Discovery Again!

[Daydream believer]

. Yet you feel Sean Langdon should pay an amount that allows the Frances to massively profit from their inflated claim.

With all due respect
Do you net feel that the client would have suffered considerable stress, for which some compensation is due? In addition there would have been considerable legal expense in the run up to the court proceedinds, as well as the actual court presentation itself. That would have eaten ito the award. Then there is the storage cost of an unused boat. Who pays for that? Why should the client incur costs for a boat he cannot use. May include having to be re antifouled, winter maintenance, insurance etc. Who pays for a static boat. I would certainly require reimbursement.
It is not a case of "profit" . I would suggest that it is "compensation" & a judge would soon know if a claim was unfairly "inflated" Did he reduce their claim in any way? I have not read the details.

 

[Parabolica]

There is a 2018 Discovery 55 for sale at the moment for £1.2M and it is a year newer 'HMS Disappointment' . There are other Discovery 55's for sale from £355,000 for a 2004 build. Discovery 55 boats for sale - YachtWorld

Reading about the so called problems, many of which were not to do with the build, like the generator and electronics. If these were ripped out and replaced, I expect £50,000 would more than cover it. The water ingress and damage to woodwork, adjusting cupboard catches etc, certainly would not cost £1M, even if a company like Berthon did the work. There appears to be no structural issues with the boat, most of it is cosmetic. The France's admitted they basically abandoned 'HMS Disappointment' and probably have allowed their precious boat to deteriorate further than necessary. So being generous I would suggest £250,000 would cover that work. There would have been some costs incurred in bringing the boat back to the UK and storage charges. That adds up to being a lot less than the sum claimed and awarded in the undefended court case. Yet you feel Sean Langdon should pay an amount that allows the Frances to massively profit from their inflated claim.

No, not so. More just a reflection that so many boats built in the Uk are built at a loss and that many of the MD’s within these companies are not right for the job as they don’t learn from past mistakes as an MD should in order to, please excuse the pun, steer his ship toward calmer waters.

When you own/run a company in an official capacity and take Joe Publics money for your wares, much responsibility comes with it. I learnt that to my detriment many years ago and now only operate B2B relationships as they’re for the most, far easier to manage your business within.

 

[xcw]

No, not so. More just a reflection that so many boats built in the Uk are built at a loss and that many of the MD’s within these companies are not right for the job as they don’t learn from past mistakes as an MD should in order to, please excuse the pun, steer his ship toward calmer waters.

When you own/run a company in an official capacity and take Joe Publics money for your wares, much responsibility comes with it. I learnt that to my detriment many years ago and now only operate B2B relationships as they’re for the most, far easier to manage your business within.

Exactly. You only have to watch Howards Way to learn that lesson

 

[Daydream believer]

Exactly. You only have to watch Howards Way to learn that lesson

Do not mock. They told me that was a BBC open university training series on how to run my business.
I did have my doubts when the totty turned up.
But it was cheap, as it only cost the licence fee & the wife got Coronation street thrown in for free. ?
Bank manager was well impressed when i told him that was doing night classes once a week.

 

[Seven Spades]

the boat in question was completely rectified by Berthon for a very modest sum. If you knew how much it cost you would realise at how pig headed both sides were.

 

[Concerto]

the boat in question was completely rectified by Berthon for a very modest sum. If you knew how much it cost you would realise at how pig headed both sides were.

Thank you for this comment. Perhaps my estimates were too generous then. Still think the Frances look to be making a huge profit if Sean Langdon is forced to pay the full amount claimed and won in court.

 

[Frogmogman]

Thank you for this comment. Perhaps my estimates were too generous then. Still think the Frances look to be making a huge profit if Sean Langdon is forced to pay the full amount claimed and won in court.

I suspect you may be neglecting the provision in the damages to cover legal costs.

M’learned friends don’t give it away (unless they are junior barristers doing criminal law).

 

[Daydream believer]

the boat in question was completely rectified by Berthon for a very modest sum. If you knew how much it cost you would realise at how pig headed both sides were.

If a product is not right, then why is the customer "pig headed" to refuse to accept it? I do not understand the philosophy behind that one. More so when one is paying top dollar for the item in question.

 

[Tranona]

If a product is not right, then why is the customer "pig headed" to refuse to accept it? I do not understand the philosophy behind that one. More so when one is paying top dollar for the item in question.

Usually though, both parties arrive at a compromise - but sometimes it gets to the point where both dig their heels and would rather "win" than lose face. As ever the only winners are the lawyers. The faults were trivial, as were the cost of rectification in relation both to the value of the boat and the amount of court time to find a "winner" .

The buyer ends up without a boat and by bankrupting the seller will end up without the money. But hey they WON!

 

[Daydream believer]

Do we know what the cost of rectification was? Forumites have said that it was "trivial". But what is it?