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Happy 3rd Moon Landing, Apollo 14 (1971)! 🚀👨🚀🌕
Advice on severely long boat lead time.
- Thread starter Trippy D
- Start date
I received a phone call from Bear at northstar this afternoon.
It was a pleasure to speak with Bear on the phone. Bear went above and beyond to apologize for the issues surrounding the boat and reassured me that they would make it right.
He offered to build a new boat for me, meanwhile allowing me to use the boat I have here so that I don’t miss out on the season and trips. We will be able to swap later when the new boat is complete.
I am really appreciative and grateful for his resolution to this! Its more than I expected and I’m confident these issues are the exception, not the norm.
It was a pleasure to speak with Bear on the phone. Bear went above and beyond to apologize for the issues surrounding the boat and reassured me that they would make it right.
He offered to build a new boat for me, meanwhile allowing me to use the boat I have here so that I don’t miss out on the season and trips. We will be able to swap later when the new boat is complete.
I am really appreciative and grateful for his resolution to this! Its more than I expected and I’m confident these issues are the exception, not the norm.
That's a professional and reasonable offer for this kind of customer relations issue. It's good the problem came to Bear's attention. Of course, the replacement canoe needs to be manufactured to $4,000 standards and look like a $4,000 canoe. In return, you should be as careful as possible about damaging the current canoe, which can be resold to an outfitter or as a demo canoe.
Absolutely, I’m not going to rough up the boat. I’ll use the same caution I would if i were keeping that one. Appreciate the advice Glenn!
It is what it is , Nobody is being a spin doctor. All canoe makers make blems from time to time and the real telling factor is what they do about it
I had a similar experience with a different dealer and Northstar over the last year. Ordered a Phoenix last June, paid $500 deposit and was told delivery would likely be end of July or early August. Early August came and went without word. I emailed the dealer a couple times, but never got a response. Finally in late August I got a call that the boat had come in with the wrong trim. The dealer called around to every other dealer in the Northeast, but no one had a boat with the requested trim they could trade. So then I was told I could take the trim that came in, or wait until they built a new boat for the next shipment east. I opted for the latter - because I ordered what I wanted and wanted what I ordered. That also took months and I had my emails and calls to the dealer repeatedly ignored. The boat finally came in in late October, but since the dealer is 2:15 away, I couldn't get it until early Nov as the water was already icing up. At this point it was off-season and the dealer had pretty much closed up shop. We finally scheduled a pick-up time and I was able to get the boat, and had it on the water a few times before things were totally solid.
After some great service over the phone and in person from the dealer, and over the phone from Bear at Northstar, I was really disappointed in the lack of communication. I understand that materials supply chains were backed up and there's a labor shortage, so the delays were sort of excuseable, but the degree of lack of communication from the dealer wasn't in my opinion. I thought about cancelling and trying to order from another dealer, but figured I'd just be moving myself to the back of a different line and might wait even longer for the boat to come in.
I talked to my wife about all this - she owns and operates a small business, and she encouraged me to chalk it all up to COVID and let it go, given that I did eventually get the boat I wanted. In these days of Amazon and Walmart, I try to give small business owners every benefit of the doubt.
That said, I would not have stood for getting a messed up boat after paying full price up front - glad Northstar made that right.
Regarding quality, my new Phoenix does have some interior spots where there fabric isn't perfect but had a wrinkle or two form in the vacuum. I'd heard of similar on this forum prior to ordering, and it's true. But it doesn't affect performance, and I really like the boat, so...fair's fair on that I think. But, buyers should be eyes wide open.
After some great service over the phone and in person from the dealer, and over the phone from Bear at Northstar, I was really disappointed in the lack of communication. I understand that materials supply chains were backed up and there's a labor shortage, so the delays were sort of excuseable, but the degree of lack of communication from the dealer wasn't in my opinion. I thought about cancelling and trying to order from another dealer, but figured I'd just be moving myself to the back of a different line and might wait even longer for the boat to come in.
I talked to my wife about all this - she owns and operates a small business, and she encouraged me to chalk it all up to COVID and let it go, given that I did eventually get the boat I wanted. In these days of Amazon and Walmart, I try to give small business owners every benefit of the doubt.
That said, I would not have stood for getting a messed up boat after paying full price up front - glad Northstar made that right.
Regarding quality, my new Phoenix does have some interior spots where there fabric isn't perfect but had a wrinkle or two form in the vacuum. I'd heard of similar on this forum prior to ordering, and it's true. But it doesn't affect performance, and I really like the boat, so...fair's fair on that I think. But, buyers should be eyes wide open.
First post. WooHoo! Came to this discussion from searching the dealer that Trippy D dealt with. I am looking to purchase a Northstar canoe myself in the next month or so. I live in Texas so there are not any dealers near me I am aware of. Can someone recommend a dealer?
Texas is a big state… a city would help. You can always hit the dealer locator in the Northstar website. The only dealer listed there is https://rivercoast.com/
I’m in Florida but regularly visit my mom in Michigan, and ended up buying a canoe from a dealer there.
I’m in Florida but regularly visit my mom in Michigan, and ended up buying a canoe from a dealer there.
I'm in Houston and have used the dealer locator but was hoping for some recommendations from those that have experience or favorite dealers. Canoe will most likely need to be shipped so I don't think location is critical.
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I don't have a Northstar canoe and haven't dealt with any of their dealers other than ones in New York. However, the Austin dealer linked by @Woodpuppy claims to have some Northstar canoes in stock and is a one-day round-trip for you. Maybe you can even try before you buy in the lakes or river in Austin.
So my sad story turned out to be a good one. I have had a first generation Placidboat RapidFire (with relatively heavy wood gunwales compared to the later "cobra sox" gunwales) that I bought from Joe Moore new quite a few years ago. Not sure how long it took to build since I ordered the color I wanted, but I don't think it was very long.
A few years later the sleeker faster Shadow came out from Joe. After I raced the 90 miler in my RF with several other RF'ers against Joe and several of his employees all paddling Shadows, I became convinced that the primary purpose for the Shadow's existence was to beat all the Rapidfires that Joe had sold in previous years. So of course, I wanted one. Joe always had a display set up at the end of the 90 mile race, and every year the answer to my annual question was always the same. Order a shadow now (September) and it will be ready for you next September. Too late of course to train in it for the 90 miler in September.
So, my beautiful wife, with our 50th anniversary coming up decided to gift me a new shadow, and before I knew it she put down a deposit in That March, with expected completion date still a full year away. About the same time, I mentioned that I was looking at the possibility of a couple of other options. Oh crap, the cat is out of the bag. The Shadow could still be cancelled, but I let it go ahead. So she says, go ahead and get another to your liking anyway. I was looking at the GRB legend, a Swift Cruiser, and a Savage River Blackwater in addition to the Shadow, which did finally show up from Joe a full year after my wife ordered it.
Gene Newman at GRB failed to show up with a promised legend for me to try out at a spring canoe race, but he said it was not the right size for me anyway. Bill Swift then had a demo day along with Charlie Wilson at Saranac Lake, so I tried out a new Cruiser which I liked a lot and with recommendation from Charlie, I ordered a Cruiser customized to my liking personally from Bill who said he would deliver it to me at my home on his delivery rounds within a month, which he did.
About the same time a racing friend had just received a Blackwater that he was having trouble with it drifting to the left and wanted me to try it out to see if it or his stroke was defective. I could not see that he was causing any left turn bias while he was paddling, but when I paddled it, it went perfectly straight and true for me while single blade paddling on either side, turning only upon my command. I fell in love with it and in a couple of months ordered one direct from Savage River. It was finished from my order date within less than three months and last fall it was delivered to me, but too late for the paddling season with snow and ice before Thaksgiving.
A few years later the sleeker faster Shadow came out from Joe. After I raced the 90 miler in my RF with several other RF'ers against Joe and several of his employees all paddling Shadows, I became convinced that the primary purpose for the Shadow's existence was to beat all the Rapidfires that Joe had sold in previous years. So of course, I wanted one. Joe always had a display set up at the end of the 90 mile race, and every year the answer to my annual question was always the same. Order a shadow now (September) and it will be ready for you next September. Too late of course to train in it for the 90 miler in September.
So, my beautiful wife, with our 50th anniversary coming up decided to gift me a new shadow, and before I knew it she put down a deposit in That March, with expected completion date still a full year away. About the same time, I mentioned that I was looking at the possibility of a couple of other options. Oh crap, the cat is out of the bag. The Shadow could still be cancelled, but I let it go ahead. So she says, go ahead and get another to your liking anyway. I was looking at the GRB legend, a Swift Cruiser, and a Savage River Blackwater in addition to the Shadow, which did finally show up from Joe a full year after my wife ordered it.
Gene Newman at GRB failed to show up with a promised legend for me to try out at a spring canoe race, but he said it was not the right size for me anyway. Bill Swift then had a demo day along with Charlie Wilson at Saranac Lake, so I tried out a new Cruiser which I liked a lot and with recommendation from Charlie, I ordered a Cruiser customized to my liking personally from Bill who said he would deliver it to me at my home on his delivery rounds within a month, which he did.
About the same time a racing friend had just received a Blackwater that he was having trouble with it drifting to the left and wanted me to try it out to see if it or his stroke was defective. I could not see that he was causing any left turn bias while he was paddling, but when I paddled it, it went perfectly straight and true for me while single blade paddling on either side, turning only upon my command. I fell in love with it and in a couple of months ordered one direct from Savage River. It was finished from my order date within less than three months and last fall it was delivered to me, but too late for the paddling season with snow and ice before Thaksgiving.
