Thinking of Buying a French Boat?

[SusanHynes]

Thinking of Going French go Jeanneau, not because one boat is all that much better than the other but because the management at Dufour has a Napoleonic complex that really sucks. I just spent the last two months fighting to live and the thing that kept me going was the thought of living aboard my new Dufour 500 GL. Because of my heath crisis and a few wrinkles in payments due my husband we were able to pledge or deliver all but 25,000 on a 550,000 (give or take) price tag. Interestingly the first part of the down payment was the trade in of a beautiful 40.3 Sun Odyssey from Jeanneau, who made the purchase of that boat easy. The other 25,000 was coming shortly but Dufour decided that they should just ship the boat back to France and resell it -- not only denying us of our dream and a place to live (that's right selling the house) but also causing me to end up back in the hospital AND ripping us off of all the money we had already given them over 90% of the purchase price. This is despicable. It is unjust enrichment by Dufour who will now resell the boat for the original price on which they have already received 90% giving nothing back to us, They are also hurting a really wonderful dealer North Star Yacht Sales in Portsmouth RI (go there to get a boat as long as it isn't a Dufour ) I am a writer and I had thought I would write extensively about living aboard the Dufour 500 -- pray for me and look for my stories about living aboard some other wonderful boat. I am not going to let these despicable people with their bad business sense deny me the dream. PS I am 66 these dreams have a short self life thanks Dufour for taking our money and wasting a precious year my life. Go Jeanneau!

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by SusanHynes

Thinking of Going French go Jeanneau, not because one boat is all that much better than the other but because the management at Dufour has a Napoleonic complex that really sucks. I just spent the last two months fighting to live and the thing that kept me going was the thought of living aboard my new Dufour 500 GL. Because of my heath crisis and a few wrinkles in payments due my husband we were able to pledge or deliver all but 25,000 on a 550,000 (give or take) price tag. Interestingly the first part of the down payment was the trade in of a beautiful 40.3 Sun Odyssey from Jeanneau, who made the purchase of that boat easy. The other 25,000 was coming shortly but Dufour decided that they should just ship the boat back to France and resell it -- not only denying us of our dream and a place to live (that's right selling the house) but also causing me to end up back in the hospital AND ripping us off of all the money we had already given them over 90% of the purchase price. This is despicable. It is unjust enrichment by Dufour who will now resell the boat for the original price on which they have already received 90% giving nothing back to us, They are also hurting a really wonderful dealer North Star Yacht Sales in Portsmouth RI (go there to get a boat as long as it isn't a Dufour ) I am a writer and I had thought I would write extensively about living aboard the Dufour 500 -- pray for me and look for my stories about living aboard some other wonderful boat. I am not going to let these despicable people with their bad business sense deny me the dream. PS I am 66 these dreams have a short self life thanks Dufour for taking our money and wasting a precious year my life. Go Jeanneau!

I wish you the best of luck getting back on your feet. I do wonder, however, why you are fixated on French boats. My wife and I are in the process of narrowing down our choices for a long-term live-aboard monohull, yet we have absolutely zero interest in French boats. Many people love them and swear by them, especially catamarans, yet being from the North East I'm partial to New England (especially Hinckley and Ted Hood) quality, fit, and finish. Personally, the exteriors, interiors, and overall design/build quality of French boats turn me completely off. Plus, and although I took two years of French in high school, I'm not very partial to French people. I do, however, get a good chuckle out of the prices they charge for those cookie-cutter excuses for a sailboat.

By the way, I'm a professional editor. I realize that you're typing quickly, yet when it eventually becomes time to pen your enthralling multi-volume opus on finding your soul via the ocean winds, make sure to double-check your punctuation and syntax. Or, just send your initial draft to me and I'll edit it (for a VERY BIG fee) prior to you shopping it for publication.

French boats. Cough!

[onestepcsy37]

Get a lawyer.

Sent from my SCH-I200PP using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[newhaul]

I just posted this over on sailnet and don't want to retype it all. So cut and paste.
I used to do repo work I'm not buying the story as this op is telling it as a wise man once said and now for the rest of the story. What are the exact circumstances of the deal what were the payment terms. This is your first post so me thinks your first order of bussiness would be to say hello and tell us a bit about yourself not to disbelieve you but something sounds hinkey to me.
Seriously I could put you in a very solid 42 ft sloop with a ferry solid pedigree for around. 50 k

[monte]

um yeah, from the OP, I guess 'a few wrinkles in payments' means the purchaser didn't make good on the terms of the contract.
BTW, a standard new boat order is generally 10% deposit and the remainder on an agreed date, usually a week before handover. I'm not sure how the OP could be out of pocket 90%. Obviously more to the story than meets the eye...

[SusanHynes]

As depressed as I am, I appreciate your replies, I was extremely angry so I left out a few items I will address to all in the hopes of clearing the air.

1. First this is my fourth boat, second new, first new boat was a Jeanneau.
2. The terms on this deal were not standard, but having worked with several new boat manufacturers I can assure you, with out boring you, that payments were made and while the broker was/is extraordinary and understanding Dufour's conduct was not.
3. Jeanneau as a manufacturer was much easier to work with and much more grateful for the cash.
4. Forgot to mention this is a cash deal -- no financing.
5. We were not asking to take possesion for two weeks after final payment. In fact, we had offered the broker on several occassions to make the boat available for the Fall boat shows.
6. What was "hincky" was I got very, very sick with a heart condition. I couldn't work. couldn't write, just had to concentrate on getting well.
7. This is hardly my first post to this site. I have been a regular reader and poster for years, just not lots of posts. I love the forum and always get great information and wonderful captains from the postings.
8. Loved the comment on the French boats and the offer to edit my tome! Of course, I am prepared to pay a very large fee! I admit I have been picking up a lot of "internet chat" bad habits. What has happened to the English language.?
9. I have three books under way in which I intend to put the boat front and center. I had planned on getting the Jeanneau 50 but loved the placement of the galley on the Dufour (still do). It gives you a great salon for working. Jeanneau had been very receptive to the idea but I got talked into the Dufour.

Thank you all for the comments, I wish there was more to the story but there isn't, just a semi-old woman trying to change my life, save my health and do the one thing I love almost as much as my Grandchildren -- sailing.

[nukem]

Certainly you are not going to walk away from $500,000.

What did the lawyer say? And how was the dealer harmed?

[SusanHynes]

Trying not to -- trying to somehow get a reasonable solution - resolution.

I really like the broker they are great people and now they won't have the commission, they won't be able to showcase the boat at the boatshows this fall and since there are so few dealers they clearly don't have a company that appreciates this market.

Finally, I feel very guilty toward the broker because the problems arose to a large extent because of my illness. Apparently their relationship with Dufour has been impaired but I would be glad to give them much praise and free promotional mentions forever!

[Pelagic]

Sorry to hear about your health problems and now as a byproduct, your large financial loss of a new boat purchase.

If I understand correctly you had $25k remaining on a $550k purchase? Or about 5% balance to pay, that hospitalization and medical constraints delayed.

What time frame between contracted delivery date and now are we talking about?


Was your written contract with the broker or directly with the Builder?

If with the Broker, there is something fishy going on here and I would get some independent counsel.

If with the Builder, did you receive a registered written warning that you were in default?

If not I would also seek counsel

If yes, then you need to renegotiate a new delivery price based on added costs imposed on the builder.

You are wise to air this on the Forum as Consumer Protection and Builder's Reputation need to be shared

Good luck Susan and I hope good will and intent prevails.

[denverd0n]

Well, no offense, but there still has to be a whole lot more to this story than you are sharing. As others have said, you don't make a half million dollar purchase without a solid contract. If Dufour has violated the terms of the contract then a lawsuit should be easy to win. It may take some time and effort, but it should be easy to win, nonetheless.

I understand wanting to "vent" about something like this on a forum like this one, but I have to believe that your attorney would go apoplectic if he knew you were talking about this on a public forum. And, please, DO NOT tell me that you haven't talked to an attorney yet! That should have been the very first thing you did.

Unless, of course, it is not Dufour that violated the terms of the contract...

[Robin3]

Was this a French built beneteau or a USA built one? Beneteau own Jeanneau and DuFour too now I believe for the record. As others have said there is obviously much more to this story not being said. I wish you Good luck with sorting it and recovering your health too as I am sure all here will also.

[newhaul]

As I stated I copy and pasted my reply from another sailing forum on which you are a brand new member there I will concede you have been a member here for a year and including the three posts on this thread and your entry post in aprils giveaway you as of right now have 7 posts none of which say hello. I still say something hinkey. Most companies would be happy to alter the final delivery terms. Over a mere 25k final payment. Especially if they already had 525,000 of the purchase price in cash. As others have stated contact legal council immediately. Write about the whole affair later after all is settled and done. M2CW

[sailingforfun]

Hmmm......... you seem to be giving your Broker a pass on this. The purpose of using a Broker is to protect your interest/position in the transaction, but yet you speak highly of them. I would love to hear their interpretation of what transpired.

[SusanHynes]

Again I appreciate your replies and Pelagic I really appreciate your thoughtful list of questions. I still believe something good will come of all this but then I am the eternal optimist.

I will let you know the outcome as we proceed. There are, as many have stated, a lot of questions and legally they need to be sorted. So for now thanks for listening and to those who have wished me well a special thanks. I believe there is a story here whose ending needs to be written. I have no doubt that there will be some serious lessons for me and perhaps for all of us who love that moment when the sails go up, the engine goes off and all is right with the world.

[Siberianhusky]

I would love to know the WHOLE story, can't see the company taking the hit shipping the boat back to europe to resell unless they fully believed the boat wouldn't be paid for.
" and a few wrinkles in payments due" That really makes me wonder.......bet there is a lot more to this.
Can't see Dufour pulling something like this unless the had the legal legs to stand on. They would have to figure it would end with lawyers, they would have a legal dept. to advise them after all.