Broker Recommended Surveyor

[Rickent]

On 12/06/2020 at 21:42, Richard T said:

Just to clarify you can contact Chris Williams through his business which is Ovation Boat Services. He is very good and is also Gas Safe registered for boats.

I could never get hold of him, rang him numerous times and he never answered.

[Rickent]

2 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Well if he / she cant even spell the brokerage name correctly, chances are they didnt pay much attention to paperwork, surveys or investigation/planning prior to purchase.

 

Cavvyeat Empty or summat like that innit.

I was told last week that a guy I used to work with has just bought a boat from whilton, I have no idea if he had a survey or not as I have not spoken to him yet, but his boat developed a list apparently on the way back to Leicester and is currently out of the water for investigation and his engine is also out of alignment. 

[matty40s]

5 minutes ago, Rickent said:

I could never get hold of him, rang him numerous times and he never answered.

Hes heard about your boat....?

[Rickent]

2 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Hes heard about your boat....?

??

[Alan de Enfield]

7 hours ago, Rickent said:

I was told last week that a guy I used to work with has just bought a boat from whilton, I have no idea if he had a survey or not as I have not spoken to him yet, but his boat developed a list apparently on the way back to Leicester and is currently out of the water for investigation and his engine is also out of alignment. 

He's one of the lucky ones and it appears he 'got away lightly' then.

 

Maybe Whilton should be renamed 'Phoenix Boat Brokers' as most of their boats appear to have died and are waiting to be scrapped, a couple of days on life support, a friendly Surveyors report and they are 'as good as new'.

 

Yes - somehow they do seem to pick up the odd 'good one' (by accident ?)

[ditchcrawler]

This is the Facebook thread if anyone is interested, it contains positives and negatives https://www.facebook.com/groups/NarrowboatOwnersGroup/permalink/2689988831279388/

[zenataomm]

I bought my boat 11 years ago from Whilton and had already decided on Trevor Whitling for any future surveys.

The brokerage told me they recommended him as well, and he was top on their list.

He gave me a lot of  evidence to get them to do a lot of work and I negotiated  a drop in the price by £4K.  It was only a  £19K sale to start with.

 

Apart from understanding how Brokerages work, I think you also have to know how Surveyors work too.

You need to be there at the survey, so you can understand what the jargon means in the written report, he can also explain to you why things that sound awful are actually a doddle to attend to.  And Vice Versa.  Also be honest with your surveyor, if you know nothing or are not at all mechanically minded, tell him, so he can adjust his spoken description accordingly.  It'll all help you to decipher his report.

At the end of the day if you're no good at negotiating then the only use a survey is if you want comprehensive insurance.

I'm very good at negotiating, I understand sales, aggression plays no part in the process and the survey report is the ideal weapon.

[madsunday]

So now im all sorts of worried after reading this thread but I suppose only time will tell!

 

Survey is soon. Only downside... due to Covid the surveyor has asked that I dont shadow him on the survey.  

[kalees]

I am not normally one to make recommendations, been bit too many times, however, I can not recommend Justin Green enough, he did a fantastic job for me and picked up issues that other people over the years had clearly missed.

 

True professional and very accommodating.

[zenataomm]

12 hours ago, madsunday said:

So now im all sorts of worried after reading this thread but I suppose only time will tell!

 

Survey is soon. Only downside... due to Covid the surveyor has asked that I dont shadow him on the survey.  

What's the difference between Shadowing and sitting 6 feet distance within ear shot?

 

[Dr Bob]

15 hours ago, madsunday said:

So now im all sorts of worried after reading this thread but I suppose only time will tell!

 

Survey is soon. Only downside... due to Covid the surveyor has asked that I dont shadow him on the survey.  

When we bought our boat 3 years ago, the surveyor was keen for us not to be there till the end - so he could get on and do the survey and then debrief you at the end. When we sold it before lockdown, the surveyor who came to do the survey for the buyer wanted us off the boat for the full 4 hours of the survey. They dont like peeps around when they do it.

To be honest, most surveys are totally over the top and 75% of it is just boiler plate and padding which is no use to man nor beast, other than getting a couple of grand off the selling price for bits that may be wrong. It would be good if you just paid a guy half the fee for an hours work to go over the boat with you and give you a verbal report - ie yes recommend to buy, its worth it ......or not. The surveys on offer seem to be 4 hours of going over ever tiny little bit of the boat then writing a 16 page report (fully templated but still lots to change so likely take 2 hours - plus travelling - so that is a full days work - for 2 people if he has a helper. The surveyor could do 2 a day like that and never have to write a report.