SIBS quotes from sales people

[Sans Bateau]

I bought a new boat at SIBS, a 2.4 mtre inflatable. We already have a 2.7 mtr inflatable with air deck, keel etc, we don't use it though as its such a farce getting out of the locker and inflating all 5 chambers and there is no room to keep the thing inflated on board. So we just dont bother. That was the brief we gave to various vendors at SIBS, this is some of the things we were told:

"Nobody makes slatted floor roll aways these days"
"All the dinghies are made in China now"
"You need glued seems, if you have welded, they cant be repaired"
"this is the cheapest one at the show" (you could see that without being told!)
"Oh I don't know what weight it is but they are all much the same"

Most vendors had little to say about their product, or knew little about it, in a couple of cases they told me things that were obviously wrong, not lies just ignorance.

Things were much different when we got to Zodiac. Yes it was more expensive than the others, but it oozed quality. The guy knew his product, very well. He was willing to spend time with us although he had much more expensive products he could be selling. In the end we bought a Cadet 2.4 mtre roll away. We could have bought a cheapy, one was half the price, and you could see why, the thought "buy cheap buy twice" went through my mind. Others, whilst cheaper were not hugely cheaper, we are only talking of about £115 cheaper than the Zodiac, but there was more than £115 worth of better features on the Zodiac.

One final thing, the Zodiac is not made in China, its made in France, OK not everyones favourite country, but miles better than China.

 

[jonjo]

One final thing, the Zodiac is not made in China, its made in France, OK not everyones favourite country, but miles better than China.

Think you did the right thing, my Avon was made in Hungary and it shows. I have never forgiven Avon for the ferrous tacks in the transom engine mount pad that started rusting after 1 year.

As to clueless staff, yes have been there. I won't forget the woman rep for a world leading vector chart supplier, telling me they were bit mapped charts.

 

[bitman]

most sales people are brainless chickens only after their commission, they don't care what you buy as long as you buy...

a sad world

 

[andymcp]

My favourite wasn't from SIBS, but from LIBS a couple of years ago. We were looking around some of the boats on show and had been commenting between ourselves that for show boats they had remarkably poor finish - fittings not fitting, wheel mounts loose, lockers not opening, others not closing, generally a bit unfinished in lots of places above and below deck.

Eventually we mentioned this at the stand of one well known builder, where we found that of all the drawers/lockers on their 43footer, only two actually worked. The sales guy's explanation? "Well, these are show boats and take a fair bit of abuse onto/off trailers, covering a lot of road miles, lots of people looking through them, so things tend to get fixed shut to prevent breakages....."

Now, maybe I'm a bit silly (it has been known), but I would expect my boat to take a fair amount of abuse, have lots of use in all areas, and still somehow through boatbuilding magic, not break everywhere.....I must lower my expectations accordingly.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Rentabimbo on a brokers' stand said they had access to almost every boat for sale in Europe. I asked her if she had details of any Hallberg Rassy 34s. "No," she said, after an online search. It was true, she hadn't managed to find a single Hullberg Rassey, let alone a 34.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Well I reckon my 5 year old Zodiac is fabulous, except......

I am totally P****d off with the rowlock pin thinghys.
They are C**p!
They bend, pull out and are naff at keeping the blade of the paddle upright in the water.
I have a friend who has just replaced his for the third time, this time with the newer version....... C**p!
I flew out with them to Turkey and by the end of the week one of them was snapped.
My pal is 73 and not known to be reckless or savage with his gear and we are both more than a little cross.

Why cant manufacturers who produce a basically good inflatable get things that might risk life and limb strong and safe!!

My other inflatable is a 1970's Avon and it's GREEEAT!! apart from the fact that those superb rubber rowlocks are now beginning to leave black marks along my boats topsides Grrrr!

 

[Skysail]

They were like that 14 years ago, slow learners?

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

One final thing, the Zodiac is not made in China, its made in France, OK not everyones favourite country, but miles better than China.

Course it's made in France - the FRench govt wont let them outsource French jobs. British jobs - yes, which is why they have shut down Avon.

Had a Zodiac. Got to say I thought the quality was about Renault standard, which is to say distinctly average. Bought an Avon to replace it

 

[matt1]

Interesting. I found an Avon redcrest on EBAY that I nearly bought for exactly the same reasons (frsutrated with 5x chambers to inflate etc etc) I just wanted something quick and simple that was easy to stowe. Unfortunately I am stuck with my Zodiac, which with an air sole is quite cumbersome for frequent or quick deployments. Having said that, I do like my Zodiac BUT agree with other comments here about the rowlocks. I think my (young) kids have managed to get through three sets so far. Zodiac were great in supplying new ones foc, including a slightly newer design but even these have failed. WHat I don't understand is that a friends Bombard (same group?) had the same rowlocks, but in black plastic, and they never seemed to give any trouble.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Avon quality

I won't bore you with yet another rant about the marine sector and service levels etc perhaps the photograph of the covering bag of a two year old £1200 Avon that has in total spent perhaps six months maximum on the foredeck of Amoret will tell it's own story! There have been other problems with it as well. I look forward to seeing an Avon rep tomorrow at SIBS.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss153/amoret2009/004.jpg

 

[Sans Bateau]

the rowlocks pins issue is interesting, the guy point out that they now have stainless steel pins in them, now I know why. I must make a note to myself to remind SWMBO to take it easy when she rows me ashore.

 

[doug748]

I won't bore you with yet another rant about the marine sector and service levels etc

Do please bore me with the details - I was thinking of buying a 2.8m Avon.

 

[JamesFrance]

Course it's made in France - the FRench govt wont let them outsource French jobs. British jobs - yes, which is why they have shut down Avon.

Had a Zodiac. Got to say I thought the quality was about Renault standard, which is to say distinctly average. Bought an Avon to replace it

If it's as good as our Clio that has to be a recommendation. All the gadgets, aircon, cruise control, computer and all electrics. Just approaching 5 years old and no problems at all. After 50 cars this one has been the best for quality, but maybe the dry climate and no salt helps.

 

[BelleSerene]

It's not limited to the dinghies, either. Two people on the Benny stand independently told me that the traveller had been rendered redundant by recent refinements in the sheeting angle and the height of the mainsheet falls. You just didn't need one; you got the same performance and flexibility without one.

It's one thing to sell the advantages to some people of forgoing a traveller on a family cruising yacht; quite another either to mislead your customer or just to have such ignorance of the controls on a sail. (I can't know whether the misinformation was deliberate misleading or just ignorance.)

 

[Elessar]

there's a good quote on the mobo forum at the mo. On asking if the engine could fit out of the engine bay hatch (it obviously couldn't) the answer was "well if it needs to come out in 10 years it won't be your problem.

 

[Sans Bateau]

There is little point in reminiscing over how good Avon were, there is no question of their previous quality, fact is though as good as they may have been the cheap Chinese **** put pay to their manufacture in this country and everyone who bought the **** helped with their demise, its no good wishing they were still made in the UK, they are not. As someone has already said, they are made in Hungry now.

Again British manufacturing being lost to overseas companies, so what is next, will we be writing here one day mourning the fall of the last UK sail loft? Think about it.

 

[Jacana]

Well I for one have gone the other way. Having started with a 2.4m Zodiac it was too big to handle when rolled and the rowlocks were and are rubbish. It is ludicrous that they have failed to resolvew this basic issue after all these years.

Buy Chinese junk (sic) and chuck it when it fails.

 

[[2068]]

If I'd had the choice of a UK built one at the time, I would have considered it if it had been a bit more expensive. But, not an option! Instead I ended up with a Quicksilver 2.4 slatted floor, made in China. It has done the job for several seasons. And it planes with a 5hp Merc, so not a complete disaster.

 

[Richard Shead]

Can I start one on Customers!!!

I bought a new boat at SIBS, a 2.4 mtre inflatable. We already have a 2.7 mtr inflatable with air deck, keel etc, we don't use it though as its such a farce getting out of the locker and inflating all 5 chambers and there is no room to keep the thing inflated on board. So we just dont bother. That was the brief we gave to various vendors at SIBS, this is some of the things we were told:

"Nobody makes slatted floor roll aways these days"
"All the dinghies are made in China now"
"You need glued seems, if you have welded, they cant be repaired"
"this is the cheapest one at the show" (you could see that without being told!)
"Oh I don't know what weight it is but they are all much the same"

Most vendors had little to say about their product, or knew little about it, in a couple of cases they told me things that were obviously wrong, not lies just ignorance.

Things were much different when we got to Zodiac. Yes it was more expensive than the others, but it oozed quality. The guy knew his product, very well. He was willing to spend time with us although he had much more expensive products he could be selling. In the end we bought a Cadet 2.4 mtre roll away. We could have bought a cheapy, one was half the price, and you could see why, the thought "buy cheap buy twice" went through my mind. Others, whilst cheaper were not hugely cheaper, we are only talking of about £115 cheaper than the Zodiac, but there was more than £115 worth of better features on the Zodiac.

One final thing, the Zodiac is not made in China, its made in France, OK not everyones favourite country, but miles better than China.

I have had a few classics this week!

But as always most are a pleasure to talk to and makes the job worthwile even wehn they do find out I own a motorboat....

 

[Danny Jo]

I won't bore you with yet another rant about the marine sector and service levels etc perhaps the photograph of the covering bag of a two year old £1200 Avon that has in total spent perhaps six months maximum on the foredeck of Amoret will tell it's own story! There have been other problems with it as well. I look forward to seeing an Avon rep tomorrow at SIBS.

Well, I have the same bag on my four-year-old Redcrest. I use it if I need to stow the dinghy on deck for a few days, but it didn't strike me as being designed for heavy-duty UV protection. In any case, I was after a dinghy, not a cover. The rowlocks are great (still rubber, but no longer black), although being rubber make feathering the oars on every stroke both noisy and difficult. I may have to replace the pump (but again, I didn't buy it for the pump). And the inflatable thwart is made of plastic rather than the same material as the main balloons, presumably to save a pound or two, which I think is a pity. But these are minor niggles. I bought an Avon because of its reputation for longevity, and its resilience to date gives me no cause to regret it.