MDL shore power rip off ???

[ianainge]

i have just received a letter from MDL Mercury Yacht Harbour saying that my shore power lead is unmetered and therefore cannot be used, and i have a choice of buying one from them , hiring one or staying as i am and paying £48.00 per month. i may be out of touch with electrics but isnt the meter in the box on the pontoon not the lead, this sounds like a scam to get more money out of the berth holders.

 

[BarryH]

Ooohh no no!. Put your own meter in between the out let and your boat, but make sure it runs backwards. Then they owe you money for the leccy you use. If you use enuff you could get the mooring for nowt!

Are you sure they're not saying its not the type approved for shore power. I had this a while ago on a caravan site. Made up my own lead, but it was white not orange. If its not that, ask'em what on earth their on about.

OK, to hell with it. Unbolt it and we'll use it as an anchor!

 

[hlb]

No. In most marinas you buy/steel/borrow a metre and stick it on your lead. Now I have a household type metre on my boat. The marina forgot about it for four years. Then sent me a bill for £450. No letter, explanation or anything. Just the bill!

<font color=red> No one can force me to come here-----------
----- I'm a Volunteer! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Haydn

 

[BarryH]

So when you've put as many halfcrowns in it as possible, who comes to empty it!

OK, to hell with it. Unbolt it and we'll use it as an anchor!

 

[BarryD]

They do the same thing at Chichester, £30 deposit on a diode lead - that is the meter. I'd assume it's to stop your neighbour plugging his shorepower into your socket and running up your bill!

I don't think each box is a meter (too complicated and loads to go wrong) you just deliver sufficient juice down the whole pontoon and work out who picks up what from their leads.

So you unscrew this, and put it safely here, then oopps...
All - IMHO, BTW, FWIW and NWGOI

 

[MART1N]

They're the same at Ocean Village except that annual berthholders can get a metered lead, but not monthly/day people. Otherwise, you are stuck on the daily tariffs.

When I moved there from Premier I pointed out that I had only been paying £x per month on a proper metered connection (i.e. not on the lead) instead of their arbitary £xx per month. Their only advice was that I should leave as much running all the time, all week etc. to get my moneys worth. I was going to point out that this was not particularly environmentally friendly...... but could tell I was wasting my time!

 

[ChrisP]

Brighton uses a humpin jumpin computerised system. own pin numbers, disconnects when you pull the plug out' the lot. monthly billing too.
My bill about £1 per week with the fridge etc (not the imersion heater) left on all week.

ChrisP ;o))))

What do you mean the sea gull in front's walking !!!

 

[Canboria]

The Metered leads at MDL Chatham are as follows:

To buy 16AMP £165, 32AMP £176

To hire lead £120 deposit

Rental 16AMP £2.50 per week

Rental 32 AMP £3.00 per week

And the best yet, electricity charged at 11 per unit, long term uses, excludes VAT

Short term unmetered, 16AMP £2.50 per day, 32AMP £3.50 per day
Deposit £30.00

A licence to print money ?

Anyone know if you can buy these leads elsewhere cheaper, tried the Net drew a blank.

Derek

 

[nicho]

This has always been their way of measuring the amount of electricity used. The good news is I understand there's a new EC Directive that states marinas are no longer able to add any mark up to electricity charges. i.e. you pay for it cost. What happens to the payment/rent for the metred leads though is unclear. Do they now have to supply these leads FOC?

 

[Guest]

I think it has long been the case that it is an offence to re-sell electricity at a higher rate, but there is a new EU Directive reinforcing the point. Be aware that marinas may be paying a higher commercial tariff for electricity than you pay at home. I sense however that even more in future they will insist on renting or selling you a lead as the means of making a profit on the supply. I wouldn't use their stuff: If you install a generator carefully then, certainly on moderate or larger sized boats, it can be virtually totally silent both externally and internally. You can stand 6 feet from my generator exhaust and not hear it running! Good generator plus good inverter = perfectly adequate electrical supply without paying rip-off rates or risking electrolytic / galvanic corrosion through shore line connection.

 

[nicho]

I had a new (Fischer Panda) genny fitted to my last boat, and it was indeed whisper quiet inside and out. The pontoon electricity supply was so unreliable, it was a boon on dark cold winters nights when the shorepower failed (SWMBO insists on her electric blanket you see!) Saved me from having to snuggle up to keep her warm - that would never do.....

 

[Guest]

You can buy a metered short lead from any good domestic electrical outlet like City electrical factors, for a few pounds, or I have an mdl metered lead cheap if you want to pay the carriage we used it when we moored at Hythe, which reminds me that after selling the boat they still kept sending us bills for a standing charge???? when we had left 2 months prior to that, they said we would still have to pay as we had paid an annual mooring, so we did not!.

paul js.