Dakota Marine & Motorsport

Thank you for winterizing our jet ski. Turn around was fast and service was great.

One year ago, and 9 days, we spent over $2500 with Dakota Marine. The majority of the bill was for the replacement of the tilt/trim motor on our boat. I told them I was selling the boat to my son and wanted it done. My son took the boat out a total of 4 times this year. His last trip was to Canada which took place the last 2 weeks of August. While up there the trim motor started failing again. He took it into Dakota marine literally 9 days beyond the one year mark. They just told him his year was up so he would have to pay for a new motor plus labor. No coverage. Additionally, they told my son it was a USED motor which was never disclosed when I had it replaced last year. Communication is everything, the timing of everything is unfortunate, but not one attempt to make some sort of effort to back their work. Additionally, it would have been nice to know we were being charged full retail for a used part. Bush league to say the least. I would go elsewhere where they are more honest with what they are doing. We will be going elsewhere. Response to Dakota Marine..... We were NEVER told used, and obviously not refurbished parts, were being installed. We never would have agreed to a $2k charge for a junkyard part. If you read the response by the owner "they recalled discussing" which never happened. What's in writing is all that matters. Both parties can recall whatever the want. He also mentioned "we were trying to get you back on the water quick" which makes no sense as the boat was originally brought in at the end of the season. We wanted it fixed properly as we were selling it and wanted it to work for the new owner. After paying for it the paperwork didn't disclose anything about used or refurbished parts. Turns out we got a part that was laying on the floor after being removed from another boat that was clearly having the same problems. The owner finally agreed to send the junk part in to be refurbished on his dime, and we agreed to pay for the install. We are not trying to get "freebies", but we also know that Dakota Marine has an obligation to "make things right" when they charged for a new part, installed a used part laying around, and it failed right away. Our suggestion would be to refurbish used parts so they actually work, and to let your customer's know by informing them and disclosing it on all paperwork. CYA. The boat was brought in less than a week after the one year mark because the owner was in Canada. Also, the owner of Dakota marine told the owner of the boat that the one year mark had passed so there was no coverage. He said nothing about the fact that the part he installed was used and there's no coverage on used parts which was the theme of his Google reponse. The bottom line is he is doing the right thing, which is what he should have done from the get go. A customer shouldn't have to "raise hell" to get the proper response. Once the part is refurbished and installed, and he charges us accordingly, we will update our review to reflect his efforts. He tried to pull a fast one and got caught. If he makes it right we will improve the score. However, we will not be returning to their shop. We have used them for boats, and snowmobiles in the past and now question any, if not all, previous repairs. They are good people, but not being thorough is all it takes to create doubt. We won't come back because we were deceived, and that is no reason for anyone else who has had positive experience(s) with them to stop using them. Again, we will update our score once they follow through on what was originally promised.

The team at Dakota Marine was outstanding. They were very friendly and accommodating getting our boat in for a needed repair with very little notice in the busy summer months. They definitely exceeded our expectations and we will use them again in the future. Thanks for saving our vacation!

i picked up my boat from storage this spring and noticed the cranking battery was missing once i returned home. Despite being a repeat customer, Mark, the owner, refused to accept any responsibility for the missing battery saying inane things such as "thieves are too lazy around here to steal boat batteries." Strangely, the battery connectors were still zip-tied together from disconnecting the battery during winterization. A disconnected battery certainly makes it easier for all the lazy thieves around there. Ha! Needless to say i will be storing my boat elsewhere this year.

The team at Dakota Marine are some of the best techs around. They took great care of my yamaha 150 for many years as well as my new ProXS. Great communication from the office, great service work in the shop. A top notch, family owned, local company. I would reccomend Dakota Marine for any service or repairs.