I had a similar experience with a different dealer and Northstar over the last year. Ordered a Phoenix last June, paid $500 deposit and was told delivery would likely be end of July or early August. Early August came and went without word. I emailed the dealer a couple times, but never got a response. Finally in late August I got a call that the boat had come in with the wrong trim. The dealer called around to every other dealer in the Northeast, but no one had a boat with the requested trim they could trade. So then I was told I could take the trim that came in, or wait until they built a new boat for the next shipment east. I opted for the latter - because I ordered what I wanted and wanted what I ordered. That also took months and I had my emails and calls to the dealer repeatedly ignored. The boat finally came in in late October, but since the dealer is 2:15 away, I couldn't get it until early Nov as the water was already icing up. At this point it was off-season and the dealer had pretty much closed up shop. We finally scheduled a pick-up time and I was able to get the boat, and had it on the water a few times before things were totally solid.
After some great service over the phone and in person from the dealer, and over the phone from Bear at Northstar, I was really disappointed in the lack of communication. I understand that materials supply chains were backed up and there's a labor shortage, so the delays were sort of excuseable, but the degree of lack of communication from the dealer wasn't in my opinion. I thought about cancelling and trying to order from another dealer, but figured I'd just be moving myself to the back of a different line and might wait even longer for the boat to come in.
I talked to my wife about all this - she owns and operates a small business, and she encouraged me to chalk it all up to COVID and let it go, given that I did eventually get the boat I wanted. In these days of Amazon and Walmart, I try to give small business owners every benefit of the doubt.
That said, I would not have stood for getting a messed up boat after paying full price up front - glad Northstar made that right.
Regarding quality, my new Phoenix does have some interior spots where there fabric isn't perfect but had a wrinkle or two form in the vacuum. I'd heard of similar on this forum prior to ordering, and it's true. But it doesn't affect performance, and I really like the boat, so...fair's fair on that I think. But, buyers should be eyes wide open.