How clean should YOUR boat come back from Mechanic?-gctid807353

[Apurpura]

So I brought my boat to a local marina for the first time to work out some kinks. When I went to pick up the boat it had oily hand prints all over the place. The guys were just being sloppy and rushed. I refused to pick up the boat until it was cleaned to the level that I had brought it in. They pissed and moaned but they cleaned it. I would hate to stop going there because they know what they are doing and they seem to be fair. My question is "Are most marinas better than this or should I expect this all the time"? I told the marina I was not happy seeing my boat that dirty. YES it is an older boat BUT it is MY boat and I try to keep it clean.

[Four_Pyrates]

Leaving a mess is common, but unacceptable for any reason. Clean it up or don't get paid.

[2850Bounty]

A good well seasoned mechanic will keep his work environment fairly clean....... and should leave it as clean as is was upon finishing up.

[Norton_Rider]

My expectation is that the boat is returned as clean as it was before. My mechanic is very careful not to get a boat dirty. Uses thick tarps to keep dirt off the floor and keep from damaging things. He wipes off grease, hand prints, etc. As a matter of fact, he carries Cummins white spray paint and touches up areas, as needed.

[CptCrunchie]

"Apurpura" post=807353 wrote:
So I brought my boat to a local marina for the first time to work out some kinks. When I went to pick up the boat it had oily hand prints all over the place. The guys were just being sloppy and rushed. I refused to pick up the boat until it was cleaned to the level that I had brought it in. They pissed and moaned but they cleaned it. I would hate to stop going there because they know what they are doing and they seem to be fair. My question is "Are most marinas better than this or should I expect this all the time"? I told the marina I was not happy seeing my boat that dirty. YES it is an older boat BUT it is MY boat and I try to keep it clean.

To say you are happy with their work seems ......incorrect. Part of any job is to clean up. Not just that, I wouldn't use any mechanic who would put greasy hands on gelcoat, because even removing it can scratch the coating.

If you use them again, I would have that put into your contract, that they protect the entire area. My mechanic has those rubber backed vinyl protectors like the auto mechanics use. I too have an old boat, but they should be treating all boats the same, ....or they are NOT a good mechanic.

[dmcb]

If they really good mechanics, for me, that would be the important thing. I agree it should be as clean as when they got it but a really good mechanic is hard to find.

And you did say they were fair. Another big plus.

I wouldn't like getting it back dirty but I wouldn't leave a good mechanic because of it.

If they don't I can clean up after them.

[Wort123]

It should come back no dirtier than when you took it to them. An occasional slip I can tolerate, things happen. My expectation is that their work will reflect their pride in what they do, and I don't find dirty work to be the result of those without.

[rossi45]

Maybe part of the question is, how much do you want to pay for that clean? Undoubtedly, they will bury the cleanup charge into their hourly rate for whatever cleanup they do. Depends on the size of the boat, that couple be 2-3 hours at mechanics rate. If you're on a budget, then it makes more sense to me to either do it yourself or hire a cleaner to do it which would be a significantly less hourly rate than your mechanic.

[CptCrunchie]

"rossi45" post=807427 wrote:
Maybe part of the question is, how much do you want to pay for that clean? Undoubtedly, they will bury the cleanup charge into their hourly rate for whatever cleanup they do. Depends on the size of the boat, that couple be 2-3 hours at mechanics rate. If you're on a budget, then it makes more sense to me to either do it yourself or hire a cleaner to do it which would be a significantly less hourly rate than your mechanic.

Don't agree at all. If the area was covered properly, the job should take the same amount of time but stay clean. The OP said oily hand prints. If a hose exploded, that's one thing, but hand prints from a sloppy mechanic should NEVER happen on anyone's boat,....nor car. That equates to either simple carelessness ...or a money grab; counting on the boat owner to pay them more to clean it. That's completely unacceptable in my world, especially when this is their business.

[canoel]

It should never come back dirtier than when it went in. Every shop I have owned or worked at makes sure the vehicle/boat leaves cleaner and in better condition than when it went in. Any labour rate includes time for the technician to clean his work area, his tools, and to make whatever he worked on look new again.

[Norton_Rider]

The opposite is when a person takes a totally filthy vehicle to a mechanic. While in college I worked PT at a British bike shop. Some of the bikes that came in were totally filthy, covered in layers of oil, grease and road grime. We finally instituted a dirty bike charge of $15 and would tell the person ahead of time. If the whined about the charge we'd tell them that they could save money by washing off the grime before dropping the bike off.

[canoel]

"Norton Rider" post=807544 wrote:
The opposite is when a person takes a totally filthy vehicle to a mechanic. While in college I worked PT at a British bike shop. Some of the bikes that came in were totally filthy, covered in layers of oil, grease and road grime. We finally instituted a dirty bike charge of $15 and would tell the person ahead of time. If the whined about the charge we'd tell them that they could save money by washing off the grime before dropping the bike off.

Yep agreed! I worked at a mine for a while. Every truck that came in had to be ran up on the rack and power washed.

[Apurpura]

I agree with you but it is so hard to find a mechanic that has not retired that knows how to work on the older stuff. This is the third mechanic I talked to and he seems to be fair and when I wanted to start the boat and make sure everything was OK he spent an additional hour with me going over the work he did WHILE he cleaned the greasy hand prints. Soooo he tried to say "sorry for being a slob" by going over small things about my boat. I will try him again on a small job and see what happens.

[boatworkfl]

A mechanic should leave thee boat as clean as he found it, unless he added grime to the top of the old grime, then he should clean that area up, and/or contact the boat owner and explain that there will be a charge to clean up the mess prior to the mechanic working on it. Call it a safety issue and a needed clean workspace to prevent contamination of the work being done.

Sounds fair to me.