Dolphin Sails

[wilkinsonsails]

Get in their face - keep badgering/annoying them - they'll give you what you want just to get rid of you.

Worked for me more than once

You are right t,this technique does work.Trouble is next time the sails get more expensive or a longer delivery .
I'm quite sad to see this thread titled as is .Im sure if Mathew got the gist he would address the OP and deal with it,hopefully mutually acceptable suitable conclusion.
We all make mistakes,the important thing really is getting the customer satisfied at the end of the job.Sometimes this may not work ,due to a loss of confidance in the product.
The best scenario in this case would be for Dolphin too make amends by making another sail,correcting the faults and dealing with what appears to be a serious lack of communication, not too big a deal with their reputation at
stake.
I hope that the British Sailmaking industry takes note.There are not too many of us about and we certainly can't afford to be complacent in these current times.
Cindy

 

[snooks]

In response to Snooks, the problem isn't so much "what to ask for" but more of "getting what you asked for". Some people get good service from their sailmaker, whilst others don't it would seem.

I got excellent service from Crusader, but I thought that was because of where I work and what I do, being in the trade and all that. Then, thanks to some threads on the PBO forum, I found out they were like this to everyone. But as Guapa pointed out there are exceptions to every rule.

I trust Crusader to make sails that will power Pixie, will reef well and go through anything my wife and I are likely to go out in, and more.

They might not make me the fastest set of sails, but my boat isn't a racing boat. Very little was discussed about the details I wanted. Just that they were to be made from hydra net, and they would be made for extensive all year round cruising primarily for our cruise up to Scotland. The genoa was to have a foam luff, and both sails to have draft stripes and I wanted to be able to adjust the mainsail leech line from the mast. Paul, Andy and Roger know far more about sails than I do. To save time I measured Pixie, and with their measuring guide even a numpty like me could do it.

All of the stuff I asked for was standard on their hydra net sails, cos if you're going for Hydra net you either have more money than sense, or want a decent tough cruising sail.

I don't think there is any way of making sure you get good service, but a lot of it is being able to talk with the sailmaker and have confidence the you will get the sail you want, and are more than happy to pay for.

 

[Marmalade]

This is not the sort of thread I like reading when I'm about to order a new main and genoa. Some people seem to have good experience with a sailmaker whilst other have carp time with the same sailmaker.
Personally I don't rate Jeckells as they did a less than average job of a UV strip on my existing genoa yet I like the cruising chute I got from them. Bugger really as they are just down the road from me.
My current shortlist is
Kemp
Doyle
Arun
Westaway

Probably Doyle as they made my original very fast sails but could be swayed. My current Doyle sails have had a lot of use and are still very useable but are losing their edge a bit.

I now wait for someone to suck their teeth and say they wouldn't use them again!!

Difficult to know who to give your hard earned beer tickets to isn't it?

We bought a new main from Kemp at the London Boat Show this year in their Vectron cloth. V pleased with it - service OK too

 

[rudolph_hart]

Over the last 15 years, I've bought quite a lot of racing sails for my previous 3 boats, and a cruising chute & snuffer for the current boat - all from Dolphin. Matthew Vincent was prime contact each time, and every sail fited and performed perfectly first time, straight 'out of the box' (we got the pots to prove it).

When I came to buying new Hydranet main & foresail for current boat, Dolphin were among the fair few sailmakers who were asked for quotes.

Dolphin came 2nd, Crusader came 1st.

Full Circle's original tale of woe did affect my choice, as did Snooks' (and others') praise for Crusader, but the clincher was cost - Crusader were a country mile ahead on price, like-for-like.

They delivered on time, but they'd made a measuring mistake. As we had a strict deadline for launching, Paul Lees drove a round trip of 360 odd miles, to remeasure, say sorry & take the sail back to Poole. They altered it and it arrived back 3 days later, in time for launching.

IMHO, it's how quickly a supplier admits their problem and rectifies it that is a true test of their customer service.

 

[nickd]

+1 for Crusader
I screwed up on my Genoa bolt rope, Crusader changed it foc even though it my fault.

 

[Koeketiene]

IMHO, it's how quickly a supplier admits their problem and rectifies it that is a true test of their customer service.

Ideally, you never have to find out how good the customer service is - everything should work/fit right out of the box.
Very few seem to manage this.

 

[LouisBrowne]

I was very surprised to read these comments about Dolphin Sails. For several years in the 1990s I used Dolphin and always found them to be excellent quality and good value. The service provided by Matthew Vincent was excellent.

On one occasion a new main and no. 1 genoa were delivered on the day before the start of the Warsash Spring Series. On taking the genoa out of its bag I found that it had no hanks. I rang Matthew to remind him that I now had a plain forestay with no headfoil and he offered to meet me at a service station on the M25 that evening. I handed the sail over to him and he took it back to his loft and worked overnight fitting the hanks. We met at a lay by on the A3 at dawn the following morning and he handed back the finished sail ready to race.

 

[RogerMayne]

My Jeckells sails are very good quality but expensive. I have had excellent service at reasonable prices from Arun. "You get what you pay for" but sometimes what you pay for is not what you get. Poor service has has been received by OP and should be publiscised so that others may avoid suffering . Thanks for the post.