tcm
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er, since they were mentioned, i thought i shd put the record straight and this post is also somewhere else. Golden arrow rebuilt our engine, then we went over the channel, and then the engine had a fault and is now needing remedial work in France.
But i am not spitting blood at them : this is just one fault on just one engine and not at all yet clear that an outright mistake by them was the cause of the current fault: so far i am only sure that a p-bracket wasn't refitted by them on one of the pipes, but that broken pipe was fixed cheaply in roscoff.
The current fault may be caused by may be that another pipe had a pre-existing fault, but this is not at all certain at this stage. In any event, the fuel system is the problem, and that is a Bosch item (not MAN) that has to be sent away by GA to Bosch and the faults are nearer that fuel system than the engine itself.
All companies which hires out engineers or other skilled people, you get some diamonds, and some not-so sparkly peeps as well. Every comapny has this, whether it's accounting, lawyeers, computers, or boatfixing. I certainly know that golden arrow have some very very good engineers able to install complex systems (eg our mather electromech controls) which work fine and installed beautifully and cleverly.
They rebuilt the engine as well, and that works (mostly) fine -cept for this issue and was ok at seatrial - or at least as good as before it broke. Yep, they *might* have been in a position to diagnose the source of the fault, but that process is not easy, and again, it may not be related to previous problem - the fault may be new.
Separately, with regard to the recent acquaition of Golden arrow by another company, it is not generally the case that companies that get bought out are basket cases - buyers are looking for decent outfits with specific skills, client base and good staff. I would say that golden arrow fits this very well and don't really have a problem with them. It is frustrating, maddening if things aren't perfect - for me AND for them too - i think they wd have been dead chuffed if the boat had gone straight to antibes with no probs at all.
Golden Arrow's good attitude is also shown by their response to my call on monday that there was a big diesel leak - offered tech assistance by phone and said "send us the invoices" - i can't complain at that. Then also gave us direct contact at MAN uk - and all this from a brit company about an italian-made visitng boat based and sold in France. I'd use them again.
But i am not spitting blood at them : this is just one fault on just one engine and not at all yet clear that an outright mistake by them was the cause of the current fault: so far i am only sure that a p-bracket wasn't refitted by them on one of the pipes, but that broken pipe was fixed cheaply in roscoff.
The current fault may be caused by may be that another pipe had a pre-existing fault, but this is not at all certain at this stage. In any event, the fuel system is the problem, and that is a Bosch item (not MAN) that has to be sent away by GA to Bosch and the faults are nearer that fuel system than the engine itself.
All companies which hires out engineers or other skilled people, you get some diamonds, and some not-so sparkly peeps as well. Every comapny has this, whether it's accounting, lawyeers, computers, or boatfixing. I certainly know that golden arrow have some very very good engineers able to install complex systems (eg our mather electromech controls) which work fine and installed beautifully and cleverly.
They rebuilt the engine as well, and that works (mostly) fine -cept for this issue and was ok at seatrial - or at least as good as before it broke. Yep, they *might* have been in a position to diagnose the source of the fault, but that process is not easy, and again, it may not be related to previous problem - the fault may be new.
Separately, with regard to the recent acquaition of Golden arrow by another company, it is not generally the case that companies that get bought out are basket cases - buyers are looking for decent outfits with specific skills, client base and good staff. I would say that golden arrow fits this very well and don't really have a problem with them. It is frustrating, maddening if things aren't perfect - for me AND for them too - i think they wd have been dead chuffed if the boat had gone straight to antibes with no probs at all.
Golden Arrow's good attitude is also shown by their response to my call on monday that there was a big diesel leak - offered tech assistance by phone and said "send us the invoices" - i can't complain at that. Then also gave us direct contact at MAN uk - and all this from a brit company about an italian-made visitng boat based and sold in France. I'd use them again.
