Dave Bofill sales tactics

[Lloyd Malsin]

Mac
I am the 25 cc 06 with the Yanmar that was replaced under warranty.I purchased the boat from [email protected] Dave Bofill in So.Hampton.Needless to say my first experience was marred by mechanical problems,Yet I love the brand. At the time of my puchase I was told that within the first year there is a trade in formula as a percentage of the price you paid. I contacted Dave Bofill and spoke to Daves partner John Dellaria. After much thinking on my part and their willingness to move me up, I signed an order for my new 07 28cc with Volvo D4s. I and my wife even drove to the Nassau coliseum boat show to deliver a deposit. I also visited Hampton Navigation and selected all my electronics and made arrangements for a new slip at my marina.The dealer deposited my check and all was good. I then got a call 3 days later telling me that the deal was off and that they did not realize when they sent the contract that there was not enough in the deal to make it profitable. This all transpired after John D. told me of the new business philosophy at Dave Bofill and their desire to fix the damages done by my salesman Christian who is no longer associated. How can you as a manufacturer allow such poor business ethics by one of your dealers? The end of the story was that they needed an additional 10,000 to make the deal happen.This is so typical of a bait and switch technique.Get the customer involved and commited emotionally and then pull the plug. I cannot even convey my dissappointment at the dealer and hope that you can intervene on my behalf. I am a reasonable person who endured quite a multitude of problems during my first season. To have this happen is salt on an open wound. I intend to talk to my attorney and perhaps to the NYS dept. of consumer affairs. I hope you will try to resolve my situation. Thankyou

Lloyd Malsin 516 578 4235

[CClassic28]

Lloyd,

I unfortunately had a similar experience with Dave Bofill and wound up buying my 32 from Catumet in Ma. Previous experiences with them (Christian) was less than desirable and my last dealing with them put me over the edge.

John D stated the same to me as you, and we hashed out a deal to take my 28 on trade & purchase the 32 he had in stock. All was well, we were to sea trial & give deposit. 4 hrs later I received a call from John stating that Dave said no to the deal and wanted to give me 10K less for my boat for the deal to go. I walked and never looked back, I suggest you do the same.

I also know of someone who entered into a contract with Dave Bofill for a 28, sent a deposit, and could not secure financing. Dave would not refund his deposit though the boat he ordered had not yet gone into production. Bad business IMO.

I wish I had the finacial ability to become a Carolina dealer here on the Island as Dave does not do the line justice.

Best of luck,

Chris

[seatime]

It is great that you got this information out to all the other classic owners about this bad dealer. I think this matter would be better to call carolina classic and ask to talk to either keith or mac. I think both of them will speak with you on this. I have spoken to keith on the phone several times and he is a great guy. A forum website is great but a problem of this magnitude should definitely be handled by a phone call. The number is (252) 482-3699 at the factory. They may not be able to handle your call right off hand but either Keith or Mac one will be in touch before the day is out.

[Haz Mat]

Quote

Seatime, that sounds just like a post from Split Decision. Tom does a very good job as Adminisator and if there was something that was not appropriate it would be deleted. It sounds to me like that dealer dosnt deserve to represent CC.

HAZ MAT

[rich]

I too had a very difficult experience with Christian at Dave Bofill which I discussed with Mac. I understand that you guys may feel that this is not the correct place for dealer issues, however, I really wish I had heard about others experiences' prior to buying my boat. In the end I purchased a 28 CC but only after several conversations with Mac himself, at which point I was confident that if I ever had a problem he and his family would be their to stand behind their product. As I explained to MAC, the quality of his boats far exceeds the quality of service I recieved during my purchase.

[usrower]

Lloyd, that really stinks. I would recommend calling Mac. He is a great guy and businessman. If there is nything he can do he will. Mac stands behind everything he builds. I would also look for another deale and maybe Mac can suggest another one for you to make a deal with. Those dealers are territorial but things can be worked out. Good luck.

[Hey Doc]

Classic misfortune

Lloyd,
I appreciate you making your experience known for the rest of us. It is unfortunate that Carolina Classic has a dealer that would treat customers in such a manner. Mac builds such a great product and is a man of the highest character, which makes it disappointing to hear of a Carolina Classic dealer that lacks integrity.

[THE SHARK HUNTER]

Hey Lloyd
I had the same problem with dave(only on delivery) but i had a bigger problem with HAMPTON NAV.They want to sell you all kinds of stuff(marked up) the install was OK but when I had a problem. He sent a guy to look at it could not fix and never came back and I called 5 x's with no return call. He also had the nerve to send a post card to winter my electronic's.This is not like I was not willing to pay for travle time to & from and cost of the fix. I would have paid for it all. But a BIG NO SHOW.

[Bullish]

This sounds like a very unpleasant experience. This should be one of the most exciting times for the buyer. Very unfortunate. I have always had good exeriences with Mac/Keith so I expect that they will help.

Since we are on the topic, I thought that I would commend Northeast Yacht Sales in Connecticut for the great job they did when they delivered my brand new 2002 28.

The salesman that sold me the boat, promptly left the dealership after the paperwork was signed, but their VP, Ed stepped in to make sure the boat was delivered like new. They even arranged a full day for me to meet with a Volvo mechanic to ask questions about the set up. Really did a great job.

[Lloyd Malsin]

Support by my brethren

I want to thank all who showed support with my Dave Bofill experience. This forum was created so that we all can share the good and bad. Although I have not yet heard from Mac or Keith, I did receive a refund of my deposit from the dealer. I will keep you guys posted as things progress and on a better note, I fished the offshore wrecks 30 miles short of the Hudson on sunday and we slammed the seabass. Over 100 keepers with the average 4-7lbs. A little cold but it sure beats watching the blue jays feeding on berries in my yard. This is my 2nd trip in 2 weeks with outstanding catches on both trips. On both trips we were on the 6pack NO-TIME out of Oceanside NY.

[John D DBM]

"The Malsin Deal"

There are two sides to every story, and this one is no different. When Mr. Malsin bought the 25 from Christian(who is no longer with us), he got top value for his trade in, in turn Christian sold him the new 25 at almost retail, to make the deal do-able. Which shows that you can't get it both ways.
I know that a Carolina Classic is more a personal ownership than any other boat line out there.(Hence this Forum) We would of course want everyone to share our believe that the CC trade market is worth as much to them as it is to us. But in this market, that is not the case. Everyone of our contracts that involve a trade, states "subject to trade evaluation". That not only means a mechanical evaluation, but also a market evaluation. Speaking to other CC dealers, and only personally being involved with CC recently(4 months), I felt it necessary to trust the advice of the other CC dealers, which made me realize I could not offer Mr. Malsin what he thought it was worth. In addition to the fact that I was selling him the new boat at a great discount, with no room to make his trade value go up(as most dealers do, and as we did with your first deal) Again, this is a case of you can't have it both ways. I pride myself on not having unsatisfied clients, and this matter with Mr. Malsin was very troubling to me.
The only consolation I can offer is, if you feel your boat is worth "X" amount of dollars, I will broker it for you with NO CHARGE/BROKER FEE/COMMISSION. This will show what the boat is really worth, and you will have total control over the deal. This is the best I can offer, with the market conditions the way they are.
Mr. Malsin has been an excellent customer(aside from the demo he agreed to do to help Todd with a new deal, and then left him high and dry, with no explanation.) Even though we have protected territories, if another dealer can fulfill your needs, we would be nothing but happy for you.

Sincerely,
John Dellaria; co-owner of DBM

[biteme]

Hampton nav.

i have set up 3 boats thru hampton navigation and have had excellent allaround service...Charlie.

[Catfish]

Let me preface this post by saying i have had nothing but great experiences with carolina classic boats! However my experience with Dave Bofill Marine has left an everlasting bad taste in my mouth. All the same tactics which were talked about in this thread sound all to familiar and it dissappoints me that such behavior is tolerated by Mac, a man that prides himself in his product. That place is a joke and why mac tolerates daves B.S. Ill never know.

A friend told me about this topic and i felt compelled to chime in.

[Pequod]

There are two sides to every story, and this one is no different. When Mr. Malsin bought the 25 from Christian(who is no longer with us), he got top value for his trade in, in turn Christian sold him the new 25 at almost retail, to make the deal do-able. Which shows that you can't get it both ways.
I know that a Carolina Classic is more a personal ownership than any other boat line out there.(Hence this Forum) We would of course want everyone to share our believe that the CC trade market is worth as much to them as it is to us. But in this market, that is not the case. Everyone of our contracts that involve a trade, states "subject to trade evaluation". That not only means a mechanical evaluation, but also a market evaluation. Speaking to other CC dealers, and only personally being involved with CC recently(4 months), I felt it necessary to trust the advice of the other CC dealers, which made me realize I could not offer Mr. Malsin what he thought it was worth. In addition to the fact that I was selling him the new boat at a great discount, with no room to make his trade value go up(as most dealers do, and as we did with your first deal) Again, this is a case of you can't have it both ways. I pride myself on not having unsatisfied clients, and this matter with Mr. Malsin was very troubling to me.
The only consolation I can offer is, if you feel your boat is worth "X" amount of dollars, I will broker it for you with NO CHARGE/BROKER FEE/COMMISSION. This will show what the boat is really worth, and you will have total control over the deal. This is the best I can offer, with the market conditions the way they are.
Mr. Malsin has been an excellent customer(aside from the demo he agreed to do to help Todd with a new deal, and then left him high and dry, with no explanation.) Even though we have protected territories, if another dealer can fulfill your needs, we would be nothing but happy for you.

Sincerely,
John Dellaria; co-owner of DBM

I wonder why the salesman is not employed their anymore. Remember: The fish rots from the head down! The proof is in pudding.

[Hey Doc]

Sales Evaluation backout provision?

I understand that the dealer changed course after further evaluating the trade. However, it is good salemanship and just good business to have the market evaluation and details complete, prior to setting up a deal and entering into a contract. In this case, maybe the dealer just made a mistake on the trade value, but it seems unlikely considering all the replies posted stating that this has happened before to several different buyers.