Personal Pontoon Fishing Boat

[ckim85]

well...great news is that the ODC 816 was on sale for $260. There were 2 in box and 1 display left so my friends and I bought all three.

Well...turns out i drew the short straw despite getting one of the "brand new" boxes at Outdoor Emporium. It was missing an oar...just one oar in the box...it was missing 4 out of 8 clips that holds the whole thing together. I said, ok I'll go back and ask for the clips and a new oar...Well...5 minutes getting into the water, the right side pontoon decides to leak. I had to pump it every 5 minutes until I got tired of paddling with one oar and pumping the toon so I got out of the water.

Not sure what their return policy but I expect a full refund...

Unfortunately, after this incident i don't think i will be shopping at Outdoor Emporium anymore. The poor customer service reall irks me. I called the store in the morning to ask about the toons they have and I was hung up on once (literally, he put me on hold for 5 minutes then I heard him pick up the phone and I could hear him talking to someone...then *click*) Called a second time and he gave me attitude because he didn't want to check how many he had...then he came back with this answer "yeah we have like 1 or 2 and one on display, but the display one is brand new, we just assembled it" Turns out the display one was missing oar locks which we had to replace ourselves because they couldn't help us out with it. Later in the afternoon, just wanted to make sure on the price so called again, this time a lady answered and gave me attitude AGAIN. This time she argues that the toon's tagged price is after 20% off already despite me talking to an employee there a week prior who said the price would be 20% off tagged price.

Sigh...shame since theres not really a store like Outdorr Emporium around Seattle, but they lost one customer for now.

[The Quadfather]

Wow! I am shocked to hear that story. I have nothing but respect for this store and their knowledge base and customer service. That is really too bad. I hope you get your pieces etc. replaced without difficulty.

[ckim85]

Wow! I am shocked to hear that story. I have nothing but respect for this store and their knowledge base and customer service. That is really too bad. I hope you get your pieces etc. replaced without difficulty.

Yeah, I've happily shopped there for so long that I am so dissapointed by the service I got today. Who knows, maybe it was just one of those days, it was hot! but I was definitely not happy with the product I paid $260 for.

I was already a bit bothered when I went a couple months ago to ask about baitcasters. I walked up and asked "hey i'm completely new to baitcasters and i have absolutely no idea what I am looking for, could you make some recommendations for any in a lower price range?"

his response was "whats there to recommend, they are what they are. let me know if you have any more questions." and walked away.

I let that one slide since whatever, maybe I asked the wrong way or something, but after several little incidents, I'm beginning to think that they have some employees who are not the best trained in customer service.

Hopefully they'll replace all parts or give me a full refund because I really want that pontoon!

[returnofthefish]

I am sorry that your experience was poor. I have had good service there. The guy behind the reel counter seemed pretty knowlegdeable. I also asked about bait casters too and told them that I didnt know much. He taught me some stuff and didnt pressure me to buy one.

I hope your issues with the pontoon boat get addressed. That sucks that your package was missing clips and an oar. You should probably ask to speak to the manager about it. Hope things work out for you man.

[ckim85]

I am sorry that your experience was poor. I have had good service there. The guy behind the reel counter seemed pretty knowlegdeable. I also asked about bait casters too and told them that I didnt know much. He taught me some stuff and didnt pressure me to buy one.

I hope your issues with the pontoon boat get addressed. That sucks that your package was missing clips and an oar. You should probably ask to speak to the manager about it. Hope things work out for you man.

thanks john. yeah i hope so too...i mean i like the store and the products they have and generally i've spoken to some real nice guys with great knowledge but there are a couple that I have issues with I guess. I guess I was a bit frustrated when I said they lost a customer but I gotta say I am a bit hesitant to shop there but where else could I go...drive a hour down to Cabelas? Unlikely.
Hopefully I can make it there tomorrow after work and see if i can get it resolved easily.

Btw, we gotta hit up Haller or Bitter sometime as soon as I get this pontoon figured out. I'll shoot you a PM and we'll figure out a date and time.

[Mike Carey]

Interesting. I had a similar gruff guy behind the reel counter when I went and bought a new reel a month or so ago. Really no excuse for it. Perhaps the lack of competition has them extra busy and they are getting overwhelmed. The guy that used to own the business a few years ago (forgot his name) when they were on Pontious Ave was a real customer is #1 kind of guy.

[BassinBomber]

ckim,..go see Patrick @ OE and deal with him exclusively,..he has taken good care of me over the last year and has very good product information 2 share,..he even gave me his cell# for any additional questions and he fishes for allot of different species,..hope this helps!

BB

[ckim85]

ckim,..go see Patrick @ OE and deal with him exclusively,..he has taken good care of me over the last year and has very good product information 2 share,..he even gave me his cell# for any additional questions and he fishes for allot of different species,..hope this helps!

BB

thanks BB, i'll see if i can talk to him today. I'll be heading over after work to see if I can get replacement parts or get a refund. If it wasn't for the leaking toon, i wouldn't be this unhappy because I did get a great deal and it's a great pontoon! Unfortunately it was the last one so I'm not too sure what they can do to replace it. When my friend asked about the oarlocks, they said we had to call Creek Company about it so I really hope they dont refuse refund and tell me to take it up with Creek Co.

How do you like your Outfitter by the way? That was initially my first choice if they had it in stores but unfortunately they took them all out like a week ago to clear out for Fall/Winter stuff. Maybe if I get a full refund, i'll highly consider ordering it online.

Aynbody know where else I can try for Pontoons other than Cabelas and Outdoor Emp in the Seattle area? I'd hate to drive down to Cabelas but I really want to check out the Creek Co. Super Sport XR which is priced very nicely and looks great.

[BassinBomber]

ckim,..go see Patrick @ OE and deal with him exclusively,..he has taken good care of me over the last year and has very good product information 2 share,..he even gave me his cell# for any additional questions and he fishes for allot of different species,..hope this helps!

BB

thanks BB, i'll see if i can talk to him today. I'll be heading over after work to see if I can get replacement parts or get a refund. If it wasn't for the leaking toon, i wouldn't be this unhappy because I did get a great deal and it's a great pontoon! Unfortunately it was the last one so I'm not too sure what they can do to replace it. When my friend asked about the oarlocks, they said we had to call Creek Company about it so I really hope they dont refuse refund and tell me to take it up with Creek Co.

How do you like your Outfitter by the way? That was initially my first choice if they had it in stores but unfortunately they took them all out like a week ago to clear out for Fall/Winter stuff. Maybe if I get a full refund, i'll highly consider ordering it online.

Aynbody know where else I can try for Pontoons other than Cabelas and Outdoor Emp in the Seattle area? I'd hate to drive down to Cabelas but I really want to check out the Creek Co. Super Sport XR which is priced very nicely and looks great.

I'm very happy with my Outfitter ckim,..I had slow leak problems also but I dealt with Costco and they sent me 2 new Bladders,..so now I have 4,..haha,..the Toon is awesome,..perfect for those quiet times on the water,..BTW the Outfitter is manufactured here in WA State,..not sure where,..somewhere near Bellevue I beleive,..I'll be on a small private lake with mine this weekend,..looking for the BIG-GURLS,..my Toon leaks air when not in use but when on the water it's fine,..not sure if that's typical or not,..but for me no worries! Hope all works out for you!

BB

[ckim85]

Thanks BB. We should fish together sometime! I've been planning on fishing with Gringo and Quadfather for awhile now so we'll have to setup a date and time to meetup.

I just gave OE a call and luckily I got a hold of Steven, the manager. He was actually very helpful and said I could bring it in for a full refund or they would gladly order the parts needed. I think for now I will go with a full refund since I am going out to Cabelas later this week anyway and hopefully they have the Creek Co Super Sport XR in store.

[Maury]

ckim,
check out Sportco in Fife. They are affiliated w/ OE but friendly staff and it's closer than Cabela's.
I live between the two stores and I personally prefer Sportco for selection and service.
Maury

[ckim85]

hey Maury, thanks for the suggestion. That is definitely not as bad of a drive as Cabelas. Especially since I will be heading out at 5 PM during prime time traffic hour, driving down to Lacey isn't going to be fun...

I actually just called Cabelas and looks like they have a good deal running on the Super Sport XR ($290!) so I will try giving Sportco a call and see what selection they have.

[BassinBomber]

Thanks BB. We should fish together sometime! I've been planning on fishing with Gringo and Quadfather for awhile now so we'll have to setup a date and time to meetup.

I just gave OE a call and luckily I got a hold of Steven, the manager. He was actually very helpful and said I could bring it in for a full refund or they would gladly order the parts needed. I think for now I will go with a full refund since I am going out to Cabelas later this week anyway and hopefully they have the Creek Co Super Sport XR in store.

ckim85,..just say when and where and I'm pretty sure I can be there,..have you actually looked online at Costco's Toons? UPS 2 my door in 4 business days $317.54 total,..if you can wait Costco is tough 2 beat as far as Customer-Service/Returns go,..JMHO,..either way let me know about the fishing,..we can hit some water at "Dawns-Buttcrack" and maybe do some Frog-Bassin then go from there,..LMK!

BB

[ckim85]

Well, great news! OE gladly gave me a full refund and they were very nice about it. I am happy with the service i got today

Drove right out to Cabelas afterwards and bought the Creek Company Super Sport XR which is on sale from 499 to 290! Just set it up in my ridiculously hot apartment and I am dripping sweat right now. I wanted to go with a 8 footer for transport reasons but I couldn't pass up the awesome deal on the 9 ft Super Sport XR. :]

BB, me and my friend will be hitting up a lake around seattle/bellevue tomorrow right after work. Hopefully be on the water by 6 PM and fish til dark. I'll let you know once I talk to him a bit more on where we might head to.

[BassinBomber]

Well, great news! OE gladly gave me a full refund and they were very nice about it. I am happy with the service i got today

Drove right out to Cabelas afterwards and bought the Creek Company Super Sport XR which is on sale from 499 to 290! Just set it up in my ridiculously hot apartment and I am dripping sweat right now. I wanted to go with a 8 footer for transport reasons but I couldn't pass up the awesome deal on the 9 ft Super Sport XR. :]

BB, me and my friend will be hitting up a lake around seattle/bellevue tomorrow right after work. Hopefully be on the water by 6 PM and fish til dark. I'll let you know once I talk to him a bit more on where we might head to.

Sounds good,..congrats on your new Toon,..I'm sure it'll serve you well,..can you mount a Troller on it? Either way now you're set,..now go-get-em!

BB

[racfish]

I find that the folks at OE are standoffish.They help their buddies and their circle of friends.Other then that the customer service is bad.Same reel experience as others. The guy selling me reels was a %$#@&.Finally a customer who had bought the reel I was told me what he liked and didnt like. The customer helped me big time.OE is only a few blocks from where I work.Id rather pay more and get great customer service from the small guys like Lincs or Aubrn Sports.

[BassinBomber]

I find that the folks at OE are standoffish.They help their buddies and their circle of friends.Other then that the customer service is bad.Same reel experience as others. The guy selling me reels was a %$#@&.Finally a customer who had bought the reel I was told me what he liked and didnt like. The customer helped me big time.OE is only a few blocks from where I work.Id rather pay more and get great customer service from the small guys like Lincs or Aubrn Sports.

Good point Ralph,..I think it's "2 each his/her own" when it comes down 2 it,..I've had some bad experiences at some stores also as I'm sure no one is exempt from that,..we just end up doing business elsewhere!

BB

[ckim85]

Took out the pontoon to Bitter Lake and fished with fishndude, quadfather, and gringo. Had a blast. the water was absolutely perfect and it was a ton of fun.
I need to get an anchor of some sort...sucks when the light breeze blows you down the lake. Pair of flippers might be very good too to maneuver the pontoon.

I'm already starting to think about different add-ons...anybody have any suggestions for a website I can check out that might have some pontoon-specific add-ons?

[The Quadfather]

I'm already starting to think about different add-ons...anybody have any suggestions for a website I can check out that might have some pontoon-specific add-ons?

Chris, I did a little looking around and found a couple pages.

http://tufox.com/hobie/index.html


http://coloradocasters.com/PimpYourPontoon.html



What I would do is Google around for some belly boat/pontoon clubs. Go to their forums and look for a thread topic on mods, or pimping your boat. This will be the best place to find pics. and info. because you are going straight to the people who are heavy into what you're talking about. It's like anything else..... people love to show off their stuff, and will send lots of pics. or talk up what they've done.


http://www.bass-n-tubes.com/

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubb ... BELLY_BOAT

[ckim85]

thanks Chris. Looks like Creek Company has a number of accessories that I could definitely use. As for rod holder, I'll be heading over to Home Depot today and making my own.

Did you guys end up staying out much later?
Despite not catching fish, that was a ton of fun. Hopefully next time i'll be able to do more fishing than rowing back and forth.