Gillingham Marina :-(

[ikga33]

Hi all,

Just to be clear and to stop me being sued, the following is my own opinion and may not, in the eyes of the law, been totally correct and all that other rubbish we have to state before we make an opinion nowadays. Now, onto my main rant...

A word of warning to anyone in the Medway area... keep away from Gillingham Marina!! They break the terms of their contracts but then expect the boater to pay for it, shout at you in their office and then are extremely rude on the phone, holding back your money for weeks and make you feel like you're asking for something unreasonable when you want your money back! Hardly the professional marina they portray themselves as!

You have been warned.......!!!

Ikga

 

[mainshiptom]

Tell us more detail?

I have used them many times and found them very professional?


Tom

 

[volvopaul]

Huh been hearing about them too, mate of mine broke down and asked to be lifted there they charged hundreds for a 4 hour lift and hold while they 2 engineers tried to find the fault, they then had to get the local vp dealer in to sort it.

 

[Eeyore]

My 'home' port!

Never had any major probs there.

 

[Emjaytoo]

We kept our first boat there and found the only problem was the dilapidated toilet block adjacent to our pontoon. That said the new one over the otherside of the marina was very smart. The staff were always very friendly and helpfull. Would certainly go back there, in preference to Chatham Maritime.

 

[lenseman]

[ QUOTE ]
Huh been hearing about them too, mate of mine broke down and asked to be lifted there they charged hundreds for a 4 hour lift and hold while they 2 engineers tried to find the fault, they then had to get the local vp dealer in to sort it.

[/ QUOTE ]
A lift which lasted 4 hours PLUS two engineers working for a similar length of time would certainly come to "hundreds"? Where is the problem? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[volvopaul]

The problem was they hadnt got a clue what was going off, they didnt even know how to actuate the volvo edc station to turn the ignition on to engage the drive motor so that the other engineer could look at the leg cable to see if it engaged gear or not, while this was going off the owner was telling them heed already checked that.

Volpec came and 5 mins later they had found the sheared drive shaft.

 

[PCUK]

No "engineer" can be expected to know everything about every engine. Particularly the foibles of a particular make. Most have a good overall knowledge and look up any oddball items. Volvo aren't the only engine manufacturers!!!
Berthed at Gillingham from 1989 to 2002 and loved every minute. No-one shouted at me, but then I was always friendly and polite!

 

[Dave99]

Please give more details of the occurance, it think it's necessary if you want people to take your post seriously.

Lift outs are expensive - the reason for this is mainly the fact that the travel hoists are very expensive!

 

[pheran]

[ QUOTE ]
Lift outs are expensive - the reason for this is mainly the fact that the travel hoists are very expensive!


[/ QUOTE ] Maybe. But I bet there aren't many around that still owe their owners money. I had to pay nearly £90 to have my 43 footer lifted, held and relaunched here in Holland! Discraceful/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[oldgit]

they charged me a reasonable £100 to launch my tub from a low loader a few years back including a tow with their little launch outside into the river.

 

[ikga33]

Sorry for the delay in response, had problems with my laptop!

Well they sent through the cheque for my refund of moorings and didn't deduct the £50 charge they tried to make me pay. Basically I went into the Marina in December 2007 and put my boat on the brokerage as I couldn't afford it any more. I told them at the time that I couldn't afford insurance and they turned a blind eye (I'm sure the BMI would be well impressed...!). So they took my money for 6 months and didn't say a word.

Then, when the mooring came up for renewal, they sent me the berthing agreement to fill out for the next 6 months. I did it and sent them it back with payment on time, again with no insurance as I couldn't afford it and as it had not been a problem for the last 6 months didn't see any reason why it would be now... They weren't happy!! They told me if I didn't get insurance straight away I would have to move the boat, even when I explained that I could get insurance but it'd take a few weeks as I had no money. That wasn't enough, and so, well, I had no choice, and found a new mooring.

When I went back to get my refund they told me they would be charging me £50 cancellation of agreement fee. I explained very nicely that I hadn't cancelled the agreement myself and they had been happy to accept it for the last 6 months. Their response was 'that was an oversight and now we need insurance'. I explained that this was an oversight on their part (although they were fully aware) and they were in absolutely no position to charge me the fee as it wasn't my fault they had told me to leave after 6 months of taking my money, it was their mistake.

After a huge row in their office in front of other customers the brokerage manager said 'Just give him his money' to the receptionist. The receptionist said 'I'll speak to a director and he'll make the decision', overriding the manager! He again said I'd get my money, and as I left the receptionist shouted out 'MY GOD!', very unprofessional. So I returned and said 'and shouting MY GOD at your customers as they leave is extremely unprofessional'. They didn't agree.

So all in all I think, ok, they had a right to ask me to leave. But to try and take a fee for their own mistake which had lasted 6 months when they knew I had no money anyway was, I think, totally unacceptable.

I'd never go back to Gillingham again, especially when the letter I received enclosing the cheque took almost 2 weeks to arrive and was very short and sharp. When I called them to chase it up previously and asked very politely, the receptionist was rude and blunt back. It is such a shame that such a nice marina is run by unprofessional, arrogant people who are very money orientated and portray themselves as professionals, but all they are really interested in is the size of the company accounts.

Stay away from Gillingham, unless you have more money than sense!!

And one more point... they're luckly I haven't tried to sue them for falling over countless times on their jetties as when they are wet, they are like ice rinks.

Oh, and virtually telling your customers off at the entry gate because they keep coming and going (to go and get parts from outside the marina) is to me disgraceful, as I am (was) paying their wages!

Rant over!!!!

Ikga