Olmec The Sad Saga

LURCHER · 10 May 2006, 19:27

Well I have waited now for a decent interval and it is time to spill the beans on Mr Carter .

January 2005 I bought a 7m Humber in a poor state but with a nice 150 opti on the back after a few post on here seeking advice about retubing and generally ignoring most of it I opted to have the job done by Olmec in Dartmouth .
The boat was towed by me to Dartmouth and the deal was struck (£2000 + vat )to retube the boat in orange with a black nose.This was the same config as my previous boat and I liked it.
A few weeks later I returned to collect the boat which looked absolutely fabulous and I and family were so pleased. We then went off on holiday so no work was done on the boat for a few weeks . The weather improved and we moved the boat out of our barn into the sun to do some jobs on it . A short time after moving it outside I heard a hissing sound which I put down to a pressure relief valve letting off as the boat had been pumped up inside during the cold spell . Thinking no more of it I went in for lunch on my return to my horror I found the Nose section completely flat and on inspection a seam apart big enough to put my hand in ! I called Olmec and Ed was surprised and at first thought I was joking but I emailed pictures which convinced him. He arranged to pick up the boat straightaway and sort out the problem.
Off we went on a skiing trip where I spent a lot of time worrying and phoning Olmec to chase progress. We returned from skiing and the boat came back to us Ed having claimed it was a, bad glue and b, that he had redone the whole boat .
More work was done on the boat fitting consoles and electrics all done inside due to poor weather. At last the weather improved and we moved it out side again and within an hour the same thing happened with the added excitement of the internal baffles giving way on side . Back on the phone this time a little less understanding and very pissed off . Ed was difficult to talk to and did not know what to say or do he did offer to take off the tubes and refund my money which with hindsight I should have accepted , but I run a small company and sometimes things do go wrong so I insisted that he get himself sorted out and do the bloody job properly and I would stick with him .During this saga I had not said anything to anyone else as I felt he should have an opportunity to get it right .
His brother Andy picked up the boat and again it was worked in and returned to me with the assurance that they had redone the whole boat with all new fabric and glue.

By mid season various bits were flapping in the breeze and Andy arrived again to fix them . At the end of October I again contacted Ed to complain that more bits were coming adrift and would make arrangements to sort them out he assured me that he would send someone to fix them and I had the boat inside to be completely dry when they arrived , many phone calls unanswered and email unanswered later I made arrangements with a local guy Steve from Emsworh to come and fix them . He did a great job and was not too complimentary about the work he had to rectify . I paid Steve for his work and sent the bill to Olmec .The amount is still outstanding .

I would be grateful for constructive comments on where I go now as I am still finding bits lifting and have no real confidence in the boat . I don’t want to start another Leeway type slanging match I just need your advice which this time I will probably heed !

ADS · 10 May 2006, 19:34

Its going to be like Christmas day for No Fear

Sorry to hear your in this position Lurcher, sounds as if a shite job was done, this is obviously cannot be tolerated although I know Ribraff/Olmec/Ed has done many a sucessful retube and some of his customers post on here and are very happy. I find it strange that he struggled to retube your 7m Humber, which is a relatively common' production model, not a one off. Im sure he will have something to say.

Hope you get it sorted.

Jimbo · 10 May 2006, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by LURCHER

I would be grateful for constructive comments on where I go now as I am still finding bits lifting and have no real confidence in the boat . I don’t want to start another Leeway type slanging match I just need your advice which this time I will probably heed !

In my (limited) experience with boats, I reckon that once you loose confidence in a boat, you will not get it back until you have changed either the boat, or the entire problem. For example, I doubt you'd be happy taking your boat out in the sort of weather a 7m Humber should be able to handle, with this level of worry about the tubes.

It's a hell of a cost, but my ideal course of action (in this ideal world, where I own a brand new rib/yacht/dinghy/house!) would be to scrap the tubes, and get someone else with a long standing history, like Henshaws/Ribcraft etc, to do the tubes, as you will then have your confidence in the boat back. Pricey option though.

I doubt you will be able to recoup funds or have the problems sorted by Olmec, if it's been tried and failed, I doubt they would be up for trying again. As ADS pointed out, Olmec gets some good, and some bad press on Ribnet, and I doubt this newly public saga will produce sufficient reputation damage to encourage Olmec to sort the situation sensibly.

Hugh Jardon · 10 May 2006, 20:30

my advice

if it was me, and the situation is as you describe it then get your money back, give mark at ribcraft a call and book it in there. Mine were done at ribcraft after much research and i am very happy

Ribcraft give a 5 year parts and labour warranty which is comforting

Ed is a great guy but if you have had all these problems and repeated repairs then something is just not right somewhere and if it was me i would have no faith that a retube or repair would last.

contact chris at henshaws, mark at ribcraft, Paul Tilly, the chappy whose name i have forgot at eurocraft but they are way up north so probably not viable.

pm me if you want email details of tubers

paul tilley · 10 May 2006, 20:40

lurcher it may be possible to remove the tubes ,fit wider seam tapes over all of the seams and then refit the tubes in a proper manner so as not to cause any more problems .this would be expensive but cheaper than a complete new set of tubes .can you take photos of the problems . the legal aspect of getting your money refunded is best discussed privately between yourself and ed rather than on the forum

LURCHER · 10 May 2006, 21:05

Paul
I would if I could get hold of him to talk to !

jwalker · 10 May 2006, 23:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by LURCHER

..I would be grateful for constructive comments on where I go now as I am still finding bits lifting..

Why, on earth, don't you go back to Humber and have a proper set of tubes fitted? A wiggly bit here and a wainey line there but, nevertheless, they make good tubes.

Richard B · 11 May 2006, 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Why, on earth, don't you go back to Humber...

Bear in mind that it's a long way to Hull from the south coast! A friend of mine commented, after done the round trip twice by thirsty petrol 4x4 to have some warranty work done, "The work may have been FOC, but it's cost me £1000 in fuel".

General comment on the tube problem: Oh dear.

Hope you get it all sorted, Lurcher.

jwalker · 11 May 2006, 11:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

Bear in mind that it's a long way to Hull from the south coast!

About the same distance as it is from here I'd guess. Two around trips, about 800 miles(ish), say 25mpg (Empty or no trailer for two of them.). I make that about 125 kwid. Let's say £200 to cover other bits and pieces.

Your pal needs to get a better vehicle...

Pete7 · 11 May 2006, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by LURCHER

later I made arrangements with a local guy Steve from Emsworh to come and fix them . He did a great job and was not too complimentary about the work he had to rectify .

John, who is Steve ?

Pete

slimtim · 11 May 2006, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7

John, who is Steve ?

Pete

Steve Brae rib repair? Something like that?

Jimbo · 11 May 2006, 12:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

Steve Brae rib repair? Something like that?

That's Scott Bray I think.

Stephen-RIB · 11 May 2006, 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7

John, who is Steve ?

Pete

It is I! ;-)

slimtim · 11 May 2006, 13:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo

That's Scott Bray I think.

oh yeah thats the one

Erin · 11 May 2006, 20:33

As fas as I know my tubes were made by Olmec, and I've had a seam leak and a baffle leak. Sounds like a bit of a trait to me. Paul Tilley ended up doing the repairs, which seem to have been fine ever since. Not sure I'd go to Olmec from choice now!

LURCHER · 12 May 2006, 07:10

Well thanks for all the input . Interssting response from Olmec shown below so now I know where I stand !
copy of email

'As i explained to you i would pay this bill this week, i am on a very tight budget at the moment which means that payments going out sometimes take a bit longer than expected.
In your post you mention that you did not want to get in to a slanging match like Leeway's but i'm pretty sure that that will now be well under way, I have never set out to do a bad job for anyone, indeed you were very complimentary about the job when you picked the boat up, we, and indeed another tube supplier who i will not mention has been plaqued by a bad supply of glue, i have since changed my supplier and these problems have not reocurred since.
I have gone out of my way to rectify these problems, i could quite easily have insisted that the boat be returned to my workshop at your expense for the repairs to be done which would be in line with our terms and conditions.
As you mentioned in your post i offered to remove the tubes and refund you but you chose not to take that offer up.
Feel free to copy this and put it on the forum if you so desire, i am way past the point of being bothered.'

2 complete tube failures lots of bits coming off and the final line says it all !!!!!

Just a few pics to show I'm not being picky

jwalker · 12 May 2006, 10:50

Lurcher, what would you like Olmec to do for you which you would accept as a satisfactory conclusion?

PeterR · 12 May 2006, 17:05

Jwalker ,I have watched on from a distance as to not make things any worse than they allready are .What do you think would be a satisfactory conclusion ? are you in a position to act between them or just showing a freindly interest.

Hightower · 12 May 2006, 18:10

In all fairness Olmec did offer to refund your money after the Dodgy glue was discovered, if this was me then I'd have taken this route without hesitation as the structual integrety of tubes needs good bonding/glue.

I guess that your only route to compensation now would be though a small claims court, unless Olmec feels a little compassionate and offers you some form of compensation in good faith, certainly would be good PR on Olmec's front. As this is out in the public domain now I'm sure that feelings are running high, but I would hope that common sense will prevail and a solution found.

Stephen-RIB · 13 May 2006, 00:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

In all fairness Olmec did offer to refund your money after the Dodgy glue was discovered, if this was me then I'd have taken this route without hesitation as the structual integrety of tubes needs good bonding/glue.

I guess that your only route to compensation now would be though a small claims court, unless Olmec feels a little compassionate and offers you some form of compensation in good faith, certainly would be good PR on Olmec's front. As this is out in the public domain now I'm sure that feelings are running high, but I would hope that common sense will prevail and a solution found.

I am wondering whether Olmec dude informed John that he had a bad batch of glue before him discovering it for himself. Also the Olmec chap does not seem to be that bothered by the noise about this issue in this forum. I know that if I did a job for a forumite or any customer that did not work (which again can happen to the best of us) for that matter, I would want to know about it and have the chance to fix it. It seems Olmec is not that bothered?

He has had plenty of time and chances and by his own admission says he was plagued by a bad batch of glue. So if this is the case, is he happy for John to drive his RIB around and in bad weather the whole thing lets go? what happens then? ... Not worth thinking about.

John called me to take a look at the RIB and patch up the areas which needed re-gluing. In my opinion John should be re-funded in full or given a new set of tubes, the tubes he has paid for are falling apart. Yes we all get plagued with bad glue, and it really does happen trust me. But to be driving around in a large RIB knowing that your tubes are held together by a crud batch of glue has got to be very annoying an worrying.