I bought a boat for the first time about 4 years ago. I was in over my head and when I got stuck, Skipper Buds were my lifeline. They are awesome !! Friendly. So helpful and they now get my boat ready for winter every year. When I needed a prop replacement, they had a new in a couple of days and switched out my old prop with my new one for free. When I needed a new boat radio installed. Done in a day. I am so grateful to Jen, Brian and there excellent staff, They make me happy with my boat!! read more

Skipper Bud's of Madison - My boat - Boat Charters Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I'm not sure the problem but they are getting extremely expensive to work with. I will never recommend them for anything. I think they are resorting to poor quality staff because of lack of experience. Heed the warning. read more

STAY AWAY!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY. We put a deposit of $3,100 when submitting an offer to purchase a boat on 5/22/23. The offer was good for 72 hours. They selected another offer but have refused to return our deposit even after 3 weeks and multiple phone calls. After 3 weeks with no refund of deposit had to open a better business claim. Derik was our salesman and was very eager to take our money but then didn't have time to update on us on our offer even after our contract expired after 72 hours they still couldn't tell us what was going on and if our offer was accepted. He said our money would be returned and talked to him again as well as other people at the business yet are still waiting for our money. read more

Staff is courteous and professional. Always a pleasure to deal with them. Customers matter to them. Well done!

This is a real good place to rent / try pontoon boats. We are repeat customers and love trying on their boats.

Great place !! I wanted to sell my boat but didn't want to deal with looky-loos Matt handled the entire thing for a small commision. Friendly people read more

Don't buy a boat from here. They basically have a monopoly and they treat you as such. A Neighbor spent 100k on a new boat and it broke down after 14 hours. It's been in the shop for 3 weeks and counting....there goes the summer. read more

Skipper Bud's is getting this terrible rating because they have some of the worst service I have ever had to endure. I bought a brand new boat in late 2017 from them from a reputable manufacturer. Turns out the boat had some big battery issues. I went out once without any issues. Then the battery became a problem everytime where they needed to jump it. One time they left the boat at the entry slip and never bothered to tell me the boat didn't start. It was 5:30 and we forced them to replace the battery. They were going to charge us $400 until I told them this was bought brand new and that it should be covered under warranty. They said they would take care of the issue over the winter but failed to do so. Even though I called to check on progress throughout the winter. April arrives and they still haven't fixed it. Memorial Day weekend arrives and I request a boat launch assuming it's fixed. It is not. Boat didn't start. They did give a free pontoon rental and said they would kick it up in the priority for service. 4 weeks later and it still isn't fixed. So I have now spent the most of two boating seasons with a brand new boat that doesn't run. The only good thing about Skipper Buds is the dry stack and being on Mendota. Everything else is horseshit. You get to pay nearly $4,000 a year for this shitty service too. read more

Renting a boat on Lake Mendota is always so much fun. The Skipper Buds staff is always really helpful and accommodating. Never driven a boat? They'll give you a little lesson before you begin. We like to go to 3 foot bay to anchor our boat and relax in the shallow water. All things considered, I don't think they're that expensive, especially when you compare it to all the costs associated with owning a boat. They have had a few Groupon deals lately which makes it more reasonable. My only suggestion is to allow 6 hour rentals. The half day (4 hours) goes by so quickly but the full day (8 hours) is way too much. read more

This maybe a good place to rent a boat, but don't buy one!!! The service department is horrible. Once you sign on the dotted line, good luck. Poor communication from the top down. I purchased a boat that was over 75k last year and I'm still having issues today. read more

This organization is professional, organized and knowledgeable in all things boating. We became acquainted with Skipper Buds of Madison when purchasing a pre-owner boat and they served as the broker. As a new boater, I appreciated the broker taking the time to help get me comfortable with operations of my boat and being available to answer any questions that came up along the way. We've also taken advantage to the Dry Stack annual storage - which is convenient for us since we do not live on the lakes. The crew that manages the docks is younger but professional and always friendly. read more

No masks on any indoor staffer during mask mandate - but the sign requiring CUSTOMERS is up. Wanna catch COVID? This isn't your spot. Female customer service staffer was also openly rude. She's should not be allowed to work with customers. She'd make a good bouncer, though - hostile! read more

We had a terrible experience. Purchased a demo boat from them and went to pick it up and it did not work properly. Wasted a day of vacation for that with no remorse from the team at Skipper buds. Picked the boat up two days later after they said everything work to discover that the ballast, horn, a bolt was sheered in the wakeboard tower among other things. They came to my fix some issues a few weeks later but then stopped returning my calls and emails to finish the warranty work. I would never recommend them as they do not follow through or care about the customer once the paperwork is signed. I can't believe that Malibu would even have them listed on their website. After buying the boat I heard from multiple people that they have all heard horror stories about the service at Skipper Buds. read more

Rented pontoon last minute. Staff was friendly, courteous. Pontoon was in great condition. Overall, great day on the lake. I would definitely rent from them again. read more

This may be one of the most poorly run businesses I have ever dealt with. I've had two experiences with their customer service and both have been absolutely terrible. The first time I tried to rent a pontoon boat the weather looked bad. I called 2 hour prior and was encouraged to cancel or reschedule. I chose to cancel. Of course, the weather changed and it was beautiful at the time of my rental so I called to see if we could still go. No one answered. I called again 30 minutes later, again, no answer. A few days later, I noticed that my credit card was charged for the rental. When I called back, no answer. I left a voicemail, no answer. I called again and was finally able to speak to someone who told me they had my rental marked as completed. After disputing this, I was put on hold for 13 minutes, was offered no apologies and was finally refunded. I followed up this experience with a negative review on here and was contacted the next day by the "manager" who bribed me with a free boat rental if I took the review down. I decided to risk it and take the bait (no shame here!). That turned out to be a terrible decision. We were given a boat that was duct taped together on one side and had loose screws holding parts together. Halfway through our ride we hit a wave head on that knocked the cheap piece of sheet metal right off the bow, cutting my friend's foot. When we got back to port, we were told by the deckhand that this has happened to two of their other boats and that we would have to pay for it. We were then blamed for not using "common boating sense" and charged $375. I will absolutely NEVER RENT FROM THEM AGAIN and I DO NOT RECOMMEND SKIPPER BUDS TO ANYONE. Go elsewhere. read more

Skipper Bud's of Madison - How we got the boat - that's duct tape holding it together. - Boat Charters Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Horrible service. They are a complete abomination and I should report them to the Better Business Bureau for their lies. They have had our boat twice in the last three weeks, not because the boat itself is changing or breaking but because they first said that nothing was wrong with it, but then it wouldn't start for us. We brought it back, after having spoken to the second in command, who PROMISED that they would look at it and fix it, and two weeks later we call and they haven't touched it. Unacceptable. No apologies or anything, so we took our boat back and are finding another individual to help us. read more

We have had a terrible customer service experience with this place. The sales is experience was fine, but find a different boat shop for ongoing maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. read more

Prtty much a super lier. Keeping lieing about anything. Recommend DON'T GO. Unless, you want to have terrible service and regret about your money. Cannot believe it! read more

After four years of good service in storing, winterizing, and having interior/exterior detail we hit the wall. Boat delivered and looked like it had sat out for at least an extended period while contracting indoor storage. Extensive mildew on interior and overall dirty when delivered. Several e mails went unanswered. Guess they have more business than they need. I will help their overload as I'm no longer a customer. What a horrible disappointment when I have been a good, loyal customer. read more

We rented a pontoon boat today and were given brief instructions on how to drive and where to go. During the trip, a big wave hit our boat head-on and dented the very thin sheet metal of the front door. Upon returning the boat, Skipper Bud's told us that this has happened to two other boats this season and that we would have to pay for the damage because we should have "known" that we needed to go faster into the wave. However, if this is a known issue, then they should give warning/advice about it ahead of time, especially on windy days like today. This is terrible customer service and I have heard of several other stories from other Skipper Buds' customers who have had terrible customer service, ending in situations like this where it seems to be a scam to have you pay for extra things (or in one friend's case, damage that Skipper Bud's did to their boat during storage and then tried to say that the damage had already existed). Not to mention that today's ride was actually given to us for free as a BRIBE to remove the negative review that we previously left after poor customer service. I would not recommend Skipper Bud's at all and will go elsewhere for any further boating experiences. read more

A few years ago i walked into Skipper Bud's to get parts for an old 1978 Evinrude motor. I was restoring an old boat and was dressed in my "grubbys." The salesman looked me up and down and then half-disgustedly sent me downstairs to the parts department. I ended up going to Don's Marine who was happy to give me the help i needed - and they made me feel like I was important throughout the process. A month ago i bought a Skeeter bass boat from Don's. I spent a lot of money there. I will continue to do so. All because they didn't make me feel like the Skipper Bud's salesman did. Lesson for the day: Don't judge a book by it's cover. 3 years ago i was "into" restoring old boats - even though i had the money to buy a new one. Don's Marine gained a lifelong customer because the guy looking for a 1978 Evinrude part was just as important (to them) as the guy looking to buy a new pontoon in the next room. I will not go to Skipper Bud's again. read more

Sales staff is helpful in acquiring the boat of your choice. However, if you care for your boat, don't store it in their dry stack and have Skipper Bud's staff launch it for you. They show no care for your boat, banging it up against the piers,scraping the paint and leaving the cockpit dirty with their footprints. Their maintenance staff is a rip off; I had to call Mercury Marine myself and have them tell Skipper Buds how to repair a basic issue with the water pump. This was on a new boat. I had to contact Skipper Bud's headquarters in Illinois to get the Madison crew to order a new swim platform cover, after the original one was ruined from hydraulic fluid leaking from a boat stored above mine in their dry stack - two years later! Apparently the volume of their business let's them ignore individual customers. I have taken my boat to another marina. read more

I am writing this while I sit at their parking lot waiting for my boat to be put on a trailer from the dry dock. I called yesterday morning and requested to have my boat pulled from the dry dock and was told that it will be ready today at 1 pm. I came out here at 2 pm thinking it will be ready for pick up. I looked around and my boat was nowhere to be found. I asked the lady at the service department and I was told that it will take 20 mins for them to grab my trailer across the street. I've been sitting here for and hour and a half now and nothing. I walked in there again and asked the same lady and she had already forgotten about me. She comes back and tells me that the first guy they sent could not find my trailer and they have another guy go grab it (I actually just saw my trailer pull in). I wouldn't be this upset if I didn't feel like "another customer"to them. See, I bought the boat brand new for 35k cash. I even added a swim platform for another 3k. They said that it would take 2 weeks for the swim platform to be installed. A month has passed and no swim platform. I go in to see what was going on and found out that they have not even placed an order. I smiled and told them that it's ok and I would like to cancel the order. They said they will write me a check and mail it to me but I didn't find anything in my mailbox. My gf had to yell at them before they found someone to write the stupid check. We are picking the check tomorrow.... It has been 2 months... Skipper will treat you like a you matter until they take your money from your account and you will fall under their radar. Crappy service, crappy treatment of their customer and you will feel like you are an inconvenience to them. read more

This place is horrible for service. We bought a new Four Winns H200 from them last year. We brought it in for repairs for damage caused by someone else and told them we also had a gas leak. After two weeks of them having our boat, we didn't hear a word from them. We followed up with them and they hadn't even pulled the boat into the shop to look at it! They said they would look at it the next day after we called them. Another week went by and we heard nothing. We called and left several messages for the service manager, John L. without a return call. We finally talked to him and he said there was no gas leak. My husband stopped in the next day to pick up our boat and lo and behold, they found the gas leak. The motor had a leak and was covered under warranty. We were told it would be repaired the next day. It is now a week later (for a total of 4 weeks that they have had our boat) and several more messages have gone unreturned. My husband has stopped in several times and they won't tell him anything other than our boat is not repaired yet. With a service manager who doesn't care about the customers, it's no wonder their service stinks. What kind of example is he making for his employees? Look at all the bad reviews for this place. Surprised they're still in business. read more

We had a terrible experience in so many ways. We made an appointment to see a boat and trade ours in. We drove 1.5 hours each way. We got there and they were closed with a sign on the door that said "Closed. Family Emergency." I understand that emergencies happen but they need to call the person who has an appt that night, not send an email an hour before when the customer is already on her way and not checking email. A few days later they demanded that we sign a document to keep them from selling the boat to someone else before we, once again, drove there to see it. Truly unprofessional and infuriating. Once we decided to purchase it, they were extremely inflexible about the day and time we could come to finalize everything. They also barely budged on the price despite our terrible experience with them so far. Furthermore, Tyler had promised to put in a service request to fix a windshield clip. I confirmed with Alex a few days later that this fix was indeed happening. He confirmed yes. When we got there to buy it, the windshield clip was not fixed and they refused to fix it for us despite telling us numerous times that it would be fixed. Furthermore, we were told that the boat was checked over for hours, in every way, to ensure that everything worked well. We were specifically told that the bimini top was opened and checked thoroughly - that is worked great. When we got home we slowly discovered numerous issues with the boat. The bimini top was completely broken. They had outright lied to us about opening it, or had outright lied about it working great. The bow roller was broken and the live well overflow tube was held in with a plastic bag (crazy, right??). I understand that we bought a used boat but the fact that they told us that they checked every inch of it for hours and everything worked well and then finding out that that was not true is dishonest and unacceptable. Do not every go to this place. Every aspect of their service is unacceptable and dishonest. read more