Do brokers want trade ?

[derekh]

Last week I emailed a well known broker/ boatyard requesting a list of boats around 32 to 37 ft. which could be purchased around £60,000. When I received no reply I phoned them and asked them to provide details of a particular boat which was advertised at £69,000 along with a general list of boats which would fit my budget. Almost a week later, still no response. I hope if my own boat made it onto the pages of a brokerage list a perspective buyer would receive more attention that I have.
Come on folk get your prices sorted and get the finger out.

 

[Duster]

Sadly this is not at all uncommon in the UK, I have had similar experiances. The same with some marinas, I am sure that they would rather we pushed our money under the door and did not bother them.
It is a totally diferent response if you contact a US broker. A while ago when I was about to buy a new (to me) boat, I considered doing a personal import. I saw a boat with a broker in Viginia which was just what I wanted and only about half the UK price, as I could not see an email address I sent a fax asking for some details. I then walked from the office to the kitchen to get a coffee and before the kettle had boiled the phone rang. It was the broker in the US with all the details I wanted, plus the offer of emailing photos and if I liked the photos, he would arrange accomondation for us if I wanted to fly out for a test drive, shipping - yes he could fix that.
No surprise- that is now my boat and he has also found one for a friend, I is a pity that currency changes have reduced the benefit in doing that at the moment.
I am sorry that you are struggling, but how much worse for the seller!
Why not name and shame the bum.
Regards mikej

 

[No Regrets]

Here we go again.

One broker who's employee is a lazy git, and all are tarnished with the same brush... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

It's a bit like the old 'This mobo came past me at ninety knots and sunk my Yacht' threads isn't it?

Perhaps a phone call to the Brokers MD would be better placed than a thread here, because my personal experience has been exceptionally good.

Bought Four boats, every purchase impeccably handled, and sold three of them, again, no hitches whatsoever, and the broker concerned bent over backwards to accomodate any reasonable wish, in addition to working hard to ensure the 'T's were dotted and the i's crossed, or something like that....

Thames Boat sales, for the record, Bray, Thames and Kennet and Penton Hook branches share the honours, as each have been equally good.

 

[Blackfeather]

[ QUOTE ]
One broker who's employee is a lazy git, and all are tarnished with the same brush...

[/ QUOTE ]

I only agree to a certain extent. If he names the broker then that is useful for the rest of us so that we can avoid them.

My own experience with a particular firm of brokers was absolutely dreadful and I would never use them again. If they go out of business they will have deserved it, and there isn't another firm that I would say that about.

 

[Nautorius]

Hi Guys,

Let me offer the other side of the coin. Most brokers have dramatically reduced staff numbers (especially support staff) and are working for a pittance. They are therefore trying to do everything on their own. Try giving them a call and let them know you are serious....they are an industry in trouble!

Just a thought

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Duster]

I am pleased that you have found a good broker to trade withand it would be daft to say that they are all rubbish. I just found that the general standard of brokers was not very good and that we all seem to accept lower standards of service here in the UK.
It is not universal as after many years of mediocre service from the motor trade I have now used a garage who have looked after us superbly for the last 10 years.
The sad bit is that it is exeptional, I prefer not to have to beg people to take my money.
Regards mikej

 

[Doods]

I have personally had very good and very bad experiences with brokers. I bought and sold my last boat through Oceanique. Had some interesting issues on the way but they really did do a great job when originally selling me my boat, so much so I sold it through them. Unfortunately they went pop recently. I purchased earlier this year through a company in Weymouth, they where shocking beyond belief, you truly would not believe how unprofessional they where, and I was dealing with one of the directors. Shame this crew haven’t gone bust.

If you are buying through a broker in Weymouth be careful.
PM me if you want to know who.

 

[Renegade_Master]

us Spanish ones are preeety good you know :~)

 

[bigfish]

My experience with brokers both UK and Spain is that they are not very helpful and don't tell you the truth nor keep in touch. I know what I want (being extremely realistic) and being told I can get more money than I want has only resulted in my boat still for sale and in the wrong economic climate. AND I have to call the brokers weekly/monthly etc etc to get an answer....

Just bad customer service, and when I want another boat, I know where I will not be going.....

 

[derekh]

phoned them again today. girl answered and told me she couldn't get speaking to anyone. I asked her to get someone to phone me back. Still waiting. Obviously my 60k isn't good enough for essex folk.

 

[Chris_d]

Look man there's a guy in the office who wants to buy one of the Squaddie 58's, thats 60K commission, and he wants it painted blue and the bogs converting, thats another 10k or so. If your only interested in the old part-ex's round the back what do you expect /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I would expect the guy buying the Squaddie to ask for his deposit to be insured, and then walk when they won't do it as none of the insurers will cover a broker who hasn't got great financials as he doesn't care about his customers.... and then the broker to come crawling back begging me to look at his £60k boat.......

My experience of UK brokers has varied from bad to downright bleeding awful.... I've been lied to, ignored and let down by various operations.... no time for the vast majority of them.... as always, there will be some who genuinely care, and put the effort in, but sadly IME, they are very much the exception....

 

[Renegade_Master]

We like to think we give a good service. Given that most of our customers live in the UK once they have seen the vessel decide on it, and put down the deposit they usually have to get back to blighty.

We then get the boat llifted, organise the survey, sea trial with surveyor and/or customers rep. Ensure the survey with pics gets emailed to the buyer. Continue liason seller/buyer. If the buyer agrees with the seller about works subsequent to the survey and a condition of the sale, we organise for these to be done.
Again the seller and buyer are not even in the country.


We did this recently on a sale, and indeed carried out 3500 euros worth or works on behalf of the buyer on trust (he had done a deal with the seller the value being knocked off the price) And no we did not have the money from the sale only the deposit, the main money went from buyer to seller on completion.

Since then we have carried out a further amount of works for the new owner including procuring equipment and fitted same. We also have the vessel on guardienage. Oh and when he comes out to his boat in the spring we are gonna teach (Day Skipper) him and his family on his boat practically for cost.


So not all brokers have the attitude mentioned in this thread /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[nimbusgb]

[ QUOTE ]
Here we go again.

One broker who's employee is a lazy git, and all are tarnished with the same brush... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

It's a bit like the old 'This mobo came past me at ninety knots and sunk my Yacht' threads isn't it?

Perhaps a phone call to the Brokers MD would be better placed than a thread here, because my personal experience has been exceptionally good.



[/ QUOTE ]

In times like these a good MD would be out there making sure his company was serving up the best customer experience, going the extra mile and chasing every interested customer. Phoning a lazy MD like the one in this instance may possibly get an employee out on the street; 5'll get you 10 that it wouldn't change the way the company operates!

My guess is that apart from the ones already focussed on real customer 'service' only those companies willing to rediscover the fact that the customer really is king are going to be the ones still here in 3 years time.

The great unwashed mob has massive incentives to shop around these days and when shelling out the folding stuff. It's a lot more likely to happen in an establishment that at least gives the appearance that they appreciate the custom.

 

[longjohnsilver]

As always in any walk of life there are good and bad. Unfortunately bad news is something like 9 times more likely to be passed on than any good news so everyone tends to get tarred with the same brush.
Fortunately most of the brokers I've dealt with have provided good service, the last being Ancasta in Plymouth through which I bought my current boat. There was one about 15 years ago who went way beyond what was expected but unfortunately he didn't last long which is a real shame as he was a credit to the industry. Tim Rowe, where are you now?

 

[derekh]

Chris, or should I say Man
Obviously I am a bit of a reject in life only having 60k saved up in my boat account. Sorry to insult you soo much in thinking that you would be interested in us poor folks bad experiences with brokers. You have explained the situation well. Brokers expect approx 10% commission Taking at squaddie 58 2nd hand at £600,000. Using that figure they would only make £6,000 out of my silly little purchase. Not worth getting out of bed for !! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I will not contact the broker again as I may hurt my nose grovelling at his feet pleading for him to sell me a boat. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. Any private sellers out there with anything to offer ?

 

[Chris_d]

Unfortuantely your experiences are not unique, but I agree with others on here that there are good ones out there.
Now Suncoast is a top bloke and definately worth a trip to Spain if he has something suitable /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jfm]

Derek, you haven't said it explicitly but I think you are talking about Essex Boatyards. A few thoughts on your predicament:

Times are tough, and you need to be realistic. Fact is, the person buying the Sq58 or whatever just WILL get more attention. It's not becuase the commission is £60 or whatever, it's becuase boats like that are stock boats, paid for or committed to be paid for by EBY, so selling one is an opportunity for the company to convert a huge tub of plastic (worthless to pay the wages and overheads) into £800k cash (massively worthwhile in the current economy). It's not the profit only that motivates them, it's the thought of getting £800k cash

They have a good website. They do not staff the business to handle enquiries from folks who say "can you compile me a list of boats for £60k ish". I am the same: if I have decided to put something accessable on the web and then a potential customer asks me to re-work the info so as to provide it to him "manually", I tell him "no, go look on the web please". Customer may not like that, but that's a business decision I take and EBY do the same (as do lots: Ryanair, Easyjet, BA who charge a fee for a "manual" booking, etc)

If the boat is brokerage the max upside for them is perhaps £6k. It just isn't worth it in business to change your structure (have manual emailers, duplicating your web effort) by employing more folks, for those sort of sums

Hey I'm not defending bad customer service. I'm just asking you to see it realistically, from the other side. Fact is, you would get great customer service from EBY if you moved forward with a boat purchase but you gotta be realistic and interact with businesses in a modern way and do your list compiling on the web, etc. And understand that there will be times in this economy when a small customer goes to the back of the queue so far as returning calls is concerned

Just imho and putting a somewhat contrary view to stimulate discussion! Good luck with the boat hunt

 

[Nautorius]

Hi Derek,

With EBY you need to either pop in or talk seriously about a specific boat. They will then do the sums with you. If you want a Particular boat try and do a deal on that. They do want sales at the moment...but they only have time to deal with genuine buyers..which you are. Look at the website and if it is an ES boat it is stock (so knock off up to £10k) That means that you should look at ES boats around £70k Max! Brokerage is a different ball park...and they will not work as hard to get a sale. However if you make a genuine offer they will pass it on. They rarely take you seriously until they see the colour of your eyes.....so previous customers are treated differently. Once they know you are genuine they will do everything to get a sale..

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[derekh]

Hi JFM & Nautorious,

Point taken, I would not for one second expect to be given the same attention as a purchaser spending 100's of thousands on a boat. I am a serious purchaser but only I know that and The broker who I have not named, probably is sick of tyre kickers. I am taking a week starting at LIBS then on to see a few boats. I hope my next one gives me as much enjoyment as Obsession has.
Thanks for all your replies.
Happy Christmas to all.
Derek