Reply With Quotewhy should it be done that way ? only a fool relies on a hand shake today
100k of your money on a hand shake i doubt it
bad bushiness run week to week or month to month
Contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on unless you want to throw umpteen thousand dollars down the shite shute paying ambulance chasers on the hope that they do their job properly and you win. Even after you have won, if someone has run into financial problems and has no money - that's precisely what you get. The lawyers still want their fees though. There is actually a lot of business still done in the marine industry on little more than a quote and a handshake - the way it should be. Unfortunately though some people do take advantage of this.
why should it be done that way ? only a fool relies on a hand shake today
100k of your money on a hand shake i doubt it
bad bushiness run week to week or month to month
If you don't trust the people you could be about to deal with then don't. No different to any tradie or any one else in life for that matter IMHO
Because I believe a man is only as good as his word. If you agree to do something - do it. If you've done a job you deserve to be paid for it. By that definition mate there's an awful lot of bad businesses in this country. Takes an awful long time after forking out possibly quite a lot of money to buy or set up a business to have a spare 100k sitting around just in case some germ decides he isn't going to pay. Even with a contract - last boat we locked to the wharf through non payment took over two years before the clowns declared bankruptcy and the bank and the taxman stepped in. Legal costs last I knew were well over and above what we were originally owed. Within the two year period we won the case so they appealed - back to square one. Meanwhile with all this going on, your suppliers have you on stop credit because you didn't have the money to settle the account way back when - so you can't get stock to sell to make more money and your solicitor is sending you a monthly account. The bank won't lend you any more and down the gurgler you go - contract or no contract.
You are right though - you would need to be foolish or at the least naïve to operate like this these days. The reality is we would not release stock without payment and you just prayed no prick decided to bounce a cheque - don't laugh, some people were still using them when I got out of the game a few years back. One of the builders mentioned in this thread used to display a total of about 30 grand in a couple of bounced cheques on a pin board in his office. Foolish him hey for thinking clients would be true to their word. He would have gone broke a lot faster had he financed the whole build and got a cheque at the end for 100g that bounced.
Only a few people know why Origin failed, the prices were premium and demand was high. Hang on, a business should be strong with that scenario.
I've found that Aussies can be so friendly, accommodating and trusting that some people will take advantage. Scott let me hitch up & drive away with thousands owing.
Maybe some customers set out to take advantage of the boat builder/business owner. Why else would one send a dodgy final cheque?
I think responsibility lies with the vendor to set out terms fair to both parties.
Maybe WP could make a comment and shed some light after his "business as usual" post weeks prior to locking the gates?
how can they afford to honour warranties then as its dead labour and materialsOriginally Posted by scottar
if a business is running week to week then it shouldn't be taking peoples deposits and offering promises
How many properly built aluminium boats do you rekon they might have warranty claims on???? That said though I do know of one builder that when confronted with a $600 000 lemon that was condemned by MSQ, declared bankruptcy and walked away. Typically though we aren't talking lightweight tinnies here that are likely to split if driven hard. Anything else - electronics, motors, windows etc would be referred to the relevant supplier at no cost the builder or at worst a bit of labour to change it out. Sometimes though you do take the hit. I was in the electronics side of the industry. We had jobs that the company lost money on through no fault of our own - it gives you the shits but that's the game if you want to do the right thing by your clients. I hazard a guess mate that plenty of small mum & dad type businesses in the current economic climate run on a month to month cash flow situation. Especially those in high turnover low profit type market places. Probably a fair share of large ones too. If they are lucky they have an overdraft facility to tide them over when someone doesn't pay in time but this eats further into their profits.
Ahh boat building.
It it is a disease. My father owned a company called Cresta for 40 years. Building large game boats.
I tell you seriously it is a disease.
Builders want to build the best boat
investors want to be part of the magnificent boating industry
customers want to pay as little as possible
it just goes round and round
i think my father and bill Barry cotter are the only 2 boat builders never to go broke. Mind you. Bill is the only one ever to make money out of it. And he does it by mass production not custom making the perfect boat.
Just side tracking for a jiffy, LOVE the old 40' Cresta, even today they still have a great shape.
There has been a few over the years who have done ok out of the game.
Sad to see this story played out again with people loosing there money.
Explained very well rodpal a lot of smoke and mirrors
Caravanning Industry aint much better , hence buy one built n ready to roll rater than order for fear of the above reasons. Still , one would think that for such an outlay one would want a packetfull of gaurantees prior to handing out any sort of $$$ no matter how good the boat is..
I have removed a post by Rodpal due to some untruths. If you are commenting on any forum you can have an opinion, but if you specifically state something as being fact, it should be true, otherwise all you are doing is harming or otherwise, someone, someones reputation, family, friends etc etc.
These threads about business's going bankrupt, liquidation or simply closing down pop up here from time to time, and mostly draws a lot of " speculation ".
The people that are directly affected by this issue certainly have the right to have their say.
Let's also remember, that if you are personally involved and are " aggrieved " , there may be legal action undertaken by yourself down the track and anything you say on here or other forums, will certainly be garnered by " legal types ".
As I said, we all have opinions and they are always welcome, but let's stick to the facts when making specific statements.
cheers LP
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You need to do your homework better .. a lot better before making ridiculous claims like 'the only two boat builders never to go broke'.
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