Can we have a boat industry fit for the 21st Century please?

[BetweenBoats]

I've spent the last 6 weeks provisioning my new-to-me boat and having refurb jobs done. I reckon in total, I've engaged in 30 or so transactions and put £30k into the boat industry with the various goods and services ordered.

I know that I am spoilt by services like Amazon Prime and they may created an unrealistic expectation for me, but I'd say that only 2 of the 30 transactions have gone how I expected them to. The rest have been subject to...

- Things missing from shipments that should be there and then get sent two weeks later after email debate
- Ordering items from stock on a website, paying for overnight shipping, but the goods being shipped 5 days after order
- "You're on our list for tomorrow"... and tomorrow never comes and requires several phone calls and emails to make happen
- Leaving a list for 6 things to be done and finding out later that only half them were done, but nobody told you.

I won't let my experience ruin my boating. But, what do we need to do to get a better service for our hard earned cash?

 

[omega2]

What do you expect from minimum wage employees, and store-men who do not know what you are asking for without a chassis number???

 

[Wavey]

Unfortunately a large proportion of the boating industry never caught up with the 20th century so you've got no chance of them getting even remotely in touch with the 21st.

 

[prv]

I've had emails or phone calls a couple of times to say that an item ordered online is out of stock and will be sent later. But literally maybe four or five times in five years of fairly intensive boat-refitting.

I hear that the service side of things can be a bit slapdash (no different to builders or plumbers or other small tradesmen on shore really) but since I do nearly everything myself I don't suffer from that

Pete

 

[BartW]

completely understand the complaints and frustration,
its something we all face daily imo
my way of dealing with this is

- try to find company's that have a proven service record, for what they are good at,
online sales; ASAP supplies is a good example, re the recent thread about them on here
for domestic products I alway's use Coolblue in Netherland (there might be a equivalent in UK)

- don't expect service providers specialist in a certain brand / service, to be good with "online" offerings
if their organisation is not set up for the online dealing,
fe a local metalware shop here is good for everything they have in stock,(they have almost everything) BUT if they have to order something its a nightmare

- try to build a relation with a supplier, communicate with people with a name, remain friendly with a problem, give them the opportunity to deal with your problems, sometimes it helps if they know you...

- I hardly ever shop around for the cheapest price, try to stick with a few preferred suppliers, most prices need to be competitive nowaday's


yes I know, all very difficult to find out from the very beginning or for a new / unknown product supplier

 

[salar]

Sorry, I don't recognise that problem at all. In the last 18 months I have spent a similar amount of money from suppliers up and down the country, and not a single one let me down. Goods arrived as ordered, usually within a few days for stock items. Getting skilled work done was more of a challenge, trying to get skilled people's time in the run-up to the Fastnet was difficult but when all that calmed down we got the work done eventually.

 

[Colin Regs]

I've suffered the same fate. Low points including the company who admitted they were out of stock, though their web shop said otherwise, and offered to send me goods from another branch of theirs (where they had stock) if I paid the extra postage, several cases along the lines of a chandler selling an antenna with a 5mm coax but their smallest gland is 6mm, and the piece de resistance of the firm who advertised their 'unique' product (patent pending) which Force 4 have their own version of, with an RRP of £14 nett, which sells through their dealer for much more than that, but I then found on eBay for about 1.2 times £14. Like the OP, I don't want it to spoil things for me, but there seems to be something magical about the marine world, some force-field that keeps the normal rules and customs of commerce out, much to the boat-owner's detriment. Finally, why don't chandlers' staff treat customers like customers? I may be old-fashioned, but I want service, respectfully and knowledgeably delivered, not larking about and cluelessness.

 

[vas]

interesting thread with two clear trends emerging...

discussing the purchasing of goods (and not at all touching the "skilled" work part of the equation) you can either:

expect that the minimum wage, flexible, overworked and overstressed employee spends all his life in the depot and when not in there researching product specs and details from home. (in this case staff on chandlers and online shops is not much different to ppl working in other chain store be it Halfords or Currys or whatever)

accept that this is not happening, do the research yourself and go for a purchase knowing that 90% of the time you know more than the person serving you.

I'm following the second option and I'm always happy with what I buy (mainly online) and even enjoy small mishaps...

Doing most of the work myself, and as pete says, avoids the frustration of the labour management

cheers

V.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

What it comes down to is that the boating industry is a cottage industry with a large number of small suppliers rather than a small number of large suppliers which means that there are few economies of scale and therefore inefficiencies in stock recording, order processing and deliveries

What we need is for Amazon to move into the boating industry and then suppliers will live or die by their standards of service

 

[salar]

What it comes down to is that the boating industry is a cottage industry with a large number of small suppliers rather than a small number of large suppliers which means that there are few economies of scale and therefore inefficiencies in stock recording, order processing and deliveries

What we need is for Amazon to move into the boating industry and then suppliers will live or die by their standards of service

In my experience the service side of the industry is very much a cottage industry and responsiveness, desire for business and general organisation is mostly awful in my experience. However ordering on line for parts has been great and some of that is already Amazon. I have bought many marine items through Amazon suppliers and they have all been keen to provide great service because customers show their dissatisfaction very clearly if they don't. Other very good suppliers have been ASAP, Vetus, Force 4, Marinescene, Thomas Scott Marine (seating) and even some small eBay traders.