61 Marine & Sports — Local services in Cottage Grove

Lets start off saying the ones in sales are polite and courteous however I can't say the same about service and the parts department. I had brought my Chris craft in for a simple winterization when I went to pick up all plugs were put back in except for one that was laying on the floor of the boat. When I popped it into the water in spring I had a cracked block due to not winterizing properly. I called them and told them I think you guys made a mistake when I had them winterize the boat I told them what was going on and they got real defensive and said they have been winterizing boats for over 15 years well hate to tell you guys but humans make mistakes and its up to you guys to take responsibility for your own. I had a long arguement with the service guy and he ended up hanging up on me RUDE. All because they know they messed up they just didnt wanna take the blame. Tell me who is to blame when people like me take that water craft in thinking the winterization will be done right and you put your trust in that company who else is to blame.. And as for the parts dept they are very cocky and disrespectful do not bring you boat or any other toys here as they will not take the blame if the repair or maintenance is done incorrectly. I now winterize my own boat very simple to do and I know it's getting done right. I also have a good friend that use to use this company for winterization of their watercraft and they also experienced the same thing I did and they also weren't taking the blame for his watercraft as well they do not have qualified service technicians and they do not know what they're doing I'm surprised they're company added an addition I will never return to there place again good luck to 61 marine stand up for your mistakes instead of getting mad and not doing anything about it very poor customer service if I could I wouldn't even give a half a star. Its all about taking hard working...

UPDATE (7/21/2020 - 4 stars) I spoke with Al today and we worked out a go forward plan. We love our pontoon, but the motor issues we've experienced have been incredibly frustrating. If we can manage to get this all worked out, and I'm confident we will, I ill update this review accordingly.

ORIGINAL REVIEW (7/20/2020 - 2 stars) I will start with the positives: Good selection, competitive prices, and friendly staff Sales experience was enjoyable and Richard in finance was great All of the issues we've had have eventually been addressed

General issues: New pontoon was delivered without a playpen cover Motor registered too late to get promotional 5 year Yamaha warranty Tachometer wasn't calibrated properly Set screw for anchor light was missing One foot for boarding ladder was missing Pontoon has been at dealer longer than it's been in the water in 2020 Our Yamaha VF115 (new in 2019) is a lemon

Yamaha motor issues: #1 - Water intrusion in lower unit (bad shift seal/housing) Oct 2019 #2 - Motor usually kills when shifting in reverse (bad wiring) May 2020 #3 - Motor won't tilt/trim in reverse (bad wiring) May 2020 #4 - Lower unit oil leak (bad prop seals) June 2020 #5 - Motor exhausting from lower unit housing (pending repair) July 2020 #6 - Water spurting out of shift shaft housing (pending repair) July 2020

I have a call scheduled with Al the owner to discuss our defective motor. I will update my review based on the results...

After spending time in Kansas City going to the boat shows and talking with area marinas in MO looking for a pontoon we had pretty much decided to hold off on purchasing a new boat. For some reason I decided to do a web search for marinas in Minnesota. I found 61 Marine and Sports in Hastings MN. Their Web Site was very easy to scroll through and we found a Sylvan Pontoon that we really liked. I decided to call them and Nick Tinucci answered the call. Nick treated me as he had known me for some time. Nick took the time to gather all the information to answer my questions along with detailed pictures of the boat as he knew I was calling from Kansas City. 61 Marine and Sports pricing was thousands less than I could by the same boat in MO even with the delivery charge to get it to KC. We decided to make a trip to look at the boat and it was everything that we were told it was. We purchased the boat and had it delivered to KC. From Nick to Richard in the business office to Dean who brought my boat to KC everything went smoothly with no disappointments or surprises. Nick even sent me pictures right before the boat left so I could see it after all the rigging was complete. We live on a private lake that has Zebra Mussel restrictions and they we able to comply with all of them with no issues. I would not hesitate to recommend 61 Marine and Sports as our experience went well. Nick, Richard and Dean, Thanks for...