A sad tale and a hello from a newbie

[sadcatowner]

We have lots of sea miles under our belts, but we hadn't dipped our toe in the boat ownership experience until recently.

Now we are sorry we did.

We viewed a Powercat 525 at Margam boat show in Summer 2007 and then read their website. I did look to see if there were any negative reviews about them online - but nothing.

They made all the right noises and the demonstrator boat we trialled was great - stable, responsive and smart.

We told them we needed a boat for the Ionian as that was where we were going to live and they said it would be suitable.

In Feb 2008 we picked the boat up from Powercats of Redruth, Cornwall, having paid our life savings of £37,000 + for it.

Cutting a long story short ( you can read it in full if you can bear it on my blog which is linked to from my signature) we had to employ a marine surveyor to check out why we had suffered a total electrical failure in the dark, in a busy traffic area and close crossing with huge bulk carrier, only just avoiding a collision!

The report condemned the 'craft' as being 'unfit for purpose' and having numerous dangerous defects and flaws and design, material, and safety defects.

The report is now with Cornwall Trading Standards as we await further developments.

If you have time to look at my blog it would be appreciated. The experience has shaken us badly and we are left without a usable boat and with a village of Greek fishermen who think we are idiots for having bought a British boat in the first place.

Have to say we do feel like fools and much poorer ones as well.

 

[deisel]

WOW!!. Looks Like A Second Hand Boat Several Years Old.

 

[Lawsy]

I won't bore you with the tales of my new boat & a dealer now thankfully (not withstanding the effect on employees & customers) in liquidation, but you have my total sympathy.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your problems. Sadly this is all too typical of the boating industry. However, I would say that a good proportion of the items you have listed as faults are found on many other boats but some of the faults like the keel banding, steering gear and electrical problems are not acceptable on any boat
We have a forumite hereabouts, gludy, who has some experience of litigating against boat dealers so maybe worth sending him a PM (private message) and asking for his advice. Otherwise I suggest that you contact a good marine lawyor like Ward & McKenzie . Good luck and keep the forum posted on developments

 

[Hurricane]

I'd second Ward and McKenzie - very professional.

 

[Sundays_Child]

37K sounds a lot!

Sorry to hear your sad tale.

 

[sadcatowner]

Thanks guys for the supportive messages. I will definitely keep you updated on developments.

As newby owners we expected a certain amount of getting it wrong, and the aesthetic things we could have lived with - but when it comes to life threatening situations, that goes too far.

Bit disheartening to hear that it isn't all that unusual in the industry in general.

Hopefully as more and more disatisfied owners take action, the boat builders will learn that a good profitable long term business depends on getting it right first time and dealing properly with problems if they occur.

 

[PeteCooper]

I would suggest contacting a forumite called 'Gludy' - he has considerable experience in this field.

 

[affinite]

Sorry to read of your experience. Sounds to me like you have strong case for a claim. Im going to check the fuse rating on my accessory socket when Im next on the boat. Best of luck from a fellow Ionian boater (albeit a "raggie")
Steve (Affinite II - Lefkas)

 

[Neddie_Seagoon]

Thanks for that. I had thought seriously about buying one of these!

 

[dnickj]

I dont want to alarm you but - a number of years ago we bought a brand new sport cruiser which turned out to have very many problems similar to yours plus a number of others - some minor and some very major - unfortunatly the uk dealer was not financially sound so we had to prepare a joint case against the American manufacturer - inshort we owned the boat for over 3 years whilst te legal side progressed - altough we only used it for the first 6 weeks. The end result after a lot of grief was a replacement boat - hich we sold straigh away - and a legal bill of over £20k for which there was no compinsation (2/3 the value of the boat) lucky we had legal insurance - but that is another saga in itself so the moral is you can get something back in the end but be prepared for it to cost you time and money and by the way trading standards did not want to know
I would tell you who the manufactrer was but our final agreement contained a gagging order

 

[sadcatowner]

Hi dnickj,
sorry to hear about your difficulties. We are well experienced in litigation having had to do so a few times for various issues in the past.

The main differences are that we purchased direct from the manufacturers and they are within the EC.

This makes a huge difference as they are bound by EC consumer regulations.

Trading Standards are also bound by them. If a member state is informed of a manufacturer falsely declaring CE conformity and they do not take action, then they are accountable to the EC. I have no reason to believe that Cornwall Trading Standards will fail in their statutory duties. In any case Trading Standards are there for general public interest rather than aiding individuals against businesses.

We are watching this closely and will not be letting this go. We can pursue this through the courts or via arbitration of necessary, but hopefully they will have more sense than that. and will wish to bring this to a swift end.

We won't be doing 'gagging orders' for us this is about far more than money. I am not happy keeping quiet while other families may be put at risk. Obviously each person makes their own decisions based on their own situation but the frighteningly close call we had, which almost led to me being a widow and mother of a dead son is not something I would wish on my worst enemy and is a nightmare I would give up almost any amount of money to prevent from happening to anyone.

 

[sadcatowner]

[ QUOTE ]
We can pursue this through the courts or via arbitration of necessary, but hopefully they will have more sense than that. and will wish to bring this to a swift end.


[/ QUOTE ]

Alas this seems to be a forlorn hope - like much that has happened since we got involved with Powercats Ltd /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Our solicitor has instructed an expensive barrister and the BMF while keeping us informed do not seem to be able to move this forward for us. Trading Standards are investigating and keeping us informed of developments and in the meantime we pay storage for a boat we cannot use, and pay to charter boats as and when in order to fulfil the promises we have made to friends and family.

But on the plus side our pals at Swansea Bay Sea School have taken delivery of a 72 foot Challenge Yacht which will be used to deliver courses to socially isolated youngsters.

For some lovely pictures of the Yacht and also underwater videos of the Ionian sea - my blog has all the gen and updates.

It was 35 degrees yesterday and we were on the water but only on our little aquaglide and not a powerboat /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif