Headlining Disaster

Paw Paw said:
Cannot tell you how relieved I am and so pleased they have behaved honorably
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Well done and delighted for you. Also full marks to Spencer Marine and let's hope the fat lady sings and their cheque clears. Perhaps they subbed the work out and are incandescent themselves; be interesting to hear their side of the story as they might be able to sort their reputation out at the same time.

Happy Christmas :)
 
Paw Paw said:
I have to report that I received the following email from Spencer Marine who have done the right thing by us...
Dear Michael and Louise

Thank you for your email.

As you are not fully satisfied with some aspects of the headlining work we carried out for you, we will refund in full all monies paid to us for the entire job, amounting to £ 8,900.00.

Please advise bank account details for us to action this.

Bryan & Sandra

The money arrived in my account this afternoon.
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Brilliant news & good on em for realising that they were getting negative advertising from this.
 
sailorman said:
To be reasonable to this contractor is it best to have this thread removed
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I'm not sure that's wise until the payment has cleared. Also so many people know about this incident now that the best way forward for Spencer Marine is probably to proactively clear their name. I can't believe they are still in business, and booked out to boot, if this is their normal standard of work; and if there is a story for them to tell and if they sort out this mess, then this is the perfect place for them to tell it; IMHO of course.
 
sailorman said:
To be reasonable to this contractor is it best to have this thread removed
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There's nothing that's been written that's untrue and the contractor has been given the opportunity to put their side of the story. So I can't see why the thread should be removed.
 
I had the headlings replaced on my VERTUE 11 last year,very pleased with the result all seams sewn on site. Cleaned off all the old glue and rubbish sticking to the deckhead myself. In spite of the many comments would recommend.
 
Crickey of all the outcomes I expected this didn't even figure! Well done OP and surprisingly well done Spencer Marine.
 
That's what I thought. Good story on pirates and lightning strikes on the link page though. I say good, but I mean scary!
 
Paw Paw said:
[QMarieK;5084738]Indeed good to see they repaid in full.

Did you make them aware of the forum posts? Indeed good to see they repaid in full.

Did you make them aware of the forum posts?/QUOTE]

No I did not make them aware of the 'post's' or of my web site, I am grateful to the Forum as I suspect 'folks' from here did make them aware and certainly one member cancelled his contract with them for next year.

They have behaved honorably and refunded. For my part I have removed all reference from my site... Horrid business that has turned out correctly and I am grateful for all the support I received.
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Wow, impressed! Was the dosh transferred electronically? If so there are no chqs to clear as others are assuming
S
 
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dunmor said:
Just out of interest, what sort of money would you guys expect to pay for a job like that, if its done properly.
not taking into account taking a trip abroad.
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Possibly depends on the definition of "properly", how the boat is put together and whether you're talking about just the headlining task or the complete job: The impression I got was that the OP was commissioning the whole task. Properly properly would involve removal of most of the cabinet work and who knows what else: taking off my internal grab rails for example involved excavating the gelcoat on deck for the dozen or so bolt heads and re-gelcoating when I put them back. The deck has obviously needed re-painting as a result (not that, a year on, I've actually got round to that bit yet). Window frames obviously have to be removed. Old boats have a lot of old, stuck screws: I ended up drilling out at least a couple. You make compromises on the cabinetwork: Some stuff is hard to take apart and you may take a slightly less perfect result working round/inside it to save a lot of hassle. Anyway, a lot of work for a carpenter. It was a huge amount of work for an incompetent like me. For a 3rd party there would always be the risk of damaging things taking them apart which would need to be accounted for in a quote.

Materials are expensive: If the OP's boat has a high proportion of the hull/coachroof covered in foam that'd be well into 4 figures. If contractors are travelling then they'd presumably need to hire a compressor.

If an experienced independent contractor was doing just the headlining with no travel, assuming an 11m boat (OP's is a moody 36 CC?) my finger in the air would say no change out of £5k. Add in time for a carpenter to deal with the cabinetwork etc. if not approaching that DIY. If being done by employees or subcontractors of a VAT-registered company, add in a figure for risk/management overhead and a big wedge for VAT.

If done properly, the OP's £9k including international travel doesn't sound unreasonable to me in the grand scheme of things. It's nasty, unhealthy work that I for one wouldn't be wanting to do for minimum wage. What does anyone else think?
 
Man oh man what a mess. Well you certainly got ripped off big time.

You have all my deepest sympathy.

I just hope and pray you manage to screw theses mongrel basket weavers and just for the cost of the work, but also the cost of removal, repairs and restoration as well your time and effort and loss of access while the work is done again, by others at their expense. plus any legal fees.

I'm struggling to believe that anyone would leave a boat in that condition and expect any payment at all, let alone 9 grand.

This also raises another question, just how old was the lining you are replacing?

Living and sailing in the upper half of the waters off the Australian coast we don't see a lot of foam backed lining, it's more likely to be paints or flow coated, but more popular is a good layer of insulation to keep below deck areas cooler.

In your case I suspect I would be looking for a better alternative. I have seen many many reports of failed linings, perhaps due to moisure via condensation in the cooler climatic conditions.

If you have the head room, nothing works as well as insulation and battens covered in a thin layer or white laminate. Cooler, lots more light below deck and very easy to keep clean compared to any fabric. Lasts many long years with just a dab of new varnish on the timbers if you chose that finish, personally I prefer the timber made from recycled plastic, no maintenance, ever.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
 
oldsaltoz said:
Man oh man what a mess. Well you certainly got ripped off big time.

You have all my deepest sympathy.

I just hope and pray you manage to screw theses mongrel basket weavers and just for the cost of the work, but also the cost of removal, repairs and restoration as well your time and effort and loss of access while the work is done again, by others at their expense. plus any legal fees.

I'm struggling to believe that anyone would leave a boat in that condition and expect any payment at all, let alone 9 grand.

This also raises another question, just how old was the lining you are replacing?

Living and sailing in the upper half of the waters off the Australian coast we don't see a lot of foam backed lining, it's more likely to be paints or flow coated, but more popular is a good layer of insulation to keep below deck areas cooler.

In your case I suspect I would be looking for a better alternative. I have seen many many reports of failed linings, perhaps due to moisure via condensation in the cooler climatic conditions.

If you have the head room, nothing works as well as insulation and battens covered in a thin layer or white laminate. Cooler, lots more light below deck and very easy to keep clean compared to any fabric. Lasts many long years with just a dab of new varnish on the timbers if you chose that finish, personally I prefer the timber made from recycled plastic, no maintenance, ever.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
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Read # 71 :)
 
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