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New Build Delays


Dean71

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Hi All,

Anyone else having a new NB built which is experiencing continued delays. I understand that COVID has affected supply lines but it seems that the delay is now starting to get excessive, Build was due to start in Feb/Mar and we still have no confirmed date to start. I just looking to see if there are people in the same position, which would ease concerns.

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Most boatbuilders are small businesses who constantly have to juggle workloads, staffing, materials supply etc. etc. And over the last 18 months Covid has disrupted work patterns and staff availability (steel fabricators, joiners, plumbers, electricians,  mechanics and the like can't really work from the dining room table at home). Add in the Covid and Brexit related impacts on supply chains, and the latest hikes in materials prices, and it's hardly surprising the delivery dates promised a couple of years ago have slipped.

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Yes, I've had delays and price increases. And then some more delays and a few other price increases.

A virus can't affect supply lines, but shutting down industry and keeping workers at home has. It was deliberate government policy, not anything to do with humble Sars-Cov2.

I ordered my boat in January, and this month was notified that some of the steel has arrived. Some of it, not all of it. So the shell is underway at least.

My builders have shared what a rotten year it's been for them too. Unable to match demand for new builds, they have actually seen sales drop at a time of unprecedented demand.

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Covid has now become a stock excuse by businesses large and small for delivering poor quality or limited service. This is from banks to shops and courier companies.

 

Its also proven very handy for companies that give poor service any way regardless of the existence of covid 19. If something goes wrong they can just trot out 'sorry its covid related' and expect people just to accept it.

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12 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Covid has now become a stock excuse by businesses large and small for delivering poor quality or limited service. This is from banks to shops and courier companies.

 

Its also proven very handy for companies that give poor service any way regardless of the existence of covid 19. If something goes wrong they can just trot out 'sorry its covid related' and expect people just to accept it.

Completely agree. Covid is the gift that keeps on giving for many businesses.

33 minutes ago, MtB said:

Do the environment (and the canals) a favour and buy one that's already been built. 

Very wise words. Also save a huge amount in instant depreciation and pain with snagging lists.

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35 minutes ago, MtB said:

Do the environment (and the canals) a favour and buy one that's already been built. 

 

If the OP has a slot, all be it a delayed one I suspect they will have paid a deposit to secure it. If they cancel now I suspect they will lose that, unless whatever they have agreed with the builder means the delays allow them to claim it back.

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6 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

If the OP has a slot, all be it a delayed one I suspect they will have paid a deposit to secure it. If they cancel now I suspect they will lose that, unless whatever they have agreed with the builder means the delays allow them to claim it back.

This is true but it depends on how big the deposit was?? To cut and run and lose the deposit may well be less of a loss than the initial VAT and new boat loss on delivery.

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No, buy lots of new boats!

The builders will have to employ more and pay the higher National Insurance, and all the extra VAT going into the coffers as well will soon buck up the economy so that inflation can extract more money from all you folk lucky enough to be buying new- new boats.

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3 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

If the OP has a slot, all be it a delayed one I suspect they will have paid a deposit to secure it. If they cancel now I suspect they will lose that, unless whatever they have agreed with the builder means the delays allow them to claim it back.

If the OP has bought a slot - the builder should be completing the boat within it.  Otherwise, what are you paying for? 

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13 minutes ago, Tacet said:

If the OP has bought a slot - the builder should be completing the boat within it.  Otherwise, what are you paying for? 

 

That's the bit that confused me - surely if you place a deposit on the basis that the build will start at a certain time and then it doesn't, you can ask for your money back.   Doesn't matter whose fault it is.  

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12 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

 

That's the bit that confused me - surely if you place a deposit on the basis that the build will start at a certain time and then it doesn't, you can ask for your money back.   Doesn't matter whose fault it is.  

 

I bet it does! 

 

The whole point of a deposit to secure a build slot is so the builder gets compensated to a degree if the customer backs out of the deal, by keeping the deposit surely? 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I bet it does! 

 

The whole point of a deposit to secure a build slot is so the builder gets compensated to a degree if the customer backs out of the deal, by keeping the deposit surely? 

 

 

 

The point I was trying to make is that it should be a two way thing - yes if the customer welshes on the deal the builder keeps the deposit, but if the builder doesn't fulfil his side of the bargain the customer can similarly demand their money back.

 

But TBH anyone commissioning a new steel boat at the moment is taking a great leap of faith, it's surely another reason why the used boat market is white hot.  

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In early 2019 we booked a slot for a new build with steel work commencing at the start of April 2020 with expected completion in October 2020. We signed the contract for the build at the start of 2020 as we then had the boat specification and plans sorted. The steel work did not start till June 2020 and the boat was finally on the water April 2021. The builder said that they would not cut corners to meet a delivery time and in a way I am glad because with multiple lock downs from Nov 2020 to March 2021 we would not have been able to use it anyway. 5 months on very few snagging issues and none of any real consequence, so again I am glad it was not rushed.

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16 minutes ago, PeterF said:

In early 2019 we booked a slot for a new build with steel work commencing at the start of April 2020 with expected completion in October 2020. We signed the contract for the build at the start of 2020 as we then had the boat specification and plans sorted. The steel work did not start till June 2020 and the boat was finally on the water April 2021. The builder said that they would not cut corners to meet a delivery time and in a way I am glad because with multiple lock downs from Nov 2020 to March 2021 we would not have been able to use it anyway. 5 months on very few snagging issues and none of any real consequence, so again I am glad it was not rushed.

Sounds like a great combination of sensible, upfront builder and realistic buyer. Congratulations on your new boat. Care to share which builder you used?

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3 hours ago, Tacet said:

If the OP has bought a slot - the builder should be completing the boat within it.  Otherwise, what are you paying for? 

 

I agree, but your ability to get your deposit back will depend on what you have signed up to regarding start and completion times. If there is some caveat around the builder not being responsible for factors 'outside their control' then it may be difficult, a pandemic and a shortage of steel would I reckon fall within that.

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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7 hours ago, MtB said:

Do the environment (and the canals) a favour and buy one that's already been built. 

We do need people to buy new stuff so there is less risk of a shortage  of used stuff at a later date 

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2 hours ago, Neil2 said:

 

That's the bit that confused me - surely if you place a deposit on the basis that the build will start at a certain time and then it doesn't, you can ask for your money back.   Doesn't matter whose fault it is.  

I believe events that could  not have been predicted and are beyond the suppliers control  are a reasonable excuse for a delay and cost change (but I am not a lawyer).

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3 hours ago, MartynG said:

We do need people to buy new stuff so there is less risk of a shortage  of used stuff at a later date 

 

Have you been drinking?

 

😅

 

We need people to buy less stuff new especially stuff made of steel and the other things with truly massive CO2 output. If we carry on the way we are, the human race is doomed and with attitudes like this, there is not much hope. 

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19 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Covid has now become a stock excuse by businesses large and small for delivering poor quality or limited service. This is from banks to shops and courier companies.

 

Its also proven very handy for companies that give poor service any way regardless of the existence of covid 19. If something goes wrong they can just trot out 'sorry its covid related' and expect people just to accept it.

Yes, so many businesses now use Covid as an excuse for poor service. I cant remember so many companies having a answerphone immediately 'due to unprecedented demand' my call, although important to them, will be ignored for quite a while....

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Dean, what you've encountered is known as "slippage" and is by no means uncommon in he boating world. Our boat, built by the honest and highly competent Mel Davis, was completed a few months behind the originally projected date, and that was over a decade before corona virus came out to play. Numerous factors can come into the situation, such as the owner of the boat being built before yours changing his mind about aspects of the specification, which inevitably causes delays. As for the talented young boatfitter who fitted 'Trojan' out, he never completed the work, missing two deadlines, and we had to take the boat to Fox's to have the interior finished.

   Your experience is not at all unusual.

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9 minutes ago, Athy said:

Dean, what you've encountered is known as "slippage" and is by no means uncommon in he boating world. Our boat, built by the honest and highly competent Mel Davis, was completed a few months behind the originally projected date, and that was over a decade before corona virus came out to play. Numerous factors can come into the situation, such as the owner of the boat being built before yours changing his mind about aspects of the specification, which inevitably causes delays. As for the talented young boatfitter who fitted 'Trojan' out, he never completed the work, missing two deadlines, and we had to take the boat to Fox's to have the interior finished.

   Your experience is not at all unusual.

 

The fact that it's not unusual doesn't make it acceptable.

 

 

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