Useless Brokers.

[AdeOlly]

I saw a boat at a brokers which I liked and arranged a sea trial for a few weeks ahead. I drove 80 miles on the appropriate day only to turn up and find that the boat wasn' there. No apology, no concern, just tough!.

I drank a toast a few months later as this well know south coast dealer was taken into receivership. Perhaps they wouldn't have gone bust if they'd tried a littler harder with their customers!

Hmm I wonder if that's the same Chi broker that showed me a used but not very old stock Rodman a few years back that was in abominable condition. Don't worry; we'll clean it up if you buy it said the broker. Buy it!! SWMBO wouldn't have set foot on it had I brought her along. Had they spent a few hours cleaning it and replacing the carpets I might well have bought it, and as a stock boat you'd think they would have.

On the other hand, I bought my current Seawings through Ancasta Port Solent and received a first class service. Everything done and arranged when needed, calls always returned, no paperwork or money delays. Just all as it should be.

 

[acbruce]

I completely agree about Jan and Russell at Dickies Brighton, absolutely excellent.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Well I've had 13 boats, all secondhand and all bought/sold through brokers. Without a shadow of doubt, I can say that all yacht brokers are decent, hard working, God fearing folk, as honest as the day is long and kind to animals and children. I think we should stop rubbishing this fine body of men and women, who are a shining example of all that's good and decent about Great Britain

 

[PaulGooch]

Well I've had 13 boats, all secondhand and all bought/sold through brokers. Without a shadow of doubt, I can say that all yacht brokers are decent, hard working, God fearing folk, as honest as the day is long and kind to animals and children. I think we should stop rubbishing this fine body of men and women, who are a shining example of all that's good and decent about Great Britain

I'll have some of what Mike's been smoking please.

 

[omega2]

I'll have some of what Mike's been smoking please.

whatever he's drinking make mine a quart!!

 

[Loggo]

Darren at Penton Hook has taken no end of rubbish from me and always comes up smilling and helpful.

(No relation !)

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I'll have some of what Mike's been smoking please.

I've just come back from a week on the boat with some mates basking in glorious Med sunshine and hitting the local vino collapso whilst you lot have been slaving away in the rain and cold so yes, I'm feeling rather mellow at the moment But thats soon going to pass when I get home tonight and SWMBO extracts revenge for being away for a week

 

[nicho]

... interestingly my experience of Solent Motor Yachts was the complete opposite - I found a broker there to be absolutely useless.

Cheers
Jimmy

Ah, but that's because you can be an awkward bugger!! In fairness, they approached us to say thay had a buyer that was interested in our boat (it wasn't even on the market!) - it went within 10 days!

 

[nicho]

I'll have some of what Mike's been smoking please.

He must have just opened a brokerage somewhere!

 

[PaulGooch]

I've just come back from a week on the boat with some mates basking in glorious Med sunshine and hitting the local vino collapso whilst you lot have been slaving away in the rain and cold so yes, I'm feeling rather mellow at the moment But thats soon going to pass when I get home tonight and SWMBO extracts revenge for being away for a week

Right, so you'll soon want a glass of my Vodka then ?

 

[DAKA]

There has to be some good brokers out there surely ?

Take out the guys who take care to suck up to £500 000 + customers
Take out the guys who are selling 'own stock'.

Has anyone had honest, open and helpful advice from a Broker taking commission on a boat up to £100 000 ?

Any Brokers reading this that want to educate us to why this massive segment of the market doesnt get looked after ?


(FEEL FREE TO SEND A PM TO ME OR ANOTHER TRUSTED SOURCE FOR COPY/PASTE ANONYMOUSLY)

 

[3571]

There has to be some good brokers out there surely ?

Take out the guys who take care to suck up to £500 000 + customers
Take out the guys who are selling 'own stock'.

Has anyone had honest, open and helpful advice from a Broker taking commission on a boat up to £100 000 ?

I bought my last boat through Tom at Parkstone Bay in Poole, an absolutely faultless process, ticked all the right boxes for me, I would not hesitate to buy through them again.

He bent over backwards to accomodate me for a sea trial at very short notice due to my bizzare work patterns and was ultra professional in all regards from start to finish, so praise where praise is due........the coffee was a bit rough mind, and no choccy biccys......but hey, what do you expect if you are spending less than £100K.......

 

[AdeOlly]

There has to be some good brokers out there surely ?

Take out the guys who take care to suck up to £500 000 + customers
Take out the guys who are selling 'own stock'.

Has anyone had honest, open and helpful advice from a Broker taking commission on a boat up to £100 000 ?

Any Brokers reading this that want to educate us to why this massive segment of the market doesnt get looked after ?


(FEEL FREE TO SEND A PM TO ME OR ANOTHER TRUSTED SOURCE FOR COPY/PASTE ANONYMOUSLY)

Re my previous good comments about Ancasta, my boat was brokerage and cost well south of £100k. Ancasta are also the one broker in my experience that always follow up to an emailed enquiry.

I'm currently looking to trade up to something a bit south of £100k and the responsiveness of brokers is proving extremely variable.... there may be some naming ahd shaming to come in the next few weeks and possibly some more well dones too.

 

[Moody]

... interestingly my experience of Solent Motor Yachts was the complete opposite - I found a broker there to be absolutely useless.

Cheers
Jimmy

It's amazing how people have different experiences, Solent Motor Yachts sold our boat within 3 weeks, advising who he thought were serious and who were fender kickers.

Handled every aspect of the sale very effeciently and even demonstrated felixibility in making a sale happen.

On the other hand we contacted another broker to arrange a viewing on a boat we were interested in, rang him twice and we're still waiting for a date. We've bought a boat now, if I was the owner I'd be furious

 

[boatmaster]

Underhanded

Brokers work hard from the initial instruction, they photograph the vessel and spend fortunes on advertising to earn at best 8%, usually a lot less. Typically a broker can conduct many viewings sometimes twenty or thirty maybe more before a buyer is found, its the numbers game and with high overheads its a hard game to be in, people like you who cheat brokers from hard earned commission are the very cause of key players like (BA Peters) going down the tubes! thankfully there are still a few decent folk out there.

I bought one boat from a Broker, I needed a Barrister to sort the mess out.
I was lucky, I jotted his lies onto the sales agreement , barley a scruffy sentence, turned out to be a really smart move !

Next boat I asked the seller to move it out of the hands of the Broker (BP Peters) and I bought it privately after meeting the owner, meeting the owner is the only sensible way to buy a boat, why put a middleman in the way who has a license to lie without any redress

Current boat was also for sale with a Broker and privately, I met the owners (nice couple)and was able to ask 1000s of questions, they got the sale and saved 8% +VAT thats over £10 000 for a couple of hours .

Most boat owners are reasonably nice people , speaking to them soon gets the history you need to make an assessment of the risk you are taking.

Ask to see a service history, look for the owners details and get in touch with him before you proceed with a purchase.

 

[Nick_H]

its the numbers game and with high overheads its a hard game to be in

Well I agree it's a numbers game, there are too many brokers chasing too few boat sales, which is why you all need to charge 5-8%+VAT to scrape a living. The reason there are too many brokers is that it's an easy game to get into, no qualifications or experience needed, just an office, a PC, and a phone.

Very few brokers seem to make any effort to differentiate themselves or offer something innovative (Essex Boatyards being the only one I can think of). Most just seem to sit back and expect to get rich by selling a few used boats each year.

(Just to be clear, as your post was a response to Dakas, I don't for one minute support using brokers to find a buyer/seller, then making the sale privately, that's just plain dishonest, but it's a different point to whether brokers earn their money or not, and/or whether to use one in the first place)

 

[DAKA]

(Just to be clear, as your post was a response to Dakas, I don't for one minute support using brokers to find a buyer/seller, then making the sale privately, that's just plain dishonest,

Just to be clear neither do I.

I have never put any of my boats through a broker to sell.

I am advising all to speak to the owner before you buy a boat.

I am also saying that after a Broker tried to rip me off that I would not buy my last two boats through a broker.
What went on between the seller and broker regarding finders fee I have no idea, thats none of my business.
My current boat I found the private add, I didnt even to speak to a Broker so I wouldnt have expected anything to be paid to the Broker.

I am sure there are good honest brokers out there as mentioned above but none of them seam very interested in getting profesional/regulated in order to weed out the cowboys , if the honest Brokers added value to the buyer by means of making the sale less risk to all then boat sales would increase.
The current situation where the Broker's sole interest is getting cash from the buyer with no duty of care (a huge amount of extra risk in introduced) this just inst acceptable these days.

Please read my posts again boatmaster, I havent attempted to encourage anyone to be underhanded, I was just suggesting how to make a purchase reducing some of the risk.

 

[Thepipdoc]

So I'm clearly not alone in being made to feel (by the broker) that he's doing me some kind of big favour.
I've stopped 'bothering' him now and I'm dealing directly with the vendor.

I was going to complain to the MD of the company concerned till i found out the guy I'm dealing with IS the MD!!

 

[boatmaster]

Yes i've Read the post again DAKA you said "Next boat I asked the seller to move it out of the hands of the Broker (BP Peters) and I bought it privately after meeting the owner" which suggests that you did deal outside the broker, but hey thats your choice i just think its a shame for the broker after his expense and efforts.

Just to be clear neither do I.

I have never put any of my boats through a broker to sell.

I am advising all to speak to the owner before you buy a boat.

I am also saying that after a Broker tried to rip me off that I would not buy my last two boats through a broker.
What went on between the seller and broker regarding finders fee I have no idea, thats none of my business.
My current boat I found the private add, I didnt even to speak to a Broker so I wouldnt have expected anything to be paid to the Broker.

I am sure there are good honest brokers out there as mentioned above but none of them seam very interested in getting profesional/regulated in order to weed out the cowboys , if the honest Brokers added value to the buyer by means of making the sale less risk to all then boat sales would increase.
The current situation where the Broker's sole interest is getting cash from the buyer with no duty of care (a huge amount of extra risk in introduced) this just inst acceptable these days.

Please read my posts again boatmaster, I havent attempted to encourage anyone to be underhanded, I was just suggesting how to make a purchase reducing some of the risk.

 

[boatmaster]

Brokers in general

Further to last post and for those wondering why my defense to brokers, A relative of mine is a broker and i work closely for/with them. I agree that there are many different brokers out there offering varying levels and quality of service but we must all bare in mind that different clients have differnent perceptions of what constitutes a good or bad service. For some people the laid back broker who is prepared to allow the looker or buyer to amble around without intervention is a bad one, while others appreciate the unhindered visit while they simply browse without feeling pressured to buy or leave contact details. I certainly like to be left alone when looking at cars and if i need help i'll ask for it. a good car salesman hangs back for a time and when he/she sees a potential sale, may amble past and exchange a pleasantry to break the ice but not pounce. This usually works and if the client needs help they will ask thier new found friendly salesperson. its the same with boats and in terms of risk, you are far better buying through a broker than privately. if you buy a boat privately which laters transpires to have outstanding finace payable, you are liable to lose your boat or your cash, its that simple. Take the same scenario where you bought through a broker, it is very likely that the brokers insurance company will foot the bill under the defective title heading in the policy (provided the broker carried out reasonable checks to ensure that the vendor had clear title prior to sale) which most brokers will do, of course there are disclaimers encouraging buyers to confirm correctness of particulars for themselves but the law still stands and no individual or company can contract outside of it. A day in the life of a broker is by no means an easy one and people have no idea how much effort goes into the whole job. People slate brokers for being idle and disinterested but in thier next breath ring them for info or help with a boat they have bought (usually somewhere else entirely). what a cheek!