Shipping Delay on Dowsar Bimini for 26M

[flbum]

http://www.dowsar.com/options5.htm

(The picture above is from the Dowsar Marine Supplies website)

I have ordered the new adjustable height Bimini which mounts on the genoa track from Dowsar Marine for my 26M. I placed the order on Monday, May 2. Art at Dowsar told me that it would ship immediately as soon as they received a bank draft from me. I told him that I would pay by credit card to simplify and speed up the process. Then he said that it would ship on Friday (May 6) and would take about a week to get to me.

Since the Bimini did not arrive, I emailed several times for shipping info. After no response, I called. Art said that they were having shipping problems due to the size of the new Bimini exceeding the limits of their trucking company. He said my Bimini was there and would ship the next day. That was on Monday. I called back today, Thursday, May 19 to get the shipping info since I still did not receive replies to my new or old emails. I called again. Art acknowledged receipt of my emails. Art said that the Bimini was expected to ARRIVE at Dowsar Marine TODAY from the factory and would be shipped TODAY to me by UPS. I asked Art to send me the UPS tracking info. He said that he would.

Order placed with Dowsar on May 2. It is May 19 and the order has not been shipped.

I'm mostly concerned about the fact that I keep getting strung along and there is no communication. If I get honest dates and/or communications about delays, I would feel a lot more comfortable dealing with Dowsar.

I know that there are other owners on this Board who have had dealings with Dowsar. I believe that everyone has been happy with their products. Have they kept their promises? Has anyone had problems taking delivery of their products in the past?

It's getting unbearably hot here and the Admiral refuses to go out on our Mac until it has a sunshade. She made that statement last week. Is it time to dowse Dowsar if they don't deliver by the end of the week and have one custom made locally?

Regards,
ROB

[RandyMoon]

I have found that most customers will work with you if you just keep them in the loop. I can tolerate a lot if I at least know what is going on. It sounds like they need some training videos on how to attain world class customer service.

[Billy]

Rob, a couple of years ago I ordered their dodger. I was told repeatedly I would get it in time to meet my schedule. (I had allowed several weeks lead time.) They were very courteous and Art returned my phone calls and would give me a date. (More than once.) But, the dodger never arrived in time for my trip--2 weeks in the Bahamas. When I got back, the dodger had arrived and their were additional charges incurred in the shipping.

It could be their canvas parts are made by an outside source and they don't not have complete control. Their product is top of the line, I'll attest to that and I have been well satisfied with the quality. It has endured some severe wave smashing. But, it did rub me wrong the way my order was handled.

I try not to say anything negative, but you asked. I feel certain you'll get and be satisfied with what you ordered, but when may be another question.

Good Luck!

[Terry]

I am glad I have heard this because I am also seriously considering ordering that very same Bimini from Dowser. I also like their Dodger and would like to get that in the next year or two. Duane Dunn ordered the entire X enclosure from Dowser and is very satsfied with it from what I read on one of his posts. He said it was the best in quality of the three he looked at but it was by far the most expensive. I geuss you get what you pay for. I wonder if shipping delays have anything to do with cross border and customs, I find anytime I order from the US there is always a delay due to customs. I live in Canada and hope I do not have to endure similar shipping delays especially considering Dowser is also in Canada, albeit they are way back east in Ontario and I am on the west coast. Rob, let us know how it works out in the end.

[John Skardzius]

Hello. I know for a fact that the folks at Dowser sometimes read these posts.
I bought my Mac X from them in 2000. It took me 45 minutes to order all the options and hand over a check for the full amount. I got the thing mostly loaded. Table, full enclosure, radio, compass, Honda 50, autopilot, annonimeter, depth sounder, etc. Never haggled. Just wanted it in time for my wife's birthday. Bought it in December 00 for an April 01 delivery. It was late....by three weeks. Many calls, re-set of date every second day etc. even though I had to have been the easiest customer to deal with. Frustrating to say the least. I had the benefit of living 20 minutes away.

Now that I know them (good people) it is just that they get swamped. They do use outside resources and they get the run around as well. Art needs to learn to say "This is what is happeneing" "this is what you can expect" "These are our typical issues" etc.

He would gain more customers for the aftermarket stuff that way...but it seems by these posts like you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

ART IS HONEST and the DOWSER FOLKS know what they are doing.

Just give them time...and remember the last time you brought your car in for service....BTW ART or other dowser folks...if you read this, give me a call! or reply to this thread!

[flbum]

I decided to hang in there and wait for the bimini to ship from Dowsar. I played phone tag with Art at Dowsar a number of times and was told it's shipping today on several occasions.

Well, it finally shipped yesterday on May 27. Art apologized for the delay and long series of problems. Since he had promised me immediate shipment on May 2, he told me that he gave me a discount on the product. He also assured me that I would be very pleased with the quality of his product. I told him that Dowsar's reputation for quality on this board was the reason that I had ordered from him in the first place instead of buying local.

I anticipate that I'll be pleased with their product since I've only read positive comments about their products on this board.

This is a new product for them. It is a lower cost bimini. So, Terry, you might want to note that this bimini is NOT the one designed for their enclosure. You will have to get the previously designed version of the bimini from them if you intend to add the other components to eventually end up with a full enclosure in the future. The other bimini is considerably more expensive, but also much better. I decided that I would never end up with the full enclosure and opted for the lower priced bimini. A sunshade is an absolute necessity for our hot and sunny Florida envirionment.

I'll post more info on this new bimini from Dowsar when I receive it and have the opportunity to try it out.

Regards,
ROB

[DLT]

ROB,

How has it worked out for you? Surely, you've received it by now...

[mtc]

Gentlemen,

Could someone let the board know the cost of these items or perhaps a link for the Bimini? I've been shopping and to be honest, it's real scary that there's high confidence that I'll have the same customer service problems that everyone here cites.

Truely preventable. When I go to a restrauant and there's a line, just tell me it will be a two hour wait. Please don't keep telling me, 'just be a few more minutes.'

Is the quality truely that good?

Michael

[flbum]

The bimini was delivered on June 7 by UPS.

I have installed, but not sailed with the bimini. I will post a picture of it on my Mac at http://www.smartegy.com/bimini.htm later today.

Installation was VERY easy. No drilling, etc. is required. You just snap it in place.

I am 6'2" tall and am able to sit in the captains chair under the bimini while it is in it's lower position.

The bimini arrived in fully functional condition, but had several issues which I believe are related to packaging and shipping. The bimini was wrapped in plastic with a layer of bubble wrap over the plastic. There was a piece of wood attached with tape across the bottom opening of the bimini. Although the bubble wrap was still in place, there was a small puncture hole in the boot. Also, a plastic control knob on one of the cars which supports the bimini on the boot was cracked, but still fully functional. The knob is used to adjust the position of the bimini along the track and does not provide any structural support. UPS probably put all their boxes on top of the bimini. I believe that they expect packaging to be strong enough to take a lot of abuse.

I informed Art by email about these issues and emailed him pictures of the damaged car. I told him that I wasn't that concerned about the hole in the boot, but I am concerned about the possibility that the knob will crack off altogether in the future.

Art responded quickly and stated that he would send me a replacement car in about 3 weeks after his next production run. He asked whether I could repair the hole in the boot and offered to compensate me for my labor. I'm not sure how that would work, but I'm not too concerned about the hole since it is in the boot and not the sunshade.

I'm pleased with Art's followup to my issues.

I received another surprise. UPS just sent me a bill for $51.50 for processing the importation. That is a processing fee and not a duty or tax. From reading their website, part of that is to cover a processing fee charged by US Customs. It would probably be a good idea for Dowsar to inform US buyers of this fee charged by UPS to the receiver of their products.

I asked Art whether there would be another fee attached to the replacement car that he was sending me. He said that there would not be such a fee as he would be sending the part by mail whereas the bimini was too large to send by mail.

MTC: The link to the bimini pricing and other info is http://www.dowsar.com/options.htm Don't forget that the price is shown in Canadian Dollars. A converter is provided on the website. The price including shipping is $766.99 CAD. The price in US dollars fluctuates daily. You'll need to add another $51.50 USD to that price to get the total delivered price after the UPS surprise. Also, I paid by credit card. My credit card company charged me a 3% surcharge for the conversion to Canadian Dollars.

Although I have not sailed with the bimini yet, I do believe that it is a good product. There really isn't any work to the installation and the sunshade seems sturdy and maximizes the use of the space behind the boom to provide maximium shade and sufficient height for us big guys.

Unfortunately, after this and other large purchases and lots of work on upgrades for our Mac, I have experienced a significant and sad blow which may prevent me from providing a sailing report with my new bimini.

This might be a better topic for another thread... The Admiral who is 50% owner of our Mac and 100% owner of the tow vehicle has told me that she wants to sell our almost new 2005 Macgregor. I can't afford to buy her half out, pay full storage, insurance, etc., and to purchase and feed a tow vehicle. Part of the issue is that she intends to sell her tow vehicle. There are scheduling and other issues. We bought this boat to sail together and it looks like that isn't going to work for her. Like I said, it's probably off subject for this thread.

Hope this info helps.

Regards,
ROB

[Mark Prouty]

Unfortunately, after this and other large purchases and lots of work on upgrades for our Mac, I have experienced a significant and sad blow which may prevent me from providing a sailing report with my new bimini.

This might be a better topic for another thread... The Admiral who is 50% owner of our Mac and 100% owner of the tow vehicle has told me that she wants to sell our almost new 2005 Macgregor. I can't afford to buy her half out, pay full storage, insurance, etc., and to purchase and feed a tow vehicle. Part of the issue is that she intends to sell her tow vehicle. There are scheduling and other issues. We bought this boat to sail together and it looks like that isn't going to work for her. Like I said, it's probably off subject for this thread.

Hope this info helps.

Rob,

Unfortunate turn of events. Perhaps you can find a relative or close friend that would buy 1/2 into your Mac adventures.

When I was looking at Macs to purchase, one of the sellers was a 1/2 owner.

[flbum]

Here is an update from my last post. Art from Dowsar said that he already has received the new cars from production. He says that he's ready to ship one out to me to replace the damaged part. That's much sooner than he had anticipated. Great!

Also, I'm having trouble with my domain nameserver. So, here is an address which points to the picture of the bimini on my Mac:
http://home.comcast.net/~rwelsh57/bimini.htm

Regards,
ROB

[mtc]

Rob,

So sorry to hear that you are in a position to need to sell your boat. The only benefit is that some lucky person will enjoy her. I often wonder, with life changing as it does, what i would do in the same situation.

Perhaps believe that someone will enjoy her. . .

Michael

[Terry]

Well at least I did not have to endure the same wait as others. I special ordered a Pacific Blue Bimini that because it is not regular color had to be specially made. Three weeks to have made and one week to ship for a total of 4 weeks right to my door. I ordered it around June 1st and recieived it at my door on the west coast June 30, not bad considering what others had to wait but then mine did not have to cross customs. It is very well made, all stainless steel tubes and fittings, no plastic or aluminum, very happy with the quality, well worth the wait.