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Nadia · 06-13-2009, 10:07 PM

I don't know much about boats, I'm just a happy passenger. Don't know much about chop, hulls, sterns or much that pertains to boat structures. That being said I do know a lot about the law, and the slimy things that companies do to avoid being penalized by it. Regardless of the "we know nothing" attitude this company (Cobalt) is giving you, I'm willing to bet the "big wigs" know exactly what your talking about. The dirty, filthy secret is that it is cheaper for them to pay out and settle all the lawsuits, rather than recall all these boats with this potentially lethal flaw in the design and fix them. It's slimy, greedy and horrible to think, but they are not the first or only manufacturing company to do so. The case study I focused on in school was regarding a vehicle that had a flaw in the fuel system in the early 80's. To make a long story short this flaw would sometimes cause the car to catch on fire. The manufacturer was well aware of this flaw but kept it under wraps. It's reasoning was just that it was much cheaper to pay out settlements (because most of these cases settle outside of court) then to recall and fix all the vehicles. When a large group of people were seriously injured and somehow came together to bring a class action suit against the manufacturer, they were found guilty of concealing such flaw and ordered to pay up big time AND recall their product. It happens a lot more then we know about. Like I said, most cases are settled outside of Court. Like APS said, a gag order is then put in place on all parties to protect the company from future lawsuits, and to keep it under wraps. They don't make it to the class action stage, where more attention gets drawn to the case. They don't want to get into Court for the same reasons. They pay out the lawsuits in the form of settlements agreeing that their product caused harm to the Plaintiff. They do not admit they knew about this, or know about more of it. They simply admit that this incident is their fault and make it appear to be isolated. All companies make mistakes right? They stay just under the radar this way. Another reason for this is so that when someone else is injured again by this same "flaw", their Attorney won't find any previous cases because they were all settled privately. Voilà. They also know that not all their flawed products will cause death or injuries. This is another part of their sick equation that spits out the answer to pay out rather then recall. Think about the tobacco companies? Ever watch the movie Erin Brocovich? A Civil Action? Both true stories, and good examples of class action suits where persistent paralegals and Attorney's sniffed around and found some foul stuff going on. Greed and money are a potentially disastrous combination. These companies do not care about anything but their profits.

Not to mention there are two people who had similar experiences with Cobalt, running into each other right here on this forum! Now that you both know about each other, I'm willing to bet there's probably 10, 20, 30, 40 or even hundreds of people with similar horror stories who think or are being made to think by the company that they are alone. A greedy company's first line of defense. On another note I truly admire your persistance mpeterson, it looks like it is already paying off. I wish you and boat guy much more luck. Any eager Attorney's out there?

On a better note, glad to know mpeterson and boat guy's families are okay. I know first hand how horrifying it is to be in a boat taking on water pretty fast. I was eight years old when myself, my Dad, my cousin and my Uncle took my Dad's very small boat out on Chelsea Harbor. Something went terribly wrong, very fast with an area of the floor that had been repaired not long before. I remember looking down and seeing water around my ankles, the back of the boat getting closer and closer to being flush with the sea level. It was eerie and I'm getting chills thinking about it. A very large party boat heard my Father and Uncle's distressed calls and the blast of his horn. I remember my Dad picking me up and putting me on the deck of this large boat. I was very upset that he stayed to try and save his boat, I thought he would die. Somehow they were able to get the boat to shore, might have had a tow. I can verify it's truly terrifying.

06-13-2009, 10:07 PM	#333
Nadia Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Laconia/Vegas/Florida Posts: 160 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 24 Thanked 19 Times in 10 Posts	Dirty Secrets I don't know much about boats, I'm just a happy passenger. Don't know much about chop, hulls, sterns or much that pertains to boat structures. That being said I do know a lot about the law, and the slimy things that companies do to avoid being penalized by it. Regardless of the "we know nothing" attitude this company (Cobalt) is giving you, I'm willing to bet the "big wigs" know exactly what your talking about. The dirty, filthy secret is that it is cheaper for them to pay out and settle all the lawsuits, rather than recall all these boats with this potentially lethal flaw in the design and fix them. It's slimy, greedy and horrible to think, but they are not the first or only manufacturing company to do so. The case study I focused on in school was regarding a vehicle that had a flaw in the fuel system in the early 80's. To make a long story short this flaw would sometimes cause the car to catch on fire. The manufacturer was well aware of this flaw but kept it under wraps. It's reasoning was just that it was much cheaper to pay out settlements (because most of these cases settle outside of court) then to recall and fix all the vehicles. When a large group of people were seriously injured and somehow came together to bring a class action suit against the manufacturer, they were found guilty of concealing such flaw and ordered to pay up big time AND recall their product. It happens a lot more then we know about. Like I said, most cases are settled outside of Court. Like APS said, a gag order is then put in place on all parties to protect the company from future lawsuits, and to keep it under wraps. They don't make it to the class action stage, where more attention gets drawn to the case. They don't want to get into Court for the same reasons. They pay out the lawsuits in the form of settlements agreeing that their product caused harm to the Plaintiff. They do not admit they knew about this, or know about more of it. They simply admit that this incident is their fault and make it appear to be isolated. All companies make mistakes right? They stay just under the radar this way. Another reason for this is so that when someone else is injured again by this same "flaw", their Attorney won't find any previous cases because they were all settled privately. Voilà. They also know that not all their flawed products will cause death or injuries. This is another part of their sick equation that spits out the answer to pay out rather then recall. Think about the tobacco companies? Ever watch the movie Erin Brocovich? A Civil Action? Both true stories, and good examples of class action suits where persistent paralegals and Attorney's sniffed around and found some foul stuff going on. Greed and money are a potentially disastrous combination. These companies do not care about anything but their profits. Not to mention there are two people who had similar experiences with Cobalt, running into each other right here on this forum! Now that you both know about each other, I'm willing to bet there's probably 10, 20, 30, 40 or even hundreds of people with similar horror stories who think or are being made to think by the company that they are alone. A greedy company's first line of defense. On another note I truly admire your persistance mpeterson, it looks like it is already paying off. I wish you and boat guy much more luck. Any eager Attorney's out there? On a better note, glad to know mpeterson and boat guy's families are okay. I know first hand how horrifying it is to be in a boat taking on water pretty fast. I was eight years old when myself, my Dad, my cousin and my Uncle took my Dad's very small boat out on Chelsea Harbor. Something went terribly wrong, very fast with an area of the floor that had been repaired not long before. I remember looking down and seeing water around my ankles, the back of the boat getting closer and closer to being flush with the sea level. It was eerie and I'm getting chills thinking about it. A very large party boat heard my Father and Uncle's distressed calls and the blast of his horn. I remember my Dad picking me up and putting me on the deck of this large boat. I was very upset that he stayed to try and save his boat, I thought he would die. Somehow they were able to get the boat to shore, might have had a tow. I can verify it's truly terrifying.