THRUST INNOVATIONS HORROR

[buckward]

Purchased a 14k jet ski from these guys and it arrived to me in horrible condition...paint peeling in engine bay, cracked bottom of hull with ultimately a piece of bottom of jet ski fell off 20 minutes after riding...owner was full of excuses and promises that he would not deliver on....he offered to have a guy drive up and fix it in my yard but told me it would not look new, owner also offered refund which required me to pack, crate, and ship back all on my own which is a major undertaking so then he offered a replacement hull which I gladly accepted...he then kept telling me it was not ready with one excuse after the next...at estimated delivery time of 5 weeks turned into 9 and ultimately would have been longer...when I sent him a nasty email he then told me he wasn't sending replacement hull as he had done so much for me up to this point and could not make me happy...(mind you besides broken promises, I had still received nothing from him so of course I was unhappy!!!) After spending 4000 on ski for repairs with less than a tank of gas ran through it, he now wants me to send it back to him for refund..of course after its fixed! ultimately a 14k ski ending up costing me 18k and a ton of labor and frustrations...they might do OK selling parts but THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE SELLING WHOLE JET SKI BUSINESS..Oh and bye the way he accused me of extortion because I had hull fixed as I grew tired of waiting on his broken promises and said I shouldnt have seen the cracks under ski...HELLLO...BACK FLIP ATTEMPT..this is why i bought ski!!

 

[buckward]

Follow up...to explain in more detail about extortion accusation from owner of thrust...I offered to purchase broken hull from him...he named the price (4800-which I thought was extremely high)...as a friend of mine was interested in it...I was going to by a "rickter hull" from owner but could not see the logic in giving him 6 thousand more $$$ when he hadn't made the first ski purchase right. I did, however say to him that I would purchase broken freak or Rickter but could not do both as he demanded payment for Rickter....I let him decide which hull he wanted me to purchase and the amount of purchase....he stated CLEARLY that he would prefer i purchase the superfeak..we both agreed that I would not pay for broken hull until new hull arrived (owner even seemed happy about this as it was going to save him on shipping old broken hull back)...my friend who wanted to purchase ski could not fix ski as originally thought so I had no choice but to get the broken ski repaired...After owner refused to send hull because of my email telling him how disappointed I was in not receiving new hull yet..he then accused me and the repair shop of fraud (coincidentally around the same time I posted bad reviews on his business and he even deleted the bad review on his web site!)

 

[Big Kahuna]

This is to the people posting in response to OP. Guys, we approve every relevant post. These will typically only be the Buyer and Seller's post. Unless one of you has something that is really important to the first post will it get approved, which is very rare.

 

[THRUST]

It is very unfortunate that it has come down to this. I take pride in my business and the products I sell. I have tried very hard to please Buck and compensate him when issues came up. This was a new ski built with budget in mind which is all accounted for in the original for sale ad and invoices. Unfortunately during shipping some excess gas leaked out of the fuel lines and sat on the paint on the bottom of the ski causing it to peel. At this point I offered Buck a full refund no questions asked. Buck was not unhappy with the ski just the frustration of the paint will be peeling continuously so I came up with something else that seemed to please him. I gave Buck a $1000 immediate credit card refund and a $500 store credit. This turned into $1700 refund when he wanted a Pro Trim and I did not charge him for that.

As luck would have it this was not the end. The integrated carbon scoop grate somehow broke off. It was clear to me that it was hit by something hard as superfreak has been running this intake style for 3 years on over 75 hulls never to see a issue . But I wanted to give Buck the benefit of the doubt, and with the paint issue I wanted to make things right again. At this point I offered Buck his second chance at a full refund plus keeping $1700 in parts plus credit card refund. Or I could send a technician to his house to repair the scoop grate, which is equivalent to replacing a pump shoe. Non of these offers seemed to please Buck. In an attempt to go above an beyond to satisfy an unhappy customer I offered Buck a Full Visual Carbon Pro Hull, for free and just send his back on my expense. This seemed to resolve the issue and Buck was happy. I gave Buck an estimated 5 week turn around time as i wanted the hull to be shipped before world finals . That included getting a new hull to my shop sending it to paint for graphics install and clear coat. Coming into world finals things were busy but I put Bucks new hull a priority. I sent Buck pictures of the Hull as soon as i received it which was only a week later. A week later and after some assembly it was off to paint which we also sent pictures as well.

Well as luck would have it once again Hurricane Matthew a category 4 would threaten the Coast of Florida causing a compounding effect of delays with me and also the painter.

Throughout this whole time buck sent me over 37 emails and daily phone calls, text messages asking for updates and asking about swapping out parts for different color ones that would match his new hull better. Thrust responded to every email phone call and text message trying to continue to make Buck happy. Bucks emails began to become more aggressive when I had to give him a 2 week delay because of unforeseen circumstances and my absence to world finals.

Bucks disappointment in all my efforts thus far and lack of understanding began to bother me. I was not going to let my feelings get in the way of my ethical business dealings. So I offered Buck his 3rd chance at a full refund which he denied.

At this point Buck's story seemed to shift and things started to take a very different turn. Buck said I owed him over 4k to make things right. That he had made an insurance claim with State Farm (which he later stated that he has not made a claim yet) of over 4k to have a body shop fix his scoop grate and somehow I owe him back that 4k and 30 hrs labor to disassemble a ski he was not asked to and that was supposed to be going to his friend who was willing to repair the ski at a cost $4000 for the hull and $800 for jet drive . If I was to give him a full refund it was going to be 18+ thousand and 30 hours labor for disassembly

There is so much more to this convoluted story but I just tried to simplify it. All in all I love this sport and Thrust is more than just a business for me. I always tried to take care of everyone and give people the benefit of the doubt. Buck has been a very difficult person to deal with. All my efforts to to make this right has just been thrown back in my face. I am really not sure what else i could of done as a business owner.

 

[buckward]

So lets just share certain emails and not the ones that where sent to Brian 1, 2, and 3 days after ski was uncrated..yes I refused refund only because i wanted a jet ski, just cleaned all paint, battery, ebox, start stop switch etc etc...lets not share all the texts sent and oh lets not admit that you wanted me to purchase broken hull for 4800 so in my book..since i agreed- it was mine to do what i wish..claim it on insurance...sell it..not sell it..whatever...if you would have did what you promised, you would have recieved 4800 more dollars and another 3000 in parts sales.,..37 emails in 4 months from a guy who wanted so bad to ride in the summer...but yet had to sit and wait while a broken ski sit...,bottom line..I paid you 14k for a jet ski that was a paper weight and somehow im getting blamed for it...look at how this fin was installed and you be the judge! (see email..I tried to warn Brian of imminent danger of fin breaking off...he said go ride it!)

 

[buckward]

Oh..and ps...i wont stoop so low as to attach all his emails, texts, etc...i paid 14k for a ski 4k to get it repaired..1k in misc parts...and plenty of friends that were with me for uncrating and went to water with me that day and saw it all.....i just did everyone a favor at my expense...Brian will NOW build very nice skis because of all this! For a while anyway....and all it cost was one guy paying lots of money just because he wanted to have fun over summer! I ONLY BILLED YOU FOR THE REPAIRS BECAUSE YOU BACKED OUT OF OUR DEAL...I pay the insurance premiums on my ski...I can claim it our not...When state farm cuts a check..they cut it to me and my wife....if I dont want to use it to repair my ski I dont have to...its still my money...what the heck guy...it still doesnt change the fact that I was sold a sub-standard expensive toy!

 

[buckward]

Ok..one last response and I am done with all this...THRUST IS NO LONGER PART OF MY LIFE....and a superfreak will go up for sale in spring..and no not for 18k...its not worth that lol Just wanted to attach some pictures and let everyone know that I am a "hard" working guy just like everyone else on the "X" that MADE A MISTAKE and bought from the wrong guy....I have spent over 40k this summer on jet skis with no problems what soever....Brian, I am sorry that you could not make this right for me...I gave you every chance to do so.....If only you would have called me here at the end and said "Buck, I know your very upset and I would be to. I promise, give you my word, that when you get the new hull you will love it!" It would have made the world of difference.....No one frauded anyone or extorted anyone. It was quite clear that a new hull was promised and the old broken hull was purchased as well....Brian would have recieved over 22000 dollars from me if he just worked it out and probably even another 10k or 15k in spring.....EXTORTION OR FRAUD ....I think not....Brian, we had an agreement for a new hull, me purchasing the old hull, me adding on a bunch of new parts to new hull, me paying you for a bunch of old parts for old hull.....this was all in the works until you made the decision to pull the plug....as far as I was concerned at the time before you pulled the plug the old hull was mine to do what I wish....insurance..he said/she said..accusations...all out of context...you where wrong and we both know it....you just cant MAN UP an admit it....I Can...I am sorry about the name calling and that this did not work out...I ASSURE YOU I only wanted what I paid for....not the DRAMA and hassles of what i got...refunds/shipping back etc etc.....there are plenty of vendors on the X and else where that I have paid a good amount of money that, if they could, they would say that "buck is impatient" but will pay for what he gets and is a "stand up guy"
enough said.......................see attached picture after body shop fixed hull....it turned out nice!

 

[Billybo455]

first time i've logged in months. well since i'm part of the equation i feel like i can comment on it. buck said after he had some issues his friend helped him work on his ski. while working on it some how the throttle cable stuck open and went wide open on to the rocks on the other side of the channel or something. thats when the intake pictures came in. i offered to drive from FL to where he lives and repair it for free. help set up the ski to his riding style. make sure things were 100% before i left. he said yes, then no.

bottom line, ski ripped when it left from fl. for a 14k i don't think any one could touch that. would you guys spend 4k to fix a 2x8 piece of carbon fiber when the whole hull cost you 6k? especially after it was offered to ship back for free or someone commute a thousand miles for free to make things right?

 

[buckward]

Dude..who the heck are you..you are saying my name like we have spoken..NEVER SPOKE TO YOU??? Thats not what happened..thottle cable was fine!!..start/stop connectors where bad...buddy chased ski down when lanyard pulled out..no one worked on ski yet and cracks where noticed already in intake (the whole 10 minutes of ride time--grew larger the next day with another 10 minutes of ride time only..then worried about fin blowing off and called/emailed brian...20 MINUTES OF RIDE TIME ONLY! THEN BRIAN SENT EPOXY!)...No rocks where i ride..just sand..please stay out of this if you dont know the facts! Obviously you work with Brian..i have the invoice on the repair if you would like to call fiber man that fixed ski..brian said if you could come up but it wouldnt look new...and we had to fix in yard on blanket...etc etc..who would want that??? (DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT PICTURE ON PREVIOUS POST..CRACKS WORK THIER WAY FROM INSIDE OF FIN OUT..IF SKI WHERE HITTING ROCKS CRACKS WOULD HAVE BEEN AT START OF FIN/SCOOP INWARD AND FIN WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL SCRATCHED!!!)
I never spoke to you unless your name is Brian..he and I are are the only ones that spoke of this no one else....is this high school now..he said/she said???.

 

[buckward]

first time i've logged in months. well since i'm part of the equation i feel like i can comment on it. buck said after he had some issues his friend helped him work on his ski. while working on it some how the throttle cable stuck open and went wide open on to the rocks on the other side of the channel or something. thats when the intake pictures came in. i offered to drive from FL to where he lives and repair it for free. help set up the ski to his riding style. make sure things were 100% before i left. he said yes, then no.

bottom line, ski ripped when it left from fl. for a 14k i don't think any one could touch that. would you guys spend 4k to fix a 2x8 piece of carbon fiber when the whole hull cost you 6k? especially after it was offered to ship back for free or someone commute a thousand miles for free to make things right?

Why are you making things up....look at quality and fin and intake (not to mention all the scratches on bottom of ski when delivered) and look at intake after body guy finished...might not be worth 4 k but at least its done right...you guys sent me a badly done ski which i chose to keep as so much work was already done by me to make ski right...anyone that saw pics can clearly see ski was not beached. Ran on rocks, etc..if your going to give feedback..DONT LIE! Look at pics attached..night and day in quality of work after fin repair.