Yacht Exchange Sails / Westaway Sails

[AndrewL]

Has anyone successfully bought a used sail from Yacht Exchange Sails / Westaway Sails and been happy with the sail?

I recently saw on their list a used mainsail which was a perfect fit for my boat and was listed as 8/10 condition. Although I've seen the various threads on here about them I thought I would take a chance as my father-in-law, who lives near to them, offered to go and inspect it and buy it in person. I figured that I would not be at any risk this way.

I phoned and chatted to them for a while, the sail seemed to be exactly what I wanted and he agreed to send some photos. I wanted my father-in-law to be sure he was inspecting the same sail that I had been talking to them about. However, the photos were clearly not of the sail we had talked about on the phone and the email actually had their stock code number for another sail. I emailed back to point this out and received a strange reply which boiled down to "this is the right sail".

I then emailed and phoned several times and politely said that he must have accidentally sent the wrong photos, but that I was very interested to buy the sail that we had initially talked about. I was always told they would look into it and phone right back, but so far I've heard nothing. Then today I noticed that the sail I talked to them about has been removed from their stock list. It seems a strange way to do business, I am clearly in the market for a mainsail and they sell used sails and new sails, but I would not want to do business with them now.

So, has anyone had a positive experience?

 

[Bav34]

Some have, most haven’t including me.

 

[NealB]

Some have, most haven’t including me.

Unless they've changed drastically, sadly, they are a company I will never deal with again.

They may be skilled, knowledgeable sailmakers, but their approach to business too often seems to leave a lot to be desired.

They have cropped up on here several times over the last few years, with numerous forum members (including myself) having very bad experiences (eg very late deliveries, wrong items delivered, promises repeatedly not fulfilled, money taken up front but long, long delays in getting refunds).

Proceed with extreme caution (or walk away).

 

[T_C]

Is this Westaway in Ivybridge? If so, I've had some problems in the past with getting sails back from them at the beginning of the season having sent them there for cleaning, nothing too drastic though, just a bit of hassle.
I've also bought a second hand crusiing chute and a second hand no 3 genoa from them that have done precisely what they're supposed to do, so no complaints in that department. I guess I'm relatively local though so I can browse what they have to offer in the flesh as it were.

 

[sarabande]

Another forumite and I spent some time with them, looking at their 'system' and made recommendations on improvements in the identification, storage, and sales processes. Linked to their core business of making and repairing sails, I believe it could be a good business selling/changing pre-owned sails if managed rigorously.

The chances of a successful deal are very much dependent on who deals with your enquiry.

 

[NealB]

Another forumite and I spent some time with them, looking at their 'system' and made recommendations on improvements in the identification, storage, and sales processes. Linked to their core business of making and repairing sails, I believe it could be a good business selling/changing pre-owned sails if managed rigorously.

The chances of a successful deal are very much dependent on who deals with your enquiry.

It seemed, to me, to be a company that would do as little as it could get away with, and hold on to customers' money as long as possible.

(edit: Or, trying to be more positive, perhaps a company that had no idea of how to do even the most basic production scheduling.)

The previous complaints on here have been in relation to more than just the used sails side of the business.

I believe I dealt with Mr Big, but it was a dispiriting, stressful, experience (eg promises made, promises broken, calls/ emails not returned and so on).

I have no wish to repeat it.

 

[Poey50]

I bought a mainsail for our Sadler 32 two years ago from them. The delivery was overdue but the sail is well made and I'm completely happy with it. They did make some effort to get the sail to me to make up for the delay. My impression is that they know how to make sails but maybe not how to manage the business. I'm afraid I won't take the risk next time and will buy elsewhere.

 

[PhillM]

I can only speak as I found. I ordered a used no2 jib. Paid Paypal and it arrived three days later. It is exactly as described.

I have seen the other posts and I guess I may have been lucky. But I didn't deal with anyone, so have no idea about customer service, I just ordered, paid and received.

 

[Seajet]

I know someone at my club who recently ordered a new sail from them - he doesn't look at forums so was unaware of the many snags reported here.

For the record, I used to be a big fan of Westaways - after all they were standard on Sadlers, sailor's boats - and almost all my sails are by them, but a while ago - yes I need to be thinking of new ones, but sadly I just would not take the chance on Westaways any more.

I'll try to report back on how the buyer at my club gets on, well I hope for everyone's sake...

 

[Shuggy]

I'd avoid. I bought a used spinnaker from them and it split wide open on about the 5th use - I asked about getting it repaired and then they gave up on comms.

 

[zoidberg]

As Sara indicates above, I tried them with some straightforward maintenance work - fully discussed and agreed. They did everything different e.g instead of specified Rutgerson toothed clew rings, they used cheap brass ones.... but charged me for the higher spec. Several specified small tasks were simply just not done.... these spotted when I inspected the work before removing the sails.

I won't use them again. There are other, better sailmakers around the south-west keen to do a good job for you. Here's one.... High Water Sails, Faraday Mill Business Park

http://www.highwatersails.com/

 

[Ianqv]

I had disgusting service from them. The matter only got resolved after threatening legal action.

 

[dancrane]

I ordered a secondhand spinnaker and used PayPal.

I was told it would be sent by tracked post. There was no sign of the sail for a fortnight.

When I asked what was going on, I was told it had been sent by untracked post. Naively, I gave it a few more days before insisting the payment was returned.

I now doubt the sail was ever sent at all.

Friends suggested it had probably been sold before I paid for it, but that they couldn't resist accepting the money and holding onto it as long as possible.

I don't know that they're deliberately dishonest, but I'm very sure they're hopelessly inefficient and unscrupulous.

Never, ever again, was my conclusion.

 

[garyratcliffe]

Like everybody else I can only speak from what I've experienced.

Last autumn we ordered a new mainsail for our Westerly Merlin. I met with John down at the yacht and found him very helpful, the sail was ordered and delivered on time (in fact slightly early). Due to some family issues we were unable to have it delivered or fit it for a while.

We now been able to actually sail and all I can say is that it fits and appears well made. It's a big improvement on our old sail, although to be honest anything would be. We are happy customers.

As I said I can only comment on our experience, it's been positive and a considerable improvement on the experience we had with another company a few years ago.

Gary

 

[JumbleDuck]

Last autumn we ordered a new mainsail for our Westerly Merlin.

Feedback generally seems to be that the new sails side of the business is good but the second hand sails side is shockingly bad.

 

[savageseadog]

I bought an extraordinarily cheap second hand laminate jib from them quite a few years ago (off ebay). They gave me a brand new bag with it even though it wasn't listed with a bag, the bag would have cost more that I paid for the lot. It was a long time ago, 10 years at a guess, things change I suppose.

 

[Red Europa]

Sadly I read this thread after ordering a second hand sail from them. Long story short, it took three months to get my money back - and then only after involving Citizens Advice.
I would encourage everybody who has had problems with the company to make a complaint to Citizens Advice and ask for trading standards to be involved. The adviser I spoke with told me that it would be very unlikely that an investigation would occur on the back of my complaint, but if more complaints were to be received the chances of an investigation increase.

 

[dancrane]

Google's reviews on the company include one by John Pollard, the boss. Can you believe, he gave himself five stars?

 

[Seajet]

Google "Reviews" on the company, feature one by John Pollard, the boss. Can you believe, he gave himself five stars?

So,

the perfect holiday trip from the Solent would be stopping at Poole to walk miles to a vague semblance of civilisation as the bridge is out of service, then to Plymouth and Sutton Harbour Marina with taxi rides to Ivybridge to get Westaway sails, - visiting the Master Builders at Bucklers Hard each way, taking in ( East Cowes marina the good bit ) and an adventure holiday on the chain ferry - who says we English don't know Customer Services ?


PS Is there some sort of womens' guide to guys where I can give myself a 5-star A+ ?

 

[SiteSurfer]

I bought a used sail from them last year, wasn't quite right dimensions so they recut it and sewed it for free and then sent it to me.
There was a bit of a delay - but I put it down to me ordering slap on the silly season.