Complaint Review: Savage Yachts LLC - Treasure Island Florida

A year after my purchase and experience with Manny Galveo. A year ago I was in the market for a particular boat. With months of research I finally found the Boat for me. I called the seller (Manny Galveo) and spoke with him for several days during negotiations. During this process, I did my research on the seller and Boat to be purchased. During my research, I stumbled across this report and never mentioned it to the seller. I was familiar with this particular Boat and it’s history before I even made the first call. Manny was upfront and honest with everything about the Boat before I had a chance to make him aware I knew the boats history.

He stood behind his work 100% and made me feel very confident in the current state of the boats structural integrity. I have spent countless hours on this boat crossing the Atlantic into the Bahamas along with fishing the Gulf of Mexico up to 200 miles offshore. During my year of ownership, the boat has not showed or given me reason to believe, this Boat is any less of a Boat after the repairs have been performed. Boats get damaged no different than cars. Insurance companies are quicker to salvage a boat than a wrecked car. When done correctly, boats are stronger in the places the repairs have been done than they were when leaving the manufacturer. Salavage boats may have a few cosmetic flaws, but at the end of the day cosmetics don’t get you back to dry land safe. If a Boat has sunk or taken on water this doesn’t mean it’s a throw away. It may receive a salvage stigma but can be brought back to better condition than the Boat was before the mishap occurred. That’s the great thing about fiberglass, it can be mended back together with a stronger bond than before. Boats, cars, houses, furniture and machinery are all rehabbed and given a second life with years of trouble free use. In the end find you a reputable person or company that specializes in this line of work and feel confident in your final product. I have no affiliation, other than being a past and hopefully future client of Manny Galveo. My experience has been very positive. I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another high dollar Boat from him.

Traver Smith was part of this scam, a good friend of Manny and up to his eyeballs in rip offs in St. Pete. He deserves to be serving time in jail. with Manny as his cell mate.  Nothing has changed and all are still doing the same bullcrap

Whoever posted this , nothing is related to this post. Savage Yacht , Manny and all who are involved has not paid anything to anyone. They are all still rip offs and I am sure still doing the same to others.

Seems Mr. Manny Galvao is still ripping folks off. I just got an email from another fellow who just suffered his wrath.

I would suggest and if you are smart enough to check his name out on Rip-Off.com, you should heed our advice and run if you hear anything this guy is saying or selling.  Run, Run, hide, come out when he is not present.  Shame folks like him are left to exist by current laws. A real shame.

It seems it must of been a terrible mistake and Mr. Tyson Munson has elected to pay his bill.

Thanks Ripoffreport.com, great job again.

I was contacted by a gentleman, thanking me for the warning that I posted on Rip-offReport.com. He too was about to be scamed by Manny Galvao. He now has a sailboat for sale. Again trying to lie about the clean title. Remember folks Texas does not issue salvage titles. Only clean titles. Needless to say, when he re-titles the boat, whalla , its clean. That is how he works. He re-titles the boat in Florida under his company called Fishtails.  Honestly, I would suggest, do not buy any boats out of Florida. Until that state starts a process that will not allow this type of business to occur, stay the heck away from a Flordia boat sale. Its nothing but a scam. Until the Florida Dealer Association, lobby's their electorate to stop this scam, personally I would never buy another boat from Florida. Any boat, like any auto/truck should have the ability to follow all the damages and history. Sorry to say, that is not the case out of Texas and Florida. They all know what is happening, from the insurance company's to the buyer to the broker. All are part of these scams. The insurance company allows these auctions of salvaged boats to occur in order to recoup some of the cost of the claims. The auction company's know darn right well what the new buyer will be doing, the brokers know darn right well they are representing a boat that was once totaled, and you as the buyer are the only ones left out of this loop. You might be told it was a storm damaged boat, with little repair needed. That is a pure lie. They fiberglass it together, making it look good, but needless to say it is a great possiblity you and your family will be on the boat when it breaks apart. I have noticed that Progressive is one of the major players in this scam. I am certain there are other insurance company's that do the same, but for now they are a major player. Once a family all gets killed by these hurricane damaged boats, the crap will be flying. Its been well over a year and the same stuff is still going on in Florida. So if you want a boat, at a great price, that is guaranteed to fail , then buy it. If you care for your family and buddy's , then don't trust any insurance company's/auctioneers, dealers/brokers/or even the sites that give you boat history. They all lie about the boat history. You are their targets here. You are the prey they seek. Stop buying Texas and Florida boats until they straighten up their acts and pass laws to prevent this type of business practice from occuring.

Since these statements on RipOffReport.com well illustrate Manny Galvao as a number one rip off, I shall also list the other companies he owns, runs, or has a part in, therefor providing a service to others, who might desire to buy a home to consider this guy's complete history. My dad always said, you cannot change a tiger's stripes, knowing once a rip off , always a rip off. His other companies or affiliates are:

Mk&Mg Properties, Inc

Manny Gz, Inc.

This guy is and always will be a complete rip-off, and I would believe any firm he either owns or is affiliated with, will conduct the same exact type of business behavior. If you are attempting to buy a home from this guy, I would certainly re-consider. This sub-human will get you, your money, and break your heart in the process. Don't get drawn into any scheme he now has going on. I shall do my best to track him throughout his life. Some will say I am sour/angry person. Well I guess that is true, but if Manny Galvao never ripped me off, I would have nothing to report upon. Manny your day will be forthcomming, its called "What goes around , comes around."

Manny Galvao, was certainly one of the main players related to the scam, but one must remember there were many, including Progressive Insurance Company, who allows this bull to continue. After this mess was discovered, I did much research, finding Manny purchased the boat he sold to me for $10,000 considering structurally the boat was not bad, hence he was able to repair. Both of them absolutely in my opinion are a team in this type of scam. If I were the Attorney General in Florida, I would of put a stop to this rip off scams a long time ago and Manny would be serving time for his top role. All the others too had a part. Manny Galvao, shall have his time in court, when an honest buyers, has a boat come appart , killing someone, and then Manny shall be doing time in sing sing. This is exactly what will happen. Remember Manny lawyers will do anything they can to get all who had parts. Even Progressive knows darn right well , they are also playing a major part, and when the suit gets gone, not will be spared, especially the ones with the deepest pockets. Progressive you better start raising rates to pay for that suit. It will come. Manny may you enjoy your iternity in hell, being a great friend of the devil.

Manny Galveo who operates under Import Enterprises is a boat rebuilder. His entire business is buying damaged boats, repairing them, and selling them to the public as a as "repo." He has done this at least a hundred times and buys all his boats from either Cooper Capital Salvage or Salvage Direct, the auctioneer for Progressive. Every boat that he buys is a total loss. In most cases that means they sank or ran into something so bad that the insurance company felt it was worth selling rather than to accept the cost of repairs down the road. He has two full-time fiberglass guys who can cover any problems no matter how much putty it takes. He typically buys high dollar boats for cheap, using an inside deal from his direct relationship with Ron Cooper, and rebuilds them. Ron has been caught before for fixing auctions. Manny has been caught for lying about boat sales in the past; this is nothing new but it's starting to catch up with him. His username on Salvage Direct is "fishtales." If you have bought a boat from anyone involved with Manny, just search google for "salvage direct" and the make of your boat and/or fishtales to see all the boats he is involved with. He can also be found on ebay as it gives him a better outlet where buyers are more reliant on pictures than an actual visit. His username is "Tunatime43." Buyers beware; he will make every effort to convince you that the boat is in great shape. He even transfers the title into his company name so that you dont know that it was a total loss owned by an insurance company.

For the person who has Traver as his good friend, you should choose your friends with more oversight, for the fact is and finally admitted by Traver, he did see the boat come to the guy who bought it from auction, and it did have damages. He admitted that after I had threatned legal actions against him, his company, and the owner of the boat that he represented, and certainly mis-represented to me.  He had knowledge of the damages, yet said nothing to me at anytime prior to my purchasing. So at best, he did not offer full disclosure, which is required by any boat agent, representing a seller. Full disclosure is a must. Secondarily, he told me the trailer had clean title, but it had no title.  So yes, Mr. "Traver Smith" was a great partner of the scheme.  Due diligence was done. I checked with BoatHistory.com, and no reported damages, yet the boat turned out to be totaled in a hurricane. So my man, and whoever you might be, maybe Traver's father? , he was right in the middle of this problem, and never wavered in getting a sale, no matter who got screwed as its result. Out of his own email to me, he saw the damaged boat when he went to Manny's location. Never said one word until well after the purchase was completed. Might be a nice guy, never doubted that part, but nice guys are also crooks. If he got me, he will get others is my statement, and no doubt he will do whatever it takes to facilitate the sale, no matter who is getting the shaft. It would of cost me more than the worth of the boat to travel to Florida to fight this problem, but was told by the State Attorney General of Florida to do just that. Come back and file suit. I decided to have this wonderful site, keep record of this, hoping it will defer others from falling into the trap. No matter how you paint this canvas, Mr.Traver Smith ,Manny Galvao, Imported Enterprises, and Savage Yachts, are all crooks at the highest levels of boat sales at least. I did my homework, so just shut up and go onto another scam.  I have kept all my proof and if anyone has a desire to see all the particulars, just email me at [email protected] and I shall be more than glad to present you the facts, not the crap you are trying to clear his name upon. Facts clear names, not statements. I present facts. Peter Creager III

Periodically I google friends and colleagues to see what they are up to.  I came across this report and was astonished to find someone defaming a close friend whom I have known over ten years.  Disclosure: I am not in the yacht selling or buying business, but have been around it all my life as I grew up in Florida.  I have nothing to gain (or lose) by posting this.

It would appear to me that Traver did not know of the boat's history prior to the repo.  Progressive is the entity in this matter, along with the bank, which had the most to lose should the boat not sell.  Traver Smith's business is based upon his reputation in the industry and he knows full well that if he were to misrepresent anything in a buy/sell transaction word would circulate and nobody would want to work with him.  It is in his best interest to be forthcoming in all instances, and my experience with him has been that he is a straight shooter who would rather tell you the full facts up front and retain your future business than work somebody over to make a quick buck.  It doesn't add up that he would misdirect someone to sell a small boat (assumption based upon deposit amount) and make a small commission on the deal with the knowledge that he might lose out on selling the same person a larger boat down the road, or have that person post something such as the above report and cause him to lose business from others.

This whole affair smells of sour grapes and a lack of due diligence on the buyer's part.  It is always easier to place blame on others when you are unhappy with a purchase for which you didn't do your homework or relied too heavily upon a web-based reporting system. 

Traver Smith is a good person whom you can trust will provide exemplary service, honesty, and a good deal.  It pains me to see his reputation sullied by what appears to be a first time buyer.