Charterers beware

[Giles Bointon]

I’m not sure if this is quite the right forum to post this on as we are charterers and not owners but we wanted to warn as many people as possible about the company we used.
My new wife and I booked the sailing holiday of a life time. A six week charter including our wedding with Christmas and New Year rolled into one in the magical British and American Virgin Islands. The yacht was a real disappointment. It was a Dufour 40. circa 2005, with a great many basic faults but some important issues such as non-compliant life jackets and fire extinguishers. Our boat was shabby and worn and the GPS did not work. The windlass was wired incorrectly and kept whizzing up when we wanted it down. We had one occasion when we hauled the anchor and entire chain up by hand. Two days before our holiday finished we had an engine failure at sea. Our support from the charter company was very poor and when we raised these matters we received a very sarcastic reply with no apology and admitting no liability for the state of the boat. To add insult to injury, on spurious grounds, they have ‘commandeered’ about half our deposit of 3000 Euros. We have refuted their dismissive attitude and are now taking them to court. The director of the charter company who has refused to recognise her responsibility is LUCIE BARONE who also runs a charter company called Y.BARONE.. The company we used was VPM BESTSAIL. Apparently much bigger in Europe than in the Caribbean but over there mainly attached to the French Islands I would advise anyone thinking of chartering with either of these companies to think again. Incidentally our agent was Latesail who were VERY helpful throughout and have appealed to BESTSAIL on our behalf but to no avail.
Giles Bointon

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

Sorry to hear your holiday was prejudiced by this company; it must have been both disappointing and financially frustrating. Thanks for warning others.

 

[Giles Bointon]

Giles Bointon

Thanks for your message of support. It so frustrating when I dont speak either French or German. [They seem to be a company split between two countries]
Has anyone else had problems with poor service from European charter companies?

 

[aBod]

I am very sorry to hear that and it's important to share these experiences. I don't know if you did this but if anybody notices non functioning lifejackets or out of date flares, for example, take a picture of them as you can build a report.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience and again it's good to hear accounts such as this.
Alasdair

 

[jimi]

Hmm sounds about par for the course to me! perhaps expectations were a bit high?

 

[Giles Bointon]

Giles Bointon

It was always the shabbiest in any marina alongside mainly other charter boats and the charter was expensive! Still paying for it!

 

[Angele]

Hmm sounds about par for the course to me! perhaps expectations were a bit high?

.. but why should chartering be such a lottery. Sounds like someone should set up a charter equivalent of Tripadvisor.com.

I'm really sorry the OPs had such a bad time. The Dufour 40 is a fantastic boat.

Ok, I am a bit biased.

 

[RupertW]

Hmm sounds about par for the course to me! perhaps expectations were a bit high?

I'm with Jimi here to a certain extent. The service sounds terrible and the deposit withholding too. But I wouldn't see fire extinguishers and non-compliant lifejackets as much of an issue for a week or two in such lovely benign and busy waters. Anything chartered for 7 years will be scruffy as it will have had more use than 30 year old owners boat, and GPS in the Caribbean is a distraction at best so not really an issue.

I would have been highly irritated at the anchor windlass and engine though as those are real holiday wreckers. When both those things went wrong when I chartered a few years ago my poor wife had to haul up the anchor 5 times in one bay as I tried to find the best spot.

 

[benlui]

Hmm sounds about par for the course to me! perhaps expectations were a bit high?

So are you saying that we should all expect to loose 50% of our deposits when we charter?

 

[jimi]

So are you saying that we should all expect to loose 50% of our deposits when we charter?

Nope, but I'd like to hear the other side of the story before rushing to judgement

 

[Duffer]

I'm really sorry the OPs had such a bad time. The Dufour 40 is a fantastic boat.

Ok, I am a bit biased.

True, but if the boat has been chartered from new (7 years in the Caribean) and not kept up then I am not surprised the boat is quite tired. I guess the moral is to check out that things work before heading off and check out any unfamiliar charter outfits online before booking.

 

[Robin]

Personally I find it suspicious however genuine it is when the very first post from someone is used to blacken the name of a business. The same report from an established poster is a different matter entirely. I mistrust things like Trip Advisor and sites which review things the same way, simply because happy campers rarely vote but unhappy bunnies always do, the resulting picture presented is therefore somewhat biased. I feel sorry for companies that can be caught by this trial by internet, but then realise that genuine complaints do arise and it is useful to hear of them, Catch 22.

The comment makes mention of a great number of issues, but then mentions non-compliant lifejackets and fire extinguishers as being the most important, to me that seems worthy of note yes but super important not. We had a windlass problem on our last 41ft boat one year and had to pull it up by hand, bummer yes but sometimes things do go wrong on boats and you have to deal with it. Likewise an engine problem two days from finishing a 6 week charter is a bummer, but the person in charge is the skipper and things like this are not predictable, exactly what was the problem? What too was the 'spurious' reason for withholding 50% of the deposit? I'm not saying it was justified at all, just that without the reason given we cannot make reasonable judgement.

All the above regardless I trust it didn't spoil the honeymoon too much and that there are some more pleasant memories to recall.

 

[Giles Bointon]

Giles Bointon

Our trip was actually for six consecutive weeks through December and half of January. We had to call out VPM BESTSAIL's agent several times during this period as bits broke or dropped off. Our yacht was consistantly the shabbiest boat in any marina or bay we visited amongst the other charter yachts. The trip cost us the price of a small car so was not cheap - still paying it off! What is most disappointing is the company's attitude - they have our money and don't now give a damn. And they were so rude to us in their replies.

 

[Frankie-H]

I'm with Jimi here to a certain extent. The service sounds terrible and the deposit withholding too. But I wouldn't see fire extinguishers and non-compliant lifejackets as much of an issue for a week or two in such lovely benign and busy waters. Anything chartered for 7 years will be scruffy as it will have had more use than 30 year old owners boat, and GPS in the Caribbean is a distraction at best so not really an issue.

I would have been highly irritated at the anchor windlass and engine though as those are real holiday wreckers. When both those things went wrong when I chartered a few years ago my poor wife had to haul up the anchor 5 times in one bay as I tried to find the best spot.

Why the hell doesn't your wife drive the boat?

 

[rotrax]

Why the hell doesn't your wife drive the boat?

+1!

 

[jimi]

RupertW's wife is a large lady. She was a Russian shotputter in the 1970's but he picked up cheap after her athletic career was over.

 

[SpottyDog5]

Why the hell doesn't your wife drive the boat?

What and pull up the anchor ? be fair to lady....

 

[Skipper2008]

But I wouldn't see fire extinguishers and non-compliant lifejackets as much of an issue for a week or two in such lovely benign and busy waters.

Seriously? My God.

So there's not likely to be a fire on the boat because the place is nice? As for lifejackets, what about people falling overboard unconscious? Even in a busy area, somebody face down in the water will most likely not live to tell the tale, even if ten boats get to them within a few minutes.

Boats have caught fire and people have drowned in marinas - you don't get much more benign and busy than that.

I sincerely hope that I have taken your statement above the wrong way, and that it was intended as sarcasm.

 

[Whiskey Bravo]

Seriously? My God.

So there's not likely to be a fire on the boat because the place is nice? As for lifejackets, what about people falling overboard unconscious? Even in a busy area, somebody face down in the water will most likely not live to tell the tale, even if ten boats get to them within a few minutes.

Boats have caught fire and people have drowned in marinas - you don't get much more benign and busy than that.

I sincerely hope that I have taken your statement above the wrong way, and that it was intended as sarcasm.

+1. We've just returned from the BVI and whilst there heard radio messages re 3 catamarans blown over. On at least one of them 3 people went overboard, the last we heard they were still looking for the 3rd crew member some hours later. wave heights were given at 5-7 feet with up to 9 feet around Anegada. Personally I'd like a working lifejacket in those conditions.

We've also had trouble with the charterers [Horizon YC] charging for items/losses which we're disputing but at $311it's not quite such an issue.


Had a great trip though, again.

 

[Jeannius]

I've just come back today from 3 weeks in the BVI and the only cats that went over in that time were a bunch of Hobies that are going island to island.