We recently purchased a used Carver 440 from Bayshore Yacht Sales. Our broker was Mike Gridley. Dealing with him has been a wholely unpleasant experience. His best sales tactic was to tell us he'd been on TV. He certainly wasn't all that familiar with the systems on the boat he was selling us. We got through the sale but when it came time to take possession, nothing had been done to prepare the boat for that. It was dirty beyond belief (mold in the ice maker and fridges, heads were gross and looked as if they'd ne er been cleaned. And someone else's used boxer shorts in the guest berth for starters). There was less than minimum attempts to contact the previous owner when we had questions nor did he ensure all purchased spare parts were on board. We were left high and dry to fend for ourselves and learn the boat. The only help given was assistance in changing 2 fuel filters and the gen battery (I did the work). We experienced electrical issues on the second day of our journey that culminated in replacing a house battery, but were willing to overlook that.
However, upon starting the second part of our trip, disaster happened when we struck a rock (not his fault). This is where it went from neglect of his customer to outright nastiness. I called him about the spare props and shafts that were never given to us and we were told to contact the former owner, which isn't up to us. I did try multiple times with no answer. Then I called Mike back to get him to contact the former owner to which I was rebuffed. It took mentioning that he made a lot of money from this sale and the next step being legal to get any action from him. Mike called back approximately 3 hours later to say that he was in the company truck and on his way to pick up and deliever our spares to us. Upon arriving he sternly told me that my attitude was terrible and to "Never call me again". His wife (who accompanied him in the company truck) tried to scold me by saying that he hadn't had a day off in months (different from the stories Mike told us about getting away from the office for a day/afternoon of boating). This is supposed to be his business, boat brokers are very busy during the summer months, that's part of the job, just like anyone in the boating industry.
Needless to say, we will never do business with anyone associated with this brokerage and will steer people away.
Looking forward to dealing with a competent broker the next time.