Looking for used sails

It's a very odd situation. Westaway make very good sails, John Pollard is a very good sailor and I have always found him very pleasant and helpful. When your reputation is so important, how do you get yourself such a bad reputation, for such a long time?
 
oldbloke said:
It's a very odd situation. Westaway make very good sails, John Pollard is a very good sailor and I have always found him very pleasant and helpful. When your reputation is so important, how do you get yourself such a bad reputation, for such a long time?
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I would like to put it another way :

On a forum such as this - if someone asks where to get an item ... there will be two extremes with regard to replies :

1. Had bad experience - don't use company xxxxx

2. Had good experience .... would use company again

Problem is that most likely in terms of overall business volume of the company .. even both 1 + 2 together make up a miniscule part of it ..

ExchangesailsUK and Westaway (..... same business address and listings) are in business and apparently surviving for quite a long period ... which indicates that they may actually be supplying sails as asked for and in good order. If they were not - surely they would not be in business any longer ??

Bad press always gets heard more than good. You can have 10 people say good - but one loud bad report and that is what sticks.
 
Like I said. Can’t complain about the sail I eventually got. But the process wasn’t great. Maybe if one went there and picked one up. Then it might be a lot easier
 
Refueler said:
I would like to put it another way :

On a forum such as this - if someone asks where to get an item ... there will be two extremes with regard to replies :

1. Had bad experience - don't use company xxxxx

2. Had good experience .... would use company again

Problem is that most likely in terms of overall business volume of the company .. even both 1 + 2 together make up a miniscule part of it ..

ExchangesailsUK and Westaway (..... same business address and listings) are in business and apparently surviving for quite a long period ... which indicates that they may actually be supplying sails as asked for and in good order. If they were not - surely they would not be in business any longer ??

Bad press always gets heard more than good. You can have 10 people say good - but one loud bad report and that is what sticks.
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I'd suggest that isn't the case in this instance.
 
DFL1010 said:
I'd suggest that isn't the case in this instance.
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Which I assume you base on the number of posts on this forum and maybe another ? Do you consider that a fair number vs the probable sales total of a company ?

Like most items .... many people buy and never saya word ... then you get a few people have problems and they shout out to the world ...

I would also say that not all claims can be accepted at face value. Most I accept can be - but there will always be some that basically fail to tell whole story ...

My business every day deals with Traders Selling and buying ... where my guys have to supervise and verify ... it opens ones eyes !!
 
But when those bad experiences are so shockingly bad it doesn’t take so many of them to put most people off, quite rightly.
 
Refueler said:
Which I assume you base on the number of posts on this forum and maybe another ? Do you consider that a fair number vs the probable sales total of a company ?

Like most items .... many people buy and never saya word ... then you get a few people have problems and they shout out to the world ...

I would also say that not all claims can be accepted at face value. Most I accept can be - but there will always be some that basically fail to tell whole story ...

My business every day deals with Traders Selling and buying ... where my guys have to supervise and verify ... it opens ones eyes !!
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On some occasions I'd agree with you. This really, really, isn't one of them.

p.s. your assumption is wrong.
 
DFL1010 said:
On some occasions I'd agree with you. This really, really, isn't one of them.

p.s. your assumption is wrong.
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Sorry to drag this out ... but I do not believe you are privy to their Sales Records. You must be basing your opinion on limited info such as posts on this forum / any other forum you visit. Not exactly the widest field of info !

As I said - I had very good service from them ... I note that a few others have said they had no complaints ... but as I said - people shout from the mountain top BAD reports while those who have good - rarely say anything.

I had a drive shaft snap on a Capri 2.8i Special ... same shafts used by the Granada 2.8i ... there was a batch problem ... I was unfortunately one .. the number of cars affected - (Ford did not do any recall - they denied the whole matter) .... vs the number of cars with no problem ... ?? was the 2.8i condemned ? Certainly not.
 
I think that you are looking at it wrongly. all companies make mistakes. It happens. i uesed to make mistakes. But my motto was that even if I was not entirely in the wrong was not to let it fester. Deal with it instantly. Sort the problem & get the customer happy.
28 years ago I bought sails from a Uk company which were hopeless. Everybody says how good the company is. I sent one sail back to them & the response was next to pig ignorant. they altered the sail but for me to suggest it was wrong just did not fit with their haughty ethos.
I would never recomend that company on the basis that if you did get a dodgy sail you would have a job to get it rectified.
This is the problem with the company being discussed . How can anyone consider dealing with them knowing that they "might" be dealt a bum steer. we want to know about it. How much better to go to a company where customers have said- Yes they got it wrong but sorted it immediately
I do not see that coming up in the forum reports- Do you?
 
DFL1010 said:
On some occasions I'd agree with you. This really, really, isn't one of them.

p.s. your assumption is wrong.
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I agree! I had a personal experience with this company which was absolutely shocking.

Then read numerous -- I mean, numerous, not 4 or 5 -- accounts of others having had exactly the same experience, based on exactly the same methods, which involved an extreme degree of dishonesty.

I agree with Refueler that two or three bad reviews (some of which possibly didn't even happen, were made up, or whatever) can unjustly hurt an otherwise good company, giving a false impression that these cases are representative of how they work.

Here I think we have clear information about how this company operates. How they stay in business baffles me.
 
Daydream believer said:
I think that you are looking at it wrongly. all companies make mistakes. It happens. i uesed to make mistakes. But my motto was that even if I was not entirely in the wrong was not to let it fester. Deal with it instantly. Sort the problem & get the customer happy.
28 years ago I bought sails from a Uk company which were hopeless. Everybody says how good the company is. I sent one sail back to them & the response was next to pig ignorant. they altered the sail but for me to suggest it was wrong just did not fit with their haughty ethos.
I would never recomend that company on the basis that if you did get a dodgy sail you would have a job to get it rectified.
This is the problem with the company being discussed . How can anyone consider dealing with them knowing that they "might" be dealt a bum steer. we want to know about it. How much better to go to a company where customers have said- Yes they got it wrong but sorted it immediately
I do not see that coming up in the forum reports- Do you?
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Quite so.

I'm guessing that the reason why they are still in business is because customers who are physically present in their shop and personally inspect and measure and choose sails to buy, do fine. It's the mail order customers who get the treatment according to the pattern so well witnessed by scores of reports over many years, Something far too consistent to have just been the odd mistake.
 
Daydream believer said:
I think that you are looking at it wrongly. all companies make mistakes. It happens. i uesed to make mistakes. But my motto was that even if I was not entirely in the wrong was not to let it fester. Deal with it instantly. Sort the problem & get the customer happy.
28 years ago I bought sails from a Uk company which were hopeless. Everybody says how good the company is. I sent one sail back to them & the response was next to pig ignorant. they altered the sail but for me to suggest it was wrong just did not fit with their haughty ethos.
I would never recomend that company on the basis that if you did get a dodgy sail you would have a job to get it rectified.
This is the problem with the company being discussed . How can anyone consider dealing with them knowing that they "might" be dealt a bum steer. we want to know about it. How much better to go to a company where customers have said- Yes they got it wrong but sorted it immediately
I do not see that coming up in the forum reports- Do you?
Click to expand...

I agree with your premis ... of course bad support is bad support.

My point is that I do not see on all the forums I look on - enough to say to me overall they are bad sail suppliers. My own experience with them was very good .. communication was quick .. they discussed fully ways to ship to me ... etc.

I even made a mistake in what side the UV strip should be ... they had asked me when initially ordering ..... when I realised the mistake - they asked if I wanted to swap the sail for another with UV on other side ... I decided to stay with the one I received ... and swapped the furling line over ... the sail was too good to pass up !!
 
Refueler said:
I agree with your premis ... of course bad support is bad support.

My point is that I do not see on all the forums I look on - enough to say to me overall they are bad sail suppliers. My own experience with them was very good .. communication was quick .. they discussed fully ways to ship to me ... etc.

I even made a mistake in what side the UV strip should be ... they had asked me when initially ordering ..... when I realised the mistake - they asked if I wanted to swap the sail for another with UV on other side ... I decided to stay with the one I received ... and swapped the furling line over ... the sail was too good to pass up !!
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The Westaway part of the business may be better than the Exchange Sails part.
 
Ok ok. We can all agree that we'd be better off using reliable suppliers with a history of good service

So who/where are these great used sail dealers?
 
CJ Marine seem reputable otherwise eBay and Facebook is my go to. After I lost my kite over the side earlier in the year I now have three more kites, one with a snuffer, for less than 300. I also got an excellent laminate main from a fellow forumite for 300. Many bargains to be had in used sails without getting bent over by that lot
 
You don’t mention the design/class of boat you want the sails for? I recently purchased a Sadler 29 doer upper with sails missing and looked on the Sadler Owners Association website classifieds section where I found and bought 2 perfect condition sails for my boat.

Maybe your boat has a similiar website?
 
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