bilbobaggins
N/A
I'm really pleased someone has started a similar thread, for I had one of those 'strange phone calls' quite late last night. It took me quite a while to realise what the caller was selling - in fact, that he was selling 'something' at all - due to his thick Lincolnshire accent and what sounded like a large curry with chips, and several cans of ale being opened. Once I had put aside my surprise that someone would be "eatin' all, suppin' all, and payin' nowt" at three in the morning, and that he somehow had divined that I have a passing interest in boats, I rather regret now that I expressed some curiosity regarding quite what it was he had for sale.
"You're in luck, my son," he confided. "This has just come up and I want you to have first refusal, before trading starts proper-like in the morning. It won't be in my yard for long...."
Well, with one thing and another - then another and another, until the bottle of unlabelled Spanish Brandy I was using to wash down the paintwork was nearly empty again - I ended up agreeing with him that the chance he offered me to acquire a real wooden traditional boat hull in pristine condition for the unusual price of just £2 plus post and packing, was an opportunity too good to be missed. He also very kindly offered me first refusal on some ex-RNLI traditional cork lifejackets that had come his way some decades ago, together with an original 'Old Gaffers' Association' club burgee that had been to Dunkirk and back - complete with bullet holes! A real Classic!
"Eat your heart out, Dan Houston!" I thought.
However, when I woke up this morning - er, afternoon - and had my usual Saturday brunch of Aspirin and AlkaSelzer, I found myself having second thoughts, especially when I recollected he'd taken all the details of my bank charge card so he could 'validate the transaction'. There's also the phone call I've just had from some haulage contractors, asking if a 50' low loader will be able to access my driveway on Monday morning. Odd, for I rather thought this 'Dave' character had mentioned DHL....
So I decided to ask you experienced boat-buyers for the benefit of your experience and judgment. Do you think I'll get a bargain from Mr Dave......
I phoned Experian - the credit reference company - today, to ask about Mr Dave and his boatyard, and the line went dead shortly after I explained all my worries - but I could hear lots of laughter in the background. "A bit early for an office Christmas Party", I thought, but maybe they do things differently in the South Riding.
If this turns out to be a naive mistake, and the 'gleaming, hand-built traditional wooden yacht hull' turns out to be not-as-described, can I send it back Free Of Charge to Mr Dave, all the way to Lincolnshire - the way one can with Cotton Traders shirts and Freemans woollens - under the Distance Selling Regulations?
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
"You're in luck, my son," he confided. "This has just come up and I want you to have first refusal, before trading starts proper-like in the morning. It won't be in my yard for long...."
Well, with one thing and another - then another and another, until the bottle of unlabelled Spanish Brandy I was using to wash down the paintwork was nearly empty again - I ended up agreeing with him that the chance he offered me to acquire a real wooden traditional boat hull in pristine condition for the unusual price of just £2 plus post and packing, was an opportunity too good to be missed. He also very kindly offered me first refusal on some ex-RNLI traditional cork lifejackets that had come his way some decades ago, together with an original 'Old Gaffers' Association' club burgee that had been to Dunkirk and back - complete with bullet holes! A real Classic!
"Eat your heart out, Dan Houston!" I thought.
However, when I woke up this morning - er, afternoon - and had my usual Saturday brunch of Aspirin and AlkaSelzer, I found myself having second thoughts, especially when I recollected he'd taken all the details of my bank charge card so he could 'validate the transaction'. There's also the phone call I've just had from some haulage contractors, asking if a 50' low loader will be able to access my driveway on Monday morning. Odd, for I rather thought this 'Dave' character had mentioned DHL....
So I decided to ask you experienced boat-buyers for the benefit of your experience and judgment. Do you think I'll get a bargain from Mr Dave......
I phoned Experian - the credit reference company - today, to ask about Mr Dave and his boatyard, and the line went dead shortly after I explained all my worries - but I could hear lots of laughter in the background. "A bit early for an office Christmas Party", I thought, but maybe they do things differently in the South Riding.
If this turns out to be a naive mistake, and the 'gleaming, hand-built traditional wooden yacht hull' turns out to be not-as-described, can I send it back Free Of Charge to Mr Dave, all the way to Lincolnshire - the way one can with Cotton Traders shirts and Freemans woollens - under the Distance Selling Regulations?
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
