[Rhodes22-list] RE: Lurking Used Boat Buyers On the Rhodes List

[David Culp]

Brad:

I would love to send you a check, but after this latest purchase it appears
that I too, am all out of love until the contract is settled anyway.

xoxo,

David

>>Not sure that Messiah and Stan belong in the same sentence but in that
Spirit, send me a check.

>>"Please let all of us on the list know your response to my offer as we are
all one big happy family... Right?"

>>Right! This member of the family needs some money.

>>I feel the love already!

>>Brad



On 6/23/06, David Culp <dculp at hsbtx.us> wrote:
>
> > 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!