Have you heard of these guys?

[FUGARWE]

Has anyone on here heard about the company in Calgary selling Fractional Boat Ownership? I just heard about it today and as a local boat dealer I was wondering if anyone has heard about it. Apparently they can get you any brand make or model. You own 1/4 share and the boat is paid for in 4 years? Sounds kinda fishy to me, I just read the ad on kijiji.ca just wondering if anyone else did and if they contacted them. Kind of awkward for me to contact them directly.

[Justanotherbuck2]

Ya, ya I heard of this scam last year when I was looking to buy a reasonably priced pleasure / ski boat for us. Heres how it works he says, we form a co-op, buy a $70, 000.00 boat you only have a small portion..Blah..blah..Blah a monthly fee to cover costs and maintainece...so as I did the math he got the boat for free and anyone naive enough to get involved paid for it and the fuel and repairs too.! It is a total scam!

[winged1]

I know a group of 5 individuals who have bought 2 airplanes. They all know each other, but that doesn't negate the need for a formal agreement. There share deals appears to work.

[Redfrog]

I have friends with time share condos . It seems to work fine for them.

[bigdaddy37]

It's probably easier with something that can't be moved easily (property). I don't think I'd want to be involved in a fractional ownership of something that can disappear, sink, crash etc. .

[FUGARWE]

So I left a message with this company last night and I just got off the phone with him. He is a local Calgary guy, in business for the last 25 years in a different industry. Here is how his system works as it was explained to me. Say that you want a Lund fishing boat and its $30-$40 grand. You can't justify spending that much do to time constrictions, the local weather, or whatever. You just wont use it enough, or lets face it you can't afford to spend that kind of cash. You contact him and he pairs you up with like minded others. Three others to be exact. (I am a boat dealer but I don't sell Lund just so we are on the same page) Once he has four guys who's schedules and time requests mesh he takes the price of the boat, his fee's (which I will explain in a min) and devides it by four. So lets say its $40 000 all in, you each pay $10 000. He can finance you for your share or you put it on a line of credit or whatever. So right up front you own 1/4 of that boat, his fees are paid up front so there is no monthly fee to him.

His contract to the four owners is a four year deal and this is where it gets kinda cool. He arranges the insurance on the boat with the four owners listed on the policy. Should anything happen all parties are covered. The boat remains in his locked, fenced storage yard. So the owners dont need to worry about storage. Since the time allotment has already been agreed to by the four owners before the deal is signed he facilitates the times. So if you have agreed that you want the boat for the first two weeks in June, second weekend in July, last week of Aug, etc. When it is your time you go to his store, located in center of Calgary. You do a walk around the boat the same as a rent a car. Sign off and away you go. When you bring it back you perform the same walk around, if there is any damage to boat that was not there when you took it, guess what you are responsible to have it fixed, and as your credit card is on file with him, it gets done right away. If there is no damage, you pay a small cleaning fee so the next guy gets the boat in the same condition you did. Then you go home.

His upfront fee covers all required maintenance on the boat for warranty, an extended factory warranty to cover the four years of his plan, winterization for four years, shrink wrap and full time storage for four years. He arranges insurance but you are responsible for 1/4 of the premium, about $200 each per year.

So I did the math as I am in the boat business and well I dont think its going to hurt my business but it is very cool how he has it worked out. If your share is $10 000 and you own 1/4 of the boat and your share includes all his fees, storage and maintenance for 4 years, well you couldnt rent a boat for that first off! And second if you bought the same $40-50 000 boat and went on the 20 year plan your paymwnts over the same four years would be double what you paid and you still have 16 more years! Not to mention you dont have to worry about oil changes, maintenance, winterization, storage, or cleaning.

I asked him (his name is Bob and if you want his phone number message me, as I dont sell fishing boats its no sweat for me, however if you want a ski boat....well I may try and sell you one haha) I asked him what happens after the four year service contract with his company is up? He said you can go into a new boat and continue on useing yours as a trade as you own it, or you can sell the boat and split the money four ways, or (his words) do whatever you like you own not me. Obviously from a business point he will want you to trade up and continue with his program which will see you in a new boat every four years.

One thing I do really like about Bobs program is that you never have to see, or talk, or argue with the other owners he does it all, you pick up a clean and well serviced boat everytime you need it. I asked him about cancellations and available times that were not booked up front. He said that if you get up one morning and the weather is good and even though you have not booked the boat all you do is phone his office he will pull the file and if the boat has not been previously booked for that day or weekend at the initial agreement (as there are going to be dead zones in the schedule) he will get the boat ready for you to pick up.

It's kid of a cool concept, I have no problem giveing any of you "fishermen" his number as the more boats on the water only help my business as more and more people enjoy the sport.

Anyway thanks for your comments
Cheers

[James Henry]

what happened to the rest of the posts that were on this thread?