Wow! What was Mastercraft thinking??

[SNMike]

Just a hunch, but i'd bet that MC official would be in favor of the "Fairness Doctrine".

[Nautiquehunter]

I would bet that most people who bought an MC boat were going to do so despite the CR program. That was icing, and I also bet a large number of people signed on not fully expecting to be able to fulfill the commitments. I know I have bought things with rebates and forgotten to claim my rebate. I don't think you can make a strong argument that the program actually swayed more people to buy an MC rather than X-brand that they were going to buy. 5 years is a long time to wait for cash if you were really worried about the price difference to begin with.

I also agree that MC should not be suprised at the amount of heat they are taking. They did openly promote this plan and market it at boats shows, etc. PT Barnum said it best, there's a sucker born every minute. I have spent a lot of time in X boats...but I would not say they were any nicer than any other I have been in for the premium.

I would agree with the icing on the cake theory if it was a chance to receive a rebate after 3 years. IMO they went wrong when they charged the buyer[$750 per $5000 reward] to get in the program. They wanted $3500 extra for a $25000 reward with the 25000 off the boat was a good deal but without it it was a ripoff. Now that the program is bust they have in effect ripped off the very customers they are counting on for future sales.

[cotton]

This is how it works. CR numbers crunchers look at the following:

1. Take $10,000
2. Discount it by X% of people who CR expects will forget about the rebate (let's say down to $8,000)
3. Discount it by Y% of the people who CR expects will not follow the instructions to the letter (huge number based on the nearly impossible instructions devised by CR, let's say down to $3,000)
4. The mail is not perfect, so discount for "lost" mail, (let's say down to $2,000)
5. Charge MC $2,000 and the dealer $2,000 and expect to make 100% profit, spend the money quickly, and if it turns out the assumptions are wrong, declare bankruptcy from a tropical island while sipping drinks with little umbrellas!

Exactly! Our former local Honda ATV dealer got hooked up with Cash Rewards and sold a lot of units this way. Statistically, about 75% of rebates, gift certificates, etc. never get redeemed; but most aren't in the thousands of dollars.

People were paying about 12% more per unit but would get a Cash Rewards certificate for over 3 times this amount, redeemable in 3 years. This program actually caused me to put off buying a new ATV until they finally sold all of the suckers they could and discontinued the program. My friends who took the bait got their notice of bankruptcy right around redemption time; end of story.

The local Honda dealer had been there as long as I can remember and went out of business shortly thereafter. Unfortunately there's a new sucker born everyday.

[cotton]

Exactly! Our former local Honda ATV dealer got hooked up with Cash Rewards and sold a lot of units this way. Statistically, about 75% of rebates, gift certificates, etc. never get redeemed; but most aren't in the thousands of dollars.

People were paying about 12% more per unit but would get a Cash Rewards certificate for over 3 times this amount, redeemable in 3 years. This program actually caused me to put off buying a new ATV until they finally sold all of the suckers they could and discontinued the program. My friends who took the bait got their notice of bankruptcy right around redemption time; end of story.

The local Honda dealer had been there as long as I can remember and went out of business shortly thereafter. Unfortunately there's a new sucker born everyday.

If "Cash Rewards" is still claiming that folks who follow proper procedure will be paid, our local Honda ATV dealer must have been with a different voucher company.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/jack...TKO11ATRT28603

[CradGen2]

This thread has been bothering me.

I'm not sure how MC can say they had nothing to do with this company. I assume this email is about Cash Rewards we are talking about here. As you can see I received this email directly from MC.

[Paublo]

One year ago I was looking to upgrade my current ride and looked long and hard at a brand new fully loaded left over '07 Xstar. It was $75k OTD and CR would give me $25k back in three years. I liked the boat but the gut said the CR would fold before I got my money or they would find a way to shaft me. Instead I started woking with my dealer on a deal for my favorite, a new '09 SAN 210 ordered exactly like I wanted. I paid less than I would have for the 2 year old MC and am happier with my boat.

For me it boiled down to the idea that you don't get something for nothing. Either I was going to get screwed or someone else would get screwed for me to get paid, and I couldn't live with that. Companies (Corporations) that hose over customers like that will pay the price over time, companies that do business like CC will be rewarded by loyal customers.

[X-Hull]

For those of us who foolishly got suckered into this "program" (or anyone you know who participated) - I'm looking at getting a group together (strength in numbers) to get this problem rectified. My attorney is convinced we'll have a much greater impact as a group rather than several one-man battles. I've talked to MC direct about this more than once and their response, believe ot or not, is very similar to the one above. They're offical response is - "yeah isn't that terrible what that guy did to you. Just wait and see what happens to him in court and maybe you'll get lucky." How a company has lasted as long as they have with this kind of PR stupidity is a mystery... perhaps their days are numbered!

If your'e interested - conact me at s.hull2000@gmail.com.

[Nautiquehunter]

It seems they have gotton away with it . I dont read or hear anything about CR anymore. The whole program has been swept under the rug and forgot about. Sorry for all that got screwed. I hope you remember when its time to upgrade. Best move I ever made was buying the 210 insted of the x15 in 2008.

[R.Savage]

Not good for MC at all. If you go to wakeworld.com there is a thread about the X-Star and the delay of the new hull. It also goes on to bash about all of the problems with the towers and guages. Makes me glad I am a push button start 210 owner. I went for a test ride in an X-Star that was owned by a local MC dealer, it was his families own personal anniversary addition 8.1 ltr. It broke down and went into limp mode during the test run, I was blown away.

[shag]

I like the irony of the last sentence in paragraph 2 where they say, "pitchforks and torches".... Don't they mean 'pickleforks'? IMO the ugliest design (and dangerous) ever. IMO

[jmo]

I'm not sure how MC can say they had nothing to do with this company. I assume this email is about Cash Rewards we are talking about here. As you can see I received this email directly from MC.

thats pretty compelling evidence that MC gave the customers the impression they are supporting the program. I'm not a lawyer, but i got to think MC owners have a case against MC on this.

What i want to know is were MC executives incompentent in not realizing this was a ponzi acheme or did they know and not care?

[obd666]

d@@@@@mn !!! ... is my first time through this thread, and am just in disbelief they did this. makes me dislike MC even more than i did already

[Erik]

Ok, am I the only one that wants to point out that the person who wrote the bit ***above*** the official statement, is just a forum moderator letting off some steam? And clearly not a 100% MasterCraft spokesperson? Employee or not, they are surely letting off steam in a hugely self-destructive way with that screed... but if what he's saying is just a tiny tiny bit true, he had to have been going bananas watching the discussions about that program disintegrate - especially with the 'I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy' super duper pig pile effect that message board can be absolutely effing maddening. Some of you know, that I know, that forum moderating can be infuriating. Largely thankless too. So to that end, yes we do owe Jeff a thanks - he deals with conflict when it arises quite well.

But based on the 'holy **** let's get them' responses here and elsewhere, and the fact that this thread, from another message board, is being discussed on this message board and others, the fact that the first statement is NOT a MasterCraft spokesperson gets totally lost amongst all the bitching.

In any case MasterCraft seems to be unable to get out of their own way right now. Piles of complaints about the hydraulic tower... basically substantiated rumors that the new X-Star was failing tests at MC HQ, and unpopular with some of the riders. Bad stuff.

The whole thing seems shady, but I know absolutely nothing about it. A

[Erik]

ehhhh... **** 10 min timeout...

Just wanted to clarify that it IS astonishing that the moderator showed so little self control with the big statement at the top and the 'now go do something more productive' thing at the bottom, which was not part of the official statement from MC.

After reading it a few more times, it's clear that the moderator is an MC employee. And an employee that didn't help the situation - no matter what his level of frustration with the board is.

Speaking FOR MasterCraft... not one of that person's strengths.

[TRBenj]

After reading it a few more times, it's clear that the moderator is an MC employee. And an employee that didn't help the situation - no matter what his level of frustration with the board is.

Speaking FOR MasterCraft... not one of that person's strengths.

I remember that thread when it was active. If I recall correctly, the original poster was the "TT Admin", meaning they were the MC employee responsible for the Teamtalk message board. He's as close to an official spokesman as theyve got.

Pretty crazy.