I had the exact opposite experience at Cabelas. Went in there and was ready to write a check. Only thing the guy really did was show me how much better the Alumacraft was compared to Lund. I had him spec out a boat for me. Didn't want to do much but put a Merc on which I didn't want. Finally got it spec'd out, but was more than I had seen elsewhere. Left my name and number and a year later almost to the day have never heard anything back.
I researched them all.
Tracker- Horrendous customer service if something goes wrong. There are a lot of them out there because of the price point. I owned a Tracker Pro Team 175 at one point. Fit and finish was not great and my trailer was junk. However I got it cheap, had fun with it, and sold it at a profit.
Lowe- No splash rails on it. Also standing on an Alumacraft deck which was solid vs the Lowe that had some give made me ask myself how long it would last. Straw that broke the camel's back was they would only sell it with a Merc. I asked if they would order one without a motor and rig the motor of my choice and it was a negative.
Lund- Really intrigued me. One of the top Lund dealers in the country is in Pittsburg, MO which isn't far from SE Kansas. They had some Lund 1775 Impacts with 115 Mercs on them very competitively prices. Talked to them on the phone. They really wanted to earn my business. Turns out they are a Mercury platinum dealer and weren't interested in hanging anything but a Merc on the boat. That ended it for me. Lund has great fit/finish, big splash rails for a dry ride, and pretty much everything I wanted except for the motor I wanted.
Alumacraft- Really liked the boats. I went to Cabelas to look at what they had and try to work a deal. They apparently weren't very hungry, and I don't think the guy believed me when I said I would write the check right there for the right deal. Alumacraft makes a nice boat.
StarCraft- Had an 88 deep v starcraft that I really liked. However to get a StarCraft I was going to have to drive quite a way to find what I wanted. Found one I liked in Pennsylvania and darn near hopped a plan to Pittsburg.
G3- This is what is sitting in my driveway. I had been looking and found it on ebay. Its a 2010 V172C with a 2013 90 hp Yamaha on the back. He had it listed as a factory demo. I had priced some new G3 boats previously before finding it. Drove to Plainville, KS to take a look at it. Negotiated what I felt was a good deal, wrote the check, and came back on my next day off to pick it up. It had a couple carpet stains and some scratches in the decal, but I have since added more of both. I love the Yamaha outboard. I did have one warranty issue that Shady Creek handled with no issues. Fit and finish isn't Lund quality, but its a nice boat that has a good dry ride. If you want to check it out or take it for a drive one day let me know. The boat was bought from the Plainville Boat Shop. Its kind of a hole in the wall, but I felt I was treated fairly there. I have it serviced at Shady Creek, and have had nothing but good experiences dealing with them.