- Report: #1315270
Complaint Review: Captain Bubba Harris - Fort Walton Beach Nationwide
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Captain Bubba Harris
Fort Walton Beach, Nationwide, USA
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Captain Bubba Harris Fort Walton Beach Nationwide
I felt I should share my experience with this boat surveyor. It funny because he was very professional when I called and commissioned him to do the boat survey. He told he would charge a certain price and I felt ok about it. After it was said and done I would never recommend him to anyone. He told me he would take pictures and go over the entire boat to see if everything worked properly. He also said he would give the boat a sea trial. A few days before the inspection I had sent him a message asking him about what time he would be there so I could let the seller know. He texted me that he would do the inspection first thing in the morning. I called the broker and relayed the info. He didn't show up till 1 hour before the Marina closed. Since he was so late the Marina had already put the boat away for the day. He did not want to wait for them to lower the boat so he left and did not do the inspection and blamed the boat yard for his lack of punctuality. At this point I just wanted my inspection done and he gave an excuse. He promised he would come in two days. Again he said he would do it first thing. He showed up late and said "oh the boat won't start so I'm out.". The Marina would jump the boat but he declined. This is the part that I'm pissed about. The Marina offered to jump it but he declined left and charged for a full inspection that did not include a sea trial. I was assured the boat started because the broker took it out and gave me video of the boat running in the ocean. I asked to be charged a discount because I never received a report or pictures of the boat. He just said the dealer dropped the ball. That's totally wrong. The broker waited all day for him to show up the first day and when he didn't show till the last hour they had put the boat away. Bubba lacks punctuality and charged me the full amount for his inspection which I still have not received. I asked him if he planned to do the inspection and he said " I have already been there and the dealer dropped the ball. Too bad I'm charging for my time." He gave me no information that I couldn't see from dealer photos. Total scam. Use at you own risk and don't expect him to give any insight on your future purchase. I asked him why he charged me full price for no survey and he said it's my time that is worth the charge. Also said I'll do the sea trial on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon I send him a message asking if he got the inspection done and he said "I couldn't get ahold of anyone." That's weird since they are a huge dealer and I was in contact with my broker all day. He is full of it. I'm still waiting for his survey but I'm not holding my breath.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Bubba
Miramar Beach,Florida,
USA
Aaron Barney
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Sat, August 13, 2016
I am disappointed at the fact that Mr. Aaron Barney thinks that I dropped the ball on surveying his 1997 20 Hydra Sports. The fact that someone would want to buy a $9,800.00 boat that lives 2,500 miles from where the boat is located is a head scratcher to begin with but I was more than appreciative with the business. I am unfortunately having to spend my time to set the record staight on this situation. I was scheduled to be at the marina and I was late as the job before ran late as it sometimes will, but I was in contact with the salesperson the whole time. When I showed up at the marina who I deal with on regular basis there was no salesperson and no one seemed to know or care where the boat was, that
was trip one to the marina. I then rescheduled I beleive the next day and the boat was ready for me on a rack out of the water. When I finished my out of water part of the survey the boat was then put in the water to do the in water survey. When I went to crank the engine it was dead. One of the dock hands and myself tried to get the boat jumped off and running for over 30 minutes with no luck. I then left as I cannot do a sea trial when the boat will not crank and I was finished with everything except the sea trial. I then came back a third time as the boat supposedly had a new battery and the marina again could not locate the boat as this marina has roughly has a thousand boats in it with a big
business mentality with someone blaming someone else for the problem, keep in mind that most surveyors will come back no more than once or twice. It is not my responsibily as a surveyor to make sure a boat is working before it surveyed, it is the boat brokerage and the broker who has the boat listed responsibilty. I deal with brokers everyday and I would have to say in this case this person has no business selling boats. He was very nice but did not seem to know what or how to do anything related to surveying a boat as he was very hard to locate if at all when I needed information or simply finding the boat in working condition. I then called and told Aaron Barney what was happening and
he asked for his money back and I told him that was not possible as he hired me to do something and I did what he hired me to do except for the sea trial which was apparently impossible. I spent 3 times as much time as normal for a boat this size to get the inforamtion needed. I did call Aaron and discuss everything in detail including the trailer. Except for the sea trial in which I was unable to do given the circumstances. He was sent a 20 to 25 page report with pictures from me within a few days of the physical part of the survey minus the sea trial. I do not know whether Aaron Barney bought this boat or not but I feel like I went beyond what was asked of me as a surveyor which I always have strived to
do with any of my clients. It has been my experience that when someone decides to change there mind on buying a boat they look for any excuse to get out of it and recoup any money spent. I am not saying that is what happened in this case but it wouldn't be the first time someone blames someone else for a problem. Mr. Aaron Barney is understandably upset but I really think he is upset at the wrong person in case. He has no first hand knowledge of exactly what happened other than what he thinks happened. I hope this is the end of this disagreement but there have been some things said about me that are not true and I have a great reputation that speaks for itself. I don't really want to waste any more
time with this but I have to protect my reputation and I am no attorney but if this continues my next call is to my attorney.
Sincerely, Captain Bubba Harris
