Ted's Boatarama — Local services in Rock Island

I went in to buy a boat motor that I needed for the upcoming hunting season. I was told these motors are complete and ready to go.. I decided on one and purchased it. When I went to mount it,I discovered it was missing the mount to the bolts that clamp it to the boat. I called Ted’s and Terry told me to bring it back in. He tried to find replacements but couldn’t as they are on backorder and said I would be fine to use it and told me he would call me when the parts came in. I re-mounted the motor and took it out the next day. The engine would idle, but would die when you put it in gear and the recoil wouldn’t retract without pulling back-and-forth to get it to slowly recoil. I called and spoke with Terry again and again he told me to bring it back in so again I unmounted The approximate 120 pound motor and took it back.

This time , while speaking with Terry, Jim came over to help. Terry explained about the missing mounts and they both looked for some while Jim was very condescending to Terry saying that the motor should’ve been sold complete to which i agreed. (All i wanted was a ready to go motor as promised) after belittling Terry for a couple of minutes,Terry went looking for the parts while Jim continued to badmouth him to me, which made me think less of him and feel bad for Terry . I can only imagine how bad it gets when no customers are around.

They had it for approximately a week and when I called, they said they adjusted the linkage and it was fine now so again I picked it up and remounted it Went out the next day and couldn’t get it to start. I called them and told Terry I wanted my money refunded. He said bring it down and he would see what they could do .So missing another of my limited hunting opportunities I once again unmounted the motor and took it back to Teds. After waiting for about 15 minutes. Terry called Jim over. I explained the whole situation to him adding that I just wanted my money refunded since the motor wasn’t sold complete as promised and I haven’t had any use out of it due to problems. I also told him I have a 10 hp that I wanted them to rebuild and I was planning on upgrading to a four stroke which is a lot more money to show my interest in doing future business with them upon resolving this problem. He scoffed and said they don’t do that. After seeing how he treated Terry I wanted to stay professional and walked out with him on my heels, begging me to come back into the store. The main thing they apparently don’t care about is the customers time which time is the most important thing we have. Oh sure ,I’m convinced they’re OK with me constantly bringing this lemon back-and-forth, but like other people my time is important to me, but after seeing the way Jim treats his employees I don’t know why I thought he would care about his customers.I have the motor stored in the exact same condition that I received it from Ted’ Boatarama. I feel it’s never too late to right a wrong.Ted’s contact me when you’re ready to do just that and...

I called them to purchase new oil drain o-rings for lower unit on a 25hp mariner 2-stroke. The guy at parts counter found the o-rings. Went home to install and noticed the o-rings were not seating and squeezing past plug. Called and talked to Mike and he said He didn't know what problem was without seeing it in person. He told me I could return them. Came back following day told the guy behind counter what the issue was and suggested to him that maybe a washer would be a better seal. He insisted the o-rings were correct part#; which I don't dispute. He brought out some blue washers and notified me that mariner made multiple revisions to the washers. He then showed me a new plug with a yellow washer.("the newest, newest updated washer"). He then said maybe my plug was cross threaded and replaced with a non oem plug. The plugs were exactly the same!! As soon as I asked him to refund the o-rings for exchange on the blue washers he said they were damaged and he couldn't resell them. (I didn't expect him to resell them; he could have returned them to distributor).I wish this guy would have notified me from the beginning that there were so many different washer revisions. So I figured he would have made it right with customer (me)and swapped me out the washers. I've spent well over $2,500 at this business and figured they would swap them out without any hesitation. Guess I was wrong. I bought the blue washers and left upset. I used to be a business owner for over 11 years in a similar industry. We used to sell parts for radio controlled trucks and boats. Hobby companies were always making revisions to pre existing models. If I had a customer with an issue such as mine I simply would have swapped out the o-rings/washers and sent them back to the manufacturer. Or I would have eaten the cost of the $4.40 o-rings and the customer goes home happy; (those o-rings probably cost a buck or two at dealer cost). I'm sorry Ted's you have lost me as a customer. The guy behind the counter seemed like my issue was taking up too much of his time. He should have told me there were multiple options and revisions made to the washers/o-rings. That information was in his computer. Mike, on the other hand is a good guy and also used to be a customer of mine. I can remember helping him out when he came into our shop. He probably knows that me or my dad would have taken care of him in a situation like this. 😉 I plan on stopping in tomorrow to return and get my money back for the plug wire set and trailer bearings I bought yesterday. This will be my last transaction at this...

Commercial truck driving across country with a sailboat, we had a tire blow about 30min out annnd lights on trailer stopped about 3hours out. Googled and called these guys up while 2hours away they said stop on by and let's see if we can help you out. Just to say had called 2 shops before this and one said noon the next day, the other never answered. We pulled into their place and before the truck came to a complete stop these guys were out the door and headed to the trailer. Then set out to WORK. The lady inside was helping another guy try and find us a tire and was literally jogging to and from the trailer. Another guy was working on the wiring. Meanwhile a guy in a freakin boatcar pulled up. He didn't have anything to do with the shop but that was cool. Then ANOTHER guy comes out, sees one of the caps of the tire hurries inside to get and and places it on like no big deal. Not only were they friendly they were fast! Got us back in the road in maybe 45 min, closer to 30. It was like nascar pitstop for boat trailers. If you're in the area, or a days drive, it's worth it, I...