Snug Harbor Yacht Sales, a yacht broker with offices in Bay Head, NJ and Jersey City, NJ, has screwed me out of over $3K in purchase deposit funds. I would suggest EXTREME caution in dealing with these people (if at all). I would insist that ANY deposit money be held ONLY by a trusted third party (bank, attorney, etc.) in escrow until the closing. At the closing, I would be EXTREMELY cautious about who you write checks to.<br /><br />I left a deposit on a boat (by check, unfortunately ... should have used a credit card) for a boat I wanted to have surveyed and subsequently buy. The broker failed to return my phone calls to set up a date to survey (I had a surveyor lined up). Winter and cold weather was approaching rapidly, days went by with no response to my phone calls, so I pulled the plug on the deal. I knew something wasn't right, but didn't know what. I never got a reasonable explanation of why my calls weren't returned, other than the seller (he wanted to be present for the survey and sea trial) wasn't calling the broker because he (the seller) was upset over something in the contract, which clearly wasn't my problem. The contract allowed cancellation by me without any reason stated up to a certain date, which I was well before at the time.<br /><br />The broker eventually stopped returning my messages. He has never refused to return my money nor suggested it isn't due me. He just doesn't do anything. At this point, I suspect I may never see the money again. The president of this company hasn?t done anything to convince me he isn?t a crook.<br /><br />I have been trying without success to recover my money since October, and the Better Business Bureau and State Consumer Affairs organizations haven?t had any better luck.<br /><br />I would not recommend this broker for ANY purchase or sale, for that matter.<br /><br />BUYER BEWARE !!!!<br /><br />Snug Harbor Yacht Sales ... more details<br /><br />Just to give you guys a little more backround, I have been dealing all along with a Tom Gingras, who IS the president of this slime-ball operation.<br />I have been dealing with the NJ Consumer Affairs organization, who have been quite helpful. The individual assigned to my matter is a former policeman and is aware of the practical realities of collecting. Namely, if you get a small claims judgement that's all you have: a judgement; collecting is another matter. I expect one could get a lien against any property Gingras may own, but the lien generally is of no value until attempt is made to convey the property to a new owner.<br />I did make a trip to Snug Harbor's office in early December and learned from the only person there (a new employee (less than two months) that he had heard of other "similar" problems in his short tenure with Snug Harbor.<br />As for Gingras' side of the story, he has not suggested to me or the Consumer Affairs representative that I should not be paid for any reason. Neither he, nor the seller incurred any out of pocket expenses associated with this matter. The boat in question was up on blocks and never moved or prepped to go in the water for sea trial. Gingras had made a big point of explaining to me that I could cancel the contract without any stated reason up to 10/30/02 (I cancelled in writing 10/19/02).<br /><br />The Consumer Affairs rep is going to make a personal visit to Gingras in the next few days. He suggested one other remedy of trying to interest the local police (in Bay Head, NJ) to bring a theft by deception criminal charge against the company. The downside of this is it does nothing to recover the loss, only inflicts pain, which at some point may have more appeal. Right now, I would just like my money back.<br /><br />Live and learn and don't trust people you don't know with contracts! <br />If anyone wants to send these people a message with your opinion about how they operate, here is their internet address for customer messages:<br /> http://www.marinesource.com/snugharboryachtsales/brokerinquiry.cfm <br /> OR<br /> http://www.snugharboryachtsales.com/contact.html <br /><br />Sorry for the long post, but it was necessary to convey enough info.
