Charged after visiting a boat for sale! Has anyone ever had this happen?

[Katapult Mike]

Yes, once gain we have been rode hard and put away wet. When will we ever learn?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El1kgCqD7Xk

[Karlt]

Another good reason to use a reputable broker rather than DYI. There are so many complicated issues with buying a boat especially in foreign waters.

[Jammer]

Friends don't let friends buy charter boats. I'll add this to the list of reasons.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Karlt

Another good reason to use a reputable broker rather than DYI. There are so many complicated issues with buying a boat especially in foreign waters.

Do Yourself In...?????

[AussieJim]

I'm sure you would have incurred considerable costs travelling to view a boat that was dishonestly advertised as being better than it actually was. I would suggest letting the seller know that you could easily make a counter claim.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by OurPeace

Hello All,

I was recently charged $3000 dollars for "visiting" a boat that was for sale. I wasn't told there would be fee to visit the boat, and I didn't ask the boat to do anything it wouldn't have done if I wasn't there. The boat was simply at a dock, we never sea trialed or anything.

A bit more background... this is a boat I had a contract on, it was in the Caribbean, I visited it for 4 hours during a personal inspection (with opt out clause) on a day after the past charter was dropped off and its documented that I was told this was an off week for the vessel/crew.

Has this happened to anyone, its the first time I've ever heard of something like this.

Please note, we're not confusing this with the survey that was scheduled for a month later. This was my FIRST review of the boat in person. For far away boats its typical to have a contract with opt outs after a personal inspection which is exactly what happened here. The boat wasn't as advertised (not close) so we very politely declined to buy the boat.

As I'm fighting to get my escrow back, I don't want to post pictures, but the contract allowed for us to cancel the deal post inspection and post survey. We're now being charged for lost time in the charter business, for the crew expenses, dockage etc. Meanwhile the boat was on an off week and the expenses were a regular part of their charter business when off charter. Plus, we were not told we were incurring any expenses.

Has anyone ever been charged to visit a boat that they chose not to buy?

Curious.

Why would you put money down for looking at a vessel for sale?
Sounds like a scam.. It's up to the broker to make the boat available for inspection.. Charter or not

[OurPeace]

Good Morning All,

I appreciate your feedback. You've helped me a great deal as I've not heard that anyone's been charged to visit a boat which was my big ask. I do understand that the buyer pays for survey, haul out, etc, but not simply to visit the boat for a personal inspection.

To help a bit with context as it seems like most people are shocked we signed before visiting. The process itself is designed to protect the buyer and thus the contract is written as such. This is a very normal part of buying something very far away (house, boat, car etc), the contract protects the buyer, there are many opt outs, and the reason is that many brokers will leverage this situation to sell the item and the person traveling shows up and the item has been sold.

In our case it took us weeks to plan the visit as the boat was out cruising/unavailable. We did all we could beforehand, we viewed photo's and video's, negotiated a price and signed. We then booked flights, paid for hotels, took time off of work etc. The last thing we wanted to do is have the boat sold upon arrival, I've seen happen many times and lost out. Unfortunately, the boat wasn't as advertised, this happens so we move on.

The contract was through an attorney, we had an escrow attorney and the funds were returned.

I'm was shocked the seller tried to charge us and at the time of post I was searching for context as to why, and truly appreciate your feedback as the community at large is valuable in times like this. At the end of the day, if the seller had included in the contract that they were going to charge an hourly visit fee, or a day charter fee, they could have. I wouldn't have signed the contract but as no provision for that we were not subject to those fee's which we later found included (fuel, trash, cleaning, etc even though we were dockside and a matter of hours).

My recommendation is to hire a lawyer to prepare the contract offer for you, put all deposits with an escrow attorney that buyer hires, and never put deposit money with the sellers broker/agent.

None of this is as relevant if you're local to the boat, but if a lot of travel and planning are involved it may be relevant to someone in the future.

All the best.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by OurPeace

Good Morning All,

I appreciate your feedback. You've helped me a great deal as I've not heard that anyone's been charged to visit a boat which was my big ask. I do understand that the buyer pays for survey, haul out, etc, but not simply to visit the boat for a personal inspection.

To help a bit with context as it seems like most people are shocked we signed before visiting. The process itself is designed to protect the buyer and thus the contract is written as such. This is a very normal part of buying something very far away (house, boat, car etc), the contract protects the buyer, there are many opt outs, and the reason is that many brokers will leverage this situation to sell the item and the person traveling shows up and the item has been sold.

In our case it took us weeks to plan the visit as the boat was out cruising/unavailable. We did all we could beforehand, we viewed photo's and video's, negotiated a price and signed. We then booked flights, paid for hotels, took time off of work etc. The last thing we wanted to do is have the boat sold upon arrival, I've seen happen many times and lost out. Unfortunately, the boat wasn't as advertised, this happens so we move on.

The contract was through an attorney, we had an escrow attorney and the funds were returned.

I'm was shocked the seller tried to charge us and at the time of post I was searching for context as to why, and truly appreciate your feedback as the community at large is valuable in times like this. At the end of the day, if the seller had included in the contract that they were going to charge an hourly visit fee, or a day charter fee, they could have. I wouldn't have signed the contract but as no provision for that we were not subject to those fee's which we later found included (fuel, trash, cleaning, etc even though we were dockside and a matter of hours).

My recommendation is to hire a lawyer to prepare the contract offer for you, put all deposits with an escrow attorney that buyer hires, and never put deposit money with the sellers broker/agent.

None of this is as relevant if you're local to the boat, but if a lot of travel and planning are involved it may be relevant to someone in the future.

All the best.

First, thanks for the update. There were a lot of sight-unseen offers during Covid, hopefully the pressure to do this has lessened as the market rotated to the more traditional buyers-edge market.

Can you offer a bit more detail on the type of seller? Was this a charter company, or was it an owner of a boat coming out of charter? It is an odd request on the sellers part - any idea what their theory was beyond sheer desire? Did they lose a charter because the boat was sequestered pending your arrival? I'm not saying any of those things are justification l, just trying to understand. It's the type of situation that should be anticipated and agreed upon contractually ahead of time so no one feels screwed.

Glad it all worked out and best wishes on finding your dream boat. Guess you're in the "kissing frogs" phase.

[sailorboy1]

well the OP had an attorney and instead asked a bunch of CF strangers for advise and got them jumping

lots of fun

[Katapult Mike]

OP, thanks for the update. We get a lot of requests from new members who then disappear, so it is nice to have closure.

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

well the OP had an attorney and instead asked a bunch of CF strangers for advise and got them jumping

lots of fun

LOL, in retrospect, the OP was asking asking us about industry customs and practices, not legal advice. So this forum made sense.

Many of us, myself included, started providing advice about contracts, legal matters, and whether he should engage an attorney. But that wasn't what he asked for. He had that aspect covered.

I think there is a lesson for us all in this.

[Texasvlad]

FYI : I was pushed once by one "broker" to sign a contract before even a viewing the boat. (The boat was in BVI and the broker was in Texas). After multiple attempt to see the boat before contract - I have not sign it and ended up with different boat. BTW: The draft of contract has multiple terms to prevent the broker to be sued by buyer. To make responsibility of broker almost impossible. So make sure you read contract first.

[Sailing August]

Never send them money in advance.....NEVER.
If they insist you must, then walk away. It is very difficult to get your money back and the yacht world is full of thieves.
If I decide to buy the boat, then I will sign the papers and wire the money that day. If that is a problem....walk away.
There are many boats in the world.
Unfortunately there are more thieves and tricky people than there are boats.