calgaryseadoo

Hey everyone,
I wanted to see if some of you folks here can help me out. I apologize for the long first post. I love Seadoo's I just haven't been able to pick one up for my own use.

I rented a 2003 Seadoo GTI from a local shop for a week and had a starter problem on the second last day. Now that it has been checked out the rental shop wants to charge me for a new starter.

Here's the background information as I know it from the owner of the shop:
-Some time last summer a renter hydrolocked the Seadoo requiring the engine to be rebuilt. I'm told this included installing a new starter.
-After the engine was rebuilt it was tested by the mechanic but I'm not sure if it was actually run on the water. The owner told me I was the first person to rent it since being rebuild.
-The owner mentioned to me that he had not used the Seadoo since it was rebuilt but the mechanic tested it.
-We used the seadoo for 4 days without issue.
-On the fifth day I was riding the Seadoo for a couple hours and it worked fine at all speeds. I picked up a friend for a cruise and rode around for a bit at half throttle or so. I took the Seadoo to full throttle and the engine cutout. It fired back up and we rode for a bit and I went to full throttle again and it died. This time it would not start right away. After a couple attempts (making sure not to burn out the starter) it fired up and we limped back.
-I let the Seadoo sit for an hour or so while I called the rental shop to see if the owner knew what the problem might be. Couldn't get a hold of them so I left a message.
-Went back on the water and it ran good and would go to full throttle without any problems.
-It ran for another hour or so and died. This time it wouldn't start back up again.
-When the start button was engaged there was a clicking noise which I figured was a solenoid issue or something. Again I called the rental shop to see what I should do. Couldn't get a hold of anyone.
-When we were looking at the Seadoo we noticed the red battery cable was a little loose so we tightened it and it didn't help.
-We took out the battery for the night, dropped it off at the marina and they hooked it up to a battery charger overnight. When I picked up the Seadoo at the rental shop the owner mentioned he had to put a new battery in it because the old one was dead.
-We hooked up the battery the next morning and it would was still clicking.
-We tried to jump or bypass the solenoid and that did not help.
-At that point we just put the seadoo into storage and forgot about it. It was our last day at the resort so there was no point in wasting time messing with the machine.

When we returned with the Seadoo to the rental shop I mentioned what happened and that I read on the internet this was most likely a starter problem. He mentioned the starter had been replaced 3 or 4 times prior and that the starter was replaced when the engine was rebuild and I was the first person to use the rebuild Seadoo.

The Seadoo went off to a mechanic and I received a call today saying they had to install a new starter and I would be charged $750 for that (5 hours labour at $90 plus ~$350 for the starter.) I mentioned that if it was a new starter it should have been under warranty for a year and the owner said that a year had passed since the starter was purchased and installed. I'm certain we didn't burn up the starter so I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this situation? Is there anything I should be asking the owner about or are there any specific things I should be finding out about the rebuild which may have caused problems for us? This could be the fifth starter on this Seadoo and it doesn't seem like it gets used very often (seems like it sat for at least a year before being used.

I'm not too happy with the service from this rental shop and it seems like they shouldn't really be in the business of renting out a jet ski. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Again, sorry about the long first post! Thanks.

96spxpos

hey, first off, what state are you in? I dont know of any rental place here in FL that will let you rent a jetski for 5 DAYS straight without bringing it in for service or inspection at least once a day...They mustve given you a really good deal, as it cost $90 per hour, $170 for 2 hrs, $240 for 3 hours, etc...at that rate, after a 5 day rental, you can just buy a near new one....what did you pay for the 5 day rental? only asking b/c first of all, NO LEGIT rental company would let YOU take the ski out for the first time after a rebuild without a mechanic or himself taking it out on the water for at least a few times...i'm thinking he had you plotted from the beginning....

calgaryseadoo

This was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There are a fair number of shops in this region that rent boats and watercrafts for multi-day trips because a lot of folks, like myself, rent this equipment and use it out in the Okanagan in BC. The nearest decent lake for boating around here is 1.5 hours away and these shops usually have a three day rental minimum. The rental situation is a lot different as compared to typical "on the water" marina rental places.

I'm trying to determine whether or not the sea-doo was maintained properly and if it was just a coincidence that the starter died after a few days of use. I know that we didn't abuse the sea-doo nor did we abuse the starter. I'm just falling short on options to try and negotiate. I asked for the invoice/work order for when the engine was rebuilt and, apparently, had the starter replaced. This paper work seems to be difficult for them to locate unfortunately (or conveniently.) I have the invoice for the starter replacement from last week and I'm hoping to get some straight up information from the mechanic (assuming he will be honest with me) about the condition of the starter that apparently went bad.

96spxpos

well, again, sorry for your tough luck.. I asked what the total rental price was for a reason on trying to compute some figures for you so you have some ground(s) to stand on...what was your total rental price for the entire 5 day rental? not including fuel or the starter issue? also, it seems to me that the guy IS in fact b.s. ing you...he can't find the paperwork, YOU were the first to take it out since the rebuild, etc..makes no sense that he or the mechanic wouldnt have taken it out themselves...anyway, did you ALREADY PAY the $750? was it paid on a credit card?

calgaryseadoo

I actually had the rental for about 8 days. Picked up on Friday afternoon (July 22) at no cost and returned it on Monday August 1 (because they were closed on Sunday.) They charged me $1000 for that rental period (Sunday was no charge because they were closed that day and that was the day I planned to return the seadoo.) The rate at other shops in the region is between $1000 and $1200 per week.

I was told that the mechanic who did the rebuild did test out on the water but, in my opinion, a short test to make sure it is operational (maybe they had it out an hour but probably less) is not really the same as actually running the machine for a few hours each day. Seems like the rental shop had no interest in actually using the sea-doo or doing a longer term test after the rebuild.

The $750 was charged to my credit card. I was in the shop yesterday they reduced the charge to about half (just the cost of the new starter which was ~$350) because there was some additional diagnostic work that was done which increased the labour charge. I'm still not done disputing the starter breakage issue but I need some sort of reasonable way to show that it was not a user caused breakage.

96spxpos

well, the pwc, was not flipped in the water, and was clearly not in an accident..those are usually the only two known user inflicted damages...so, you need to check your local laws and ask the j.o. for the copy of the rental agreement you signed...it'll probably exhonerate you right there, as he probably never even read the fine print himself...