We’ve all heard and read and hopefully believe how important it is to buy products that are made in the USA. It supports local economies and helps to keep jobs right here where they belong. It can be tough though in this economy to come up with the extra money to buy those Made In the USA products such as pontoon boat bimini tops. I know more than one of you reading this has had some experience with those imported bimini tops and though you thought you were saving money at the time have found out how truly expensive those tops have become! Those that have not had any experience with imported bimini tops and frames allow me to explain how those low cost tops add up quickly. You first may be surprised at what does not come standard that you have to pay extra for. Those items include storage boots, rear braces, installation hardware, color matched trim, front braces, and the list can go on and on. But for simplicity sake lets say you add all that up and still find the price is somewhat lower than the American made bimini top. You really want to buy the American made bimini top but it is still over 150.00 more. So, reluctantly you purchase the imported bimini top. 5-10 days later it arrives at your door. The first thing you notice when you open the box is how poorly it is packaged. In fact upon inspection you notice the framework has been scratched up quite a bit. But you dismiss it somewhat and think…well I can deal with that if it saved me 150.00. Then you open the actual bimini top package and notice several things wrong. The top you ordered is yellow but they used black thread to sew it up. The edging is also black and not yellow though you paid for the upgrade to color matched edging. You thought you knew what sunbrella material looked and felt like but looking at this material – which you paid extra for- you are pretty sure it is not sunbrella. There is no tag in it that says sunbrella either. You begin assembling the frame and find they shorted you hardware that was necessary for completion. The parts just don’t seem to fit together right either. The instructions – which really aren’t very instructive, are also incomplete. You spend the next 2 hours of your life (you won’t be getting that time back) putting it all together an up on your boat. More bad news, it doesn’t look anything like the picture they advertised online. You are angry at the company you bought the bimini from as well as yourself for not listening to your wife and spending the extra 150.00 for an American made bimini top from Northstar Products Inc. You call the company you bought the top from to complain and ask for your money back but find out they do not take returns once their products has been installed on the boat. Now you are stuck. Once you add up all the time you have spent on researching this subject, purchasing it online, setting it up, and arguing with the customer service rep – whom you believe must be somewhere in India – you realize just how much that inexpensive, cheap top has actually cost you.
Do yourself a favor, pick up the phone or log onto www.northstarproductsinc.com to see why our American Made bimini tops will save you money and make your boat look better than ever. Our workforce takes pride in their job and realize how much a quality product from a high quality company can actually save you money, even if it is a little more expensive out the gate.
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