Well he sold the boat out from under me.

[AKCoastie]

I went to go pay for and pick up the X yesterday. Turns out that he sold it to a guy that walked up with cash while we were out camping this week. All he said was sorry. Guess it''s going to be a bit longer.

[Slamjammer]

Hmmm....no deposit??.....no written sale agreement??

Next time.....

[Kelly Hanson East]

aaarrrghhhh

[kmclemore]

Well, he's clearly as good a man as his promises... and he has live with himself.

Better you didn't get that one, Coastie - After all, if his promises are anything like as accurate as his description, history and claims about that boat, you don't want it. Bottom line - if you can't trust him to keep his word on the deal, you can't trust what he said about the boat.

[pokerrick1]

It will turn out OK.

One time I had a deal with a guy in Running Springs, CA, a town where pretty much everyone knows everyone and everyone is honest with each other - - - - - to buy a 17' open bow in fair shape from a local guy I knew, planning to keep the boat up at Big Bear Lake for at least once weekly usage.

Came time to pick up the boat and the guy didn't show - - - when I called him he just said "I don't want to sell the boat any more" no reason, no apology, nothing.

I was actually OK with it but my wife was FUMING! She went and picked up a boat trader magazine and we started looking through it and found three boats to look at the next day. Long story shorter, we ran across a 19' General Machine Ranger open bow tri hull in GREAT shape owned by a guy who had already taken delivery on a new boat (sitting in his garage), and his wife had demanded he get rid of the old boat immediately, if not sooner. I think this guy used a toothbrush after every outing on the upholstery (it was NEVER that clean again, for sure).

We wound up with a much nicer boat at a price less than the original deal, paid cash and off we went with the "new one", which we had for about six years and eventually sold for almost as much as we paid for it when I bought a new 21' Wellcraft. The seller of the Ranger even got under my tow vehicle for 40 minutes to rewire the trailer hookups, because what I had didn't match his trailer. Turned out missing the first deal was absolutely "for the best".

Here's hoping your deal turns out the same!

Rick

[Mrs_Skipper]

Mr. Skipper and I found a great deal on a used VW van with popup top on the Internet... exactly what we had been looking for. We called up the lady and said we'd buy it. We decided to take the train from Reno to Denver to pick it up, so we arrived two days later. She came to pick us up and told us that other people had called offering her MORE money if she'd sell the van to them. Fortunately, she stuck to the deal and we weren't left high and dry in Denver with no van! She was a good seller and we ended up with a wonderful vehicle.

Someone who would back out on an agreed deal probably wasn't a reliable seller and you probably don't want to do business with them. The right boat AND seller will come along! Have faith!

[bastonjock]

i know how you feel coastie.Two summers ago i had joined this forum and i was shopping for a mac.I spotted one down in wales which is about as far west as i can drive on this island,i contacted the owner and made arrangements to go look at the boat,it had AP,double axle trailer.lots of extras,i asked him if anyone was going to see it before i got there,he said no,so the following friday i had a couple of grand cash for the deposit on me,it felt like Xmas eve and i was back being an excited kid,anyhow he rang me just before i left to tell me it was sold,i was soo dissapointed.

for my next boat,i negotiated the price over the telephone asked all the questions,the guy kept emphisising that the boat was immaculate,it was 5 years old,the engine had 150 hours on it,the sails had been up for 200 hours,it was only in the water for 4 months a year,stored on land and under cover etc.

I missed out on the first boat but ended up with a better boat and a newer boat the ist one was a 97 and my boat cost me 750 GB pounds more than the other boat.

so buddy theres a better deal just waiting for you out there,theres a mac that wants you as its owner and as for that other guy,if he really needed the money its tough to turn down cash.

[kmclemore]

...as for that other guy, if he really needed the money its tough to turn down cash.

Yes, but IMHO it's even tougher to turn down your reputation. Personally, I think they guy's a cad.

[March]

I agree with kmclemore. However, we do not know all the detail, so we might want to withhold judgement?

A couple of years back, I had to sell a Range Rover on behalf of my girlfriend who was going broke. We advertised it at a fair price, A couple came from out of time (one hour away), tested it, liked it and put down a deposit (a check that we never cashed). They were trying to get the rest of the money within a week, they said, but that was contingent upon their selling some of their stuff, etc. The next day or so, a guy showed up with cash. We tried to contact them, to tell them that the deal was off--or to ask them whether they had the money, but they didn't answer--so we sent them back their check and sold the car for cash, deeming the incident closed.

Well, it turns out that the guy's wife was a lawyer and was ready to sue us. Her argument was, the verbal contract was binding, and the week was technically not up before they deigned to answer. They got their check back before that and kept quiet until the week was up--and then required $500 for breach of contract, or else.

That's how much withholding my reputation cost me. Technically, they were right, of course.

[AKCoastie]

Weeeellll.....it sucks that I missed out on it but the day turned out ok after all. My brother is in town for a week before boot camp and we went fishing instead of trying out the new boat. Caught my first King Salmon of the year and got my brother a "fish", if you want to call it that. We had fresh salmon for dinner and then my brother went outside. While he was out there he heard meowing in the bushes. He called me out there and there was my cat that had been missing for a month. She was skin and bones but uninjured. We thought an eagle had run off with her. Wouldn't been around for any of that had we been on the boat. Oh well I guess.

[johnnyonspot]

Are you two twins? Sure look a lot alike. Nice looking salmon.

[AKCoastie]

Nope. He is 11 years younger than me. We have always looked alike though. Hard to tell our baby pics apart.

[Mrs_Skipper]

I am SOOOOO happy to hear about your reunion with your kitty! That's fantastic. Maybe she smelled the salmon?

When you are in the market for a used "anything", I've found that there's always another. The key is to know what you want, what it's worth, and be ready to pay cash on the barrel when you find the right deal.

[AKCoastie]

I couldn't make this up if I tried. Looks like everyone was right about things happening for a reason. I just found out last night that my wife is pregnant with our first! Not going to be much time for boating for awhile.

[Trouts Dream]

I heard a saying once and I mean no disrespect by the way it comes across

If you want to make God laugh, make plans.

Congratulations. You have just been handed the most important and fullfilling job of your life, and the paycheque sucks.