I don't have any real experience with inboard dealerships, but did spend seven months at one of SoCal's biggest runabout dealers. Talk about high-pressure and 'get all you can get from a sale' sales efforts. Plus, we had any number of boats in for service that ended up staying for up to a year. Imagine letting your $100K cruiser stay parked in a dusty dealership back lot for a year. Boat dealerships (even the pseudo-franchises) are held to such a lower standard than car dealerships, and even those can piss you off, huh?
The thing that got me stoked about Toyota boats back in the day was the thought of towing your boat into the car dealership for service. My stoke had little to do with the brand, and more to do with the fact that a car dealership could not stand to screw over owners like boat and RV dealers can/do. Had Ford or Honda come out with a towboat, I'd have been in line for that too.
The two things that glare at me about how Toyota handled TMS was that although the boats were built very high-end, the organization's leaders were still taken directly from the domestic industry, and with them, all the in-the-box thinking. In other words, I don't think the boats were really built car-like enough. Well-funded, but from the wrong mindset to really bust a revolution. But that's the smaller of the two problems - the number one let down for me was that they contracted with regular boat dealerships. Although they were probably some of the best dealerships and were supported well in terms of training, etc., the fact remains that these channels were much less accountable than regular automobile dealerships might have been.
Your experience is pretty disgusting considering the fact that the dealerships have indeed been supported by the remnants of TMS, and will continue to be supported for some time. For them to just send you away at that time is simply a bunch of crap. They're in need of some concerted internet bashing if litigation doesn't suit you. I'm kinda surprised that Toyota doesn't throw some weight at them.
ANYWAY....welcome to the board, and please let us know all about your boat, experience, and impressions WITH PICTURES when you get a chance!!!
