SWINDELLED AND ABUSED – NO MORE

 I thought that boat counselling was a a win win idea, that would help sailors and would allow me some income without having any real cost for the ones that are buying a new boat (and in most cases a discount), but naively I thought that the ones that follow this blog, were honest people and in fact I have had excellent interactions with many followers, but as in any group I guess there are all sorts of people and it seems I have had bad luck lately. 

To give you an idea just two cases, one an American with whom I worked for several months contacting many boat builders and dealers helping him choosing among many, not only the better boat for him but the better price and equipment (with discounts in some cases over 10% and my commission paid by the dealer). 

At some point he says to me: I changed my mind, I am not buying any boat, thanks for your help. 

Probably he is used to people working for free and did not occur to him asking me how much it would be fair to pay for the many dozens of hours I had worked for him. Note that before starting working I asked him if he was serious, a time table was agreed, one that included a meeting in Dusseldorf next January for a final choice and a command of the boat for late 2021 early 2022. 

But that was nothing compared with the case of a French, Mr Bertrand Debian, that contacted me for help in finding a dealer that accepted his Dufour 412 as part of the deal in exchange for a new boat. He could not find any. 

As you can imagine it is a difficult time to sell a boat now, Covid and all, and I contacted many dealers and shipyards that offered boats that fitted the type he said he was looking for (fast monohull for a circumnavigation). 

After a lot of searching I was able to provide him a shipyard that would take his boat as part of the deal and also a dealer that worked with several brands and that offered him not only a better value for the used boat (compared to the shipyard) as well as a 6 to 8% discount (depending on the boat he chose) and a bigger discount (12%) if the Dufour was not part of the deal. Note that these discounts did not include my 2% commission that was paid directly by the dealer. 

Because he is 70 years old and his wife wanted a catamaran, I convinced him that probably a boat like a XP44 was not the more indicated craft for sailing basically solo on a circumnavigation at his age, that it was a demanding boat that implied a sportive attitude to sailing and a very good fitness, a boat with a huge B/D that was designed to sail with considerable heel to take advantage of the ballast. 

In the end we opted for a Nautitech 40, the more sportive of the “cheap” catamarans (the only one that fit his budget), a boat that is very well suited for the trade winds and able, on those conditions, to sail easily at double digit speeds. 

He and his wife visited the boat (in France), loved it, talked with an owner and the choice of the boat was settled. In the meantime I had posted on the blog (no charge for him) an advertise for selling his Dufour, that it was in fact a good deal because it was equipped for long range cruising and sold at a good price. The post was seen about 1900 times. 

I sent him several contacts of sailors that were interested on his boat and that have contacted me. I don’t now if it was through my blog that he sold his boat, but the boat was sold and that was very good for him because instead of a 6% discount he would have a 12% discount on the Nautitech and the dealer was able to deliver the boat where he chose, including at the nearest port to the Nautitech Shipyard (France). 

It was time to make the contract, all terms had been defined with months in advance, but then I received an email where Mr Bertrand Debain asked me to try a better deal with the dealer. 

I told him that 12% discount plus my 2% commission was a great deal, that the terms of the deal were established long ago and that I was not going to ask a change on the deal but that if he could find better, providing he or the dealer pay my 2% commission, there was no problem. 

After some days without any reply I received an email saying that tragedy had struck his family, that his wife was hospitalised with Covid and that he had probably been infected too, that all his plans about buying a boat were abandoned. He thanked me for my work ….and nothing more. 

Two weeks later I received the news (through Nautitech) that he had ordered a Nautitech 40 through another dealer. 

So, this is the type of people I am dealing with, and I don’t want to have any dealing with the likes of Mr Bertrand Debain, even if I am paid for, much less will I allow again to be swindled by them. 

So, apologizing to the vast majority of honorable sailors on the blog, I will change the terms of any future contract and I would charge a 1% retainer (over the approximate value of a boat) at the beginning of my work. 

Instead of trusting the ones that are interested in my services I ask them to trust me. If there is a considerable work of my part and the client wants for some reason to abandon the project of buying a boat the money will not be given back, unless I find that there is reason for restitution of a part or all of it. If a boat is bought I will give back the 1% retainer and I will receive from the shipyard or the dealer my 2% commission. 

I maintain that I will only offer deals where the total amount to be paid by the client (including commission) will be no more than the official price of the sailboat. There are some cases where I can have my 2% commission from the shipyard but no discount for the client (because they have a policy of not making any discount) others where I can get 5 to over 10% discount. 

I know that this way of doing business is not nice and goes against what I am and the way I have done business all my life but I hope you understand that if I am available to help the ones that want help in choosing a boat I will make sure that I end not pissed or abused by dishonest people. 

Whishing all the best and a nice sailing season,

Paulo