Trexler's Marina

I bought a pontoon boat from Trexler’s and had been getting winter storage and service from them for 7 winters and 8 summers. Without warning I got a call from Scott on Labor Day weekend, and he informed me that he no longer wanted to store and service my boat. He said it was a transport safety issue because of the configuration of my boat, but if I had a trailer it would be fine. So I went to get a proper fitted trailer for it, only to find out, this time from Denise, that my toon was too big (like the other 35 toons stored there?) unwieldy (like the other 35 toons stored there?), they are trying to get away from shrink-wrapping boats (like the other 35 toons stored there?) and they are shorthanded (I believe this one may be true). So, I stared at her as she lied to me, and just smiled at her. I’m not dumb, I get the message. As a full-timer resident at the lake, I spoke to a few of my Moultonborough friends, who have been living here for a whole lot longer than I have. They told me that they had seen it before from Trexler’s (and 2 others). Apparently, they knock out lower-value customers to get higher-value ones when they are full. It’s a business decision based on two things. First, Scott likely made a number of $100,000 scores in new boat sales this summer, and the owners of course expect winter storage, and second, all I ever pay to them, other than winter storage fees, is an oil change every 2 years. Between the two, I am just not worth it to them. Too small a fish, it would seem, when so many whales are right in front of them. It’s even possible that they decided who would have to go much earlier than September. If that is so, waiting so long to tell me before the winter storage time is really a “low-rent” move, indeed. Thankfully, with the new trailer, my choices for boatyards went way up. I found a replacement, and unlike Trexler’s, most of the marinas have a much better reputation in how they treat their long-term customers. I was smart enough to check them out with my longer-term lake friends this time. I bring this up to stress to you that, (1) you should always solicit ideas from your full-time lake boat-owner friends before selecting a boatyard. It is small up here, and everyone knows everyone. You can easily get info on who the reputable and not reputable folks are. Most of the boatyard owners know that word-of-mouth is an important part of their sustainable business, but let’s face it, it’s boom times up here, so the allure of more and easy money is strong. (2) if you have your boat stored and serviced at Trexler’s, including the folks who just bought those $100,000 boats from them, you may become a long timer with them for years, but have minimal boat issues. I would warn you to be on the lookout for that Labor Day weekend call. You won’t know when your number comes up! In the end, it’s a business decision, and that trumps everything. No hard feelings, old chap!