bancrupt

[iteldoo4me]

To inform you that HIXON BOATS have gone into liquidation,bancrupt,skint,broke...........just tough on all those that have had to endure rubbish builds,I suspect they will re format into another company,if they havent already.my boat is booked in for the rectification work in April regardless.Now I can go public with their name,without fear of being scolded!.Any one got any other info on this company please>?How about new company names,such as PART BUILD BOATS,,BODGEIT & SCARPER

[Paula]

How did you find this out? When did it happen?

 

Is this going to cause you a big problem?

 

Paula XX

[gaggle]

i hope this means you are in the position you needed to be in,i am made up for you if it does.

also well done for playing your part in the exposure of what seems clearly now to be a bunch of dodgy b******s.

it is only when good men stand up to be counted that we can hope to have fair trading in the boat world.

 

this is good news for all those people who are in the process of deciding who to deal with,again well done.

good luck for the future

[Moley]

I hope this means you are in the position you needed to be in, I am made up for you if it does.

 

Sorry Gaggle, but I would imagine that it'lldo is now 'up the creek without a paddle' 'ain't got a leg to stand on' and any other metaphors you care to choose, any idea of compensation has gone 'out of the window' and now he has to shell out for someone else to rectify his shoddy build problems.

 

Well done for playing your part in the exposure ... It is only when good men stand up to be counted that we can hope to have fair trading in the boat world. This is good news for all those people who are in the process of deciding who to deal with.

 

But I'll second that.

[Pirate]

Sorry Gaggle, but I would imagine that it'lldo is now 'up the creek without a paddle' 'ain't got a leg to stand on' and any other metaphors you care to choose, any idea of compensation has gone 'out of the window' and now he has to shell out for someone else to rectify his shoddy build problems.

But I'll second that.

 

Here here, I`m with Moley on this the little B£$%^&Rds gone banckrupt because he knows he was in the wrong and probably couldnt afford to pay you off if the court ordered it, You`ll get nowt out of him now mate, pity, but you do have the satisfaction of knowing it was probably you that pushed him into this decision, lets just hope he loses his home and car and all the rest of it, mind you I wouldnt hold your breath on that one, hes probably been planning it a while, and will probably be tradeing under the name of Mrs Hixon boats next. The best we can do, is hope he dont get any work now.

Edited January 11, 2006 by Pirate

[Jon]

Well, it sounds like theirs one less dodgy outfit trading. How have you found this out?

 

Jon

[Gary Peacock]

I had a feeling about this, sorry to say I was right.

 

I know of two more that are very likely to end this way.

 

It stinks doesn't it?

[iteldoo4me]

How did you find this out? When did it happen?

 

Is this going to cause you a big problem?

 

Paula XX

Hi Paula,my boat surveyor phoned me and told me today.,I am not suprised,but my boat will have the rectification work done on it in April anyway,and I will end up with a decent boat.I suspect Hixons will start up again in a psudin name somewhere,!I am taking a ride to their house next week,hope their in.Take it easy out there.Marc

 

I had a feeling about this, sorry to say I was right.

 

I know of two more that are very likely to end this way.

 

It stinks doesn't it?

 

 

it does,but I plan on having the last laugh,its not over yet,just because they are bancrupt makes no odds to me,If they open up again some where else, I will find out,and I'll do it all over again until they realise I am their worst nightmare.See you on the cut sometime after April,when iteldoo4me will be posing and cruisin'.Marc

 

Well, it sounds like theirs one less dodgy outfit trading. How have you found this out?

 

Jon

 

My boat surveyor phoned me and told me today.

Edited January 11, 2006 by iteldoo4me

[Pirate]

It is good really.. one less dodge mister gone!

 

Marc, as I have already run an article on this you have JustCanals full support and backing throughout this..

 

Sam

 

Ahh haaa, but have they gone, or just that name gone?

[Jon]

That's always the problem with these things. It's so easy to set up a new business with a different name and continue in the same vain...

 

Jon

[Moley]

I am taking a ride to their house next week, hope they're in.

... I plan on having the last laugh, it's not over yet, just because they are bankrupt makes no odds to me. If they open up again somewhere else, I will find out, and I'll do it all over again until they realise I am their worst nightmare.

 

Sounds reasonable to me, good on yer mate!

Who said “revenge is a dish best served cold” ?

 

Trouble is, scum usually rises to the top. Take care.

 

( Hope I never get on the wrong side of Marc )

[anhar]

I had a feeling about this, sorry to say I was right.

 

I know of two more that are very likely to end this way.

 

It stinks doesn't it?

This is really worrying Gary. I and any others here in the process of looking for a new boat need to know who they are in advance of paying any money over. Any comment?

 

regards

Steve

[Pirate]

This is really worrying Gary. I and any others here in the process of looking for a new boat need to know who they are in advance of paying any money over. Any comment?

 

regards

Steve

 

 

It gets even more worrying when you get 1/2 way in, cash wise, let me tell you

[Gary Peacock]

Just back from the London Boat Show and the state of the industry was quite at the front of conversation.

 

There does seem to be a down turn in the industry this year quite a few builders who have long order books on fixed price contract are now in the position where cancellation would be favourable to building a boat at a loss due to the large increases in overheads from the time the orders were placed.

The Polish and Moroccan boats are shortly to be joined by Chinese ones so potential buyers may find a price war developing that will drive down the price of these imported boats still further this will be good for the customers but not very good for the UK based budget and middle priced builders.

 

I will be honest in saying I don't really know a solution of how to guarantee that your builder will be here to finish building your boat other than trust, keeping your eyes open for signs of trouble, using a decent contract and making sure you are only paying for work on your boat.

 

Most people in this industry are fairly small time, traditionally stage payments allowed builders with very little capital of their own to build boats using the customers payments to in effect finance their own boats build. In recent years the increased value and complexity of boats as made this even more of a juggling act to carry out. (Even more so for fitters who sub contract out elements of the build and who are at the mercy of these contractors to keep the build on schedule to receive the payments needed to carry on.)

 

It isn't anything new that a few businesses have gone by the wayside this year so I don't think everyone should go into a mass panic just try to be careful in making your choices.

 

For those of a nervous disposition and I don't really like saying this the mass production brokerage type suppliers are probably the safest bet if you need total security of mind.

 

On the news front a recently demised ex quality builder is back in the industry again all be it working for another builder and a very very recently demised company is expected to return shortly phoenix like from the ashes if the rumour grape vine is to be believed!

Edited January 13, 2006 by Gary Peacock

[Richard Bustens]

I always thought all reputable builders took a small deposit then the ballance on compleation i certainly paid like that last year, and was told that was the terms by most of the builders i saw one even said if i did not want the boat when it was finished it was no problem as he would sell it for more than he quoted me when finished ,because that years price would be more than the price when ordered. i paid £500 on order and rest on finish. so the most i could loose was £500.

[Gary Peacock]

I always thought all reputable builders took a small deposit then the ballance on compleation i certainly paid like that last year, and was told that was the terms by most of the builders i saw one even said if i did not want the boat when it was finished it was no problem as he would sell it for more than he quoted me when finished ,because that years price would be more than the price when ordered. i paid £500 on order and rest on finish. so the most i could loose was £500.

 

I don't know of many that do we could never do it on all but the cheapest stuff. If we did we would probably need around 1/2 million working capital to do it (That would be very nice) but a lot of our stuff is big and going on for £200k when finished. For just an hull I suppose some builders might take those kinds of payments terms we have to accept the same when dealing with finance companies.

 

Hulls are always easy to off load if you get a cancellation, without the wait you can name your price if it's something special!

Edited January 13, 2006 by Gary Peacock

[Richard Bustens]

Well i only had the shell, with the engine i supplied fitted, and the boatmans cabin done but i only paid a deposit followed by the rest on finish, and the same terms was offered by Hudsons and also stoke on trent boat builders.

[Gary Peacock]

Well i only had the shell, with the engine i supplied fitted, and the boatmans cabin done but i only paid a deposit followed by the rest on finish, and the same terms was offered by Hudsons and also stoke on trent boat builders.

 

Well if I could get those terms on a fully fitted boat I wanted it would definitely suit me, maybe there are companies out there that will do it if you look hard enough.

[anhar]

I always thought all reputable builders took a small deposit then the ballance on compleation i certainly paid like that last year, and was told that was the terms by most of the builders i saw one even said if i did not want the boat when it was finished it was no problem as he would sell it for more than he quoted me when finished ,because that years price would be more than the price when ordered. i paid £500 on order and rest on finish. so the most i could loose was £500.

Richard, I've come across only one builder who works like that - Ken Yates - who is a middleman type of operation at the budget end of the market. He asks for 10% on order and the balance on delivery. I think you are completely wrong in stating that all reputable builders work that way. My experience is that virtually none do. I'm talking of fully fitted boats though.

 

regards

Steve

Edited January 13, 2006 by anhar

[davidandheather]

Well if I could get those terms on a fully fitted boat I wanted it would definitely suit me, maybe there are companies out there that will do it if you look hard enough.

Hi looks to me what Richard had was a uncompleted boat

Our first payment after the deposit(£1000) was for shell engine sprayfoam amd lineing out we then owned the boat at that stage. therefore the builder was using there cash to built it.

The thing is would Barry Hawkings have build the whole boat on a deposit only?????

David

[Phil Speight]

Hi

These are ever such muddy waters ! All I can say is be careful . For every honest boatbuilder there is one who is perhaps rather less so . But it works both ways - so it`s not too bad . There are a lot of boat builders out there with whom your money and your aspirations are perfectly safe . Just don`t listen to bull s..t , don`t expect to get a bargain ( a fair price is what you should be looking for ) and if something looks too good to be true - it probably is . Go for someone with a track record and a sensible waiting list ( not too short unless they`ve had a cancellation ), talk to other boat owners and don`t buy anything from Morocco unless you want to drink it , smoke it , or possibly ride it unless price is your only consideration . Allegedly . ( How do you spell that ? ) . The Chinese boats , though unusual in appearance at the for`end may be a threat to our own builders in time - but not to the good ones .

I`d love to say what I think about the build quality of the boats we get to paint ( we strip them all to bare metal ) and I`m sure the people who build the good ones wouldn`t mind at all - but the others may make my professional life a bit difficult if I told you the truth . When I retire I`m going to publish everything I`ve ever learnt about our industry - good , bad and downright criminal . Only about four years to wait.....

Cheers

Phil

[dor]

I'll look forward to that book Phil.

[John Wood]

this is good news for all those people who are in the process of deciding who to deal with,again well done.

good luck for the future

 

It's not such good news for those people who are halfway through having there boat built by this scumbag builder. They will find that a lot of the work they have paid for, just has'nt been done, bits missing that they paid for, and generally very shoddy wormanship. I'm pleased that they have gone out of business, but feel very sorry for Itledooforme, who will not get any recompense at all.

Its just to be hoped that they never touch another boat again. Anthony M told me in September that if he never saw another narrowboat again, it would be tooo soon. He must have a short memory.!!!

[Phil Speight]

I never though joining this forum would be so difficult ! Because I have a fair amount of "insider" knowledge - and Gary probably feels the same - I`m sitting here metaphorically biting my tongue . I`m sure we could both reel off a list of names , currently trading as well as recently bankrupt , who would be best avoided . Can`t do it though . Sorry .

Phil

[Gary Peacock]

I never though joining this forum would be so difficult ! Because I have a fair amount of "insider" knowledge - and Gary probably feels the same - I`m sitting here metaphorically biting my tongue . I`m sure we could both reel off a list of names , currently trading as well as recently bankrupt , who would be best avoided . Can`t do it though . Sorry .

Phil

 

 

Yes Phil

 

It's so tempting to say things that would probably not be a very good move in the long run!

 

But we can still offer a bit of what I hope is good advice along the way.

 

Cheers

 

Gary