UPDATE: The short answer appears to be Yes. Got an RMA number and heading to the St. Pete West Marine store…as soon as their website comes back up so I can look at the different replacement models again.
I’ve given West Marine a chance, that’s for sure. But this is getting old. Unfortunately, the West Marine Plus Plan warranty service has been outsourced to a company called The Amynta Group.
You can see the video, but here’s the deets:
June 19
[Bradford, via email] “Good morning! Please find attached the receipt for my Es97 MFD re: warranty claim….” yada yada
June 25
[Danielle R.] “Please send receipt of purchase of warranty.”
June 26
[Bradford] “Good morning, Danielle. Please see the attached.” [second receipt attached, including Plus Plan warranty]
July 3
[Myra M.] “Thanks for submitting this information, the request has been submitted. Your request number is C——-. Please allow 1-2 business days for processing.”
Aug 3
[Bradford] “Just following up on the progress on this…it’s been a month since I’ve heard anything. Thanks so much…”
Aug 12
[Bradford] “Following up again. Please let me know where we are on this…”
Aug 18
[To contact at my West Marine store] “I sent the requested follow-up documentation on June 26 and got…nothing since.”
Sept 3
“Hi Bradford, The guy I spoke with says they don’t show that filing. I asked him if you need to refile the request again. He said that would be best. If you want to talk to them their Phone is 1-800-927-6461.
Sept 8
[Bradford] “I get an error message at that number. You got another one? I have no idea how to re-file, other than to Reply to the email chain they’re not answering. I have both the receipts in this email chain already. Ideas? Gracias!”
Sept 9
“Try 1-866-927-3118”
Sept 10
Ten-minute call with rep at Amynta Group, who says the Plus Plan info for the es97 hadn’t been filed. She confers with a supervisor or coworker and assures me they have completed the “paperwork” on their end, and everything is good, that the info is under my case number C——- (the same case number I’ve had since July 3), and that I should hear something in 3-5 business days.
Oct 1
After hearing nothing, I waste 16 minutes on a call with a guy at Amynta, who tells me that he can’t look up the information under case number C——…and that the department that can look it up…wait for it!…doesn’t have an incoming phone number, and can only be reached via email. I didn’t have my receipts in front of me at the time–just the case number–so I’ll have to call back when I have some more “free time.”
Oct 9
I make three calls to Amynta, totalling over two hours…the vast majority of which is on hold.
- First call: Dropped
- Second call (25 minutes): I ask for a manager or supervisor. “Sergio” tells me that person is busy, but promises a call back from them at a specified time. (I’ll have to check
thetranscript. At any rate, we specified the time, and that it’s Eastern Time Zone.) - Third call (over an hour): I speak to “Daniel,” then “Andrew” (supposedly a supervisor)…then finally “Desmond,” who is the first native English speaker I’ve talked with during this whole process. He is rude at first, and says that my claim was “denied” in July.
“You’re the very first person who’s said anything like that,” I told him. “And also, that’s just wrong. I have a Plus Plan for this chartplotter, so either you’re honoring it or you’re not.”
Desmond finally assigns me a “Repair number” and promises a response within 1-2 business days, and that I’ll be “in the loop” on email.
The Tweeting
I had about zero confidence that anything would happen from Amynta, and was frustrated as hell after spending another couple of hours with nothing but promises to show for it…so I tweeted at Westmarine and the Amynta Group on Twitter.
Someone from West Marine did respond and ask me to Direct Message them.
Which I did. Last Friday. A week ago.
Oh, we’ve traded direct messages and I’ve provided some of the same information I’ve been providing Amynta for three months now…
But so far, the actual results are: Nada. Zip. Zero. Bupkis. UPDATE: Got a call from Matt at West Marine’s Plus Plan department, and I have a return authorization number…which will hopefully work.
I’ll keep you posted.
I am going through the exact same thing. Chart plotter extended warranty. I have been trying for 2 weeks to get it resolved and I get the same responses. First call: “OK we filed the claim sir and you will hear back in 1-2 business days”. 3 business days later I called and after on hold for 25 minutes was told ” We are processing sir and you will hear back in 1-2 business days”. Again I hear nothing and called back and they told me “you need to email the receipt, model number, phone number, and serial number”. Irritated I say you could have told me that one week ago, but OK. So I emailed the information 5 days ago. I have been calling all throughout the week and every time they ask me to repeat all of my info and then I sit on hold for 20-30 minutes until they tell me the same message “we are processing and will call you back in 1-2 business days”. I still have no resolution and the warranty period is up next month. Very obvious the tactic here and West Marine should shop for a new warranty service before they lose loyal customers like myself. I am documenting everything and will see if I can get in touch with a senior level person at West Marine so they are aware and do something about it.
Ugh! Man, I am sorry to hear you’re going through the same thing… So I *did* finally get someone at West Marine, and we finally got it done.
I will have to admit some minor culpability on my part—kind of. It turns out that I had to return my previous plotter due to it having the wrong connectors…and when they got me set up with the correct model, we should have executed a new Plus Plan (and refunded the old one, I guess)…and I should have registered it ASAP. Not that I knew that!!!
All that said, after much bitching I *did* finally get someone actually at West Marine to step in and make something happen… But The Amynta Group (the third party administering the Plus Plan, as of when this happened) was Just. Freakin. Abysmal.