Givens Life Rafts Filed for Bankruptcy

[Dansante85]

Here is the contact info for the U.S. Attorney for R.I.

Peter Neronha

United States Attorney's Office - District of Rhode Island
50 Kennedy Plaza, 8th Floor
Providence, RI 02903
Main Office Phone: (401) 709-5000
Fax: (401) 709-5001

[ssMakai]

Can any one give me the Delaware company registration details and who I should write to to advise the company registrar of Givens Marine Survival's probable default on their supply contract

[Hud3]

In Delaware, the Department of State manages corporate registrations. You can do a search here...

https://delecorp.delaware.gov/tin/GINameSearch.jsp

[ssMakai]

Thanks for interest i have just received this from lori
Quote Alan: This is my personal email and reserved for personal use only. I no longer work for Givens Marine Manufacturing which bought out Givens Marine and responsible for all outstanding orders, manufacturing and shipping . They abruptly went into receivership/bankruptcy and avoided paying for the company. I was an employee in sales.When they closed, my position ended without one day's notice and the manufacturing facility has been closed since then . Presently, I am working servicing rafts and selling pre-owned rafts on consignment until I can find other work. I explained the situation to a friend of yours in the states that called me on my personal cell also. The purchaser was John Furlong President of the company I tried reaching him for monies (thousands) owed by the company to me and I am unable to find him. I wish I could be of further assistance.
Kindest Regards, Lori

So it seems I may have a misunderstanding with the receiver of Givens manufacturing and again if Lori is correct then why was i never contacted by either?

[bartonman]

Originally Posted by ssMakai

Thanks for interest i have just received this from lori
Quote Alan: This is my personal email and reserved for personal use only. I no longer work for Givens Marine Manufacturing which bought out Givens Marine and responsible for all outstanding orders, manufacturing and shipping . They abruptly went into receivership/bankruptcy and avoided paying for the company. I was an employee in sales.When they closed, my position ended without one day's notice and the manufacturing facility has been closed since then . Presently, I am working servicing rafts and selling pre-owned rafts on consignment until I can find other work. I explained the situation to a friend of yours in the states that called me on my personal cell also. The purchaser was John Furlong President of the company I tried reaching him for monies (thousands) owed by the company to me and I am unable to find him. I wish I could be of further assistance.
Kindest Regards, Lori

So it seems I may have a misunderstanding with the receiver of Givens manufacturing and again if Lori is correct then why was i never contacted by either?

Lori uses that email for business also, so it is not just personal. She runs many money making web businesses using that email address and multiple phone numbers. She has 31 registered domain names for various businesses that are all based out of the same building that her other company Omni Multimedia Productions ( Omni Multimedia Productions )is based out of. She runs a RI rental real estate business ( "Rhode Island's leading rental site"*|*RI Rental Property ), a scarf and shawl business at ( About us - Welcome to The Scarf and Shawl Boutique and much more...... ), and sells liferafts on liferaftsonsale.com | "Marine Survival Equipment Specialists". So I'm not convinced she is looking for other work.
The Perrino's fought very hard to keep the website and phone number that was sold to Givens Marine Manufacturing, to the point of making the receiver record a stipulation order to avoid litigation over those two items.
Lori also has www.switlikliferafts.com and www.winslowliferafts.com, and is not using them, which amounts to cyber squatting in order to keep the competition from getting websites relative to their own business. Another underhanded business practice.

[keepondancin]

Just came back from a couple of weeks on the boat, and after staring at the Givens Raft that needs service, I am wondering if it is a lost cause, and maybe should just yank on the lanyard, see if it inflates just for the fun of it, then trash it. I don't think there is anyone who will service it, and don't need a false sense of security on the deck. Too bad, I met Jim Givens years ago, and he was truly a seriously dedicated person.

[Nibiruwayne]

Yank on it. See if lanyard loop holds.

[bartonman]

If you try and inflate it, please take a video for YouTube. Your not the only one wondering if the raft they had serviced by Givens will actually work. Great raft, but horrible service. I just had mine serviced in January and don't trust it. I tried to buy the company to revive it, but the investors that used to have a stake in it bought it at auction to try and get some of their money back. How's that working for them?

[hellosailor]

I wouldn't trash it. If you are against self-repacking, there are still other folks out there who would be willing to give it a shot. Put it up for sale "as is", note that Givens is out of business so certification will not be possible, and whatever you get is still money in your pocket, one less piece in the landfill, and a liferaft for someone who can't afford a new one. Good karma if nothing else.

Bear in mind, the hardest part of a repack would be getting the gas cylinder properly refilled if it is mixed gas (CO2+N) and the gas cylinder can be reliably tested by simply weighing it, without discharging it. Sometimes they'll go 20 years without losing any weight. The rest? If you can make a bed with hospital corners on the sheets, you can repack.

[SheltieJim]

At the St. Petersburg Boat Show a few years ago, I ordered a 6-person deluxe ocean liferaft from Givens. I paid (with American Express, thank goodness!) the full $5,000 in advance with the "promise" that I'd have the boat by the end of December. Months went by with no raft, even though I called roughly once a month. The excuses that Lori and her father (Frank) gave me each month were, shall we say, very creative. One memorable one was that the fabric used for the ballast chamber was "no longer being manufactured" and that they had to wait for some manufacturer of automobile air bags to ramp up production to send them a supply.

After almost a year of waiting, I finally told them that either I would have the raft in my possession by a date that I specified, or I would contact American Express to get my money back. Two weeks later (three days before the date I set), I received my raft. Of course, I'm suspicious that the kit of things that were supposed to be included doesn't exist and/or that the raft wasn't properly manufactured.

I think that I'll bite the bullet this year and have the raft inspected and repacked. I'm pretty certain that Solution One Maritime (in Tampa) will service it, but of course I'll have to check.

Jim Givens created the best liferaft (IMHO) around, had it stolen from him by the Perrino's, and they continue to screw people over and over under different incorporations. Sigh...

[Dansante85]

So with Givens gone what is the next best alternative?

[Nibiruwayne]

Hello to anyone with a given's liferaft. After Givens was sold quality is suspect. I have an ocean 6 man brand new. When we yanked on the steel lanyards( both the bitter end and the purchase to the raft) the loops failed. The raft would simply have floated away in the canister without even deploying. There had not been enough crimp put into the Nicor press fittings. We had to unpack and repackage the raft on the docks of Gibraltar to check it out. Everything else was ok.
Good luck

[George DuBose]

Has anyone had any luck getting a Givens life raft serviced? I bought mine in May 2009 and want to get it repacked with new flares, etc.

I am currently in The Netherlands, which compounds the problem.

[Weyalan]

To those inquiring about servicing Givens liferafts.

It is my understanding that any service agent who used to be able to service a particular Givens liferaft should still be capable of doing so. They may not, however, be able to issue the requisite re-certification. So if you just want a liferaft that you are confident will work, as opposed to actually needing the re-certification paperwork for legal or commenrcial reasons, why not ask your local liferaft service agent about an informal service?

[liferaft]

Just don't ask a service station in the US for an "informal" service. Our product liability laws are such that if we touch something we own the liability.