Thanks To Prosser-Marine, Service With A Smile

[honeybee]

We often read complaints or issues with UK marine company's service, aproach and attitude but very rarely hear of the great service recieved. I like to give praise when praise is deserved and would like to share my great service experience for the Pre & post sale service recieved from Prosser-Marine, Stan in particular.

As mentioned in the fairline thread, that you should never judge a person by the way they look & IMO is the correct attitude to have. Prosser's have this perfect attitude!

Please feel free to post comments of other company's you have dealt with and had great experience with.

When my father,wife, 2 year old son and I have went into Stan's showroom we did not have our sunday clothes on and Stan had no idea who we were or what we had to spend. He welcomed us in and invited us to have a good look round the showroom, yes we were on all the boats we couldn't afford,as you do! But then spent a little bit of time telling Stan what we wanted.

A few weeks had passed and phone calls were made " by Prossers to Myself" to advise of boats in the pipeline and eventially one to go and view and test drive if we wished. The salesman on the marina site was on his day off when it was convienient for us to view, however, Stan arranged for him to come in and wait for us arriving then show us around the boat.

We decided we liked it and was within our initial budget and before I could walk off the pontoon, Stan had called and asked us to come for a chat, this was 5.30 on a Friday evening - Stan waited back to discuss our thoughts re the boat we viewed. On arriving we had a quick look round the showroom once more before we were going to make an offer.

Again, Stan was in no rush to get home and made us feel very welcomed in the showroom. We fell in love with another 2 boats in the showroom, one was 10k over the budget we allocated and the other 20k. Anyone would have tried to hard sell the boat we viewed within budget but no - Stan left us to view the showroom boats as out leisure. We left the showroom at 7pm with no decision made on any boat.

The following morning we submitted an offer for the boat 20k over our original budget and throughout the day negotiations took place over the phone and the deal finally wrapped at 17.30 on the Saturday night. We got both a good price for our 2007 192 and a very good price on the 2009 285. Talk about having your cake and eating it - not very often a customer can have both.

Stan then arranged for the extras we asked for to be fitted FREE & also gave us the parts at trade price.

During the hand over - time was no issue and Colin Camburn spent 3 hours with us going over the entire boat which was great.

I have one part on the boat that is faulty, Called Stan to ask if this would be covered under warenty (given we are the second owner)with a very quick reponse of "no problem at all".


IMO a great service experience Pre & Post sale from Prosser-Marine, and very easy to deal with.

Some may have seen the pictures of my boat on delivery day but if not here you go.

Once again - Many thanks to Stan and the team for putting a smile on our faces with no complaints.

Chris

 

[happyboater69]

Good to hear of a posative experience for once, and your boat looks like new, a good buy in these times me thinks...

Just a word of warning - a pal of mine bought a p/ex Targa from Prossers, don't think it was the head office though (?) and the VAT paperwork was non existance and the bill of sale was incorrect so check your paperwork. This was a couple of years back so could not be a problem anymore.

Remain to check your boat has a CE plaque and wasn't a grey import.

All that said enjoy your new boat and have a great one.

 

[sterntube]

looks great chris where is she berthed?

 

[honeybee]

Hi,

She is in Cameron house Marina - Loch lomond.

 

[Dougboy]

Prosser Marine

Sorry to spoil this post, but I have to disagree relating to Prosser Marine and I not a previous post warned about this. I am in the porcess of selling my boat (I am the second owner) I have a buyer who wants to take the boat abroad. They have asked for a VAT receipt that I dont have. I phoned Prosser today to be told there is a SEARCH FEE ????

I asked how much that would be to be told by the rather young guy on the phone "I dont know and the woman who can tell you is busy"... I left my number and three hours later called back. Spoke to a woman who told me again the lady in question was busy. I asked when I could expect a call back as I couldnt sit by the phone all day...."dont know she is busy".... then perhaps due to a slip up she admitted she was the woman (we had been on the phone for ten minutes)

She then went a bit crazy,,,that I was holding her back etc etc still not wishing to discuss my request. I asked to speak to Stan Prosser,,,to be dont that he was not available and she was his partner and in charge,,,,yes if you are following this post she is still on the phone and so far has not mentioned my issue about a VAT receipt

so despite my efforts at educating this lady on customer service I let her on with her essential life threatening work tasks...knowing fine well she will not call back

Message to all, if you buy a boat second hand, get a vat receipt

Message to Stan Prosser, give VAT receipts and I have a couple of good contacts for Customer Service training

I will get the vat receipt as I will visit his office tomorrow for it...the best is kept for last...the wee boy on the phone stated a copy vat receipt...which I never received in the first place is chargeable

BE WARNED !!!!

 

[Alistairr]

Be warned!!!????
Be warned and make sure you have all the right paperwork before you decide to sell your boat!

Bit harsh on Prosser Marine, I know dozens of very happy customers, and one who sold a boat through them, and the buyer needed the origional VAT paid invoice so as he too could take the boat abroad, and Prosser Marine hunted it down and found it for him.

Sorry you didn't have the correct paperwork when you decided to sell her, and sorry you feel Prossers aren't doing enough for you.

Hope you get the VAT receipt and sell the boat.

Al.

 

[landlockedpirate]

The VAT receipt you are looking for is not issued by Prosser, it would have been issued by the original dealer when the boat was new (I accept this may still be Prosser's.) This receipt would be kept by original owner and then passed on to you when you bought the boat. I dont wish to sound harsh, but you should have checked the paperwork when you bought the boat, remember Prossers were the vendors agent not yours.

You might get further if you try asking for help, rather than demanding it. Pay the search fee, HOPE they can find a copy of the original VAT invoice, HOPE that your buyer will accept a copy (opinions differ, but most people consider only othe original invoice to be acceptable), sell your boat and move on.

 

[AndieMac]

I remember the pics previously Chris, very nice and what a scenic location.

 

[rafiki_]

I too have used Prossers in the past, with some mixed experience. I had limited dealings with Stan, more with his son, and David O Rourke, who I think has left. Stan was very aggressive with me, and not good to do business with. His staff were OK though.

 

[Dougboy]

Clarity

I bought the boat direct from Prossers and Prossers sold the boat when new...so yes its Prossers, Prossers and Prossers

Thought my post indicated I did phone for help.... havent got to the stage of a search being offered or a cost.... but Pirate you have confirmed Prossers should have given me the correct paperwork but as a first time buyer they didnt.... as now thats my fault,,,glad I dont do business that way with my customers

As a first time buyer I did not know the VAT issues, bet you Prossers did??

Update I have to wait for Stan Prosser to return on the 9th March, no one else can help me...I find that just unhelpful especially when the sale will probably fall through tomorrow

I am only posting this as it is the truth of what I experienced and I think to be helpful to a previous customer would not be to difficult...and yes I agree other buyers beware


Did I mention I was buying a new boat....

 

[landlockedpirate]

"....but Pirate you have confirmed Prossers should have given me the correct paperwork but as a first time buyer they didnt"

Thats not what I said. Prossers should have passed the original VAT Invoice onto you IF the original boat buyer (when new) gave it back to them. There is no requirement to pass this invoice on, but as i'm sure you have realised, most people wont buy a boat without it.

The good news is that since Prossers sold the boat when it was new, they will have a copy of the VAT invoice. The question is will your buyer accept a copy ? I wouldnt because I take my boat over to Europe on a trailer and I feel the VAT invoice is essential especially with the paperwork mad Spanish.

All that aside, welcome to the forum and what boat are you getting

 

[EugeneR]

Great boat and, in my view, the best year model 285 to have!

we did not have our sunday clothes on and Stan had no idea who we were or what we had to spend.

I had the opposite experience with our local Merc car dealer. Was told to wait 20 minutes to see the sales person who then preferred to serve the couple in Sunday clothes who arrived after us. I told them that I didn't like their service and proceeded to buy the same model from another dealer instead.

Remain to check your boat has a CE plaque and wasn't a grey import.

I won't bother. Based on my experience in certifying 285's, the pictures show an official import.

Not that it matters; Bayliner in the US will happily give you a list of parts to convert an imported boat to an official UK/CE model; the biggest / only? remaining difference being the impact on price caused by people not wanting to recognise this.

 

[Ardluilord]

Prossers

I have bought 2 boats from Stan. I have not had a boat for 5 years now and would be more than happy to buy from Stan time...He Still sends me invitations to any events he has and arranges trips out every time....Stan is the Man for boats.....

 

[asteven221]

Prossers are a family who had an Austin Rover car dealership going back to the British Leyland days from what I can recall. They are well known (and reputable) car dealers who moved away from cars into selling boats. Maybe unsurprisingly, buying a boat from Prossers is like buying a secondhand car from a dealer. The sales ethos from what I hear (and from what can see) is looks very similar.

I think they suit first time buyers in particular, as they are likely to get a well prepared boat, finance, warranty etc.... all under one roof. They can then come back and p/ex and do it all again a couple of years later. Maybe they make boat buying easy for people which is exactly what a lot of people want, even although they are likely to pay over the odds a bit.

My observations would suggest that their boats look over priced compared to similar boats elsewhere, but I suspect that might be to allow for attractive p/ex deals in the same way a car dealer offers you a great trade in price, when in fact it's actually a reduction on the one you are buying. All part of making a deal.

Although I've never bought a boat from Prossers, I have visited them on occassions over the years with serious intent to buy a boat. I must admit I didn't get a good feeling when I came face to face with their sales people. They seem a bit insincere and full of sales talk/bull&*t. Hmmm like car salemen! I could sense that as soon as the "penny dropped" and the saleman realised I wasn't a naive first timer who they could bulls^&t, their face would change and their interest in me rapidly disappeared. That's just my experience of course and I might be unlucky. What is clear to me though, is that they have been selling boats for years now, have a good business model and at the very least offer a refreshing alternative to brokers.

 

[rafiki_]

I am not sure this is fair, and it does not reflect my own experience buying from Prossers. I had met Stan and others at SIBS a couple of times, I think on Sealine boats, and they compared very favorably with any others.

When I was looking for a Sunline, I looked at 2 others before going to Prossers. There was no hard selling at all in my case, and in fact they left me alone for 4 hours to crawl over and around the boat at their Glasgow showroom, and quickly supported me if and when I asked questions, or needed someone to fire her up.

I did all the negotiations with David O Rourke and was very happy with the transaction. I had some aftersales issues, particularly with dead batteries, that the previous owner agreed to replace, but Stan sat on the money for several months, souring my opinion a little.

I don't think their boats are overpriced, and if you look at the new prices theuy offer on Sealines, they are very competitive IMO. They make their business through selling boats, and have been doing it for many years.