 months since we purchased and we just found out that they only sent our registration to the state at the end of April. The service since purchase has been very disappointing.
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May 2024 by Michael McBriar
Extremely disrespectful, poor customer service, terrible quality work
Extremely unsatisfied experience with Skipper Buds. I had called about getting my boat detailed and they had informed me that they have a very good detailer for interior and exterior. I had asked how much it was, and they said something around $750 for just the interior. I wanted to get it detailed sooner than later so I agreed to bring it into them.
After dropping it off, which was all good, walked in, put a tag on my trailer and left. I received a Phone call where they told me that they have reached the max time they give for a detail but still need 2 hours to finish the boat. I proceeded to ask how much it would cost for them to finish it since I’m already paying over $700.. They replied saying $299 an hour so it would end up being over $1,000 for just the interior.
I went to look at it and decide if I wanted them to finish or not and when I asked about it, nobody even knew where the boat was currently. Eventually someone found it and I was able to look at it. It did not look much different from when I brought it in. I had asked how many hours are given and was informed for the first time that it was only 3 hours for over $700. I told them I would never have paid that knowing it was only for 3 hours. I was apologized to and was told that they were supposed to tell me that but it was a new person so they may have forgotten.
After seeing the boat and being unsatisfied with the outcome we went inside to ask the detailer about what part was not finished. The salesperson went over to the older women and asked if she had remembered the (Brand) boat that she didn’t finish. As I am standing there she replies, “oh the piece of crap one?” where the sales rep proceeds to inform her that the owner of the boat is standing there. She then goes “oh my apologies”. I then told them I will take the boat as is, pay what I need to and leave. I was given $100 off for the inconvenience.
I left with a horribly cleaned boat after still paying over $750 and the outright most disrespect from a “professional” Business.
I would recommend going anywhere else but here if you can.
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March 2024 by Joel Sprangers
"F" THIS PLACE!!! Thought maybe someone was having a bad day gave it a fare shot a second time to be hung up on by the service department looking for parts. Called a few friends they all had the same experience. They honestly make you feel like you have no business there unless you're spending $100k + on a new boat. I even tried skipper buds Madison I believe. SAME ARROGANT, USELESS ATTITUDES!!! We have a Tige` which they carry along with being a PCM rep. Went to 365 Marine in GB which doesn't carry Tige` but was a PCM rep, they got is everything and some. Short staffed or whatever the case is, nobody should be treated in such a manner. Upon looking at the reviews it looks to be a common issue for these sh|t bags. I even looked up their corporate headquarters in Florida had a good notion to call them to see if they even know about this. All most of us want is to just enjoy time on the water with family. Some of us have to get creative to make that happen and work on our units.
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August 2023 by Cody Duranceau
I highly recommend Skipper buds! Purchased a boat through them and couldn't be happier. Had the service department install a new sound system. They did a great job and it sounds amazing. They hit my expectations and beyond. Great communication and fun.
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August 2023 by Jim Basler
Skipperbuds has a very good fiberglass person. My boat had a few dents and chips from over the years and they did a great job fixing up the finish, polishing, and waxing the boat. I received many compliments on how good the boat looked. I will say the service department is very busy at the opening and closing of each season, so your best bet is to go there in-person and speak with them. They have had some issues in the past with staffing, but recent work I have had done has been prompt and well done.
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July 2023 by Stephen Moore
Honestly very frustrated. Was looking for an estimate on a new bow mount trolling motor to replace the one I have. Called multiple times and brought the boat in. Everytime I called i was told someone will call me right back. Never once received a phone call back. Ended up calling Spellman's and they gave me an immediate estimate and answered all of my questions. I would be hard pressed to ever bring the boat I bought from Skipper Bud's back to Skipper bud's.
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July 2023 by D Karst
I bought a brand new Four Winns in early 2022 and encountered some problems. The service department NEVER returned my calls. I finally called the sales manager who asked what the issue was. When I informed her that I had to pay for what should have been warranty repairs I never heard back. Someone from Skipper Buds e-mailed me and said I would be receiving a satisfaction survey, which I did. I gave a very negative review which would not submit. I responded to the e-mail and informed them of the failed submission and the negative review. I have never heard from them since. They are very unprofessional and I will never do business with them again, nor should anyone else. Terrible experience.
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May 2023 by Ross Wendorf
Great Technicians staff and service!!
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April 2023 by D S
I Recently visited, they were very helpful and courteous.
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October 2022 by Al H
Incompetent and terrible service. Wouldn't do bussiness with any skipper buds location again. This was the worst purchasing experience I have ever been a part of I don't know how they can sleep at night treating customers like garbage and doing sub par work and offering little to no information on the work done on boats that people invest alot of money into.
