Ben Watts Marina

My family and I had a great experience at Ben Watts! Bob did a great job for my boat and was very nice. He’s a very honest guy and I don’t think there’s many of those around. He told me how much it would be to fix my boat and I agreed. When he finished, he charged me much LESS. AND he finished faster then he thought. I asked him why it was much less, and he said because he took a lot less time then expected. That’s so nice of him when you know people won’t always do that.
For another repair, I was going to have to leave my boat for the repair but I really wanted to use it for the next day. He took about 30 – 45 minutes and took care of me VERY WELL. I really appreciate good customer service like that and will surely use them for all of my boat projects.

After shopping half a dozen different marinas, I recently purchased a new Ranger from Ben Watts Marina in Fox Lake, IL. I have owned 2 other Rangers since 1990 as the quality & craftmanship last for years, if not a lifetime. My previous two boats were purchased from two different marinas. While my experience with the sales staff was adequate I did not take the time to post comments about my experience, as I am with Ben Watts because the curtious attentive patience I was shown deserves to be recognized. The boat I purchased was a custom order down to the last detail. The staff worked with me, one on one, going over colors, options, etc., as if the boat was their own. Colors & options can be overwhelming & takes a substantial amount of time to get right. To add to all this, I changed my mind several times after the order was printed out. Fred, my salesman, never showed any frustration, in fact he made it clear, he understood this was a big purchase, and he wanted to get it right as much as I did. Whenever there was a question Fred & I had trouble with, Bob the manager had the answer. I found Bob to be very knowledgable and thorough. Fred & Bob worked with me on price for each option I added and in fact threw in several nice options, they knew I wanted but was reluctant to add as price can add up quickly. I cant tell you how refreshing it is not to be nickled & dimed for once. When I do buy another Ranger, years from now, I absolutely do not need to shop any other dealers. My next purchase will be with Ben Watts and I highly recommend them to you or anyone you know considering a new boat purchase. You will not find a more reasonable final purchase price or a better experience with the sales staff anywhere else. Ben Watts has a service department with a sterling reputation as well, and I look forward to many years of them handling whatever needs I may have. Thanks again Ben Watts!
Shawn P. Cook
Lake Villa, IL.

The service here isn’t so speedy.
We waited in the boat for 25 minutes before someone was going to move out of the way so we could load the boat on the trailer. It was making my Dad very mad.
Turns out that one of the people holding everyone was Ben himself. Some of the marina boys apologized, but said that they couldn’t «kick the owner in the ass for taking all the room.» Let’s just say that I wanted to. How rude.
My Dad says that this marina sucks. I’m no boater (mostly a passenger) so I trust what his opinion means. Plus – it took forever to get our pass for the day. Go some place else to launch! Trust my Dad!