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Old 02-24-2015, 09:44 PM   #33
NTSCOUT
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City: Anacortes, WA
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
An incident I thought was rather odd occurred with acquaintences of ours who a few years ago ordered a new Nordic Tug 34. They had specified a Cummins engine. When they took delivery of the boat, they found it had a Volvo engine in it. I have no idea what transpired between the customer and the factory at this point, but in the end they accepted the boat with the Volvo engine.

Not knowing anything but the surface details, it surprised me that a manufacturer would agree to a customer-requested option and then deliver something else. I can see it if the product was a toaster and the buyer ordered a white one and got a silver one.

But with as large, complex, and expensive a product as a new cruising boat, I find it surprising that a manufacturer would not only do something other than what was specified by the customer and agreed to by the manuracturer, but not notify the customer that the change was-- or had to be-- made.

Our acqaintences are very happy with the boat and have so far taken it up the Inside Passage to SE Alaksa and spent one or more summers in the Broughtons. But the uannounced engine change on the part of the manufacturer seems to me to be a strange event in this case, although as I say, I don't know the manufacturer's side of the story.
That would really irritate me to the point I would walk on the boat or make them change it back to what was spec'ed in the build sheet. The problem with Nordic builds is that their payment schedule ensures that the boat is 100% paid for be the time it hits the water. In other words, the customary payment schedule at Nordic is progress payments equaling 100% of boat price paid by sea trial time. That puts all the risk on the buyer especially if, for some reason, the factory is shut down or changes hands or a fire or ...

Anyway, changing an engine without a signed change order is a big red flag.
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