surveyor was no good
- Thread starter dmunneke
- Start date
Its a 1985 36 carver mariner.
He was contracted to do the full treatment survey. This was my first larger boat purchase and at the time was very unfamiliar with boat systems ( water electical plumbing etc. )
I was not present at the time of survey.
He missed the completely disintegrated water heater, The bad fuel lines and manifold, the non functional fuel gauges, the intermitant tachs, the overflowed and broken holding tank, the permiated lines, the malfunctioning head, the all leaking faucets, The broken windlass, the broken ice maker, the bilge filled with dryed crusted human waste. Also the shower sump doesnt pump. Also the boat was sold as a fresh water boat, which it very clearly isnt as soon as you dig in and look at the green electrical connection.
Since then I have replaced the entire water system, the entire holding tank line and head system, spent hour srubbing with neaqr lethal levels of bleach. have run out of gas not once but twice.. At least the motors work.
The upside is I now know a good deal about boat systems
Not a boatus member.
He was contracted to do the full treatment survey. This was my first larger boat purchase and at the time was very unfamiliar with boat systems ( water electical plumbing etc. )
I was not present at the time of survey.
He missed the completely disintegrated water heater, The bad fuel lines and manifold, the non functional fuel gauges, the intermitant tachs, the overflowed and broken holding tank, the permiated lines, the malfunctioning head, the all leaking faucets, The broken windlass, the broken ice maker, the bilge filled with dryed crusted human waste. Also the shower sump doesnt pump. Also the boat was sold as a fresh water boat, which it very clearly isnt as soon as you dig in and look at the green electrical connection.
Since then I have replaced the entire water system, the entire holding tank line and head system, spent hour srubbing with neaqr lethal levels of bleach. have run out of gas not once but twice.. At least the motors work.
The upside is I now know a good deal about boat systems
Not a boatus member.
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You should always be there for the survey, chances are you would have found atleast half of these problems.
I would demand my money back.
Jonathan
I would demand my money back.
Jonathan
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Agree, ALWAYS be present for a survey. Have you talked to the guy about this and yes, you should ask for your money back.
My surveyor missed a problem that ended up costing a lot of money to repair. He gave me back his fee plus $500. Not nearly enough to cover my repair cost, but at least it was better than nothing.
My surveyor missed a problem that ended up costing a lot of money to repair. He gave me back his fee plus $500. Not nearly enough to cover my repair cost, but at least it was better than nothing.
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first thing is to document everything, pictures, etc...
you should always be there for the survey and ask as many questions as possible. frankly, while the surveyor should have noted these things in his report, how come you didn't notice them yourself ? ice maker and windlass not workign, gauges, leaky faucet... didn't you check the boat before even making an offer on it ?
you should always be there for the survey and ask as many questions as possible. frankly, while the surveyor should have noted these things in his report, how come you didn't notice them yourself ? ice maker and windlass not workign, gauges, leaky faucet... didn't you check the boat before even making an offer on it ?
You might get your survey money back other than that probably nothing else. I made mistakes on my 1st large purchase as well. Sounds like you have it under control. The human crud you cleaned out of the bilge is probably in the shower sump as well, I have seen many older boats where the lid is left off the shower sump. With a blown out/leaking holding tank, that is more than likely in the same area, the pump could be jammed.
Ive said this many times: Check-out who your hiring, ask many questions and ask for a resume. People put so much effort into finding the right vessel to buy. They should put at least half that much energy into finding the right surveyor to inspect there vessel. Im really sorry to hear about the way your inspection turned out. Did this surveyor belong to either SAMS or NAMS?
Being there for the survey is not a necessity. Previewing prior to or after is. I was onboard when I had Al do a survey on a 330 Dancer I was looking at. I drove to NC and went through everything Al taught me and test drove the next prospective 330 Dancer. The survey showed up some problems, and only one of which could be a show stopper. IMHO, it is sad that you need to be doing your homework rather than be able to rely on a pro. However, there are pros (Al) and there are pros (your guy). Unfortunately, as I move up in size I am getting a real bad taste in my mouth for the used boat salesman.
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i disagree.. it is a necessity to be there during survey. Boat systems can be very different from one boat to the next, sometimes because of modifications and added equipement. Being there is your only chance to really crawl all over the boat with someone who has seen it all (hopefully).
Previewing and doing a sea trial before survey is equally critical in my opinion. Take a short cut and you will pay the price.
Previewing and doing a sea trial before survey is equally critical in my opinion. Take a short cut and you will pay the price.
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I've heard of surveyor being not so good, but it sounds like your's was one of the worst. Good luck on him having an errors and omissions policy. Do every one in the area you had it done a favor and talk bad about him and his services. No chance for him slapping you with libel or slander actions, you've got the bills to prove his lack of services. Sorry that you had to experience this. These people give boating a bad name and give the buyer's reasons to stop boating. Usually a NAMS or SAMS member give good surveys and I doubt he belonged to either. I'd try to get some money back but he probably had a nice not responsible catch at the end of his contract and he'll stand by it. Maybe you and the seller can work something out. He is the one that cheated you and should bear some of that cost. Caveat emptor can be very costly to the buyer and in this situation it shouldn't have happened.
I must (somewhat)disagree with your disagreement. You assessment is correct regarding mods, etc... However, the basics will not change. It floats. There is not a blister or infiltration issue. The pointy end goes forward correctly at X speed and X GPH. The flat end is easy to bring to the dock.....OH Yeah....the ice maker works.
I hate regulation in any way, shape, or form...However, as the world gets smaller, when a person throws a "SAMS" or the = behind their name, I expect a certain degree of professionalism behind it. Without it, the rest of the pros are degraded.
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I totally agree with Pascal. ALWAYS follow your surveyor around when he is doing his job.
First of all, most buyers will learn more about the boat in the couple hours following the surveyor than they will in a couple weeks of ownership.
Second, it's the buyers best opportuinity to ask a couple hundred questions to a person who should be way more knowledgable about the boat and boating construction in general.
After a buyer buys a boat, these questions will pop up but no one will be around to answer them.
Third, four eyes are always better than two. I've been thru 3 surveys and there were several instances where I noticed something that I stopped the surveyor so we could more closely examine what I noticed and talk further about it.