Returnable Deposit

[BlueStringPudding]

Hello - been asking a few questions that have led to fierce debate in the office today. Perhaps you guys and gals could shed some light onto this?

 

BWML have told me on the phone that a deposit put on a boat at their brokerage would be returnable even if the buyer was just to change their mind about the boat, it didn't have to be for some provable technical reason. (Wow - sounds great!) But they also told me that they don't give you anything in writing saying this. Instead they would draw up an invoice mentioning the deposit has been paid and that it is "returnable subject to survey"

 

So I asked what if the buyer handed over the holding deposit to take a boat off the market but changed their mind BEFORE survey - say after a test drive (booked at a later date due to mutual availability) - and they said that's fine, the deposit would still be returned. However the "invoice" they draw up doesn't state this.

 

Is this normal practice? I mean, it's big ole BWML, not some weeny ebay auction? Should these conditions be put in writing?

[cheshire~rose]

Hello - been asking a few questions that have led to fierce debate in the office today. Perhaps you guys and gals could shed some light onto this?

 

BWML have told me on the phone that a deposit put on a boat at their brokerage would be returnable even if the buyer was just to change their mind about the boat, it didn't have to be for some provable technical reason. (Wow - sounds great!) But they also told me that they don't give you anything in writing saying this. Instead they would draw up an invoice mentioning the deposit has been paid and that it is "returnable subject to survey"

 

So I asked what if the buyer handed over the holding deposit to take a boat off the market but changed their mind BEFORE survey - say after a test drive (booked at a later date due to mutual availability) - and they said that's fine, the deposit would still be returned. However the "invoice" they draw up doesn't state this.

 

Is this normal practice? I mean, it's big ole BWML, not some weeny ebay auction? Should these conditions be put in writing?

 

Would they be prepared to write that detail on the invoice?

 

Failing that I would check if you have a voice recoder on your mobile phone and then you can record the verbal agreement!

 

If they are not willing to put it in writing it does make you wonder what they are frightened of!

[chris w]

Get them to add the additional condition in writing. In law, these disputes are known as the "Battle of the Forms".

 

Chris

[NB Willawaw]

From the sellers perspective, what is the value of a no quibble refundable deposit ?

Sounds a bit too good to be true to me.

[Guest]

TRUST NO ONE (except me of course).

[Dr Bradley]

You appear to be getting an unwritten contract, which isn't worth the paper it's written on.

[chris w]

From the sellers perspective, what is the value of a no quibble refundable deposit ?

Sounds a bit too good to be true to me.

It's a sales tool. People who are time-wasters are less likely to want to put a deposit down. It's a partial close on the way to full "intercourse".

 

Chris

[Chris J W]

You appear to be getting an unwritten contract, which isn't worth the paper it's written on.

 

Damn! I was going to say that!

 

But I agree - a good bit o' Yorkshire Common Sense tells me to make sure it's down in writing. There's nowt wrong with belt'n'braces at times.

[Supermalc]

It's a sales tool. People who are time-wasters are less likely to want to put a deposit down. It's a partial close on the way to full "intercourse".

 

Chris

 

Here's a point we do agree on Chris.......time-wasters. It's something I'll never understand. In the last few years I've sold 3 boats, and advertised others for people, as you can on the net easily.

 

The number of time-wasters is staggering. So much so, that now we just tell them to go and have a look themselves, and if they really want to buy, turn up with the money, and we'll meet them and show them the boat properly. If they can't get the money, or be bothered to bring it with them, we can't be bothered to meet them.

 

Doubt there'll be many more sales anyway, but at least people now know what to expect.

 

If I can contact someone at 9pm by telephone. Travel 220 miles the next morning and hand him the cash in full by 1pm, given my circumstances, then so can anyone else.

 

 

Of coures it is a bit different with a £2 or £3 thousand pound boat to a £20 or £30 thousand pound one......but other than taking a little longer to sort out the details, once the decision has been made, it should be just as simple.

[chris w]

Of coures it is a bit different with a £2 or £3 thousand pound boat to a £20 or £30 thousand pound one......but other than taking a little longer to sort out the details, once the decision has been made, it should be just as simple.

 

Ah. The psychology of decision-making is a whole subject in itself. What may seem an illogical decision to you or me may seem quite logical to the actual decision-maker.

 

They are trying to decide "yes or no" from a mental multi-dimensional array of (to them) complex variables which they have to reduce into some simple binary choice ("transitivity of preference" in psychological terms). In their minds, quite subconsciously, they fall back on "similar" decision criteria or things they have seen occur in the past (known in psychology as "anchoring" and the "availability heuristic"). There are some very powerful psychological courses available which teach sales guys how to get people to make a decision in their favour which is nothing to do with the technical "goodness" of the actual product but is everything to do with psyching out the decision-maker at a mental level. A fascinating subject.

 

Chris

Edited April 7, 2007 by chris w

[BlueStringPudding]

Ah. The psychology of decision-making is a whole subject in itself. What may seem an illogical decision to you or me may seem quite logical to the actual decision-maker.

 

They are trying to decide "yes or no" from a mental multi-dimensional array of (to them) complex variables which they have to reduce into some simple binary choice ("transitivity of preference" in psychological terms). In their minds, quite subconsciously, they fall back on "similar" decision criteria or things they have seen occur in the past (known in psychology as "anchoring" and the "availability heuristic"). There are some very powerful psychological courses available which teach sales guys how to get people to make a decision in their favour which is nothing to do with the technical "goodness" of the actual product but is everything to do with psyching out the decision-maker at a mental level. A fascinating subject.

 

Chris

 

Woah... heaveeeey!

 

I think we've all learned something today.

[cheshire~rose]

Ah. The psychology of decision-making is a whole subject in itself. What may seem an illogical decision to you or me may seem quite logical to the actual decision-maker.

 

They are trying to decide "yes or no" from a mental multi-dimensional array of (to them) complex variables which they have to reduce into some simple binary choice ("transitivity of preference" in psychological terms). In their minds, quite subconsciously, they fall back on "similar" decision criteria or things they have seen occur in the past (known in psychology as "anchoring" and the "availability heuristic"). There are some very powerful psychological courses available which teach sales guys how to get people to make a decision in their favour which is nothing to do with the technical "goodness" of the actual product but is everything to do with psyching out the decision-maker at a mental level. A fascinating subject.

 

Chris

 

Now I understand why it takes me so long to choose a pair of shoes!

 

Heel size, open toe or closed, sling back or toe post .......... and then there is colour..........

 

That is a mental multi-dimensional array of complex variables if ever there was one!

Edited April 7, 2007 by cheshire~rose