what would you have done ??

Clyst
Of course they would do well to offer you an apology for being so bloody confrontational. costs them nothing. the thread has lost them future sales at present. Keep positive.

Steveeasy
 
Clyst
Of course they would do well to offer you an apology for being so bloody confrontational. costs them nothing. the thread has lost them future sales at present. Keep positive.

Steveeasy

Thanks Steveeasy ... Iv used PureCanvas in the past but his quality of work and customer relations have deteriated alarmingly .
 
Clyst
Of course they would do well to offer you an apology for being so bloody confrontational. costs them nothing. the thread has lost them future sales at present. Keep positive.

Steveeasy

I’m sure it will lose them business which is what makes me feel a little uneasy about this thread. They didn’t need to be named in the first place if the OP was asking about what to do next.

I understand from some of the comments that the OP is having a difficult time with the health of his wife at the moment so I wish him well with that and won’t push him for answers to this particular event.

However we all should think carefully when we can only bring one side of an argument to the table to avoid trashing someone else’s business.

_____________________________
 
I’m sure it will lose them business which is what makes me feel a little uneasy about this thread. They didn’t need to be named in the first place if the OP was asking about what to do next.

I understand from some of the comments that the OP is having a difficult time with the health of his wife at the moment so I wish him well with that and won’t push him for answers to this particular event.

However we all should think carefully when we can only bring one side of an argument to the table to avoid trashing someone else’s business.

_____________________________

The OP was only describing his experience with the canvas company; nothing is wrong with that.
 
No there was no contract neither written nor verbal .

There must have been a contract.

You enquired, they quoted, you agreed and paid a deposit for the supply of goods with the balance to be paid upon satisfactory completion.

That's a contract.....whether written or not.
 
Glad to see its resolved.

I see it was the chaps Dad who called to break the ice. Which makes me think the canvas guy is quite young trying to make a go of it in a small business.
Young people make mistakes. apparently he made a customer service error. I think rather unwisely. an error which moved him from the right side of the law to the wrong side.
Hopefully he learns from his mistakes.

Might be nice if the OP changed his tune to resolved and stopped making further reference to his company name giving the kid a chance to repair his reputation.

I to would be annoyed if someone took something from my boat in the manner described.

Mind. I would also be quite annoyed if I agreed to do a job, worked hard on it. Believed I had provided the cover as requested. And the guy who hired me refused to pay.

You have the cover back. If the cover works out ok in the end. Give the kid a break.
Hope the wife gets better soon.

PS. Is canvas actually waterproof?:)
 
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Ive made a simple cockpit cover that I raise when aboard. cost me £70 in material similar to sunbrella. !00% waterproof. its been on all winter and even with the snow te cockpit has stayed dry. rubbish at attaching images.

Steveeasy
 

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Naming and shaming is an interesting one.

I have always been reluctant because inevitably however much you may try otherwise, you are inclined to give just your side of the story. On the other hand it never ceases to frustrate me especially I might add in the marine industry how poor some of the service providers are. I guess many of us read Tripadvisor for example, and while it is often very clear some people have an axe to grind, (if you pardon the pun) you do get a flavour for places that are good and not so good.

Whatever the detail of this case it seems to me the trader has made absolutely no effort to resolve the problem and that in itself is dreadful. I suspect we often dont mind people getting things wrong, it is their willingness to address the customer's concern and seek an amicable solution. Of course that is not always possible - but at least I like to see some evidence of both parties attempting to do so.
 
I know of a significant number of really poor marine service providers including yards and marinas. In many cases people are scared of reprisals, I know of a marina and yard whose customers literally live in fear of the owner. People are embarrassed to admit they made a huge mistake as well.
 
A police reference number is often required by people like insurers, even if it makes no sense! Some years ago, I had a camera stolen in Buenos Aires. Didn't even consider reporting it to the local police, for several reasons including the fact that I didn't want to get tied up in interviews and statements when I was there on business, and I doubted that they would actually do anything, anyway. Got home and reported it to my insurers. Do you have a police reference? No, said I. OK, please report it to the police and get one. They were quite happy when I rang the local police, and had a rather amusing conversation with the duty police officer, who rather fancied the idea of being sent to BA to investigate! I got my (UK!) police reference, the insurers had something to put in the box on the form and everyone was happy - especially me, as it was a new for old policy, and the camera in question was no longer made, so I ended up with a newer, higher spec model!

Buenos Aires is the only city where I've ever had stuff stolen, and where I had another attempt at theft perpetrated on me - some sticky stuff squirted on my jacket, with helpful strangers offreing to "help" me clean it off. Fortunately I keep my valuables in my trouser pocket, as I didn't immediately twig!
 
sitting on the fence... The agreement was deposit paid, ballance on receipt, but you had thecovers in use and had still not paid.
You didnt take it straight back to complain, you continued to use it.
Were there gaps or was rain coming through the fabric or at seams? if it fitted well but water was coming through it probably need spraying, you cant do that on the boat, makes decks too slippy.
He came to collect it after you claimed it was too faulty to be paid for, but hadnt returned it yourself, saving you a job.
As you said it was leaking to the point of not wanting to pay for it, he isnt going to think you would have left all those items in it is he?
He has staff to pay and a customer who hasnt paid on delivery, if you were he what would you have done?
Sorry to hear about your wife, hope shes getting better, Pure Canvas might have thought he was saving you time going to collect it to put it right for you, so you would be able to pay him.
 
Hello, My name is Josh Lindsay of Pure Canvas,
I am a self employed cover maker based in Yealmpton.
I have almost 15 years experience in making boat covers, nearly 10 years of that being self employed.


First of all thank you to the person that sent me a link to this thread so I have a chance to give my side of this.

I will give you all the order of events and hopefully it will answer any questions people may have on this.

In February The customer asked me to visit his yacht to quote for a new cockpit cover.
We met on the Yacht and talked over what he wanted.
I then sent through a quote by e-mail which had terms and conditions on the quote itself also stating that if he wishes to go ahead a 50% deposit is required and payment upon completion.

The customer was then present for the template, and the design of the cover was agreed.
Once the cover was made he was also present for fitting. This was on the Friday.

He had agreed he was happy with the cover and the fit and actually offered to pay at the time but sadly I did not have an Invoice with me as I generally e-mail them. He had promised to pay that evening by online transfer.

I received a phone call on Monday at this point the cover had been on his Yacht a few days. This was to say he wanted some alterations and we did talk about a few drips on the first day or so when it rained heavily, I explained that a new cover can leak through the stitching the first couple of times it gets wet.
I picked up the cover the same day made the alterations requested and then re-fitted the cover.
The customer again for the second time said he was happy and would now pay the Invoice.

I did not hear from the customer until the following Sunday at which point he had still yet to pay for the cover.
He called me on the Sunday and told me on the phone he did not like the cover and will not pay for it. The only reason he gave was that the Velcro got caught on his jumper as he exited the cover.
I then offered to meet on the yacht the same day and was told he was too busy and could not meet me until Tuesday.
I did go down to the marina on the Sunday to take a look and see if I could find any issues. The cover was still fitting very well and there were no leaks, it was still raining heavily when I was there.

On Tuesday morning I then called the customer to see what time he would like to meet to go over his issue with the Velcro to be told he would not meet me at the yacht and did not know when he would be able to get there next. This was not a pleasant phone call for me as I was made to feel extremely rude for offering to meet him and fix any issues he had.

After working on my day off on the bank holiday Monday to make time to meet him I decided that I would make alterations to the Velcro while I had the time to do so(This is my busiest time of year after all). Bearing in mind at this point I did not believe in any way that I was not allowed to go onto the customers yacht to do work to the cover.
This day was a dry day and there was no chance of anything on his yacht getting wet.
When I had picked up the covers I did notify the customer that I had taken them off to alter the Velcro.
I did at this point also tell him that I would not return them until I had received payment as he had been happy with the covers twice now and then changed his mind each time a new problem. I did this knowing he did have a spare cover so was never left with nothing to keep his cockpit dry.
Afterwards I was met with a very aggressive tone and accusations of trespassing at which point communication did begin to break down.
I was still willing to talk to resolve the issue yet the customer would not have any communication with me.

I decided the best course of action would be to use a third party to mediate until it was resolved.
Several times I was offered 1/5 of the payment due rather than the whole amount while not being told any specific issue.

It was then decided that I make the changes to the Velcro and then it would be paid for and the covers then given to the customer, which all happened within 2 days and all was resolved.

At no point did I refuse to alter anything the customer was unhappy with and to honour his guarantee I still would.
I in fact added roll up curtains at no extra cost as per his request after I had given him a quote. I also have made changes which would have been nothing to do with the original quote or design at the customer's request again free of charge.


To the customer,
I am sorry you feel that I have not been fair or intrusive by taking off the cover to alter, I did feel at that point that you did not have any intention to pay for your cover.
However I am struggling to understand why you claimed we were currently in dispute after it was all resolved a week before your first post on this forum, also why you claim that you had nothing in writing before the deposit was paid.
My Father thought you were very happy when he met you, you were happy with the covers and the alterations to the Velcro.
I do have e-mail proof of sending you a quote with my terms of payment and terms of business.

I would also like to highlight it is Terms of business Edition 15a-England
 

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