Selling a boat on the east coast

[Fr J Hackett]

I have just posted a thread
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3592784#post3592784

This may be of interest to those on the east coast particularly if you have sold or are about to sell your boat.

It is long and may be boring, you have been warned

 

[Koeketiene]

I have just posted a thread
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3592784#post3592784

This may be of interest to those on the east coast particularly if you have sold or are about to sell your boat.

It is long and may be boring, you have been warned

I take it we're talking about Shotley? As IIRC you were berthed there.

 

[MoodySabre]

Good on you.

Bradwell have a similar clause in their contracts - 1% as an access charge. When I sold my boat a few years ago they never asked for it. I wonder if that is enforcable?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I take it we're talking about Shotley? As IIRC you were berthed there.

You may think that but I couldn't possibly say

I would add that I am under no obligation not to divulge the marinas name or details of the case I choose not to do so publicly because the marina whilst being obstinate at all times acted correctly and decently at no time did the dispute become personal or unpleasant and in my time at the marina the staff were excellent and I have never had any complaint and would if welcomed go back there.

However if anyone wishes to discuss the case by PM or other means than in public I will be happy to divulge details.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Good on you.

Bradwell have a similar clause in their contracts - 1% as an access charge. When I sold my boat a few years ago they never asked for it. I wonder if that is enforcable?

It would depend if they are offering and you are availing yourself of any additional service that you would expect, and associate with a berthing contract. If not then my view is that it is unenforceable To say they are allowing you to take "visitors" i.e. potential buyers to view your boat is ludicrous it puts no strain or requires them to do anything additional for you than that you expect when taking your friends and crew sailing.

 

[MoodySabre]

I just checked with a friend who sold his Moody from Bradwell last year and they didn't charge him. Maybe they realise that it is a no go. It's nice to know some things are in our favour

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I just checked with a friend who sold his Moody from Bradwell last year and they didn't charge him. Maybe they realise that it is a no go. It's nice to know some things are in our favour

Well hopefully the word will get around, I think it depends on if the marina get wind of the sale if they don't it just slips by unnoticed in my case it didn't But in communication with the Trading Standards the marina said there were several east coast marinas that enforced the clause.

 

[PaulGooch]

Well done Pete, good to see someone standing up to them.

 

[Bru]

Nice one!

I've always thought that clause to be a bit iffy, nice to hear of it being provably so

 

[davidwf]

To stop any nonsense when I sold my last two boats I quickly moved them to the marina the broker was in.

I think the clause is to protect the incumbent broker at the marina which to be honest is fair enough after all that broker is paying a lot to be there.

If I was selling privately that would be another matter.

 

[sailorman]

To stop any nonsense when I sold my last two boats I quickly moved them to the marina the broker was in.

I think the clause is to protect the incumbent broker at the marina which to be honest is fair enough after all that broker is paying a lot to be there.

If I was selling privately that would be another matter.

It was the marina operator who wanted the 1%, that is on top of that paid by the vendor to the broker who is based in that marina

 

[ex-Gladys]

This seems to be a standard clause in a lot of yard/marina contracts, IIRC because they use a British Marine Federation standard form of contract... Maybe lobbying the BMF or pointing this out to them would benefit?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

This seems to be a standard clause in a lot of yard/marina contracts, IIRC because they use a British Marine Federation standard form of contract... Maybe lobbying the BMF or pointing this out to them would benefit?

I think you need to read the OP a bit more carefully but to save you the trouble the BMF advised it's members after the 2006 case not to rely on the clause at best to withdraw it from their contracts. The marina in question was not a member of the BMF.

 

[Tomahawk]

You may think that but I couldn't possibly say

I would add that I am under no obligation not to divulge the marinas name or details of the case I choose not to do so publicly because the marina whilst being obstinate at all times acted correctly and decently at no time did the dispute become personal or unpleasant and in my time at the marina the staff were excellent and I have never had any complaint and would if welcomed go back there.

However if anyone wishes to discuss the case by PM or other means than in public I will be happy to divulge details.

I beg to differ about naming the marina. Whilst you are correct and decent to acknowledge that at no point has the dispute become personal or unpleasant, the conduct of the staff is a different matter to the existence of the clause in the contract.

The matter at the heart of this is to advise people who have a boat in the unnamed marina that if they sell their boat, the is a clause in the small print that can cost... Knowing which marina is surely the most important thing...

As to the clause itself... What happens if you talk to a chap in the bar and shake hands? Can the marina claim 1% on an agreement they do not know about? Or is this a dispicable way of getting money out of a customer when they change their boat?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I beg to differ about naming the marina. Whilst you are correct and decent to acknowledge that at no point has the dispute become personal or unpleasant, the conduct of the staff is a different matter to the existence of the clause in the contract.

The matter at the heart of this is to advise people who have a boat in the unnamed marina that if they sell their boat, the is a clause in the small print that can cost... Knowing which marina is surely the most important thing...

As to the clause itself... What happens if you talk to a chap in the bar and shake hands? Can the marina claim 1% on an agreement they do not know about? Or is this a dispicable way of getting money out of a customer when they change their boat?

If anyone wishes to know the marina in question I will as indicated tell them, however if they are concerned about the small print in their contracts particularly as this problem has now been highlighted all they have to do is to read them.

As for the marina claiming the commission I can only conjecture as to what criteria they apply when deciding who to inflict this on and how they find out about the sale but a sale is a sale and as the term says commission based on sale price if they know of the sale they may well try to enact it. You have answered the question it is a despicable way of extracting money out of their tied customers.

I will keep this and the OP open as long as possible and interest is shown in order that it is brought to the attention of as many as possible.

 

[Tomahawk]

Possible solution

As for the marina claiming the commission I can only conjecture as to what criteria they apply when deciding who to inflict this on and how they find out about the sale but a sale is a sale and as the term says commission based on sale price if they know of the sale they may well try to enact it. You have answered the question it is a despicable way of extracting money out of their tied customers.

.

When I bought a boat a few years back, the broker prepared the bill of sale.. It said the price of the vessel was £1 plus other considerations... It seems to me that may be a way? Unless of course the broker tells the marina how much you agreed.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

When I bought a boat a few years back, the broker prepared the bill of sale.. It said the price of the vessel was £1 plus other considerations... It seems to me that may be a way? Unless of course the broker tells the marina how much you agreed.

Yes bought one like that, they could ask for a valuation of the other considerations whatever they may be

 

[Stork_III]

It was the marina operator who wanted the 1%, that is on top of that paid by the vendor to the broker who is based in that marina

No broker is based in the marina, a window with sale cards does not a broker make. Even when they had an office in the marina, they were little better than useless, untrustworthy and unprofessional.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

No broker is based in the marina, a window with sale cards does not a broker make. Even when they had an office in the marina, they were little better than useless, untrustworthy and unprofessional.

They use an offsite broker who I will leave to your imagination and Roger was correct they want the 1% commission on to of the commission they would receive from the broker for handing them the business. That is one reason that it never crossed my mind to use them or their nominated broker.

 

[Stork_III]

They use an offsite broker who I will leave to your imagination and Roger was correct they want the 1% commission on to of the commission they would receive from the broker for handing them the business. That is one reason that it never crossed my mind to use them or their nominated broker.

Yes, I don't need to imagine the broker, as I said earlier they were, and are, little better than useless, untrustworthy and unprofessional. Any broker who gives keys for a £125K boat in full commission, in a marina remote from them, to a man off the street, without even taking name/address/identity details, does not deserve to stay in business. Cross subsidy from other parts of the "Empire", I suppose, keeps them going. Incidentally your case is the first I have know, where they asked for their "cut" in 11 years I have been berthed in the marina.