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Hello to all;
I bought a 2007 Whaler 180 Dauntless in November of 2014. The boat was left at the selling dealer for storage over the winter so I didn’t actually take delivery of the boat until May of this year. The boat had pretty average wear and tear but one area that really held the appearance back was the instrument panel which had the appearance of having been power washed, the original switch nomenclature was absent along with the decorative pin striping and Boston Whaler trademark. The switch gear also looked extremely weathered.
Enter Sue Lodell at Twin Cities Marine who took the time to listen to my story, ordered a new instrument panel and switches from Boston Whaler, had it shipped to me right from Boston Whaler’s supplier and didn’t charge me anything until I had the part.
This past weekend we travelled from our summer home in Garden, MI on the Garden Peninsula on Lake Michigan to Washington Island, WI which is only 40 miles across the lake by water but is 275 miles and a ferry ride by land around the lake to the bottom of Green Bay, then the ferry leaves from Northport, WI at the northern tip of the Door Peninsula. While on the island I visited Shipyard Marine to meet Andy Munao Jr. whose dad started the marina. He is the parts guy for the Mercury Verado Club and a great resource for Mercury parts and information. He helped me with some technical questions on replacement of the ignition switch on my boat and offers a discount on Mercury parts to Verado Club members.
On our way back to Michigan we drove a bit out of our way to Twin Cities Marine in Two Rivers, WI and met Sue Lodell whose dad started Twin Cities Marine and moved them into the building they are in in 1974. Our visit was unannounced and Sue got up from her desk, greeted us warmly and gave us a VIP tour of the marina and was very happy we stopped to say hello. Twin Cities is a full service marina and sell Boston Whaler, Grady White and Alumacraft boats along with Yamaha and Mercury outboards. Sue has gone over and above on customer service for me getting the parts I needed to return my boat to near showroom condition and will tell anyone who will listen that she believes good customer service is the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t in the very competitive marina business. That’s a position I couldn’t agree with more. Hats off to Twin Cities Marine and Sue Lodell…
I actually have a little marina background as I started bailing rental boats for 50 cents each while vacationing at Jerry's Marina in East Tawas, MI. That all started in 1960 when I was 10 and started hanging around with the riggers and the outboard mechanic. When ii was 16 I was tuning up small Johnson outboard, replacing water pumps and the like. Then during my senior year in high school the owner sent me to the Johnson Service School at Waukegan, IL and I took the advanced troubleshooting and new model training. I worked the next summer as a factory mechanic at Jerry's. Having been around boats, customers and the boating business I can tell you these businesses live or die on customer service and from word of mouth from satisfied customers. Twin Cities is a sponsor of this website and that is another reason to support them with a good word...
