Marina visitor space

[LadyInBed]

Re: anchoring

There was a thread a month or two back - IOW anchorages - which suggested a few. The only one I have used in that neck of the woods is Yarmouth, just on the shoreward side of the visitors buoys. But agree, children and wives for that matter, like the convenience of a pontoon. Though it's not necessarily safer, I've seen children left to play on pontoons, often without lifejackets on.

 

[jwatson]

Firstly, thank you for your comments Neil. Direct customer feedback is always helpful.
I have, for some time, been investigating the feasibility of introducing an incentive for berth holders along the lines you suggest.
So far, research tells me that;
a) berth holders like the flexibility to come and go as they please. Some do not like to be tied to specific dates in advance and they do not welcome the chore of telling the office every time they plan to leave.
b)berth holders would welcome any initiative that would increase visitor berthing availability, being able to pre-book this availability and would welcome a reward for use of marina berths in their absence.
We have looked at a variety of schemes and have not yet found a formula that satisfies the majority of customers or the associated admin burden. However, we are not giving up and as soon as we identify the best solution will go public to our berth holders.
Best wishes,
John Watson
MDL

 

[terryw]

John,
We nearly went to Brighton, part of Premier Group, before deciding to berth at Ocean Village (a decision we were glad we made). Premier do however give berth holders a percentage of all visitor fees in their berth.
This weekend I believe visitors were being turned away by Saturday lunchtime, but a great many berths were empty all weekend (as is the case most weekends).
The admin part is easy. You keep the records, and apply the discount/rebate at time of renewal, all based on that old fashioned concept of honesty and trust. Your incentive? Make 50-75% of something rather than 100% of nothing, and get rave reviews from visitors because they can always get in to an MDL Marina.

 

[Guest]

Re: Credit Cards

I agree with that one,,,, credit card details over the VHF airwaves,,I think not!

 

[brian_neale]

I have a berth at Ocean Village which I have not used so far this year, being "between boats". I paid for it because the new boat is due very shortly, it meant that I could retain a pontoon that suited me, and given the monthly rate alternative it was no more expensive to do this. However, I know that my berth has been used in my absence, and I went down to OVM on Saturday just to warn them that I expect to be back. I would have willingly told the staff that I was not planning to use the berth for that time, with the deal that MDL refunded part of any visitors' fees to me. I suspect that mine is a relatively unusual case, but for the popular summer months, I would have thought that the berths would tend to empty at the same time as visitor numbers rose. I would be much more cooperative if there were something in it for me!

(unsolicited customer feedback)

 

[jwatson]

Terry
Points well made. Thank you, John