bedouin
Well-known member
No you don't get it - the scam is the fact we have paid more than £200 pounds to date (none of that a refundable deposit) for about £5 worth of electricity.
Do you really think that is reasonable?
Mdl Marina metered lead - scam?
- Thread starter DangerousPirate
- Start date
Do you really think that is reasonable?
Tranona
Well-known member
If you were aware of the charges in advance, then you have made a conscious decision to pay the charges. It is not a scam as I would define it - that is a charge you did not expect. It is just very expensive electricity. The point is that wherever you go in a marina you will pay charges like that - it may be included in the annual fee (which I do think is unreasonable unless you have the choice to opt out) or billed periodically. For low volume users like you it is high cost electricity and maybe lousy value, but for others who are high volume users the fixed costs are less relevant. The issue of a metered cable is completely different - not a method I would choose but the marina has to have some way of measuring individual usage and some have power boxes that have built in meters, some have card readers and some have smart systems that are able to monitor individual usage centrally. So for the OP he has a choice - buy his own meter for £165 or have one from the marina for a returnable deposit of £125 - hardly a scam!
It is no different in principle from domestic power where there is a periodic fixed charge and a per unit consumed charge. So a low volume user has a bill where the fixed charge is a larger proportion of the total and their total per unit cost is higher than a larger volume user.
I pay somewhat similar fixed charge in my member's club - £25 a year and use maybe £2-3 worth of electricity a year, but I choose to do this whereas many members do not. That was the deal when the club members agreed to install power to every berth.
Somebody has to pay for the capital cost of installing the power supply and maintaining the system, whether it be a members club or a commercial operator, which can only be the people who use it. This is obvious when the law forbids the operator from making any profit on the sale of electricity.
As I said - no such thing as a free lunch.
So to my mind it is you that does not get it - the economic reality of supplying electricity to boats on marina berths.
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KompetentKrew
Well-known member
I managed to get a meter lead secondhand within about 2 days of arriving at a marina that needed one.
I posted on the classifieds here, Facebook marketplace and all the boat bits for sale groups on Facebook.
I think I paid about £40.
I posted on the classifieds here, Facebook marketplace and all the boat bits for sale groups on Facebook.
I think I paid about £40.
Alex_Blackwood
Well-known member
Bristolfashion
Well-known member
Haslar in Gosport have a web based solution. Sign up, put a tenner on and switch on your electricity in the app. Add more credit as required.No one can nick your power, no admin charge and, if you set up your stuff correctly, you can switch on kettle & heater from bed in the morning using your phone.
At the end of the stay, they refund the money.
Beats carrying a £160 meter around.
At the end of the stay, they refund the money.
Beats carrying a £160 meter around.
Tranona
Well-known member
That is for visitors though is it not? Most of the issues here are for permanent berth holders.
Laysula
Well-known member
If I were you I would sue.................................The person who told you that the electric is free.
Bristolfashion
Well-known member
I think everyone uses the same system - we weren't visitors.
Tranona
Well-known member
Then I expect the "admin" charge is included in your annual berth charges irrespective of whether you use shorepower or not. As you can see in earlier posts this is not the case in all marinas where some operators only levy charges on those using power.