May 11, 2008

Our Open Letter to ShelterLogic LLC, Out of Watertown, CT

One of the reasons the site has been slow on the content side is that I started a fantastic new job that has kept me extremely busy, both during the time in which stories roll in, and after hours as well. As I find my footing, the stories will come back in full force, and we'll be back up on our normal schedule. We have some pretty exciting news in the works. Unfortunately, we need to get this item off our back, so we can return to our normal schedule of fun articles.

On with the letter.

Dear ShelterLogic LLC,

We purchased a very expensive canopy/rounded garage directly from your company, ShelterLogic, LLC, out of Watertown, CT in June and immediately began writing a detailed article about it. The article is not only quite detailed and positive, but it is now complete. We decided it is so thorough, that in addition to posting it here on The Wakeboard Report, we would submit it to Wakeboarding Magazine for consideration in an upcoming issue. I have been published in Wakeboarding Magazine before - and had been in talks with Matt Hickman to write a series of consumer advocacy articles. Let's come back to that in a moment.

My round garage was erected in little over 6 hours and was rock solid until portions of the lower base of the structure gave way and the structure collapsed on one side, bending many of the large diameter tubes. As the structure collapsed, the fabric punctured through the tower on my Super Air Nautique but by some miracle no metal made contact with the boat. The gel coat and the aluminum fascia on the boat remained unscathed. We got lucky on that - otherwise this would be an insurance claim. However our $600 canopy, which was assembled by no less than 3 college educated people and appropriately secured to the ground, stood in place for just over 30 days. 30 days. Your warranty goes a bit beyond this time period if I am not mistaken.

So, we contacted you, ShelterLogic, explained the problem and wrote a letter explaining what had happened expecting you to honor your warranty. It seemed a pretty open/shut case to us. When we call and are put on hold, we listen to the tagline and official messaging about your products (800.932.9344). "...That's why we like to think our products are standing between the weather and your world. ". Hmmm... We informed you that we had drafted a glowing review of the product which was to be posted here on The Wakeboard Report, and at several other outlets - among them the submission to Wakeboarding Magazine. Not as a threat - not as ransom, but as a good reason to honor your warranty. I didn't ask for a discount on this product, I walked in, paid, and was poised to give you some fantastic FREE advertising and Google search hits.

Things were looking good at first. We spoke to a nice lady named Candice, sent the required documents to go along with our claim, along with our letter. Maybe that's where things went wrong. You, ShelterLogic went dark - and soon I found out that rather than call me to negotiate a buyback of the materials (some of which clearly could be reused), you called Wakeboarding Magazine. And Wakeboarding Magazine with a new editor (Congratulations again, Kevin) had no knowledge of any work I had done with the magazine in the admittedly somewhat distant past, or was in the process of negotiating/angling for either. Three days later I received a rather curt, but very final sounding email from ShelterLogic's President, Mr. James Raymond. In it, he canceled/voided and basically said "No" to my warranty claim. I am not a lawyer - but is that even possible?

This action put me in a bad light with Wakeboarding Magazine, which I have since remedied. But ShelterLogic, before taking any further actions I would like to offer you an opportunity to make this right. I offered to round up everything I had, rent a Uhaul trailer and lug the remains of my $600 garage to your door. I have received no reply on this. I've sent mail to you explaining the situation with Wakeboarding Magazine and again, have received no reply. As I stated in those email messages I am at this point even willing to meet you halfway on this financially.

I want to work with you on this. As I said in my previous mail I see this ultimately benefiting both parties. Please consider these issues carefully - we do want to work this out with you.

Thank you - you know how to reach me,
Erik Jernberg
Editor - The Wakeboard Report

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February 14, 2008

Editing The Wakeboard Report from My Windows Smartphone = A Bad Idea

Dear Readers,

Recently 2 articles were published to this site that had minor grammatical errors. I caught them while riding up to New Hampshire with my wife and daughter and edited them on my mobile phone, saved them - and assumed all went well. Today I caught wind that they had essentially been blasted from the site. I discovered that while they had not been entirely blasted, they had been severely clipped.

So, with a heavy heart I had to pull the articles from the site and put redirects in place. One of them took me about 3 hours to compose, late one night. I am speaking of the article about the wakeboarding industry's keys to success in 2008, and my top 10 favorite wakeboarding-related shirts (which is the one that, while seemingly boring, took me the longest to complete). I don't know how it could have all gone so horribly wrong. After all I composed this entire entry on a Windows mobile device, and I think you'll agree - it's long winded! Saved just fine.

The culprit? Me. Of course my Motorola Q is guilty of aiding and abetting a bored passenger on his way to a 2 year old's birthday party.

My Apologies,
Erik

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May 17, 2007

The Wakeboard Report's Ride Featured on CorrectCraftFan.com and Vice Versa

Correct Craft Fan sites come in a few different flavors. Some, tailor to one specific kind of Correct Craft - right down to the model year. Others cast the net slightly wider but still keep the vision tilted toward a more modern variety of Correct Craft boats - particularly the ones badged as "Nautiques".

But one site casts the net as wide as possible and covers the entire spectrum of Correct Craft boats built over the past 80-or-so years. That site is CorrectCraftFan.com and our boat was chosen at semi-random to be featured on their home page.

CorrectCraftFan.com is a site that has been around for awhile now, and has had time to build up a solid community of experts. To that end, show me a better, hardcore Correct Craft enthusiast site. Don't waste your time in that search - you won't be able to do that - because there simply isn't one. The most important part of a site like that is the community itself; the contributing members who bring their expertise, knowledge, dedication to the brand and a willingness to help others. The amount of knowledge on CorrectCraftFan.com is staggering; from detailed instructions and photo documentation of stringer replacement projects to advice about replacement powerplants in Mustang 16's, if you have a vintage Correct Craft (or even a newer one) you need to add CorrectCraftFan.com to your bookmarks, and to your list of sites to visit daily.

With the amount of Correct Craft owners out there and the variety of boats they produced, there is certainly room for praise across all three of the big Correct Craft fan-supported sites. I could post a blog just like this one about PlanetNautique.com as they seem to have captured a nice amount of registered users plus the attention of Correct Craft's Corporate Marketing department (hey so have I although in my case it did not secure me a spot on their promotional team and thus a Correct Craft 236 Crossover). To a lesser extent, The2001.com nicely fills a niche although I can't imagine posting a long entry about that site, since I own and run it. Don't forget that we're self deprecating over here at The Wakeboard Report, not self praising.

It is a neat triad that these fan sites create, but when we bought our project boat, a 1971 Correct Craft Southwind, guess where we went? You have one guess and you already used it, and correctly guessed CorrectCraftFan.com. Congratulations, your prize is to go visit their site and browse their fantastic Reference Section.

If you own a Correct Craft, or are restoring one, or want to learn about the history of just about any boat for which there is printed brochures or other promotional documentation - CorrectCraftFan.com is your source. Thanks to the site owner Keith for featuring our Super Air Nautique.

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February 06, 2007

The Wakeboard Report's Topics That Never Made It...

This weekend we were doing some cleanup work on this site and on The2001.com. During this time, I noticed that The Wakeboard Report now has 70 individual stories! "Wow!", I said to myself, and then realized a couple of these stories are in draft mode still. It is safe to say that many these stories will not ever actually be posted so in memory of their passing into the delete folder, I wanted to list them and apologize for not alleviating my writers block more swiftly, and where appropriate I have addressed what may still make it to the site, and what won't. The actual working titles are used below.

Big Fan of CorrectCraftFan
The Wakeboard Report just came into possession of a 1971 Correct Craft Southwind (which was headed for the big lake in the sky within a matter of weeks) and the first place we went for information was CorrectCraftFan. It turns out that we already have a support network built up on CorrectCraftFan and the restoration work that my Dad and I will be doing will be well documented there, and of course, here. We still may post this as a full story, because despite running some very old technology, that forum has some users with absolutely amazing knowledge of restoring old boats, and in identifying key milestones in restoration projects in general. In an attempt to capture some market share, I registered correctcraftfanfan.com and plan to live off of the ad proceeds at some point in the future.

Time Magazine Names The Wakeboard Report's Readers and Commenters as 'Person of the Year'
I decided against posting this because every blogger in the world was kissing up in the exact same way the week that particular issue of Time magazine was released. The cynical tech industry deemed it a massive blunder and thus I decided to not cover this. I do wish you folks would comment more though. I see a lot of inbound traffic - but the comments are lacking. I have thick skin, and I do appreciate the feedback. So please comment - even negative comments are appreciated (if the comment is negative I usually stop crying within 45 minutes).

Me vs a Scammer!
I was hot on the trail of a blue & white 1994 Sport Nautique that had me up late, pacing back and forth in my back yard and consulting my Dad at strange hours of the day. It turns out that the scammer not only had massive guts posting this eBay auction no less than 5 times, on no less than 5 hijacked accounts; but he/she was also brazen enough to exchange about 10 emails with me on the matter. Of course this was before I discovered that this was indeed a scam (and an extremely tempting one for me personally). I decided not to post the full story and email transcripts, in the off chance that Sport Nautique selling scammers are also axe murderers.

The Top 10 Reasons to Like the Malibu 247
I so wanted to post this one; people are just wild about Top 10 lists these days. I love that Malibu 247 and managed to obtain about 15 hi-res photos of the boat, but then I got into an argument with one of the employees associated with that particular dealership and decided not to post the pictures, or the story. I still love that boat though and would appreciate hi-res photos of it from people that don't participate in internet forum badgering and trouble making. You know where to send them.

Zane Schwenk Gives Us an Update About the Master Craft CSX 220
I have 67 minutes of audio where Zane Schwenk and I catch up 6 months after the big kickoff of the Master Craft CSX 220 (it was recorded in September). We talk about the CSX 220 and he gives me the run down on where the boat stands in terms of production, plans for release and how the boat will be marketed; plus a few pointers on my terribly inconsistent frontside backroll. I have been too busy with work to transcribe this interview as text & html, and despite how appropriate this would be as The Wakeboard Report's first Podcast, I hate the sound of my voice and you will too. This one is still going to happen - it was a great interview with one of the sport's best ambassadors. It will be posted as soon as the sport's laziest journalist has a free span of 3 hours to transcribe the mp3.

The Resale Value of the Ski Nautique 2001 vs Me
I managed to get into a smattering of trouble for some comments I made regarding the resale value of the Ski Nautique 2001. I own and operate The2001.com and believe that the Ski Nautique 2001 is one of the best wakeboarding platforms ever made, even if it was an accident. That is why I push the benefits of buying one over an entry-level I/O runabout, and assert that the boat creates a wakeboarding wake that puts certain ultra-expensive wakeboard-specific boats to shame. But someone recently paid about $16,000 for a 1988 Ski Nautique 2001 and I nearly fainted. On behalf of future buyers and sellers of this boat, let's get something straight: Yes they are amazing entry level boats. But $16,000 is not an entry level price, and the boat cost $16,500 20 years ago! Like I tell a lot of people, if you know what you can spend, seek the chart. Nobody should spend that much on a Ski Nautique 2001. I don't care if it was dipped in platinum by the previous owner. Ok - maybe if it was dipped in platinum, but only if you scrape the platinum off and buy a Correct Craft Crossover 236 or Malibu 247 with those valuable platinum shavings.

The Wakeboard Report Opinion-Fest 2006
That pretty much explains this entire site! I might as well just change the tagline to this and make things more simple. Anyway - this one is headed for the delete bin, for sure.

Wakesiderides.com, Forgive Me Please
They forgave me. The reinstated my account. I pulled this story down.

Wake Boat Companies and their Non-Wakeboarder Sponsorships. Hmmpf.
This one is old. We saw that Chad Reed got a shiny new Centurion. We wept as we read the press release about Ricky Carmichael's status as a newly minted Correct Craft (motocross) rider. We just think this is all very weird. How about some cross promotion love over here too! If given the opportunity, I know that I could sell a few boats a year at least. While a wakeboarding industry blog may not seem at first glance a grooming ground for the next member of a Promotional Team (that would garner us a promo boat. Say - a Correct Craft Crossover 236) I am sent questions on various boat models and field a few technical questions on new boat purchases every week. I know of several boat purchases that I tipped one way over another. Anyway, I don't make the news quite as often as say - Ricky Carmichael, but it has happened. Once. But go to Google and search for a few random boat models. Guess who turns up pretty high on some of those searches?

And there you have it. The pile of shame that remain in draft mode on The Wakeboard Report. Again some of these will be extended into full stories, but most of them are being deleted within moments of posting this blog entr... oops... they are already gone.

Posted by erik at 06:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 22, 2006

The Wakeboard Report in PRINT

You may have noticed that we got a small mention in this month's issue of Wakeboarding Magazine. We sure noticed, and the pattern quilt I made in honor of this occurance out of 221 cloth reprints of the page on which we appear, is quite comfortable to sleep under thank you very much.

If my memory serves me correctly (and it does), the mention is on page 60 in the Odds + Ends section. We would be lying if we said we weren't extremely excited about this. Thanks very much, Wakeboarding Magazine.

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August 16, 2006

The Wakeboard Report Needs Your Help!

This is going to be the first of several entries on this blog that are driven by you, the readers. This time, we're looking for your nominations on the worst, tackiest, ugliest or otherwise value-reducing things that people have done to their otherwise awesome inboard boats. Please try to supply photos, and include your reasons for nominating the boat. Please email your submissions to erikjernberg@gmail.com and we will collect the stories and photos, and feature your submissions in a future article. Thanks for reading this site - and for helping us with this upcoming entry!

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February 16, 2006

The Miami Parking Farce and Muscle Boat Show

Whew. We're here...but it took some doin. It is an approximately a 2 hour situation to get to the show from my convenient, shuttle-serviced pickup location a short 4 miles away from the convention center in the blazing sun. Someone from the Sun-Sentinel just tried to thow some wight around and chase me off my guarded kiosk computer. And so far.... I haven't seen a wake boat yet. I have seen a lot of the effects of collagen injections and plastic surgery. So there's that. More soon.

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February 04, 2006

The Wakeboard Report at the Miami International Boat Show

Catch me at the Miami International Boat Show being escorted away from important industry executives and luminaries! See me attempt to score interviews with people who are more important than me and could surely see that I never work in the industry!

In all seriousness I am excited to be included as a member of the Press and will wear my big boy shoes and watch as many real-life interviews on MSNBC so that I make as few people feel uncomfortable as possible.

I do hold a Bachelor's degree from a good Journalism school, and I absolutely love boats, specifically the leisure/lake boat/waterski/wakeboard type. So these two elements should mix together and form a phenomenal showing at the Miami International Boat Show this year.

Bookmark me please - even subscribe to the RSS feed if you are feeling saucy. You will thank yourself for making such a good decision when the photojournalistic glory begins to pour in on February 16th!

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