Advice on severely long boat lead time.

[Frenchy19]

You can deal directly with Swift; not the case with Northstar. Too bad about your experience; I believe both Ted and Bear to be pretty stand up guys. I had a Souris River for over 20 years; the thing was bombproof and exactly what I wanted when my girls were young. You can also deal directly with Souris River.

There is a new builder in the the Twin Cities area called Greyduck, and a number of folks from the bwca.com board went on a factory tour there a couple night ago and were very impressed with the Vision 17 tandem and the owners of the company.

 

[Trippy D]

Thanks for the update.

Hopefully, the excitement returns once you have it securely tied down on the way home. As for the rest... seems like a legit reason to buy more canoes. Maybe some different dealers, a few different companies... Kids will soon be big enough for their own solo boats too...

Good to see the situation is resolved & I hope you enjoy.

Im hopeful the performance of the boat will outshine my woes with the process.

 

[Ober27]

We ordered a new Northstar early January, the boat is ready for me to pick up now.
The folks at Northstar were just a phone call away when I had questions regarding build options before placing the order. I ordered through a dealer, they were also very nice to deal with.
Part of my decision to go with Northstar was based on my experiences in dealing with the guys at the factory while doing some repairs on my 19 year old Bell Northwind, they were willing to take the time answer any questions I had by phone. Some of the same people who were there in 2004 building my Bell Northwind are still there building Northstars.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, I hope the canoe exceeds all your expectations.
Best of luck.

 

[GeoBoy]

“This has however spoiled my excitement for this boat and the brand. I basically had no budget on this it came down to Northstar, Swift, and Souris. With the intention of purchasing the B17 this year and a B19 next year for family trips when the kids are bigger. Perhaps I will look elsewhere”
I wouldn’t have my excitement spoiled on the custom Northstar B17 that I bought, I just wouldn’t buy another canoe from this dealer. Get that Northstar in the water and enjoy it. Have fun.

 

[Trippy D]

We ordered a new Northstar early January, the boat is ready for me to pick up now.
The folks at Northstar were just a phone call away when I had questions regarding build options before placing the order. I ordered through a dealer, they were also very nice to deal with.
Part of my decision to go with Northstar was based on my experiences in dealing with the guys at the factory while doing some repairs on my 19 year old Bell Northwind, they were willing to take the time answer any questions I had by phone. Some of the same people who were there in 2004 building my Bell Northwind are still there building Northstars.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, I hope the canoe exceeds all your expectations.
Best of luck.

This may just be a dealer issue. My initial experience with northstar was not bad at all. They responded quickly to all my questions and ideas.

 

[memaquay]

Might get some good deals from Souris river, during the pandemic a few outfitters dumped them due to their unorthodox views on the covid thing. I think they make a pretty good light weight boat, the Quetico 17 is a great large tripper for the area around here.

 

[Trippy D]

Might get some good deals from Souris river, during the pandemic a few outfitters dumped them due to their unorthodox views on the covid thing. I think they make a pretty good light weight boat, the Quetico 17 is a great large tripper for the area around here.

Haha, looked up their covid response, love it!

 

[oldnewbie]

Greyduck was mentioned. Those are squared away dudes. The ramrod knows his canoes! Redfeather still has prototypes for sale and new ones in the process!

 

[Keeled Over]

Just an FYI, but when ordering anything custom establish a delivery date up front. Now, this doesn't guarantee on time delivery - many legitimate things can go wrong that are not the manufacturers fault, but it does establish a written time-frame that can provide leverage. If they won't commit to a delivery date, modify your purchase plans if this is an issue for you.

I don't tend to F around in these situations. There is no excuse for this lack of communication. If you are being fed a line of BS and you have made reasonable, documented communication to obtain the information you need, call your state attorney general.

Regardless of this being a manufacturer or a dealer issue, somebody doesn't care. Sounds like the dealer. And please don't pay in full up front. I've done dozens of custom auto interiors for TV/print ads and have never asked for 100% upfront, unless it it was truly unusual with little or no chance of re-selling. In MANY cases there were issues with the projects, but open, consistent communication would go a long ways to navigating these issues.

 

[Woodpuppy]

I’ve purchased 2 new Northstar canoes in the last 3 years, and neither dealer would so much as take a deposit at time of order. Delivery estimate on the first one (picked up in November 2021) was on the money, second one (picked up December 2022) was a month “overdue” with just the one extension. The lack of deposit sort of worried me, but both dealers were gentlemen and I’m happy to have worked with both. I’m exceedingly pleased with the Polaris & Phoenix.

 

[Trippy D]

I’ve purchased 2 new Northstar canoes in the last 3 years, and neither dealer would so much as take a deposit at time of order. Delivery estimate on the first one (picked up in November 2021) was on the money, second one (picked up December 2022) was a month “overdue” with just the one extension. The lack of deposit sort of worried me, but both dealers were gentlemen and I’m happy to have worked with both. I’m exceedingly pleased with the Polaris & Phoenix.

Unfortunately my experience is contrary to yours and has continued to disappoint. My boat showed up and the fit and finish was sub par. The dealer didnt bother inspecting the canoe and im left having to figure out what to do.

 

[Trippy D]

So I finally received the boat, unfortunately in disappointing condition. The hull is riddled with pinholes deep into the fiber, the anodizing on the starboard gunnel is covered with water spotting or some sort of stain from poor anodizing. The lining hole grommets are glued over exposed fibers sticking out around them. Where one of my float tanks meets the hull was not glassed over all the way and there is raw fiber exposed. And one of the tanks has something rolling around in it.

For nearly 4k Im quite disappointed.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

So I finally received the boat, unfortunately in disappointing condition. The hull is riddled with pinholes deep into the fiber, the anodizing on the starboard gunnel is covered with water spotting or some sort of stain from poor anodizing. The lining hole grommets are glued over exposed fibers sticking out around them. Where one of my float tanks meets the hull was not glassed over all the way and there is raw fiber exposed. And one of the tanks has something rolling around in it.

For nearly 4k Im quite disappointed.

I'd be more than disappointed. I'd refuse to accept the boat and demand my money back. I wouldn't accept a "blem" boat unless that's what I contracted for. If the dealer/manufacturer didn't offer some really substantial blem discount after my demand, I'd continue to pursue the demand for a full refund, including the filing of a lawsuit (admittedly easy for me), and simply go elsewhere to buy another canoe.

This dealer deserves to be publicized and exposed. If he has another side the the story, he will be entitled to post it here.

 

[carpenter]

Curious to hear how this turns out.
I have had very good experiences dealing with Bear Paulson and the staff at Northstar as well.

 

[Trippy D]

The options presented to me have been by northstar have been left wanting, and the dealer, Minnesota Canoes, have been non existent. The boat left the factory in that condition, made it to the dealer, the dealer failed to inspect, and verbatim “just threw it on the trailer” without even removing the sock. When it was delivered I made note of the issues, he never made an attempt to say return the boat. He just said he would reach out to northstar.

 

[Trippy D]

I have zero experience in these types of situations and my posts here aren’t necessarily to put northstar on blast or Minnesota canoes, but to seek other’s opinions on how to navigate such a situation.

 

[M Clemens]

I just sold my year-old Trillium at $1000 less than I paid for it, and glad for it. It was hard to overlook some of the manufacturing defects that are inherent to the brand. I know many of you folks aren't Facebook fans, but there is a Bell/Northstar group in which there have been many quality issues raised by other folks. Maybe they are getting ready to sell the business to another ORC.......

 

[GeoBoy]

I just sold my year-old Trillium at $1000 less than I paid for it, and glad for it. It was hard to overlook some of the manufacturing defects that are inherent to the brand. I know many of you folks aren't Facebook fans, but there is a Bell/Northstar group in which there have been many quality issues raised by other folks. Maybe they are getting ready to sell the business to another ORC.......

I have a Trillium pack boat that is a very nice canoe and making statements like this is unfair to Ted, Bear and the crew at Northstar.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

there is a Bell/Northstar group in which there have been many quality issues raised by other folks. Maybe they are getting ready to sell the business to another ORC.......

Repeated quality issues, if they exist, could be indicative of financial problems—i.e., the company just pushes anything they can out the door in order to survive financially. On the other hand, it could be indicative of greed induced by high demand and success—i.e., the company just pushes anything out the door as fast as possible because they can get away with it and make a lot of money.

Again, I said "if" there are repeated quality issues.

 

[M Clemens]

I have a Trillium pack boat that is a very nice canoe and making statements like this is unfair to Ted, Bear and the crew at Northstar.

Don't worry, I promise, it will never happen again.