latent defects

[24077332]

i have just put my 4+2 through its first BSS test and am very disappointed to record the following:- it failed the test for the following reasons A) the two ring gas burner did not have an automatic cut off if the flame went out. this is obligatory on boats which are post 2000. B) the filler cap did not have an earth bond which is also obligatory. These are things that should have been built into the boat and I so disappointed that Shetland failed to accommodate such basic requirements. I would suggest that other boats built and sold around 2010 be checked for the above items. I would stress that it failed on a couple of other points but these were things like an out of date fire extinguisher and a label on the gas locker.

[daveinglasgow]

sorry o hear that and yes I have heard other bad stories about new shetlands but none about the older ones hence why I have a 1980's model.

just out of curiosity how old is your boat and did you buy it from new?

Dave

[24077332]

Hi Dave. I bought the boat at about 18 months old from Shetland (JAMES)who assured me that all was Ok. I took delivery of the boat and within ten minutes the water heater was throwing water out all over the cockpit when the jacket split. the following day I discovered that the built in fuel tank fuel gauge did not work. It took a while to discover but they had fitted the new mariner 25hp engine in the wrong position. they also had the wrong prop fitted and the fuel primer was the wrong type and was causing the engine to cut out . It was not until the BSC that i discovered that the cooker hob was illegal and the filler cap and fuel tank were not earthed. Quite unbelievable really but it cost about £400.00 to have the new cooker hob and the earths fitted. Very very pi---d off with Shetland. Its almost worth anybody buying a new boat to have a survey carried out and back charge them if it fails any of the BSC check points.
Regards
Steve

[daveinglasgow]

that is v bad and I am tempted to ask sue ( admin on here) to put up a fixed post warning about these problems as there has been a few and James was not helpful in the other examples. do you mind me asking if this is not covered under warranty though as clearly BSC is something that most people will need with that boat and it is daft if it fails and should be a sheltland fix out of his pocket not yours.

Dave

[24077332]

Dave, I have not been back to Shetland as I do not believe the grief would be worth the effort. If I was to go legal on the matter it would probably produce a result but is it worth the stress, probably not. I could ring them and ask the question but I don't think that James would be that interested. On the plus side when I pointed out the problems with the fuel gauge and the water heater James did fix them without any moaning and he did them reasonably quickly but my question is why did he sell the boat without checking it over. I could live with that but the earthing and the cooker hob are what really annoyed me. They were just so unprofessional errors that I found it hard to believe.
Steve

[johnevans]

Was Shetland selling the boat themselves, or acting as a broker? If the latter, I doubt they would check it;although it appears the error goes back to manufacture. It may be worth contacting Shetland, but they will probably say that if you had contacted them they would have fixed it for you. Having had the work done, they may waive responsibility. I would always recommend that if spending significant money on a second hand boat, a pre-purchase survey is carried out.