Whilton Brokerage

[Tinhare]

I was at Whilton about a year ago and m'be I just got lucky with the member of staff I delt with.

 

He looked at my wish list, gave me some keys and let me get on with it adding that boat 'Z' didn't tick to many of my boxes but thought it might suit me so bunged me the keys to that as well.

 

He was right and I spent (literaly) hours onboard with no hard sell, er....no selling. On returning to the office he had most of the answers to my (in those days ill informed & bordering on stupid) questions. Pitty my house sale went belly up the same day.

 

I'll be at Whilton, along with a number of other marinas, again this week and hope the same guy is still about. Their buissiness model might not be to everyones taste but as a potential buyer, I like it.

 

Taslim.

 

Edit. Add a word to make sence.

Our experience was pretty much the same. We liked the idea of being be to go and look at a number of boats with being hassled.

 

However, we were interested in a boat that had a DM2 engine in it. So we wanted to hear it running. They were busy at the time so we grabbed some lunch a their cafe and arranged to come back afterwards.

On return we had to wait and as this boat came with a survey we asked to see it and explained that we wold still want our own survey. (the boat looked like it needed some work). When we mentioned our own survey the foot shuffling started and the Why would you want to pay for another survey? There's nothing wrong with our "independent" survey statements. Hmmm.

They eventually said they weren't sure how to start it, a bit odd we thought. So we left as we had other boats to look at elsewhere. They called later to say that they had tried to start the engine but couldn't and they will get back to us. Next day they rang to say and engineer was going to look at it and wil be in touch. Never heard from them again.

[Ange]

The above boat sellers only sell tidy boats, not boats that need some tlc. :-(

Have you approached Rugby Boats Sue - I'm fairly sure Dominic isn't a snob like ABNB. I'd go nowhere near ABNB on principle because once we were identified as newbies with a small budget we got a very long lecture about how we really weren't cut out for boat ownership and a refusal to look at any boats. In fact it was the only marina / brokerage we visited that would not show us a single boat - even though they had some for sale within our price range. Just our experience, but I'm sure boaters with a £60k boat loan agreed would get a better welcome.

 

He reminded me a bit of the estate agent in Kent that laughed in our face when we said we wanted a detached house with a big garden for about £130k. Within about six weeks we'd bought a lovely detached house in Appledore for £135k - and it had a lovely big garden.

 

We visited Wilton many times during our boat search and I'd be really worried about selling our boat through them unless everything aboard was nailed down. They obviously do sell boats though or they wouldn't be in business still.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Ange

[Dekazer]

As with any large(ish) company, there are pros and cons with their business approach. Clearly they are doing something right as they are still in business, but customers have also had poor experiences.

 

As a buyer, we liked being left to explore lots of boats, and they always seemed to have lots of boats in our low price range. That meant we visited several times, and it was always busy. They have a large footfall and, I imagine, a lot of online viewers, so your boat will get seen by a lot of people.

 

They also tend to have a lot of neglected boats for sale. This might mean that your boat looks better value by comparison, but it also means that you get a lot of tyre kickers tramping in and out.

 

I got the impression that their staff were not as intimately acquianted with the boats as one might hope. This makes it hard for experienced buyers to find out what they need to know. You might be able to get round this in some way. (E.g. leaving written instructions?)

 

It's my understanding that they are both a broker and sales - if you need to offload your boat quickly that might be an advantage. You wouldn't get the best price though.

 

You could take a trip as a prospective buyer, and see how they deal with you, to see whether you'd be happy for them to sell your boat for you. You might try that with a couple of other places too. I understand that some places will be better for buyers, some for sellers, but you'd get a reasonable impression I bet..

[sueb]

Thanks to those who answered from the sellers point of view, which was what I asked for. I don't really want to sell privately as viewers seem to want an afternoon out and a chat, which would be ok if we were dealing with the viewings but not when we are relying on friends.

[Gingerbeer]

My experience as well. I said if I paid a deposit so I could take the boat for a spin, and decided its not for me, on what conditions would I get my deposit back. The reply was somewhat suprisingly if the survey showed it would not stay afloat or words to that effect. I walked away from what seemed at the time an ideal boat.

 

Martyn

 

Is this normal when looking for a boat to buy? If I am going to spend thousands of £'s on a boat, I expect to not only view it at my own pace but take it for a spin to make sure it works like it should. People test drive cars without having to pay a deposit on it so why not boats? Is this just the norm and what I should expect when I actually start to look at them? I like to be able to take the keys and have a look around by myself without the watchful eye of a salesman. Like a car, I know imediately once inside if I like it or not. And if I like, then I would want to sit and imagine myself in it, stand in the shower, open the kitchen cabinets, try the windows, run the water, etc. Maybe that is just me. But having to put a deposit on something that a salesman is too lazy to help you with in the first place is just not good business sense.

 

I have been looking at Great Haywood (as mentioned in another post here) and they have some lovely and unusual looking NB's. Do they make you put a deposit down to "try it out" or do they actually want you to try before you buy?

[davidc]

 

Is this normal when looking for a boat to buy? If I am going to spend thousands of £'s on a boat, I expect to not only view it at my own pace but take it for a spin to make sure it works like it should. People test drive cars without having to pay a deposit on it so why not boats? Is this just the norm and what I should expect when I actually start to look at them? I like to be able to take the keys and have a look around by myself without the watchful eye of a salesman. Like a car, I know imediately once inside if I like it or not. And if I like, then I would want to sit and imagine myself in it, stand in the shower, open the kitchen cabinets, try the windows, run the water, etc. Maybe that is just me. But having to put a deposit on something that a salesman is too lazy to help you with in the first place is just not good business sense.

 

I have been looking at Great Haywood (as mentioned in another post here) and they have some lovely and unusual looking NB's. Do they make you put a deposit down to "try it out" or do they actually want you to try before you buy?

As far as I know like everyone else there do not allow test drives But there again ask as we say up here

shy bairns get nowt

[Guest]

As far as I know like everyone else there do not allow test drives But there again ask as we say up here

shy bairns get nowt

 

An insurance issue perhaps?? - guessing.

 

The brokers don't (exceptions a per previous posts) always actually own the boats the owners do so they I guess the broker won't carry a 'universal policy' like a garage would. And not every bodies policy allows any old Tom, Dick or Harry to take charge of your boat.

 

[Zayna]

 

viewers seem to want an afternoon out and a chat,

 

This is why Whilton give keys out and are reluctant to take folk out for a spin, I'd imagine. Can you imagine having all those boats for sale and everyone wanting to do it? We bought our boat from there and they were fine, had no problems at all and I really appreciated the freedom to wander round the boats and get a feel for what we wanted. I also reckon that we got a fair deal on what we bought.

 

We spent a few afternoons viewing, but so did many others who would probably never buy a boat in a gazillion years and were there just for an afternoon out. If a boat ride had been thrown in, I expect they'd be regulars and not many boats would be sold because they were all out on a jolly.

 

Insurance is an issue I think, when it comes to 'test driving' a boat. And it's not like you can just nip round the block for a five minute ride in it, is it? We were told that our deposit would be refunded if we found a problem with the boat, but not if we simply changed our minds because we'd gone off the idea. Fair enough. I'm glad about that because it really kicked me up the arris to make a decision on whether to go for it or not. We went for it, and it is the best decision we have ever made.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Zayna

[Leo No2]

I would take the view that it is more akin to buying a house than a car. You wouldn't expect to be given the keys to someone's house so perhaps the first visit should be with the salesman and then subsequent visits could be with the owner (assuming they really want to sell and after they have been vetted by the brokerage) - again a bit like second viewings on a house. We all keep a lot of personal belongings on our boats and I certainly wouldn't wish to sell through a brokerage that just handed the keys out.

 

I have looked at selling recently and the 'deal' was the brokerage would show them round the first time and if they came back for a second viewing they would ask me, as owner, to show them how everything operated, possibly take them for a test run, but that would be only after a deposit (didn't get as far as the details of the deposit) had been taken and the buyer vetted by the brokerage.

[sueb]

If a boat is on brokerage surely personal possessions have been removed.

[paul68]

If a boat is on brokerage surely personal possessions have been removed.

At Whilton we went aboard more than one boat with personal(and other) items still on board.

[MtB]

I'll be at Whilton, along with a number of other marinas, again this week and hope the same guy is still about. Their buissiness model might not be to everyones taste but as a potential buyer, I like it.

 

 

I look forward to hearing your views on how I was treated at Whilton a few years back. All seemed to be going well, found a boat I liked, vintage engine, had to make an appointment to start it, so I made a second 180-mile round trip to visit to see it started. On arrival "oh the engineer isn't around, can you come back tomorrow?" Well NO actually!

 

After a fair bit of assertiveness in the office they 'found' the engineer who started it for me. Fine, I was happy, and decided to make an offer on the boat. The bit that truly pished me off was their response to my offer of: "It's not worth putting your offer to the owner, we don't think he would accept it". WTF??!!

 

Will you still admire their business model if they do this to YOU??

 

I bought a boat privately in the end.

 

 

MtB

[Guest]

If a boat is on brokerage surely personal possessions have been removed.

Well we could have had a full set of Nicholson's had we been inclined and various cooking/crockery items. I was surprised to see so much stuff left on boats we were allowed to view unaccompanied.

 

I just assumed some of the sellers were giving up boating permanently and didn't really care.

Edited August 6, 2013 by The Dog House

[paul68]

 

I look forward to hearing your views on how I was treated at Whilton a few years back. All seemed to be going well, found a boat I liked, vintage engine, had to make an appointment to start it, so I made a second 180-mile round trip to visit to see it started. On arrival "oh the engineer isn't around, can you come back tomorrow?" Well NO actually!

 

After a fair bit of assertiveness in the office they 'found' the engineer who started it for me. Fine, I was happy, and decided to make an offer on the boat. The bit that truly pished me off was their response to my offer of: "It's not worth putting your offer to the owner, we don't think he would accept it". WTF??!!

 

Will you still admire their business model if they do this to YOU??

 

I bought a boat privately in the end.

 

 

MtB

and probably about ten grand like for like cheaper too.

[patty-ann]

With regards test driving a boat--why should this be conditional on placing a deposit?

If one test drives a car a deposit isn't ask for.

The cost of narrow boats makes it doubly important that they are tried before money parts hands.

On house sales a offer is made subject to a survey, no deposit is paid prior to survey--lest I don't think I ever have

With regards a survey I think that to place a deposit to secure your boat whilst a survey is done could be acceptable s'long as its refundable if problems are identified. If the boat has problems then the price should reflect this.

An easy option would be to sell all boats with an independent survey done prior to going on the market so buyers know problems before looking.

It would then speed up process and if people choose to have a second survey then up to them.

Anyway I am still learning and read all posts with interest.

[Paul C]

I think if you're serious and the broker knows it (ie you don't just say "I'm serious") a test run can be arranged.

 

Also, regarding test drives - I've sold plenty of cars, and never allowed the prospective buyer to have a test drive before they'd bought it - for insurance reasons - although I've always taken a test drive on a car I'm buying if its a dealer selling it. Basically, it was insurance that is the issue.

[Leo No2]

With regards test driving a boat--why should this be conditional on placing a deposit?If one test drives a car a deposit isn't ask for.The cost of narrow boats makes it doubly important that they are tried before money parts hands.On house sales a offer is made subject to a survey, no deposit is paid prior to survey--lest I don't think I ever haveWith regards a survey I think that to place a deposit to secure your boat whilst a survey is done could be acceptable s'long as its refundable if problems are identified. If the boat has problems then the price should reflect this.An easy option would be to sell all boats with an independent survey done prior to going on the market so buyers know problems before looking.It would then speed up process and if people choose to have a second survey then up to them.Anyway I am still learning and read all posts with interest.

You have jogged my memory - when I bought my boat (privately) it was subject to survey; remembering back to that time it just seemed the normal and right thing to do and was accepted by the vendors without a blink. Must have worked because I still have the boat some 5 years later and still remain very good friends with the vendors.

[sueb]

Have you approached Rugby Boats Sue - I'm fairly sure Dominic isn't a snob like ABNB. I'd go nowhere near ABNB on principle because once we were identified as newbies with a small budget we got a very long lecture about how we really weren't cut out for boat ownership and a refusal to look at any boats. In fact it was the only marina / brokerage we visited that would not show us a single boat - even though they had some for sale within our price range. Just our experience, but I'm sure boaters with a £60k boat loan agreed would get a better welcome.

 

He reminded me a bit of the estate agent in Kent that laughed in our face when we said we wanted a detached house with a big garden for about £130k. Within about six weeks we'd bought a lovely detached house in Appledore for £135k - and it had a lovely big garden.

 

We visited Wilton many times during our boat search and I'd be really worried about selling our boat through them unless everything aboard was nailed down. They obviously do sell boats though or they wouldn't be in business still.

Yes I have been in touch with Rugby boats. He was my first port of call.