A little annoyed with Glendinning

[MikeP]

First, Glendinning's tech support on the phone is great; I have NO complaints whatsoever with that.

However, telling me what I need is only half of the customer experience; you also need to get me the parts and that's the problem.

My port tach went out. I traced the problem to the cable drive (not really a cable - it's a 2 1/2" tang with different ends on it) to the remote tach sender. Both tach senders are mounted on the synchronizer.

I called Glendinning, told them the problem. I also decided that I might as well replace the starboard drive cable as well (it's a real cable - about 6" long). They were very helpful and determined the part numbers and the total cost- around 20 bucks. BUT, they would not send them to me because they will not establish an account for such a low amount. They gave me a number of a local guy who can order from them but he hasn't answered my multiple calls in 3 days so far.

I called Lauderdale speedo - they want me to send them the bad parts so they can duplicate them. That's OK I guess, but since I know exactly what I need, it's additional time and money to send them the old stuff.

I'll keep trying the "local Glendinning" guy...

I find this quite annoying and although it's great to have a company who can help you out on the phone, customer service also means getting the parts into the customers hands...

[rsmith]

Ive got mechanical tachs on the bridge infact all my stuff on the bridge is mechanical. Everyone I know with the electronic tachs have had problems.I dont know if the cable run on the MY is too far but I would sure think about it.The other plus the hour meters are in the tachs and are more representitive IMO of engine usage

[captddis]

First, Glendinning's tech support on the phone is great; I have NO complaints whatsoever with that.

However, telling me what I need is only half of the customer experience; you also need to get me the parts and that's the problem.

My port tach went out. I traced the problem to the cable drive (not really a cable - it's a 2 1/2" tang with different ends on it) to the remote tach sender. Both tach senders are mounted on the synchronizer.

I called Glendinning, told them the problem. I also decided that I might as well replace the starboard drive cable as well (it's a real cable - about 6" long). They were very helpful and determined the part numbers and the total cost- around 20 bucks. BUT, they would not send them to me because they will not establish an account for such a low amount. They gave me a number of a local guy who can order from them but he hasn't answered my multiple calls in 3 days so far.

I called Lauderdale speedo - they want me to send them the bad parts so they can duplicate them. That's OK I guess, but since I know exactly what I need, it's additional time and money to send them the old stuff.

I'll keep trying the "local Glendinning" guy...

I find this quite annoying and although it's great to have a company who can help you out on the phone, customer service also means getting the parts into the customers hands...

If you ask nice I will order them for you. If you need the tang for the Sun tach pulse generator. [the one with the square end] good luck. they are very scarce. They were supplied by Hatteras not Glendinning.

[MikeP]

Thanks Capt!

I'll check with Sams - maybe they stock it though it has a Glendinning part number and is shown on their website. The other 6" long cable is made up of 3 part numbers - the synchro end, the 4-5" cable, and the tach sender end. Once again, it didn't occur to me to check Sams for this sort of thing.

If nothing else turns up I'll ask you nicely!

There's no real rush now. We just got back a little while ago from Oxford, MD and the boat's cruising is done for this season. It won't be going anywhere again until next April/May.

[GJH]

Why do you need the cable? Lauderdale Speedo will hook you up with the tachs (with tab) no problema. I went through this drill myself on both engines last year. If you only need the tab, Glendinning used to have them around. I have mine somewhere too. Do you really expect them to have a bunch of different cables for all kinds of boats laying around? That's why LS wants the old one, because they will make up a new one from scratch.

Oh and PS: go ahead and do the other side's sender too if you haven't already. Like most things, this stuff tends to break in pairs.

[MikeP]

Glendinning HAS all the parts - there is no need to check/examine anything. But they won't send them to me. Lauderdale has to order the same parts from Glendinning that I know (by part number) that I need.

Seems silly to me...

[Walter P]

Mike,

Don't give up on them. They really are a first rate company. Please call them back and ask to talk to Paul Glendinning (son of the founder). If he's there he will talk to you, otherwise leave him your return number. I can't believe that the policy you described is coming from the top. I know Paul and I'll bet he'll have a word with his people about it. If you don't have any luck with my suggestion, PM me and I'll talk to him about it.

Walt

[Angela]

I feel your pain, Mike. My port tachs went out months ago and I keep throwing parts at it---no luck yet. Meanwhile, I use my ears and the seat of my pants (the "feel" of the boat) to synchronize. Learned that from the previous "Sanctuary" which didn't have synchronizers.

[MikeP]

Luckily, the tach drive parts that I need don't affect the actual operation of the synchronizer at all. If the synchronizer itself failed, I would have to physically hold the starboard (slave) throttle in any position other than idle if the engines are running due to the way the throttle return spring on the slave engine is supposed to be setup for the synchronizer. It would be a total (and actual) PITA (OK, PITHand) to do that for hours at a time.

[GJH]

Ang, have you talked to Glendinning or Lauderdale Speedo? The synchronizer is a very simple system. Any issues I have had in that neighborhood (which of course may well not be your issues) were external to the synchro itself: the lockout block for the Hynautics that mounts to it, the tach senders (which as Mike notes have no effect on the synchro), or the governor spring tension on one engine. I think the tach senders ended up being about the simplest fix of any I have ever done on the boat.

I'd second Walt's opinion that Glendinning has been one of the most helpful manufacturers to deal with I've ever run into. I guess I don't understand the whole cable issue.