Yes,
My parents got their Commander while I still owned a wood 35' Sea Skiff. I was already nuts about the Commanders and knew I would someday own a 38, which happend a while later when we found TRADITION in Cincinatti, Ohio near Washington Marine, at Beechmont.
When I bought the 31 I knew we wanted the boat after a walk around and a ride on Old Hickory Lake. I was authorized to make the purchase on their behalf, if I thought it was a good boat and a good deal for them. The previous owner took it up to max rpm and left it there. The motors sounded great. Back at the dock after a fair and reasonable discussion, I suggested he drop the price by $500 to consummate the deal. His response was (and I remember this vividly)
"NOT ONE DIME", and he said it loud and with enough determination that I reached over and got the $1500 earnest check off his clip board and let him watch me slowly tear it in half right in front of his face. At that point, we both exited the cabin only to confront our two wives who were chatting it up and having a great time on a bench. They said "well, did you guys complete the deal?". We both had a mad look on our faces, sort of grumbled something or another, and at that point we were both
"ORDERED" by our
TWO wives to "get back down there and complete the deal". Ha ha, it was the craziest thing I've done in a long time. So we go back into the cabin, I write out the check in the full amount, and we ended up getting the boat. My parents didn't know about the terms until after the acquisition.
Chris Wade mentioned the guy at the local lumber supply house being removed from "personality of the day" or something like that, ha ha, and this particular guy I was dealing with just might have found some benefit from a refresher course at the Dale Carnegie Institute
Ah well, he got what he wanted for the boat, we got a good boat, all is well that ends well.
They have had a great time with this boat, and I also hope they have many more years of fun with it. The darn thing will fly when you throw the coal to it! Pretty quick boat!
Regards,
Paul