My first time buying a boat from a dealership. These guys are awesome, everyone. Special thanks to Drew and Bill & Rick who took me out on the lake to test drive the boat & Keegan a very sharp young mechanic who diagnosed & corrected a small issue with this used boat. And Gavin who took care of the paperwork. Very nice people to do business with. read more

I had 2 problems with buying a new Sea Ray. The speedometer cable was hooked up wrong at the factory, so when the boat was moving, the hull filled with water. That caused me to miss most of the first Summer of ownership. The battery was wired incorrectly, so even when battery switch was in off position, there was a small power draw, and if the boat seat for more than a week, the battery would be dead. Skipper Buds was little help with these problems. If they inspected the boat after the test drive, they would have detected the first problem. Altogether, these problems affected the first two Summers I had the boat. I would have expected a call from the sales or general manager, at some point. Clearly, when the sale is over, you are "on your own" dealing with problems, even if the boat was only 3 days old, and had less than 2 hours of use! I would not do business with Skipper Buds again. read more

BEWARE- Service lot is not secure and staff is awful to work with. Our review has to deal with the service department, NOT the sales. We had a good experience buying our boat. Service has been a series of headaches over the past few years, with a nightmare as a finale this year. Our boat was in for WARRANTY work this spring. While in Skipper Bud's posession, and on their lot after receiving warranty work, it was burglarized. Over $7,000 in missing parts/damage to our boat. Skipper Bud's does not have cameras anywhere in the lot or around the building, and the service lot is not fully fenced. A police report was done, but nothing came of it. Skipper Bud's refused to take responsibility for any of it, and we ended up having to file a claim with OUR insurance to get the parts replaced. After weeks of getting the run around from the service department in early summer, we finally got them to give us loaner parts to make the boat functional for the summer, as the replacement parts they ordered were going to take several months to arrive. They did not offer to make the boat usable for us, we basically had to beg and threaten and ask to talk to the GM to get the boat useable for the season. Fast forward to now, the parts are finally in and we take the boat in 2 weeks ago. We go today to pick it up because they said it was done, and the boat is missing several things that were ordered and the repairs were a hack job. Wires that were pulled out and disconnected to steal parts were left dangling in the storage trunks. Screw caps are missing. There are bonus visible screw holes all over. Table was never reinstalled. Cover doesn't fit correctly. A panel that was damaged in an attempt to steal it wasn't replaced, they just screwed the damaged panel back down. Doors don't open or close without extreme force, and don't even line up. Again, no apology for any of the errors or promises to make it right. Basically they just blamed each other saying "it wasn't on my list" "oh I didn't know that" Well, you have eyes and you physically had to use the door, so you certainly realized it did not open properly...... The icing on the cake was when I expressed my frustration to Kathy that several of the issues weren't addressed even though we have gone over the details with them SEVERAL times in person, and via email, instead of apologizing for missing these things she told me to "Calm Down" Instead of saying we understand you are frustrated, we should have double checked everything was correct before calling you out to pick up the boat, instead of taking ANY accountability for their job which was to make this boat whole again, I was told to "calm down" For us, that was the last straw. We have spent hours driving back and forth to this dealership, hours on the phone, hours emailing, all to try to correct their constant mistakes, which are all being corrected AT OUR COST/through our insurance. We had to leave the boat there yet again today, so they can try again to fix the problems. Go ahead and buy your boat here- but take it to another location for service. Anyone who tells you to calm down instead of apologizing for their repeated negligence and errors with your expensive equipment doesn't deserve a penny of your money. When we finally get our boat back, we will not be using this location for any future service needs. read more

Bought a used center console in spring '23 my salesman bill Bresser was knowledgeable and responsive and located a boat that fit my needs and price. Even went out of the boat with me after purchase to go over its features and operation. read more

Do not use them for repairs unless you like to have to pay a lot to fix what their service screwed up. I have spent $5000+ to fix our Mastercraft boat after using them one time for winterization, detailing and brake repair 2021-2022 winter season. In 2022 our boat overheated (2 days into the season in early June) and we had to have an on the water boat tow and engine repair for about $1000. Plus missed over a day of a boating vacation. When I contacted Skipper Buds and asked why they did not change the impeller as recommended by Mastercraft, I was told that we did not tell them to change it. I am not a mechanic and assumed (wrongly in this case) that an authorized dealer for Mastercraft will follow manufaturor recommendations or at least ask if the customer wants them done (like when you take your car in for service). Next they buffed off the gel coat off, on about 1/6 of the boat, costing me $3000 to repair the gel coat. Finally, we were having issues with the trailer brakes and they charged us and told us they replaced them in May 2022. Then we got an additional bill for this in Sept 2022. Here it is mid July 2023, brake system is bad again. Trailer shop told us they used the old acuator which is not as reliable as the new ones and also that they used the wrong tool so 3 out of 4 of the calipers in the braking system are broken. Now I have to replace them. So far it has cost up $1000 to fix the brakes but need to still replace 3 calipers and not sure on the cost of that. It has cost me more than the initial service cost to repair all their screw ups. And anyone with a Mastercraft boat knows how expensive they are to buy and service so over doubling the cost is very expensive. Do not walk but run away quickly from allowing Skipper Buds to repair/touch anything on your boat unless you want to spend a lot more money and have a lot of hassles fixing their mistakes read more

Once the sale is done, they are done with you. Recently bought a boat here - problems with the sale (not the boat) were immediately apparent. Took them 9 weeks to mail in for registration; they signed me up for some boating service using my PII without my permission, who then sold/shared my info, etc. Sales and service staff are all empty promises after you've signed/taken possession of your boat. Kathy is service is great but hampered by poor management, turnover and lack of QC. read more

My husband and I purchased a jet boat this spring. Upon purchase they guaranteed if we had any issues on our first boat launch they would cover all costs. First launch the boat broke down. They fixed the boat, bit since we have repeatedly received a bill. We have called multiple times and told they will cover the bill, yet the bill continues to come. Seems the Sales and Repair areas don't speak with each other. The Repair contact Ryan has ignored our requests to credit for the charges. read more

They are not too smart. Mastercraft recommends the engine impeller be changed yearly on the boat. They did not change ours in fall and did not ask about it. When I questioned this I was told they do not follow manufacturer recommendations. Really stupid for 2 reasons. Asking people about what the manufacturer recommends gets you more business and prevents problems that customers will be unhappy with your service when an issue occurs. Just very dumb business read more

Parts guy was like high pressure when I came in to buy oil and then contradicts himself twice when selling oil to me, insisted my motor had to have synthetic then 2 minutes later told me to buy regular oil as it was recommended, I think he just wanted to sell what he had more of in stock. then he told me I only needed 5 quarts but I got 6 as I knew the boat required just over 5. Note to skipper buds, don't argue with a customer about what he plans to buy unless you know more than the customer. On a positive note they were all nice. read more

I have been a Skipper Bud's customer now for the past 17 years. We have owned two different boats during this time, both purchased and serviced at SB's. As a boat owner the most important thing is for the boat to start and run smootly. During these 17 years, Ryan and his team have kept us on the water. Follow thier maintiance suggestions and you will be a happy boat owner. Tom read more

Great service group at Skipper Buds in Pewaukee. I had a problem with the filling of the ballast system of our MasterCraft. Contacted the service group since I did not want to tow the boat in plus the 4th of July Holiday was coming and lots of family as well. They came to our house, diagnosed the problem and fixed it on the spot. Great customer service!!! read more

I am most displeased with the Skipper Bud's business practices. After considerable research and questions we signed a contract to buy a 2018 Starcraft deckboat (1915 Limited/OB). The contract was signed on a Friday 7/20/2018. We delivered our boat on Monday. Scheduled pick up was July 27th @ 1:00 pm. On Thursday July 26th they called @ 4:00 pm, they said they needed an additional $2000.00 I said I thought we had a deal? They then said well maybe an additional $1000 would work. I saw this as clearly extortion and canceled the deal. I hope none of you are subjected to these scams. Don't do business with them! Just to add insult to injury, when I picked up my boat and trailer it had seaweed all over it. Don't trust them with your boat! read more

Decided to write a review after this situation today. From the beginning - Went to boat show in 2015. Was looking at a new boat, therefore, had all the attention/love in the world. Decided it being my first time as an owner I would go with a used boat. They said they had a trade in StarCraft deck boat from a former Packer showed pictures to me and it looked great. I said YES price is right. The day I go in to sign contract I see the boat and it's in shambles, cracked haul, leaves inside, no covers, or floor mats, missing rubber guards, etc...I said no way. I'm like even some crappy used car dealership would detail a car before trying to sell. Who sells a car with no BUMPER. They fix everything (in some cases tried to have me pay), all is well. Summer comes time to take the boat out. Issue after issue after issue...to many to type. Fast forward to 11/17/2016 when I go to pick my boat up after paying $300 to have it winterized get home NO Bimini boot cover. Even though I put a C clamp on the zipper to insure it never came off they claim it was never delivered with it on. Bimini is now ripped because I drove home without the cover (not noticing because IT's ALWAYS on), and they say well you we can order you a new one at cost. NEVER AGAIN!!! I have never written a review in my life but I've never been so frustrated in my life. Mike Wescott is the only person there who knows customer service but the rest get TWO THUMBS DOWN!!!! read more

We bought a pontoon boat from this store summer of 2017. Our "brand new" boat came in, we went to see it and sign the paperwork to purchase. It was then they told us that our boat wasn't exactly brand new. It had been lent out to another customer for a long holiday weekend, but no big deal. Really?? We inspected the boat and found several scrapes & scratches. Asked how many hours were put on the motor. They said they couldn't tell us that. After negotiating with them for days and almost not buying the boat, they confessed they could tell us how many hours were on the motor and offered to knock a few hundred off the price. We were not happy but went ahead. After that, the customer service issues continued on and on including delivery issues. Then we paid $250 for them to pick up, winterize and return the boat to our indoor storage facility for the winter. We were not on sight when they delivered and found out mid-winter they never bothered to put the boat cover back on the boat! The cover they repaired (the clips kept coming off) was stuffed inside a compartment of the boat. We can't get to the boat now to put the cover on so it will be filthy by spring and hopefully, rodents won't have moved in. They then wanted us to drive over an hour to our storage place to take a photo of the cover tag for them to send to the boat mfg. for reimbursement for the cover repair because they "forgot" to do it. Maybe if they'd put the cover back on the boat (was on when they picked it up), they would have remembered that. All in all, it was one thing after another and very poor and disrespectful customer service with each person we dealt with giving us a different story or version. Will no longer do business with this store. They need to get their act together and see we are not only unhappy customers from prior reviews! Spent a lot of money and bought a boat load of disrespectful and bad customer service with our boat. read more

Incompetent service staff. Took my boat in to them at the end of the 2013 season for an engine issue, wouldn't start on my last attempt to go fishing. Charged me $270 to supposedly fix the issue, replacing spark plug boots. Voiced my concern that I was very skeptical but never got to use the boat again until the following spring. Spring of 2014 I have the exact same problem. They claimed it was a different problem and they can't fix it, parts not available for my 25hp mercury(1989). Suggested I buy a new motor, would cost way to much to try and find the parts to fix this one. Two days later I take it to Tinus Marine in Oconomowoc at the recommendation of a friend. They fix it the same day for under $300, apparently there were plenty of parts available. Called Skipper Buds to get some satisfaction, I pretty much get the "oh well, thats too bad" routine, you still owe us $79 for diagnosing nothing. Tinus Marine is awesome, Skipper Buds, not so much. Will never do business with them again. read more