Forum | The rotted out Gambler 209 saga act I II III.... oh just whatever....

Gather round children for the next installation of "As the Gambler Rots"…

In the previous installation I had sent the shop owner a certified letter posing 4 options out of this mess.

1.) full refund

2.) supply like kind and capability bare hull – no additional charge

3.) He buy mine for xxx dollars I buy one from him for x dollars

4.) Remove additional inner liner and see if damage stops – if it does complete repairs – no additional cost.

Wellllll… after waiting one week after I knew he had received the letter AND not getting a call from him – I called him. I asked "Well Scott…. what'cha gonna do?" and he replied[drum roll please....]…. "We're going to fix the boat per the original agreement"…. You can bet your bo'diddlie there was a lot of conversation after that statment! Oh yeah, and you can rest assured there is another certified letter that will be heading his way very soon. For this deal to work several things are going to have to take place…

1.) Sharp, crisp, clear photos of the work – prior to covering it up with the inner liner.

2.) If photos are not available or satisfactory then work must stop until a marine surveyor hired by me can visually inspect the work and approve it.

3.) A written and signed statement of lifetime transferable warranty on the repairs must be provided.

4.) Once the inner liner has been replaced I must receive sharp, crisp, clear photos of the finished work. If photos are not made available see provision #2 of this list.

While I did not think much of the original structural repairs my boat was not taken back to Flordia because of structural damage. Destroyed inner liner, stress cracks and milky hazing in the clear. That's why it went back. It's my belief they said the boat was non-repairable because they just did not want to repair it. I suspect they were hoping my insurance company would pay the claim and they would be done with it. That, as we all know, did not happen.

OHhhh yeah and I asked "How long this time to fix?" [Big o'l drum roll..............] 30 days…. Well lets see… first time I was told 3 weeks and it took 3 months. Then in January 4th of this year I was told 2 weeks of good weather and it's done. Two months later I get a call "….non-repairable"….. I am now creating an office pool…. The person posting the date closest to the date I actually get my boat back will win… A beautiful broken jagged piece of rotted out gambler!

Stay tuned for the next installation of "As the Gambler Rots!"

Oh….. in the first letter I sent I told the owner I had a clear case of fraud and getting my money back was a non-issue – which it wasn't. They charged for things they did not do. Well I was told the day I dropped my boat off the first time they were going to put a brace across the transom than then epoxy/glass gussets from that to the upper hull…. Well on the paper work the poor excuse for a repairman had put "Gussets"… and then the poor excuse for an owner transfered that information to the invoice "Gussets"… In our conversation today I was told "We're going to install the gussets…." I asked "What about the transom brace – "Nope, just the gussets." was the reply.

Boy howdy have I ever learned a lot I already knew….

Yeah kinda like never ending story isnt it.

well my thought is he's a dealer and had access to wholesalers that may run across the perfect hull for me at a good price for him.

He's a dealer and probably has a decent network established. He puts the word out he's looking for a 20-21' hull 1995 and up – cheap. Might just find it. If it's something I can work with and like I won't mind rebuilding it of sorts… new carpet and interior(if needed) and things like that. If it's got good storage a decent livewell system and the hull/trasom are solid I can work with that.

Option #3 has a lot of sharp turns and narrow passages. I mentioned strict dollar figures in my letter to him but rest assured if Option 3 is executed I will have a much more current boat. We're not talking he buys my 2009 225 Pro XS with 3 hours and warranty until 2014 plus all the other new stuff and he sells a 1996 Triton for 18k…. That ain't happening.

Will probably be next week sometime before this thing gets heated up…

Stay tuned!

Hopfully they're be no required court/legal action necessary. Several lawyers I spoke to in Florida that now have the fact state clearly and simply: Fraud – Identifiable and proveable=all monies paid for repairs returned. But…

Sent the guy a certified letter today providing 4 different routes we could take to resolve this matter.

1.) full and total refund

2.) supply repacement hull and hang engine on it, no further rigging required. I strip my boat in their yard of everything and anything I want off of it – which is anything and everything.

3.) Buy my boat/motor/trailer and all accesories for XXX dollars and I'll buy a boat from him for xxx dollars. Gamblers of any type in the year class 1994 thru and including 1997 were excluded from this offer. As was any model Intimidator

4.) remove more inner liner and foam to see if damage stops. If it does then complete the repair at no additional charge. If this option is chosen a written, detailed lifetime transferable warranty must be included.

Option #2 is my prefered as I keep all my new stuff and have a non-damaged hull – which is what I was seeking this time last year.

As you might suspect there was quite a bit more verbage in the letter I sent with a tad more details and a right to refuse.

So now…. we wait. But… got 2 – one day tournaments this weekend! Sho' do hope I put some fish in the boat. This particular lake Coletto Creek has been waiting to explode. This week temps have be 70+ every day, some light rain and over night lows in the 50's. Last week the water temp was 57 at blast off and generally hit 60-61 under heavy all day overcast although one area did contain 65 degree water – but no biting fish – according to my buddy.