Unless you want horrible service and bold face lies do not do business with Joe Carlson (owner of Grampa Joe's Marine). After being recommended by Thorne Brother's I contacted Joe to have my 2012 Lund Explorer rigged. After spending a couple thousand dollars to have him install 2 HDS 8 graphs, Lowrance LSS-1 structure scan, Minn Kota Terrova trolling motor, a Minn Kota 3 bank charger, batteries, etc. I began having trouble with the structure scan function on my bow unit. Joe had just installed the bow unit a few days earlier so I decided to check the Ethernet cable connections. Upon doing so I discovered that the brand new Ethernet cable he just installed for the bow unit was wrapped with electricians tape near the connection at the structure scan unit. Upon further investigation I found that the cable had a 1" slice in it that appeared to have come from a razor blade. After repeated attempts to get the structure scan up and running for the days fishing it continued to fail. Upon attempting to contact Joe in regard to the cut Ethernet cord he initially dodged my phone calls and took 2 days to get back to me. I had to tow my boat 170 miles back to his store in Harris, MN at which point he informed me that the cut cable wasn't the issue but that I most likely had a faulty LSS-1 structure scan unit. According to Joe himself he spoke with a Lowrance rep and they agreed to replace the LSS-1 structure scan unit under warranty. Joe also agreed to replace the cut Ethernet cord. The next day Joe personally called me and informed that both of the above had been done and my boat was once again ready to be picked up. I then drove another 50 miles back up to Harris to pick up my boat. When I arrived Joe's mother Linda (receptionist) handed me the keys and informed me that it was ready to go. Upon asking for the box or serial number for the newly installed LSS-1 structure scan unit (for insurance policy purposes) Linda nervously informed me that it should be in the boat. Needless to say the box wasn't in the boat. Joe himself then came out and told me that the box had been discarded in the dumpster out back and that he would try to locate it for me. As I waited in the business with my infant son he and Linda eventually told me that they were too busy to look for the box now and that she would email the serial number to me if/when the found the box. Upon towing my boat another 50 miles home in Minneapolis I decided to look for the serial number tag on my newly installed LSS-1 unit. I had to physically crawl under the console and unbolt the unit to retrieve the serial number from the unit only to discover that it was the exact same serial number already on file with my insurance company. Joe Carlson is a con artist, a bold face liar, and should be ashamed to have involved his own mother is his web of lies. I will never do business at Grampa Joe's again and would caution you against it as well. An excellent place for an I-Team investigation.
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