rockmine

A quick update for everyone. I met with a director of the marina in question on Thursday afternoon of last week. He agreed to refund my deposit but refused the survey fee, or even part of it. Oddly, when I asked for a written confirmation that the funds would go back into the account they came from, I was presented with a page to sign that stated I was acknowledging receipt of the refund. I asked for the page to be re-written to clearly indicate that the refund would be made the next day. It was made within 24 hours. Before I left the marina, I was told the contract was between the marina and myself and not an individual seller! That would back up what a lot of people have said and was certainly something I should have noticed and questioned to start with. The director also pointed out that social networks and the like were an area that they were concerned about and asked if I could remove my postings. I said I was not prepared to do that but would say we had a meeting which was productive and amicable and led to a refund of my deposit. Since then I received an email from the editor of Towpath Talk. It read as follows: "Dear Roy We have been in contact with Whilton Marina regarding your problems surrounding the purchase of a narrowboat. We understand this has now been settled amicably but please could you contact Abby Steele at Whilton Marina on 01327 842577. Kind regards Janet" I have not included email or postal address or direct dial phone number for obvious reasons. I have also not bothered to contact anyone at the marina and am disgusted they should have used the magazine to pass on their message. I'm obviously a tad tetchy!

Thanks to everyone for their good advice and support. I'm in Daventry prior to visiting the marina to seek my deposit and walk away - unless they have a complete change of heart. With that in mind, I would love any of the nice folk in the narrowboat community who have or know of a boat available for less than £ 20K to let me know. Many thanks in advance. Roy

I have to own up, I'm a newbie to boat buying. A newbie but not a complete idiot. The premise was simple: find a boat that suited my needs and looked acceptable, go and see the various candidates at marinas and canals across England and Scotland, then put in an offer subject to survey. That was what I read one did, so I did likewise. I settled after several months of looking, on a boat called "Manu Tahi" being sold at ******* Marina . When I saw it, the asking price was £ 19,950. Several weeks after first seeing it, I found it was still available. To me, it offered everything I wanted and above all, it had a good "feel" about it. I'd discounted dozens of other craft and was happy to put an offer on the boat. My first offer was refused but my second accepted - £ 17,950. It had a homely feel to it but was tired and in need of work on the interior which I accepted. I booked a survey with an independent surveyor included in a list provided by Whilton. The surveyor, Craig Allen even said I could be on hand when he looked at the boat. As it would let me see all the problems first hand with an expert safety examiner, I jumped at the chance. On Monday, 19th November, I met Mr A**** at *******. We were unable to start with the hull survey as a crane would using the area adjoining the slipway but as I had travelled down from Perthshire in Scotland, someone at the marina made sure we were able to start on other elements of the survey. It was an eye-opener. Behind a pleasant enough exterior, a series of major issues needed to be dealt with. The boat failed its survey on several safety issues but also a major insurance one. The hull needed to be re-plated. Oddly, I wasn't undaunted and went back to the marina office to give them an update on the surveyor's verbal comments. A couple of salesmen gave me a price per foot for re-plating but pointed out they were not necessarily the cheapest and there were other companies who could do the work. By the end of the week, I had the full survey report and a copy had per my instructions been sent to *******. After a couple of days, they put a cost on the safety and insurance work of £ 14,010 inclusive of V.A.T. The surveyor's Conclusion & Valuation had stated, "Upon completion of all Insurance and boat Safety works, I feel the offer of £ 17,950 to be a reasonable one." I was told by *******that after commission, the vendor would get £ 2,240. Someone had mentioned that the boat was his pride and joy and as such, news of the work needing undertaken must have been heart-breaking. I really felt for the seller and was prepared to increase my price to cushion the blow slightly. That was how things were left on Sunday. On the afternoon of Tuesday 27th November I was contacted by Whilton and told that the vendor was not prepared to sell at the agreed price but wanted their original price of £ 20,950. I had already paid a £ 1,000 deposit which is meant to stop gazumping and yet, here I was effectively being gazumped. I countered with a verbal offer of £ 19,495 which a short time later I was told had been accepted. That was when things took an unexpected turn. A salesman called ****** from *******told me that they had bought the boat from the vendor and waived their commission as they would make their money on doing the re-plating work. I was suddenly in a situation where I was no longer able to consider other companies but being forced to accept *******'s price and their terms. They made it clear that the plating could not be started until late January or February which I had stated was unacceptable. As my plan had always been to have the boat transported to Scotland by road, I saw no problem in taking it to anyone who could do the work. Needless to say I remembered the words of the salesman who had said there were other companies who could re-plate for less. I'm assured by ******* that these are standard practices which I would love to doubt. Setting that aside however, there is the issue of ******* buying a boat at a knock-down price based on a survey that I had paid for. I asked if the survey money would be reimbursed as a result but was told they would only ever do a hull survey which would cost £ 250 (not the £ 500 I was charged). My reaction was to ask for that but was told it would not be forthcoming if I decided not to proceed. If this is a commonplace practice, I despair as it seems that both vendor and purchaser are entering into a contract with each other, which the seller's agents then rip up and ignore. My understanding is this: I was buying a boat from a private individual subject to survey. That survey showed work needed to be carried out and either the vendor would carry it out and sell at the agreed price, or reduce the price by the amount. For *******to ignore what I believed to be a binding contract and buy the boat and sell to me at a higher price is ridiculous and not what I would have expected from a reputable company. If these are standard practices, then I do feel people need to be aware of them. I'm sure such practices would not be tolerated in the housing market, or even car sales.