Minn Kota rant

[marlattrr]

Ive always liked Minn Kota and used their motors. I think that time is over for me now. I bought a brand new powerdrive 70 with ipilot March 10th.
I took it out on the water 3 times. On the third time the steering stopped working. The motor prop would drive forward and reverse with no problems but it would not steer with the remote or with my iphone app. I was on an electric motor only lake and it was windy and i barely got it back to the shore before slamming into the rock wall dam. I held the motor manually while driving in order to steer my way out of trouble.

I called Minn Kota from the side of the shore and got ahold of tech support. He seemed annoyed that I called and argued with me about he couldnt help me any further until i did a load test on my battery. My battery is brand new and fully charged. I asked how the prop would drive forward and backwards full speed but not steer and it would be the battery. He just seemed more annoyed. So he referred me to a service center for a warranty claim.

Being within 30 days of purchase I thought of just returning it( to Amazon) but i really wanted this to work as I liked the ipilot.

Took it to the service center and i was bummed out he wouldn’t be able to look at it for another week because busiest time of year. So id have no trolling motor for the best fishing time of the year in PA. That sucks.

3 weeks go by and i dont hear from the service center. I call and he says he couldnt find a problem with it and i should pick it up. I told him id come get it. Later that day before i leave to get it he calls me and says now the remote wont connect at all and another remote also wont pair with my motor. He says he thinks the head is bad but they they usually stock these so I should have it back by end of week.

The parts never showed up Friday and he says he should have it Monday. He calls me Wednesday and tells me its ready to be picked up. I show up and he says he got it to connect after going through the connection and he said the head will probably be out of stock for a long time so I should try it and bring it back if it doesn’t work.

On the way home i decide at this point i just want my money back. I call Amazon and they said i have to get my money back from Minn Kota at this point. I call Minn kota and I get a lady on the phone and i tell her whats going on. She is short with me and says the tech has no idea how long the lead will be in the part. Obviously she doesn’t want to refund me. She blames China, etc for part shortages. She tells me I have to get my money back from Amazon. I told her that they said I have to get it from Minn Kota and she actually says “figures they wont stand behind their product”. I said. “Its YOUR product” Then she also tries to get me to load test the battery. I explained that the problem happened with a complete set of different batteries with their service tech.

She wont refund my money but tomorrow they are supposed to call me back and offer some sort of solution. Im exhausted at this point. Should of bought a Lowrance or a Garmin.

To add insult to injury I like Minn Kota so much i bought a transom mount endura to use until this sorts out. Should take that back too. :|

 

[MrGiggles]

Sounds frustrating. I've had a handful of Minnkotas and found them to be very durable and long lasting. Plus they still support their older models.

Unfortunately these weird shortages have screwed a lot of things up. That's not Minnkota's fault, but that's no excuse for rude customer service.

I haven't been able to get any welding gas for the last month. Before that it was grease. And crackers. If a fabrication company can't get shielding gas to make their parts, the buyer of those parts needs to push back their products, and it just dominoes on down the line.

I've heard that the Garmins are having their fair share of issues too. Haven't heard much about Lowrance though.

 

[LDUBS]

That is a sad experience to be sure. I hope it all works out for the best.

It is incredible they advised you to not try and bring it back if it doesn't work a second time. If their product doesn't work what do they expect people to do?

I agree with MrGiggles that the parts issue might not be Minn Kota's fault. At the same time, they shouldn't keep your money for a product that isn't working.

You might want to communicate your experience with more senior management at Min Kota. Worse that will happen is "nothing" which is basically where you are now.

 

[Jim]

Ugh! Frustrating!

 

[marlattrr]

That is a sad experience to be sure. I hope it all works out for the best.

It is incredible they advised you to not try and bring it back if it doesn't work a second time. If their product doesn't work what do they expect people to do?

I agree with MrGiggles that the parts issue might not be Minn Kota's fault. At the same time, they shouldn't keep your money for a product that isn't working.

You might want to communicate your experience with more senior management at Min Kota. Worse that will happen is "nothing" which is basically where you are now.

To clarify the tech told me i should bring it back if it didnt work again. However its a huge pain in the ass to bolt this to my boat and unboat and I usually only fish electric only lakes so basically I had to buy another trolling motor as a backup because this is so unreliable. I have a feeling its going to happen again.

Minn Kota customer service and tech support is terrible. I politely asked for my money back and I got attitude from the other line. I even kept my composure which is rare for me! :lol:

 

[LDUBS]

That is a sad experience to be sure. I hope it all works out for the best.

It is incredible they advised you to not try and bring it back if it doesn't work a second time. If their product doesn't work what do they expect people to do?

I agree with MrGiggles that the parts issue might not be Minn Kota's fault. At the same time, they shouldn't keep your money for a product that isn't working.

You might want to communicate your experience with more senior management at Min Kota. Worse that will happen is "nothing" which is basically where you are now.

To clarify the tech told me i should bring it back if it didnt work again. However its a huge pain in the ass to bolt this to my boat and unboat and I usually only fish electric only lakes so basically I had to buy another trolling motor as a backup because this is so unreliable. I have a feeling its going to happen again.

Minn Kota customer service and tech support is terrible. I politely asked for my money back and I got attitude from the other line. I even kept my composure which is rare for me! :lol:

Yikes! My reading comprehension was a little off. Sorry about that.

Yeah, I understand the frustration. I hope it works out for the best.

 

[marlattrr]

They called me back today and wont give my refund. Dont have the parts to fix my motor and in their words I dont deserve a refund because it only failed once.

She told me to get refund through amazon and again blamed amazon for being “notorious for this.”

I explained to her I understand their situation with parts etc but its really not my fault. I expected that by buying a $2000 trolling motor with a warranty I would not have any problems on the third use. She felt like I was asking for too much. I said that respectfully i have a whole unit thats barely used right here they can have back for parts or to resell if they just return my money. She wasnt aligned with that. So im pretty confident the issue will return and Ill be stuck on a fishing trip with a bad motor and ill have to go through this all again.

Last time ill ever buy Minn Kota.

 

[MN Fisher]

They called me back today and wont give my refund. Dont have the parts to fix my motor and in their words I dont deserve a refund because it only failed once.

She told me to get refund through amazon and again blamed amazon for being “notorious for this.”

I explained to her I understand their situation with parts etc but its really not my fault. I expected that by buying a $2000 trolling motor with a warranty I would not have any problems on the third use. She felt like I was asking for too much. I said that respectfully i have a whole unit thats barely used right here they can have back for parts or to resell if they just return my money. She wasnt aligned with that. So im pretty confident the issue will return and Ill be stuck on a fishing trip with a bad motor and ill have to go through this all again.

Last time ill ever buy Minn Kota.

I'd take it up with the BBB - contrary to 'popular' opinion, they really can help.

 

[LDUBS]

They called me back today and wont give my refund. Dont have the parts to fix my motor and in their words I dont deserve a refund because it only failed once.

She told me to get refund through amazon and again blamed amazon for being “notorious for this.”

I explained to her I understand their situation with parts etc but its really not my fault. I expected that by buying a $2000 trolling motor with a warranty I would not have any problems on the third use. She felt like I was asking for too much. I said that respectfully i have a whole unit thats barely used right here they can have back for parts or to resell if they just return my money. She wasnt aligned with that. So im pretty confident the issue will return and Ill be stuck on a fishing trip with a bad motor and ill have to go through this all again.

Last time ill ever buy Minn Kota.

I'd take it up with the BBB - contrary to 'popular' opinion, they really can help.

Additionally, you may want to consider sharing the issue on Minn Kota's Facebook page. Don't make it a rant. Just a recap of the problem and ask for help. Don't know if it is true, but I hear FB posts get some attention.

 

[KMixson]

You could call your local TV station and see if they can get you to tell your problem with Minn Kota's customer service and warranty department. Companies that see their item on TV really take notice of the problem and seem to be more willing to rectify the problem. All it may take is a phone call from the TV station to Minn Kota and they may honor their warranty rather than having their item bad-mouthed on TV.

 

[Jim]

I won’t be buying Minn Kota, this sealed the deal.

 

[marlattrr]

I told them that since they thought it was not fair for them to have to refund my money it would be fair for me to share this story on social media. Her tune then changed and she then said she would "go to bat for me" and would call back. She seriously acted like its outrageous that im not satisfied with their broken product and I want my money back in exchange for their barely used product that they "stand behind".

She called back and left a message that she forgot to write down my serial number and name after I've already given all this info and spent over an hour on the phone trying to resolve this over 2 days. :x

Still playing phone tag. At this point im ready to give up.

 

[Macintosh]

Totally sucks, sorry to read this.

I have owned MK and humminbird products for many years, actually becasue in the past their customer service was INCREDIBLY good. Through a pile of trolling motors, chargers and sonars I've had a handful of issues including a couple warranty claims or "problems" that needed sorting out. I figure everyone has an issue once in a while but its how you deal with it afterward that defines my impression of a company that's good to work with. In 100% of the cases I had they went above and beyond to make it right, and I became a loyal customer. Fast forward to this spring, I had a question on a charger I already own and contacted them to clarify, and had a really difficult time getting ahold of anyone, and when I finally did it was 3 weeks later and the communication was pretty bad. So clearly something has changed. I'm fairly heavily invested in MK and HB at this point, so here's hoping this is temporary. [-o<

 

[JNG]

Oh boy.....

I've owned both MK (MinnKota) and MG (MotorGuide) for decades now. Minimal issues out of either brand. That said, the MK's I own are older. When I was outfitting my 1542 a few years ago I shopped both MK and MG. I did not like what I saw with the newer MK's or what I was hearing on forums with issues that MK should not be having. I went with MG on the 1542. Now mind you I fish mostly electric only lakes. And have done so for a loooooonnnnnng time. I use the heck out of electric tm's. I've actually worn electric tm's out and had to send them off to be rebuilt. I kinda have an idea as to what works and what does not. For the time being I will not be purchasing any MK tm's.

As for your customer service issues, well that's the way things are now a days. Nobody gives a tinkers darn in customer service. Quite frankly no one gives a tinkers darn in manufacturing either. Or the service industry. It's wrong. It's bad. It's not right at all. But no one cares at all at these companies. I have a feeling if you called MG with a similar complaint you would get a similar response. Really.

For what it's worth, on my 1542 I have a similar bow mount MG tm. It has been flawless in it's operation. If you can't get satisfaction from MK, you might consider the MG.

 

[airshot]

Sometimes it doesnt pay to buy thru Amazon just to get the best price!!! Anytime I make a bigger purchase I use my credit card, I carry a cap one card that assures my purchase!! I have had issues that carried on for over 6 months but still was issued a full refund thru the cc company. Buying anything over the internet is a gamble today, but buying without a good cc is even worse!! Over many years, I have dealt with scammers, bad products, false warrant claims, the folks at Ebay and Amazon not standing behind there claims etc....but never lost a single penny because my cc always issued a full refund if I was not satisfied with my purchase. In todays market... " buyer beware" protect yourself with a good cc !!

 

[poorthang]

have you considered skipping the certified, approved, oem, factory trained, gold tech, etc: and take it to a real mechanic? in this world today, where everyone gets a participation trophy and cannot be fired, there are still Americans that have the intelligence and abilities to make a customer happy.

 

[LDUBS]

have you considered skipping the certified, approved, oem, factory trained, gold tech, etc: and take it to a real mechanic? in this world today, where everyone gets a participation trophy and cannot be fired, there are still Americans that have the intelligence and abilities to make a customer happy.

Not following. Minn Kota isn't going to pay for warranty work done by some third party.

 

[LDUBS]

Sometimes it doesnt pay to buy thru Amazon just to get the best price!!! Anytime I make a bigger purchase I use my credit card, I carry a cap one card that assures my purchase!! I have had issues that carried on for over 6 months but still was issued a full refund thru the cc company. Buying anything over the internet is a gamble today, but buying without a good cc is even worse!! Over many years, I have dealt with scammers, bad products, false warrant claims, the folks at Ebay and Amazon not standing behind there claims etc....but never lost a single penny because my cc always issued a full refund if I was not satisfied with my purchase. In todays market... " buyer beware" protect yourself with a good cc !!

I agree we get a heck of a lot of protection through our credit cards. However, I don't see how buying a Minn Kota PowerDrive through Amazon vs somewhere else is the issue. Amazon has a pretty liberal return policy, which the OP says they elected not to use.

 

[poorthang]

have you considered skipping the certified, approved, oem, factory trained, gold tech, etc: and take it to a real mechanic? in this world today, where everyone gets a participation trophy and cannot be fired, there are still Americans that have the intelligence and abilities to make a customer happy.

Not following. Minn Kota isn't going to pay for warranty work done by some third party.

they will, if you get an attourney and a real mechanic proves incompetence, and there is a non disclosure guarantying you wont tell they sucked. this aproach is going to be more and more necesary as time goes on and the woke idiots populate corporate USA. nothing like waiting 2 hours on hold to talk to antifa about a warranty issue

 

[Hunt2871]

Minn Kota is going to keep on until they lose the entirety of their customer base. I have a new Terrova and luckily it has worked flawlessly for a year now BUT I know a BUNCH of people who have had BAD issues with minn kota products across the spectrum of products they sell. I have wanted an Ulterra for YEARs but finally settled on the Terrova after reading for years about the problems with the Ulterra. Now everything is blamed on supply chain issues and COVID but in reality it is just poor management period....if your business model depends on chips and those chips are only made in a couple of locations you have what amounts to a single point of failure and that is a bad management decision by any definition. I get it that no one wants to go to the trouble of sourcing things when they are accustomed to vendors begging them to buy from them but that is the new reality in the world of manufacturing and providing services....and the businesses that fail to adopt will wind up like all entities which are slow to adopt and that is relegated to the history books.


Minn Kota had, at one time, a waiting list of almost a year for a new Ulterra of any size. That is absolutely ridiculous. You coudn't buy one at any price....I tried.....I offered Minn Kota double suggested retail. They would not sell me one. That is not a supply chain issue...they were selling them, they just were not selling them for what they were worth at the time. They had SOME to sell, they just insisted that the what stock they did have sold for exactly the same price as what they did when they were plentiful. That is simply refusing to accept a fundamental economic law....if supply drops and demand remains the same or increases prices MUST increase. I just went through the same thing with Garmin and the LVS34 transducer. Nearly 6 months. They had them, they were just selling them for less than they were worth....a lot less. That is just really bad management disguised as a supply chain issue which is based in nothing more than pure laziness. If I were selling transducers I would sell them to the highest bidder first.....but I would be in business to make money, not make friends or whatever it is they think they are doing. Smart companies are going to clean their clocks....