[Rhodes22-list] RE: Public Service Announcement from Stan

[David Culp]

> so sue me, I am blatantly touting the value of the recycling process;  but
do so as a pre-emptive service to future used boat buyers lurking >out
there:


>  1.    Somehow the e-Bay boat that Brad was considering, ended up at GB,
at great gas cost to us.  Even the mast, the reason Brad wanted >the boat,
is NG.  The boat is a mess, missing lots of parts and not worth recycling. 
> 2.    A boat was recently offered on this list,  bypassing GB (seller
shall remain nameless).  It was purchased by a List reader (who shall
remain nameless) who also bypassed GB.  Now, even though our investments
laid the ground work for this transaction and even though we have in no way
been compensated for this transaction and even though we invested in making
the buyer pre-aware of the recycled boat advantages, we now receive a letter
bitterly complaining of a long list of things wrong with his purchase. To
quote a few of his out-of-context words,   "....I am not exactly thrilled
[with a Rhodes] right now ..." 

 > I get the feeling we are not doing a good enough job explaining the worth
of recycled Rhodes and therefore boats are ending up with unearned bum raps
- sorry about how this kind of word of mouth handicapping can affect your
future return when it comes to selling your boats.. 

My name is David Culp and I live in Texas.  I am the un-named buyer who Stan
refers to in his public service announcement.  I have introduced myself to
the list before and was in the market for a used Rhodes.

Now Stan is obviously a brilliant inventor and he is no doubt the Messiah
when it comes to the Rhodes 22, but folks to steal a line... No one, not
even the Messiah is entitled to his own set of facts.  So let's try to
straighten some of this out.

First of all, the boat I purchased was never offered for sale on this list.
An announcement was made that a boat was going to be sold back to GB on this
list and I unilaterally approached the sellers off list and offered to look
at the boat.  The reason that the boat was going to be offered to GB was
that the sellers felt no one in their area was interested in purchasing it.
Also, again according to the sellers, Stan had only offered wholesale for
the boat and they would have to trailer it back to NC.  According to them,
even Stan's recommendation was to find a buyer locally.  As you can imagine,
this was very good advice.  Obviously, Stan can only offer wholesale for
boats the company takes back to recycle because he will be investing money
to bring them back up and he has to make a profit.  The sellers were able to
get several thousand more from me as a retail purchaser and nobody had to
trailer a boat from Texas to NC.  Everybody comes out pretty good except
Stan.

My contact with General Boats prior to this was as follows:

I sent 2 emails to GB requesting information on recycled boats that were
available after seeing the Rhodes 22 website.  The requests were never
answered.  I ended up calling GB and spoke with Stan for approximately 5-6
minutes.  I told him where I was and what I desired in a boat.  He told me
what a recycled boat would cost.  I offered to send money to get the photos
of the boats that were available as the website talks about.  Stan told me
not to send any money as the boats turn over too quickly and the information
is too hard to keep up to date.  He mentioned to me that when GB brings
buyer and seller together on a non-recycled boat that both parties usually
agree to pay 5% of the purchase price if the deal is consummated.  I said
that if GB put me in touch with a seller and I bought the boat that I would
agree to this no problem.  Stan took my name and address to mail out one of
his information packets.

Several weeks went by and no information came.  I went to the Rhodes website
and noticed that there was a "new" email link for bringing buyers and
sellers together on used Rhodes.  The address is usedboats at rhodes22.com.  I
would assume that if you use this link and find a boat that you will be
paying a commission to GB.  I sent an email to this link several times
requesting information on used boats.  Again, no response whatsoever.
Another week or so went by and I called GB.  I spoke to Stan for about one
minute to see if the information had been mailed.  He said that he thought
he remembered it going out yesterday.  He was right, it arrived a few days
later.  Another few weeks later, I emailed Stan to inquire what the deck on
the Rhodes was cored with.  He said he couldn't remember exactly, but
thought by the mid or late '90s that they were using plastic.  This was my
sum total contact with GB until I received the following email a day or two
ago:

>David,
 
>Did you buy a boat ?
 
>If not, any interest in the Rhodes for now or in the next year or two - or
should we be deep sixing your file.
 
>thanks for updating us.
 
>stan/general boats

I thought this was rather interesting to receive considering I had just
purchased the boat and also considering I hadn't heard a word from GB up
until now.  This didn't sit too well with me because I know darn well why
Stan is emailing me.  I have seen his previous announcements on the list
proclaiming that he is entitled to 5% when a boat changes hands whether he
is involved or not.  So I wrote the following email to him:

>Stan:
 
>Yes, I purchased the 19xx boat from xxxx in xxxxx.  You may be interested
in the list of repairs so far which include:
 
>25-30 blisters and the filler had begun to separate from between the keel
and the hull.  All had to be excavated and filled, then the bottom was
repainted.
 
>The motor was trashed.  We attempted to disassemble it, but among other
things, couldn't get the cooling tube out without a hack saw.  Purchasing an
overhauled, used 8 >hp as a replacement was more cost effective.
 
>Once the replacement motor was on the boat-the motor mount bottom block set
pulled out of the glassed in wood block.  You may want to think about using
something a >little more substantial then the 4 3/4" wood screws which was
all that was holding the block.  I used 2" deck screws to secure it.
 
>The worse thing of all and I am kicking myself for this one is that I think
the cabin ceiling has some compression and I didn't notice it until I got
the boat home, the mast up and put some tension on the shrouds.  You don't
see anything from the deck and it looks perfectly normal to me, but inside
the cabin there is a small crack in the ceiling liner which I didn't notice
being there on the test sail.  Also, I see a bit of distortion in the
ceiling below the glassed-in tabernacle block area.  There is enough flex
whereby the light fixture cover (next to the head) doesn't fit quite right
when the mast is up.  Xxxxx had very little tension on the shrouds.  I have
put 250 lbs on the upper shrouds and 200 on the lowers according to my Loos
gauge and the lee shrouds are still going way too slack.  Normally, I would
just tighten it up some but am afraid to as I am running out of adjustment
ability on one of the lowers and the mast looks straight.  This just doesn't
seem right to me.  Next time I have the boat out of the water, I am going to
check this out and if required, I'm thinking seriously of putting an
additional pressure post directly under the tabernacle block to support it.
It won't look as good and I hope it won't interfere with the head folding
door, but...
 
>So Stan,  if it sounds like I am not exactly thrilled right now, you can
understand.
 
>Regards,
>David Culp

Now I don't believe that this email indicates that I am griping about the
Rhodes 22 in general or giving it bum raps.  I was a little miffed at the
(4) 3/4 inch screws holding the motor mount block and ultimately the motor
because it failed right as I was getting ready to take the boat on its first
sail.  The screws pulled out, the motor fell to the bottom of the mount and
I was out of business for that day.  It took half the next day to do the
repair.  I knew the motor was basically worthless and figured a replacement
in the price I paid.  My true frustration is with what may be some deck
compression that I should have caught on inspection of the boat.  Ask
yourselves... Would you pay top dollar for a boat that has deck compression
that may need repair?  I like my Rhodes 22, think it is a fine boat and I
paid handsomely for it... so no one should be offended.  Used boats always
have some problems and always require additional repairs.  Some used
sailboats have deck compression problems, maybe this one doesn't, but I am
concerned.  When they do, you flex the deck back to the proper position and
place a support underneath it so that it is no longer a problem.  I'm a
realist, but with all this going on, I was in no mood to talk about any
commissions which I felt was the purpose of Stan's email to me.  So instead
of responding to my email with at least some kind of encouragement, Stan
would rather make these pronouncements on the list.

Stan, I want to tell you publicly so there is no misunderstanding:

I do not intend to pay you 5% of the purchase price that I paid for the
boat.  You are not entitled to it, no more then the CEO of Ford Motor
company is entitled to a commission if I go out and buy a used Ford tomorrow
from a private owner.  You were not involved in this transaction at any
point.  I tried several times to get GB involved as is indicated above, but
it just never happened.  True, you didn't get the boat back wholesale, so
you could retail it again, but I can't help that.  You have stated on the
list that it is important to all of us that GB stay afloat so to speak.  I
agree.  You have also said that a lot of people take advantage of your
expertise and your time by soliciting information and that you receive
nothing in return for it.  No doubt very frustrating to you and no doubt
very true.  I took about 10 minutes of your time considering the emails and
phone calls and the envelope indicates that postage cost you $ 2.55 for the
information package which was really just a rehash of the website... but
that's OK.

In return for these services, it is my desire to mail you a check for
$200.00 dollars as a consulting fee.  This will hopefully compensate you for
your time and expenses on my behalf.  I would like to try and maintain a
good relationship with you and the other owners on this list.  However, I
believe that a good relationship is based on facts and then ultimately on
trust.  So I have presented the facts and I trust that you a reasonable
person and businessman and will accept my consulting fee as a gesture of my
good faith effort to play fair with everyone considering the situation.
Please let all of us on the list know your response to my offer as we are
all one big happy family... Right?

David Culp
FNG and proud owner of a used Rhodes 22!