Water, water everywhere; but not a drop to drink

[ColdFusion]

Further to recent threads, the huge level of interest and information/misinformation concerning a certain product, followed by the pulling of the thread (not for the first time) I now look forward to reading a fascinating piece of investigative journalism, which will (hopefully) answer all the questions that have been raised. I watch with interest...

 

[Paragon]

I second that as a potential customer put off by the feedback and lack of concrete information on the product.

I guess watch this space!

 

[Alastairdent]

Dunno what is with this manufacturer, he could have stopped the critism on the thread a damn sight more effectively by joining in, giving us some boat names that use the product. And offering a test unit to one of the mags.

are you reading this, sir?
The deleted thread went on at length about what a good idea your product seemed.

Several people have said that they are very interested in your product. They have credit cards in their sweaty palms; ie, a queue of potential customers searching for you.

 

[aluijten]

Can someone explain to me why Kim is giving such a cryptic answer in his thread/statement. Why don't they (YM/PBO) just test the damn thing and get it over with.
What has the number of ARC yachts carrying this product to do with the fact that a magazine will test it or not. It looks like a interesting product, if the supplier is so convinced it's actually very good, he can send a test example to the Yachting Monthly or PBO, can't he?

In the meantime the supplier can then hire a graphics designer to do something about the product's website as it looks very amateuristic in my opinion /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Arno

 

[Paragon]

They could provide one to me, I'm doing a transatlantic in May/June from the Caribbean and would be happy to report to both the forum and a magazine if they want a blue water test!

 

[zefender]

Agree the matter needs sorting (and also think that while the legals do their stuff, we should be a bit circumspect). it is of course entirely possible that this is a product that works and works well and that the company behind it doesn't spend too much of its time on PR and marketing activity - and that this might actually benefit customers through cheaper pricing. I'm all for being open-minded until we learn more. What seems likely is that we'll have some answers soon. Personally I'm hoping I won't have to announce to my missus that catching rainwater in some sort of boom-gutter device is a viable alternative!

 

[AndrewB]

[ QUOTE ]
Personally I'm hoping I won't have to announce to my missus that catching rainwater in some sort of boom-gutter device is a viable alternative!

[/ QUOTE ]And why not? Its worked fine for me on long passages. Comes by the gusherload and tastes every bit as good as the bottled supermarket stuff at £k's less than the high tech fix. Delivery is admittedly a bit unreliable, but the same could be said of some water-makers, judging by past comments here.

 

[jimi]

IMHO all this tosh about cutting costs by not advertising is a load of bollox, advertising tends to reduce unit cost by increasing demand leading to economies of scale. Surprising that on a forum with this reach that no one has actually first hand experience of such an excellent product!

 

[cliff]

[ QUOTE ]
IMHO all this tosh about cutting costs by not advertising is a load of bollox, advertising tends to reduce unit cost by increasing demand leading to economies of scale. Surprising that on a forum with this reach that no one has actually first hand experience of <font color="red">such an excellent product! </font>

[/ QUOTE ] Ah so wee man - so you have had the experience or is your comment about the excellence of the product hearsay?
Could it be the weak feeling in your knees at the words "legal action" or even worse - could it be you have gone over to the dark side and cut a deal with the makers?
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[jimi]

Listen yah thick Mick, I wiz merely pointing out

1)If the product is as good as it is claimed to be, then its excellent.
2)This forum has an extensive worldwide reach

bring the two together and it is indeed surprising that no one on this worldwide forum has had first hand experience of this stupendous bit of kit.

 

[cliff]

What's up wee man - did ye get oot af ra beid oon ra rang seid ismorn'.

Any mair lip oot af yae an I'll be seein ye in ra Kay park at 4. thats if ye ar no feart!

Or ye culd make it the Jolly Farmer or the Kadikoi or the KPT or even the Kilmarnock arms.
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[TigaWave]

If you have the cash to invest in the advertising in the first place...otherwise you rely editorial, and other routes to your market. We prefer to directly sell to manufacturers and commercial users who will then be a reference for consumers. Having carried out thorough engineering assesments before commiting to a new product their decision to fit is worth a hundred private owners making the same choice.
So far we have sold our products in the hundreds and have many more installations pending boat haul out, but ask on this forum if anyone has fitted seen or tested them and I'm sure you'll get a blank response.
People are still debating the use of Spurs against Strippers, when they should be dabating the old cutters against the new.....(Oh search for marine rope cutter on google.com)
I hope these watery people have got a great product, it does sound like a great product.

 

[tome]

Totally puzzled by the response of the manufacturer, and now even more suspicious. All the speculation could so easily have been laid to rest by a product test, instead he threatens legal action. I've still to meet anyone with first hand experience of their product.

Would I have bought one when I first heard of the product? Probably, if doing any extended cruising.

Would I buy one now? Definitely not

Why? Because of the response of the manufacturer to perfectly reasonable enquiries hereabouts.

 

[philmarks]

Do we have a catalogue of suspect merchandise arising from these forums (fora?)? There's obviously this watermaker thingy whose parentage and very existence has been called into question, also we know that divorces are to be avoided, some marinas to be sailed past; what other products/services have had threads pulled? It would be nice to have a list which instead of being PBO Best Buy is PBO To Be Avoided AT ALL COSTS.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: It\'s a puzzle.

Fearless consumer journalism is very much in vogue, with Watchdog and Topgear and plenty of undercover expose's of shoddy stuff. Car magazines and a variety of consumer mags mix the facts with opinion to praise the quality and slag off the dross.

Thankfully yachting is still in a kind of backwater where service is on time and cheerfully delivered. Goods are described accurately and all yachts are well designed and seaworthy as lifeboats.

How lucky we are and how sad it s for people outside of the sailing world. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Ships_Cat]

Given that he had a wonderful opportunity, as others have said, to give references, numbers sold, etc, in my view the manufacturer has with his response done himself a great disservice if he indeed has a genuine product.

Given that, I would not consider buying his product whether it exists or not. Doesn't sound like the type of organisation that I would like to deal with no matter how good the product.

John

 

[fireball]

Here here ...

If I was a manufacturer and found a mag forum bad mouthing my product then I'd make sure that Mag had the product to test ASAP to give 3rd party view.

Would I trust a company that hasn't offered this and then threatens legal action? No way ...

 

[Anonymous]

John, I totally agree.

David

 

[webcraft]

I don't care about being sued because I haven't got any money, so continue the discussion HERE if you want or if this thread gets pulled as well.

I for one am now convinced that this product either doesn't exist or doesn't work as described for the very good reasons already expressed in this thread. The entry for it on BlueMoment has now been deleted.

- Nick