Marina visitor rate policy

[shan]

If the policy did indeed result in nobody using the marina it would be changed. Naive to think that marinas (or any other business) would deliberately set a pricing policy that deterred users.

It has already deterred at least one user. Snow flakes can become avalanches.

 

[JumbleDuck]

If the policy did indeed result in nobody using the marina it would be changed. Naive to think that marinas (or any other business) would deliberately set a pricing policy that deterred users.

That is simply not true. If a marina has 100 berths available and there are 200 potential customers, then to maximise revenue it will, at the very least, raise prices to a level which deters 100 customers. It will probably raise them even higher, because 80 visitor berths filled at £30 per night brings in more money than 100 berths filled at £20 per night.

It's naive to think marinas (or any other business) would deliberately set a pricing policy that simply attracted users

 

[Tranona]

It has already deterred at least one user. Snow flakes can become avalanches.

Has not deterred users. Just because one person is sore after finding out the policy after the event does not indicate that the policy systematically deters users. How many people actually get into the same situation as the OP? Not a normal pattern. People either want single nights, or make use of the incentives for extra nights, or they commit for long term rate.

There is nothing unusual about having the policy this marina has. Daily rate and monthly rate are two different classes of customer and only rarely do they overlap.

Storm in a tea cup!

 

[shan]

Really? How many people do you know that won't return? How many people won't use it as a result of reading this thread or from 'word of mouth'? I certainly wouldn't use it and I'm sure you will argue that they won't miss my custom but perhaps in 5 years or 10 years, they will miss people like me and he OP. They have definitely lost repeat business from the OP and I'm not even willing to give them a chance. Short sighted on their part especially as a large part of on going business is about good will.

 

[Resolution]

Really? How many people do you know that won't return? How many people won't use it as a result of reading this thread or from 'word of mouth'? I certainly wouldn't use it and I'm sure you will argue that they won't miss my custom but perhaps in 5 years or 10 years, they will miss people like me and he OP. They have definitely lost repeat business from the OP and I'm not even willing to give them a chance. Short sighted on their part especially as a large part of on going business is about good will.

I think you will find that the management of the Yacht Haven group have many years of successfully running marinas around the UK. Seems like they know how to balance pricing structures and berth holders demands over the long term.
Haven't seen any snow flakes at PYH though......

 

[JumbleDuck]

Daily rate and monthly rate are two different classes of customer and only rarely do they overlap.

Have you any evidence to support that assertion?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I must admit that I'd expect a monthly rate to be for periods of 1 month or over, not simply for whole numbers of months.

 

[steveeasy]

Nothing to do with greed. Simple economics. The marina has something the boater wants and sets out the terms. You would do exactly the same thing if you owned the marina.

Sorry no not everyone would. while this strategy goes on at other places and indeed other business, such as plant hire etc, it is not normal and I believe a minority. its flawed in that the difference in additional income gained is lost in future business. I appreciate the marina business type has limited competition especially in terms of short term berthing. I could apply the same strategy to my business that in essence is similar to the marina business model. However I would never consider making a short term gain at the expense of lost goodwill.

What seams to be clear now is the OP actually was unaware the fee would double until he went to extend his stay. Why was he unaware, was he not listening, did he not read the small print, or was it he simply was not told until they decided to levy and 100% increase in fees per day.

Steveeasy

 

[Pavalijo]

It seems that some forumites are fair and take time to read and understand their berthing contract T&Cs, whilst others are concerned with screwing what they can out of the marina.

It all depends on your point of view.

And which contract was that? I was presented with an invoice. You make it sound like a major negotiated transaction. I guess if I couldn't afford this game I would scrutinise every detail - I just felt that fair play should be a part of every day life and life is too short to call in the lawyers every time you book into a marina.

 

[Resolution]

And which contract was that? I was presented with an invoice. You make it sound like a major negotiated transaction. I guess if I couldn't afford this game I would scrutinise every detail - I just felt that fair play should be a part of every day life and life is too short to call in the lawyers every time you book into a marina.

At a guess when you were choosing which marina to use for this trip, you would have gone online to research details of facilities and costs? The web page I have just looked at had a schedule of visitors' rates, daily, weekly and monthly, and a Booking Form (or a number to call). That's them making an offer to you to rent a berth, when you complete the Booking Form or make the phone call to reserve a berth, that's you accepting their offer. That's the contract, clear and simple.
I will accept that the visitor Booking Form does not have any attached T&Cs, which it certainly should have. This does open up some grounds for discussion as to whether you were extending your original ( monthly) contract by a couple of days, or whether that had expired and you were commencing a new (daily) contract. My limited knowledge of the law would suggest the latter, maybe some legal expert will come on and say yea or nay. If they are interested.
Lessons that you should be learning from this are that passage planning and boat schedules are made to be destroyed by the weather, so you need to build in flexibility. When booking in, ask the marina the "what if", and negotiate terms at the start. Or have an alternative place to move to.

 

[stranded]

At a guess when you were choosing which marina to use for this trip, you would have gone online to research details of facilities and costs? The web page I have just looked at had a schedule of visitors' rates, daily, weekly and monthly, and a Booking Form (or a number to call). That's them making an offer to you to rent a berth, when you complete the Booking Form or make the phone call to reserve a berth, that's you accepting their offer. That's the contract, clear and simple.
I will accept that the visitor Booking Form does not have any attached T&Cs, which it certainly should have. This does open up some grounds for discussion as to whether you were extending your original ( monthly) contract by a couple of days, or whether that had expired and you were commencing a new (daily) contract. My limited knowledge of the law would suggest the latter, maybe some legal expert will come on and say yea or nay. If they are interested.
Lessons that you should be learning from this are that passage planning and boat schedules are made to be destroyed by the weather, so you need to build in flexibility. When booking in, ask the marina the "what if", and negotiate terms at the start. Or have an alternative place to move to.

Pedantry alert!

Arcane legal question for no better reason than to update my knowledge from my ONC Business Studies nearly 40 years ago:

I thought their ad was an invitation to treat. It is the customer who makes the offer based implicitly on the published information unless some other offer is made, and it is when the marina accepts the offer that the contract is made?

 

[Pavalijo]

Lessons that you should be learning from this are that passage planning and boat schedules are made to be destroyed by the weather, so you need to build in flexibility. When booking in, ask the marina the "what if", and negotiate terms at the start. Or have an alternative place to move to.

I can't see post numbers on my phone but if you look at an earlier post I did say when booking in that we would be leaving as soon after the firework competition as weather allowed - and that we would work out and pay the additional charge then. That took me two days over the month at least - but they didn't mention then that we would go to the same rate as though we had just arrived.

I have stated that they did not contravene the stated terms of business in their website. And I have also stated that my lesson learned is to discuss this before booking in in future.

The purpose of the OP was to find out if this is standard practice, as to me it is sharp practice but as a relative newcomer I didn't know if that view was justified.

It seems that others share my view, that some don't and that marinas vary in their charging of run on rates (from my experience and that of others).

Contract law is of no interest to me in respect of this issue as I know enough to have said the marina did nothing wrong - legally.

And having run a business myself I know enough to say that where you rely on repeat business and know that you benefit from word of mouth recommendation to some degree then this type of practice is not good for business.

I don't think there is much else to say, but clearly this subject of marina charges is of great interest to we boaters, given the level of activity on this thread!

I am now in Salcombe on a mooring ball. I know that I get two free days for every 5 that I stay. That seems clear to me!

 

[Resolution]

Pavalijo
Very fairly summed up. I hope you enjoy Salcombe, which can be great fun, and the sailing on the rest of your trip.

 

[Uricanejack]

Right or wrong. If I am unhappy with the service I get as a customer. I go elsewhere next time. If I am happy I often return.
My expectations might have been different from the OP.
Communication seams to be the problem. He thought and expected one thing. The marina thought another. End result the marina lost a future customer.
In life or business. You can't please everyone all the time. Ce La Vie.

 

[Pavalijo]

My expectations might have been different from the OP.
Communication seams to be the problem. He thought and expected one thing. The marina thought another. End result the marina lost a future customer.
In life or business. You can't please everyone all the time. Ce La Vie.

And in future my expectations will be different - and my interrogation of an offer will not assume fair mindedness (ie my personal view of fair mindedness!).

 

[dom]

UK businesses are increasingly happy to sell identical goods at very different prices. It pays to haggle and the kids to it all the time: mainstreet shops, restaurants, whatever. Last week my son went into a City shoe shop and found two pairs he liked both reduced from £165 to £130. He offered £200 for both, the assistant countered that he'd do it for £220, son said "£200 is fill or kill". Deal was done.

Marinas are no different and folk are increasingly being offered bespoke deals as the economy begins to slow. It pays to ask!