John,
We also have been dealing with Rod. He sent us a proposed
Purchase Agreement
(PA) that has the sole purpose of protecting Rod and Cruising Cats. Some of
the things that I see as risks are: The
boat description doesn't include
most of the
equipment listed in the official
Lagoon specification booklet-
so what guarantee is there that the
boat delivered will have all of the
basic
equipment. The warrantee is supposedly by
Lagoon but there is not copy
of it in the PA so the extent of the warrantee is undefined and there is no
legal obligation to either CC or Lagoon to provide a warrantee. The PA
requires a final payment 15 days prior to the boat being completed on a
specified day but there is no guarantee that the boat will be completed on
the specified day. If you have been following some of the stories on the
cruiser form you will be aware of several instances of the Dealer/Lagoon
taking the final payment then not delivering the boat for up to six more
months (I also have some inside information confirming this from a previous
Lagoon dealer). A fair document would include the same $200/day penalty to
CC/Lagoon for not delivering the boat within the 15 day period of receiving
payment that applies to the buyer for not making payment in time. Then there
is the risk of
shipping. Basically, the buyer owns the boat when it leaves
the factory so if the
shipping company trashes the boat or the freighter
sinks then neither CC or Lagoon has any responsibility- and of course the
shipping co. is only contractually obligated to CC which has no
responsibility to the buyer for loss or damage - a lawyers dream and a
buyers worst nightmare if something happens. Then there is the paragraph
that removes all responsibility from CC, Lagoon, and the shipper for
anything that happens and also relieves them from incidental and
consequential damages. I could go on but I think that I have made my point.
I have been trying to find some information on Rod and his company but have
so far turned up little. In order to sign such a one sided document I would
have to have ultimate trust and faith in Rod including referrals from
previous customers. I'm not saying anything bad about Rod, just that I don't
know and this type of document raises all kinds of suspicions.
Alaskagator