Stark’s Sport Shop

Hello all. I am a newbie on this site and so far it is great. I have some comments and questions on this river fishing thing and Stark’s. First, earlier this year i was in the market for a used boat and motor. A friend of mine suggested Stark’s as the place to go. Well, i drove up there and took a look around and found a motor I was interested in. I then drove home, 70 miles, and got my old boat to use as a trade in. I went back the next day to trade. When I got there, the motor I was interested in, jumped $200 overnight. I questioned them on this and they told me i was wrong. My wife, buddy, and myself cannot all be wrong, can we? Any way, I went ahead and bought the thing, my wife went through the roof over that one. The motor was under a 30-day warranty. First time on the water, the motor would not run worth a hoot. Took it 70 miles back. First thing they ask is what did I do to it. I never left the dock. It ended up having a bad fuel pump, and the recoil broke while they were working on it. I took it home again. two days later I take it back to the water, motor still is not running well, but a little better. My battery died and had to use the pull rope. My buddy pulled on the rope and went #$% over elbows. Recoil was never repaired, they said they put a new one on. Back it goes, replaced spark plugs and recoil. Motor still acts up. I will never do business with this place again. Talk about frustrating. Has anybody else had problems with them, or did they just spot a new boater and take advantage of it?

I forwarded this on to Ron Stark Manager of Starks Sports Shop..

I AGREE WITH THIS MAN I HAVE GOTTIN NOTHING BUT BAD SERVICE FROM THEM! THEY CHARGE TOP RATE PER HOUR AND THERE SERVICE IS FAR FROM THAT! TOOK 2 1/2 MONTHS TO REBUILD MY POWERHEAD LAST SUMMER ON TOP OF THAT THE BILL WAS $1500 MORE THAN QUOTED!

I have had good luck with them standing behind what they sell. I do have Bob Fernette do my service work, but he is usually swamped by late spring.

I too have had nothing but good things to say about the service I get from Starks. When I walk in I get addressed with a smile and a hello, and a, can I help you?

No matter where we shop for whatever were looking for, there will be bad reports and good reports. If a company stays in business for an extended period of time I’ll bet the good points out way the bad.

Don’t get me wrong, I am just trying to find out if anybody else has had any problems. I am not trying to slam them, although I am very unhappy with them right now. They do have a great selection of new and used boats and motors. Terry was a great person. He did not rush around and push anything on me while I was looking around. I did appreciate that. i told him what I was looking for and he showed me what he had in my range. You do not get that very often.

I’ve bought 3 new boats and motors from them and I don’t have a bad thing to say about them. There service department has always been good to me. The next time I need a new rig, Stark’s will be the first place I’ll look. Sorry to hear some of you had a bad experience with them.

AmWatson Do not give up on them yet, I hear only of good deals from them. FYI how old and how much was the motor? Document your displeasure with the Service Mgr/owner I’m sure they will make good. Having been in one from or another of the service industry all my life I know, make one customer unhappy he tells 10 poeple make one person happy end of story.

The motor is an early 70’s Evinrude 25 hp. It had a sticker for $399, then the next day it was $599. That is the part that ticked me. I went ahead and bought it, because it was still a decent price to me. The principle of raising it overnight is my problem. I had considered buying a new jon boat later this year there, but now I am unsure.

I aloud them to rip me one time, it will never again!!!!
Same kind of deal. I went in looking for a used 25 jonhson 1978. They had two. Both priced about the same 50.00 different I put 50.00 down on the cheaper of the two. When I went back the next day to pick it up both were not on the rack. I was told mine was being check over down stairs. when I looked at it it was the motor I told them I want it was the the more pricey one. The one I wanted had been put on a trade in on the lot. They wouldn’t take it off trade them around nothing. It was take it or leave it. I need a motor so I took it. As it turns out I took it right up the
—. First trip out trouble took it back. Second trip trouble back again. Third trip was after the 30 days were up and as it turned out so was the motor. The lower unit went out on it. Three trips to the river and I had a 625.00 dollar boat anchor. AS THE SAYING GOES SCREW ME ONCE SHAME ON YOU DO ME TWICE SHAME ON ME. They will never get that second chance.

I have done my business with Smitty’s Marine in Lake City, Mn. and so has my Dad, son, and other family members and they have always given us the best price, been honest and fair, and taken good care of us. Thanks, Bill

MY son and I have purchased a few older motors from Stark’s, largely because they have the biggest inventory. The motors have run well but the sales staff was not helpful in terms of answering questions, etc. I felt like a second class customer because we were not buying a new motor.

On the other hand I concur with Bill C. Smitty’s is a first class operation and extremely helpful. More then likely my next new rig will come from Smitty’s.

Regarding a new Jon Boat check on Dick’s Marine in Winona, Mn. Ask for Mark, and if they don’t have what you want in stock he can get it pretty quickly. My hunch is he will match or beat Stark’s prices.

stark’s has given us good luck we have bought are new motor from there and there were within reason when we were checking for anything in the class of a crestliner 1750 fishhawk, schmitty’s in lake city was out of their mind when pricing us on a lund, we also went to al’s specialty marine and the crestliner place in redwing, finally we got to 61 marine and we bought our boat there, good guys up there from our experience.

I too have had very poor service from starks and good service with smittys. The best thing to do is tell them how you feel and vote with your pocket books.

I got a new rig from Stark’s last summer. So far the sale and follow up service has gone very well for me. I have no complaints with the people I dealt with there. I do have friends that will say the opposite about them.
The best I can tell you is, if you have a complaint with them, please let them know. Even though they may not like to hear or read about bad experiences, if they want to stay in business they have to pay attention to the customer and how he feels.
I’ll bet if you took a poll and listed all the dealers in the midwest, you will hear good and bad about every one of them.

I bought my new boat from them this year and after getting home and running it for a hour ,decided the 60hp wasn’t enough I called Bill and he bent over backwards to get me a 90 and and had to give me money back (the 60 was a four stoke and the 90 a two) I drove the 150 miles last weekend to get a 9.9 fourstroke they were $400 lower than the local dealer. I have been very happy with them

My first inpression was’nt the greatest. Then they told Me that they were the number 1 Lund boat dealer in the state. That’s all it took for Me and My wife to look else where. We ended going to Plowman Marine in Woodruff WI. And we’re glad We did they treated us like family plus I saved a good chunk of change on the same boat specs from stark.

I was up there fishing one long weekend and the first day we had engine trouble. Was late Saturday morning, got the boat off the river and went to Starks thinking it would be the most likely place to be open. Had never done any business there – they didn’t know me from Adam… within 2 hours they had me back on the water. They were busy as the dickens but still took the time to fix me up.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Stark’s. A couple of years ago I had motor problems on the river. Took it to Stark’s and they fixed the problem quickly and I was back out on the river in an hour and for a very reasonable fee. I also bought a used motor from Stark’s and they treated me very well. Had one problem with it and they fixed it without complaint within the 30-day period. I felt like they treated me as if I had bought new and I will give them strong consideration next year when I’m in the market for a new boat.

Sorry to hear about your experience at Stark’s. Bought a new Lund rig from them last spring and Bill had everything as promised. I think we all have had problems from one source or another, I know there are alot of dealers out there and some are better than others, I think the key is too let ‘whom ever’ you tryed to deal with ‘know your displeasure’ and see what they would do to correct the issue, if they won’t- maybe don’t go back. I’m a contractor dealing with the public everyday and I try my #%*& to please everyone and I (we) make mistakes. I will do my utmost to make it right(sometimes impossible). If, I have a problem with something/someone, I go higher on the ladder-owner/manager ? 99% of the time things get resolved. Not sure this helps your situation- just my slant on life, and sometimes it goes by too fast.

My father bought his first boat from Starks and got exactly what he wanted for exactly what they quoted. I would say they are a good dealer.

My brother just traded in a boat there for a used one, a 1996 fishing boat, after reading all of these post’s, I hope
he will not have to much trouble, if he need’s a repair.