Hobie kayak dealer issues?! Anyone?!

So I bought a used kayak from a nice guy, got it home, tried it, there is water in it.
Told myself, maybe it came up over the bow or something. Took it out again, making sure to watch that no water came up on the deck at all, still getting water inside.
Contacted the seller, he told me it is less than 2 years old, it is still under warranty. Over the past 3 weeks he has been attempting to contact the dealer via telephone and email, not getting any response. He gave me the names of the dealer and the guy who sold it to him incase I have to talk trash about them.
The seller finally got to his other house and emailed me the receipt he had in his safe, cool. Still has not heard from the dealer on the matter.
I had contacted MY local hobie dealer about the matter and they told me I needed the receipt, which is what the above was about. Seller was away from his home, wanted to get me the receipt from his dealer to speed up the process. Got nothing.

Now it's 3 weeks later, I got the original receipt, and I am attempting to contact BOTH of my local dealers. I have not gotten a reply via email for the last 2 days.
Finally got through via telephone and talked to an employee who said he, or someone else would call me back in 15 minutes when they gathered the info I sent via email.
That was 3 hours ago.

I'm curious if anyone else has had any issues like this from a hobie dealer in regards to getting a warranty claim made/handled?
I'm starting to get the impression that, if people aren't actually BUYING something, they don't get the best of service.

Luckily I found the leak was coming from the scupper holes and put some sealant around them so I can get out and use this thing! It's weird that hobie sells a, scupper wheel cart.(that's what the original owner had for it, I didn't want to pay him for it since I've heard a lot of stories about those type of carts damaging kayaks, which it seems has already happened to his/mine now)
I've been dying to get a hobie for years, but I'm starting to dislike the people who actually sell them.
Should I expect to not get a response from them until the 2 year warranty is gone, then be totally out of luck, or what?

Understand that they are all small businesses and the season is ramping up. They sell a lot of different products... not just Hobie. While we would like all of them to service every Hobie customer in a professional manor... sometimes they have other things going on.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

If it was me, I would be demanding my money back from the private party you purchased the kayak from. How can they sell you a cracked kayak?
It should be they that should be contacting their dealer to rectify the problem. I would walk away from that deal if you can. Hobie doesn't always warrrent defects caused by human error, such as scupper cart damage.
Hobies service is exceptional once the dealer is in motion.

_________________
Mark
Tandem Island- 2013
2 - Sports - 2014

No I understand that, it's just bothering me because when I originally sent an email to my local dealer about the issue I got a reply within a few hours telling me I need a receipt for the original purchase. Now that I have that, I'm not getting anything.

And the deal has already been done. Seller claims he never had a leak, which I find hard to believe, and I let him know I am really upset about it, but the kayak is already mine. He offered to take care of the issue since it's still under warranty, it's just hard because of the distance. Plus, when I talked to my local dealer he told me it would be no problem because the warranty is transferable.
Surprised the hell out of me because the kayak looks brand new, barely any scratches on the bottom at all, looks cherry. The scuppers have some marks from the wheel cart, but I can't say they are excessive. But obviously the cart had to have done the damage. After I put sealant, no leaks.

Which is cool by me, I've solved my share of kayak mod issues over the last 5 years of kayaking, but since it's still under warranty, why not get it fixed from the maker right?

I think the dealer issue is mainly with the original buyer. He contacted them several weeks ago with the hull number, and followed up with them twice and has not gotten a response.
This is what I'm told, and I have no reason not to believe him.

At least my local dealer told me, no matter how much water I get in it, it won't sink. That made me feel good.
I would just think dealers would want to get an issue like this worked on asap. I know when I worked for Apple years ago, anyone with an issue would get taken care of like you wouldn't believe.

Hobies warranty is pretty good and they typically show quite a bit of leighway when it comes to leaks especially around the mirage wells. However their warranty covers defects in workmanship. This doesn't mean if you accidentally roll over the kayak in the driveway they are going to fix it (an extreme example). Someone installing a scupper cart improperly and damaging the kayak may be a grey line, might be covered might not be covered, it's just not Hobies fault if someone installs their cart incorrectly (this actually happened to us).

There is a simple fix that worked out really well for us. If you go to Lowes and get some I think 1" PVC tubing, not the class 40 stuff, but another class with a thinner wall thickness ( I found mine a Lowes). The correct size fits into the scupper hole, and also fits over the 1" OD scupper cart legs (the stuff we found was white). What I did was cut the PVC to the right length (around 6 inches on my boat) then slopped some silicone around it then jammed it into the scupper hole up from the bottom. If there is some mis-match in the scupper hole up near the top on the kayak you may need to knife some material away to get the tube in. This permanently re-enforces the scupper hole so you literally can't do anything to damage it once the fix is done. Actually Hobie does this same fix at the factory on some of their heavier kayaks like the Tandem Island, and several other models (they use a black tubing).
Once I figured this out now days I automatically install those tubes on any hobie I buy before I ever use the boat even if it doesn't leak, (saves a lot of grief later).
We damaged ours when we were lowering the kayak off the roof with the scupper cart partially installed. When it hit the ground the top of the scupper cart leg poked thru the side wall of the scupper hole (this was not covered under warranty since we damaged it).
I'm just sayin don't be too suprised if the warrantly claim is denied. (ours was denied because we damaged it (not Hobies fault)).
This is a pretty common problem on all kayaks that use scupper carts, not just Hobies.
Hope this helps
FE

Thank you for that fix fusion. Sounds like something I may have to try.

So was the dealer that I talked to incorrect when he said the warranty is transferable?
Just got a call back, and they said the original owner has to file the claim, and that the warranty is not transferable.
Seems like I'm getting a lot of misinformation from the various people I am talking to.

Yes, warranty is transferable. There can be a bit less coverage offered to the second owner.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank you Matt. I think I just need to go talk to these people in person and maybe record the convo, I seem to be getting nothing but excuses when I'm really looking for solutions.

Curious, are those rubber tubes in the scupper holes removable?
I need to get some photos of either cracks, or water coming out.
If I can take those rubber inserts out, maybe there are visible cracks.
Thanks

Try soapy water and air pressure in the hull. Bubbles would be most visible for photos. You can tape off the top and partially the bottom to reduce the diameter for easier bubble making. A shop vacuum exhaust directed into the drain plug hole.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Did you resolve this?

_________________
Duncan

I am waiting on a response from the dealer, I'm assuming they submitted the claim to hobie and are waiting on a response from them????

I am going to call tomorrow to follow up.

Did find the actual crack, put some sealant on it, took the yak to flamingo yesterday, still leaking. So it seems there is more to it than the visible crack in the scupper holes.