Symbol Yachts

Sounds like your experience alone is enough to give you the information you're looking for, and at a bare minimum engage legal council regarding your path moving forward with the boat you have.

It's certainly not a good day, nor does it speak well for a manufacture when they refuse communication with a paying customer.

Symbol had a US dealership for several years with many dissatisfied customers; that dealership owner is no longer associated with Symbol.

My experience with a Symbol 42

Purchased a Symbol 42 in 2000. Have been more than satisfied after ten years. 1920 hrs on the Cummins. Sailed to the Bahamas and visited Nova Scotia
many times.. Added Naiads and a new refrigerator.
Would be happy to discuss some details

Not Enjoying the Boat is the biggest loss

Not Enjoying the Boat is the biggest loss.
I get the feeling you have been involved in the business world quite awhile & know what is right & wrong & what you want. However, IMHO, after reading your webpage, this has gone past wanting a resolution & into the realms of vengeance. Meantime, a whole lot of time never to be replaced is going by. Suggest you bypass the local "character" and approach the Australian Trade (Aus Trade) in Taiwan, they are well represented there, and ask them to arrange a lunch with the Symbol owner. Fly over, the Symbol man won't refuse a lunch with an Aus Official..You never know what a new face at the table will achieve. I admired this boat at the Sanc. Cove Boat Show & understand why you bought it. Also read a few "Happy references" from Aus owners, no doubt encouraged by the Local dealer. In any case, I once wasted 2 plus years chasing a scoundrel & all I achieved was a loss of money and more importantly TIME. If the drawbridge is up, the war will carry on. You are a worry to Symbol or they would'nt be on the defense, by now they will want this solved. Resolution.

Sounds like you just about tried it all. I did not doubt your website's facts, just think it is incredibly STUPID for Symbol and the local dealer to let it go this far. Agree that in the age of the internet we can all be quickly informed, with caution though.
As for the last quote "Like anyone who has been the victim of immoral or illegal behaviour I would like to see justice done, however I am leaving that to the authorities" Don't hold your breath, you will likely find just how little the "law", authorities care and can do. Good Luck.....SERIOUSLY!

There's been a guy for several years (missed this years FLIBS so I don't know if it happened this year) hired a banner tow plane to haul a "Viking Boats + MAN Engines = LEMON" banner through the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show.

Henning...now it's Viking and MAN!!!!!
What the... I am in the search for a used, good quality boat to replace a very large vacuum left by the last one. I have owned enough brands to look for quality and made FAR TOO many mistakes to know to listen to the experienced (was going to say the older boaties, but you are probably younger than me and might not like that joke). Point is, I always liked MANS, had them in my UNIESSE 48 and Offshore 58, plus thought Viking was THE production builder, where to now Mate? My shortlist; Hatteras 53/58 Yachtfish, Tollycraft 57, Post, Egg Harbour or older Viking (budget is tight)!

I didn't say that was my finding as to Vikings and MAN, I was just using the example of what not supporting your customers can lead to.

I have 2 owners with the 61' Viking (Princess) sport cruisers with the 1100hp MANs, they're ok. The engines on one of them started seriously leaking oil out of the mating between the engine and accessory case on the way back up to NY last year. They were handled under warranty. The owner is still happy with the boat. I don't have any particular dislikes of MAN engines.

As for which S/F to buy, they aren't my market so not much I can say to that. There is some very nice small builder stuff around Beaufort NC though that I was really impressed with. One especially, Builder was South-something. Gorgeous boat, excellent attention to detail.

I could have ended up with one of these but saw your website and that convinced me to not even bother contacing them. I've had a good look at several of their boats and have seen yours at Airlee Beach once. I was happy that they looked the goods and was getting ready to contact the Aussie dealer but heard some murmerings within the industry, specifically about your boat, but generally about the state that Symbol Aust was delivering their boats in. I understand that you have had to spend a small fortune to get Take Five up to compliance and that, at the end of the day gets you a decent boat to get around on - I hope the others find out if anything's wrong with theirs before there's major trouble. My uderstanding is that least you have some knowledge and background in boats and this may very well have saved you from a distaster out at sea.

It would seem that Symbol have had the opportunity to deliver some boats in a better state than yours to try and get back on side with the Aussie market but I think they've missed the boat (excuse the pun) - how could you trust the builder or the dealer, no matter what trading name he's using this week??

Rest assured that at least those in the industry who I've spoken to, know who is telling the truth - we all feel for you.

The sad truth is though, very few boats roll out without major issues to repair on commissioning. I've commissioned over 100 boats over the years, and every one of them required modifications to make right. This Kingship is the worst I have ever come across though.

Hi,

I had a look at your website.

It is just as well you had enough time on your hands while not able to enjoy your boat to compile and author that greatly detailed website.

It sure sounds as though the two characters you dealt with in Aussie would be the typical shysters that unfortunately pervade all societies to some extent.

The ease of liquidating a company as a means of absolving a director of all debt liabilities in NZ and Australia is a joke and is not what one expects from countries that consider themselves "first world" members.

My experience with a Symbol 42

Greg;
Purchased the Symbol new in Rhode Island,USA Construction
was very good. The welds on the 1 1/4 rail were superb.
Added a Sampson post. Changed the alternator to 165 AMPs.(Balmar.) External regulator. Eliminated the main battery switch. Now Alternator feeds directly into the House bank. From there a 250 Amp. relay into the engine battery. Makes all the difference.)Also a new Inverter 2000 Watts with a 100 amp. battery charger.
House bank 640 Amps.
Please publish this info in the Yacht Forum.

rudy utz
Rudy (rudyutz)

Happy Symbol Customer

I am a very happy and proud owner of a Symbol Classic Motor Yacht. We found Jimmy Chen and the Symbol yard wonderfull to deal with and I would do it again tomorrow. We also found the Australian agent to be equally helpfull and good to deal with. All defects that you would expect in purchasing a new boat were attended to quickly and without question. The build quality is excellent and I believe the Symbol Classic to be excellent value for money. Our boat is close to two years old and many hours have been and continue to be enjoyed.

I hope that others enjoy the experience of purchasing a Symbol as we did. After reading other comments in the forum I couldn't help but tell of my great experience with Symbol.

Happy boating.

This is probably the dealer

Far