Lewmars Customar Service

[Stillraining]

There have been several post latly in regards to Lewmars Customar service or equipment quality.

Some of you know I was planing on installing a pair of Lewmar V2 or V3 windless'es on Eagle Knight but because I have come to respect a lot of the information shared here on Sailnet I postponed and re-evaluated that purchase.

I decided to direct Lewmar to this site and give them a chance or opportunity to read for themselves whats being said about them here at Sailnet. The responses I got and speed of those responses to say the least impressed me.

I have been contacted by 7 different individules involved in one aspect of the Co. or another..One was even from the V.P. I will post excerpts from a couple of them here for all to read.

Now I realize Im a fish on the line to them so to speak , and have no after the sale experiance with them at all, but at this point Im giving Lewmar 5 stars as I have never recieved this kind of attention from any company.. it will be up to them to keep them.

I realize we may not have the ability to change any company's ways but our collective voice's here at Sailnet or anywhere this day and age with the kind of access we have to information has an impact. To get this kind of response to a customer's concern has left a lasting impression on me to say the least.

Because of this I am once again looking to Lewmar for my windless purchase as my confidance is greatly renewed..I would suggest to any with grudges with the Co. to do as I did and challenge their reputation...You might be presently surprised.

As with any Company fraudulent requests for replacements or warranty issues is an ongoing and costly endeavor for any Co. If you go the route I did I would ask that you be honest in your dealings with any Co.

I will surly keep you all breasted of my dealings with Lewmar in the near future.

Maybe I'm being duped but I dont think so.

Scott

I have no idea about complaints with Lewmar service. We are a dealer and have found Lewmar to be exceptionally responsive.

Our west coast Lewmar factory rep is one of the most knowledgeable people I know concerning windlasses and I have not seen him fail to come to a reasonable outcome when there is a rare problem. I will definitely pass on your comments and try to find the complaints on the sailnet site although I have never visited it.

Admittedly, our specialty is thrusters but we do sell and install a number of windlasses each year. In fact we find our windlass business is growing as we learn more and we have not seen problems.

Our business with Lewmar has been a refreshing experience and not at all troublesome.

I will pass your comments on to the Lewmar rep and try to find the complaints.

Someone will get back to you

Bruce

Scott,

Thanks for taking the time to write us with your concerns and give us the chance to respond.



We will do our very best to make sure you have a positive experience with Lewmar and our products.



Happy Boating,





Jay Stockmann

LEWMAR USA

Executive V.P.

another:

Hello Scott,

Thankyou for your enquiry .

I would be happy to speak with you with reference to Lewmar's warranty and

support service of the Lewmar products worldwide.



Service in the US is backed by a network of Lewmar Authorized Windlass Service Centers throughout the country

and Master Parts Distributors which can be utilized for procurement of the full line Lewmar parts and advice.



Parts can also be ordered through your local chandler as well.



Please find the attached files which lists the Service Centers and Master Parts Distributors.

Hope this may be helpful .



You may offer your contact information and I will contact you to discuss

any other questions or thoughts that you may have specific to the V Series line of windlass or any other Lewmar Product.



Best Regards, Stan

[Giulietta]

I have nothing but good to say about them.
Half of the gear on my boat is Lewmar, some stuff is custom, (experimental), like my traveller, the rest is Harken.

I have contacted them in their office in Connecticut several times, and they are absolutely professional and help a lot.

During the time of the old sailnet, I bought several stuff from Sailnet that arrived broken. In the mean time sailnet went bankrupt and no one would answer the phones..I contacted Lewmar and got the parts sent, for free, and didn't even have to return the broken ones.

I have contacted them in England and Portugal..Alllways same quality service. And if you know what you want as far as blocks, gear etc. and size it right, it's the best material in the World.

What I only buy from them:

Winches, only Lewmar...(after having HArken on 2 boats they allways stripped, so no thank you)

High demand blocks, or blocks that get used a lot. The Lewmar are made of metal, I only use the Race 1R series. (for hi load uses or more "critical in response" I use Harken carbo and black magic).

Travellers...no other brand manages to make travellers like Lewmar. Period (word of experience)..

Clutches...only Lewmar also, everything else damages the lines, including Harken. Spinlock etc. not on my boat. However, the jaw cleats I only use Harken

My windlass is Lewmar, a gift form the old sailnet...so far so good..but it gets little use anyway.

[xort]

Well my experience was quite different. I have talked to them twice about two different products on my boat. The attitude was, those items are old, buy new ones. Now that may be the only solution, I just did not appreciate the tough sh!t attitude. No lewdmar stuff for me if I can help it.
What you got, rain, was canned corporate-speak.
Let me know when they fire the customer service manager.

[artbyjody]

I'll echo some of Giu's experience... I have nothing but Lewmar winches on HG and just simply great performance. I also have the Lewmar "One Touch" as covered in other threads (liscensed out by that manufactuer of the patent) - love those winch handles like all get out.

There is only one reason I do not have Lewmar standard for all the gear. The bearings. I use Harken explicitedly for all blocks, pulleys and track systems. IN addition I have also the Harken Quatro winches on the foredeck as well as furler. I also have purchased the furler MKIV Code 1...

It may be a mindset that having more gear of a particular vendor's gear onboard, that you will get better support - I don't know yet. Just in the circles I race in, and people I know Harken is a brand they trust. But I like my Lewmar winches. And with anything - you have to give the company its due,if they respond to you in such a way that it gives you confidence in what you buy or follow on support. Every boat is different and one of the reasons I swing Harken is they support my European designed boat for the most part even if I have do some jerry rigging to the parts..

Kudos, Still for posting that..