Elite Covers, Seal Skin Covers, Elite Partners Terrible fit and wouldn't exchange unless I paid for return shipping. Very rude. Pompton Plains New Jersey

My experience was almost identical to another Ripoff report filed against the same company regarding their custom fit boat covers.

I wanted to get a really nice fitting boat cover that woud last a long time. After searching for quite awhile I settled on the Seal Skin Cover sold by Elite Shield Boat Cover that has a 10 year warranty. Thhey offer 2 covers for my boat, one is sized as an exact fit for your boat based on the manufaccturer and model. The other cover is sized just on the style and size of your boat.

Since I wanted a really good fit I checked with Michael an on-line salesperson and asked him if there was a difference in fit between the two covers. He told me the one based on my manufacturer and model was a "custom fit" cover and would fit like a glove. The other cover was semi custom and would fit but not as well. There was approximately an $95 upcharge for the "custom".

I had a total of 3 separate on-line conversations with Michael just to make sure I received the cover I hoped for. I told him I didn't mind the $95 upcharge if it really fit better or were they actually the same cover. I specifically asked him if the cover was actually custom made for the boat and he assured me it was. He said because it was custom made that it would take a couple of weeks to receive it. I pproceeded to order the "custom cover".

4 days later I received the cover to my surprise. It came in a beat up box stamped Elite Partners and Made in China. I was happy to receive it so quickly but now very skeptical that it was custom. If the company is located in NJ and claims to make their own covers how did it come from China?

Upon opening the box the first thing I noticed it wasn't blue as ordered. The second thing is that it didn't seem very substantial. I have owned several boat covers and it sure didn't seem like a 10 year cover. I felt like a bait and switch had occured or perhaps they messed up the order and my real custom cover was on the way. I actually unpacked the cover and tried to place it on my boat. It didn't come close to fitting. It was way too short and narrow.

I called customer service and as soon as the person heard about my concern he said I had to talk to Lisa. No problem as I figured she would make it all good. Well after quite a wait she came on the phone and was immediately defensive. Telling me if I wanted a true custom cover it would have cost me hundreds more and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I told her that I wanted to return the cover and cancel the transaction and would she please send me a shipping pick up label. She agreed to credit the account once they received the cover but that I had to pay the return shipping.

They wanted me to pay the return shipping because they sent the wrong size and color? I told her that wasn't fair and if she wouldn't pick up the cover I would lodge a complaint with my CC company. She told me to go ahead and then hung up.

I proceeded to file a complaint wiith Visa and payment is being held up. I'm sure I'll get my return shipping label one of these days and certainly won't deal with these jokers again. Based on how my initial purchase was handled I can't imagine that they would actually stand behind the 10 year warranty. A quick search of this company produces lots of similar stories and warranty issues.