Ill. boat maker settles claims over hull IDs

From The Associated Press:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...=DEFAULT#7bfeb180-dfe0-4c18-89b6-128b26560b7c

I have it on good authority that this cost them at least $750K above and beyond the settlement. They had to replace some boats with new ones as well.

 

I feel so much safer knowing the U.S. Attorneys Office is protecting me from becoming a victim. Imagine buying a new hull #79 only to learn later that it was, in actuality, new hull #65!

 

seems a hefty fine for just a paper work shuffle. What would we do without the federal government looking out for our interests?

 

Actually it went way beyond a paperwork shuffle. They were taking used boats that had been returned, changing the HINs to represent them as new, dressing them up and selling them as new. The only thing the Feds could charge them with was violation of 33 CFR 181.35 requiring authorization from the Coast Guard to alter or remove an HIN. Permission they would not have been given. The more egregious real crime, which could be prosecuted in State court, was consumer fraud.

I have been involved in cases like this before, and usually they are prosecuted as consumer fraud cases, but for some reason the Coast Guard and FBI decided to bring Federal charges. no, I didn't ask why.

It's the same as selling you a car as a 2012, but it's really a used 2009, they just changed the numbers. It's easier to get away with it on a boat because the number is in only two places, on cars it's in 12 places at least, sometimes more. But it's still fraud.

 

The article says they were "unsold" boats not used boats.

 

The boats were excess inventory. They were boats that had been delivered to dealers, but were never sold. Even if it's not sold it's still a 2011 or 2010 and not a "new" boat. It's still consumer fraud. And the law is specific. If the boat is introduced into interstate commerce (left the factory) the HIN cannot be altered or removed.

I spent many hours on the phone with consumers complaining they had been sold a boat that the paper said was a year XXXX when it was actually several years old. That may seem to be a minor point to some, but to the guy who buys the boat it's a big deal.

 

You can bet it is, because a time will come when they will want to sell their boat. The resale price difference between two identical boats, one being a year older than the other, can be up to 8-9%.

 

So who ended up with the money, the govt or the buyers?

 

The welfare of the US government is of paramount importance. It is a big money sucking giant hole which makes the rules and prints the money, how fake can it get.

Who said "We are from the government and we are here to help"

 

I wonder if a qualified marine surveyor could distinguish between the redone unsold 2011 boats and the 2012 boats without using serial numbers or HIN.

 

Wasn't that MiB...

MM

 

This is done in other industries, but of course they don't have vins# or hin#.