Bought new dink, dealer lied on the weight..

Bought a Mercury Hypalon 310 Airdeck a few months ago as the dealer promised the weight was 80 lbs, not the 103 listed on Mercury's web page.

Based on that I ordered the dink.
Guess what, it is really heavy and too much to lift on and off the foredeck.
Called the factory today and they confirmed 103 lbs.
Called the dealer and he says no, he got the weight from the factory so it must be right.

Now what?
Small claims court? Trash the dealer all over the internet?
(Asked him for a refund of all money, shipping both ways plus sales tax and registration fees, etc, etc., but have not heard back.)

What would you do...?

(Besides towing the darn thing all the time.)

I realize that this forum is geared more towards bigger yachts with cranes and davits and all that...I ran one myself for awhile, but in this case, it is my personal sailboat, and a dink I bought out of my pocket. I am ready to fight, but would like opinions from guys in the business before I start..
The dealer have not returned my calls or answered my e-mails lately.
If this was an honest mistake he should have fixed it, but I have a feeling he needed to make the sale even if a "white lie" was necessarry, therefore no response.
__________________

I posted similar messages on a few other bulletin boards and got some interesting responses.

Came to think of YachtForums a day or two later as this board have more proffesional captains than all the others combined, and much more solid experience with the marine industry in general than the dreamers and cruising sailors on the other boards...One suggested I pump up the dink with helium to make it lighter...

What would YOU do...?

Yeah, an halyard can be used, but I was hoping to avoid that, hence I ordered a dink that weighted 80 lbs...

Slow down tiger....I did not say that I did not belive the MFG was wrong, instead I questioned the dealer and he stated verbaly and in writing that indeed the MFG info was wrong(As in a typo)

This is the info I got from the dealer:

Huh..?

You don't understand that there is something called false advertising as well as fraud, including lying and cheating..
Guess I don't understand what planet you are coming from...?

That being said, I did my homework before buying this dink: Compared with other brands of the same size and the same configuration:
The Zodiac 310 airfloor weighs in at 77 lbs, the Avon at 87 lbs.
This here Mercury was right in the middle and no un-reasonable claim was made from the dealer.

Before I ordered the dink I copied and saved all e-mails as well as claims made on the dealers web-page about the weigths...Just in the remote case there was a problem.

Here is his specs on e-bay as of 5 minuttes ago:

(310 air

Specifications

Length (in/mm): 10' 2" / 310 cm

Beam: 5'

Tube Diameter: 16"

Weight (lbs / kg): 80 lbs

Load Capacity: 1399 lbs

Maximum HP: 15

Number of Air Chambers: 3 + keel + floor

Bagged Dimensions (cm): 3'4" x 1'10" x 18" / 102 cm x 56 cm x 46 cm

Max Persons: 4 )

If this is not false advertising and if you would not get pizzed off by being lied too, then you are a much better man than me.

I bought the dink from the dealer, not the maker.
I paid the dealer for an 80 lbs dink, not a 103 lbs dink.

Well Sherlock, the local gas station owner did not sell me the car or the dink, the dealer did.

Mercury Marine would very much like to know the outcome of this story, they said: If there is a problem, call us back.

Don't think I have to as I gave the dealer a very generous offer in a certified letter I sent today.
If he is smart he should jump.

The BBB, (Better Business Bureau) was a good thing before the internet.
Nowadays most people go on "Google" before makin an expensive decision instead of contacting the BBB..Instant results vs. 3 weeks from the BBB.

A "Name and Shame" thread would probably work for relative small issues like a dealer advertising a $1,600.00 dink as being lighter than it is, but this here Yacht Forum may not want to get involved in million dollar screw-jobs as the liability for publishing bad stuff about builders and brokers could shut Carl (and us) down big time..

Try 23 lbs over-weight, or more than 25%. (1/4)

Not sure about the deep end...Care to specify?

Try to pay for something you did not get.

Huh, what insults..?

Again: If you don't mind being lied to over a simple business transaction, go for it, you are a better man than me.

Not sure where the "Deep End" and the "Insults" are in my postings, but if you are super-sensitive and if you read too much between the lines, you should probably stay out of more threads than mine.