Mad River has got to be joking.

Advice
#1

I just got my 3rd shipping date (6/18) for a Horizon 17RX that I ordered in February. There is no guarantee that it is even in production yet, as they seem to throw around shipping dates with wishful abandon. The rep said they couldn’t get enough Royalex. I don’t really care what the excuse is, you don’t make a customer wait that long for a canoe, and you don’t keep promising it will ship every month and after it doesn’t, wait until he complains to give him a lame excuse and yet another pie-in-the-sky ship date. I had my eye on another MR canoe (Borealis), but after this experience, I’m talking to Wennonah.

#2

Why not just go to an outfitter & buy…
the canoe you are looking for, then call and cancel the other one. When the rep asks why you are cancelling, tell him,



“Well, I figured with the royalex shortage I’de let you save mine for the next person. That way they could get their boat ‘ONTIME’!!”.



Paddle easy,



Coffee

#3

Mad River has gotten to be a joke
But in the days of yore they made some fantastic boats and you can still find them used if your lucky.

#4

I see
that the old (original)MR factory in Waitfield VT has reopened with a new name and many of the original people. I think they are calling it Vermont Canoe but I’m not sure. Maybe they will be more responsive.

#5

More
Tell us more, who are they? what boats?

#6

My outfitter is a Mad River Dealer and
he placed an order for 20 boats over two months ago and he is having the same problem. The “current” ETA is now late Sept. Great time to receive your boat order in???



I agree with Coffee (wow, did I say that?) Find an outfitter with the boat you want and blow the order off. Or, find the boat your looking for on the net and buy it and pay the shipping and chalk it up to “stupid tax” and don’t waste good water time waiting. Or, if you have already paid a deposit, go choke the $#!+ out of the dealer and get it back then revert to the above scenerios.



I do feel for ya. It is really frustrating!

Good Luck,

Jay

#7

Not just MRC
I don’t know if it is just MRC. I too put a deposit on a new boat in February and have been put off since the promised delivery date of April 1st. It was not a shortage of Royalex but problems with a particular mould.



Anyway, I started calling around the province last week looking for a replacement. Numerous calls later I found one in stock and pick it up on June 9. An Esquif Vertige X.

#8

The boat I want is rare
in this part of the country. Most people have to special order boats if its not an Explorer. With the predominence of good whitewater over flatwater, kayaks seem to be in better supply. I haven’t even seen a kevlar canoe. I haven’t decided whether to cancel the order. I’m going to call the dealer tommorrow to get some questions answered the rep couldn’t. Like, “is the boat even in production yet?” If I can’t get a straight answer tommorrow, I will be demanding a refund and trying to snag a Wehnonah canoe, even if it means driving 300 miles.

#9

sadly
Just an article I caught recently.It may have been in Paddler but I’m not positive.