Moonfleet Sailing - Cruise from Hell

[Sailfree]

A few things strike me about this thread.

1. Carol's initial post implied she had high expectations that many on here , quite correctly, consider unreasonable but it is resonable to forgive Carol for her inexperience.

2. Moonfleet, once alerted responded quite well.

3. A few descrepancies between Carol's report & Moonfleets response are irreconcilable - one or other is wrong.

4. I am surprised at Carol not responding to a number of points.

5. I am also surprised that a number of previous Moonfleet customers (IIRC the was one) have not come on here to support either Moonfleet or Carol. Is Moonfleet a new school?

All businesses have their sucesses and failures but this one appears to live in a vacuum from lack of previous customer comments.

If this is an advertising troll to benefit Moonfleet its quite clever!

 

[Giblets]

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but it is resonable to forgive Carol for her inexperience.

[/ QUOTE ]

In her second post Carol quite clearly stated that "I have sailed before and been around boats for some years." so I don't think that the inexperience card can be played here.

 

[tom52]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
but it is resonable to forgive Carol for her inexperience.

[/ QUOTE ]

In her second post Carol quite clearly stated that "I have sailed before and been around boats for some years." so I don't think that the inexperience card can be played here.

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That could mean anything, perhaps, one day sail in a dinghy and and I have lived near a marina for two years
or I have competed in the Vendee Challenge and was a deck officer in the merchant navy.

Based upon the impression created by the first post I was guess the former is closer to the truth /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

 

[benjenbav]

I can't believe that there's 222 posts on this subject....make that 223!

 

[SirSnoozalot]

How many?

 

[jonjo]

Re: summing up

Carol I am surprised you are not prepared to address what are significant factual discrepancies between the cruise accounts. I was initially sympathetic because in my book members of leisure marine industry are guilty until proven to be proficient and capable. However so far all you have done is given Moonfleet free advertising to a largely sympathetic audience.

Moonfleet state that bottled water was available and so was fresh veg and fruit. Maybe a bag of mixed lettuce is a debatable element of fresh veg supplies but did you really not see an apple or a bottle of water the whole week?

Summing up…

This dispute mainly comes down to interpretations and expectations:

Moonfleet think that sending out a belated change to the joining instruction via phone or email was good enough. I believe Carol in that a member of the new crew went to bed hungry and I feel that Moonfleet should have made some food available onboard.

Moonfleet states that the skipper arrived on time! This claim annoys me and it says a lot about attitudes at the business. Given that the yacht club was not a suitable meeting venue then the skipper should have been around 1 hour before in order greet people arriving early possibly after travelling a long distance.

The onboard food provided by Moonfleet sounds reasonable to me and I know of worse fare provided by Solent sea schools. Carol was expecting much more in this department but as she is new to yachting she probably does not understand that the bulk of the holiday fee pays for a bunk on an expensive to operate boat.

People have criticized Carol for not invoking a complaint procedure while onboard, this is daft. A competent crew trainee feels wholly dependant on the skipper for safety and training. How do you complain to this fellow who is also your galley mate for the cruise? A sea school should not create conditions where people feel like complaining.

Moonfleet criticized Carol and Gary’s attitude onboard, yet we hear Gary cooked a complete meal for all one night. I would have thought this would have earned many brownie points with a pro skipper unless he was scrabbling around for ammunition to throw at his customers. Plainly by the time C & G went for a meal alone in Cherbourg grievances about the food and training had been growing. Walking off the boat at the end of the cruise was effective customer feedback and better than a stand-up argument.

I think Carol would not have posted her complaint had the skipper’s demeanour being better and the tuition recognisable. Having read through the RYA syllabus before Gary was probably expecting to receive direct tuition but Noel has stated here that competent crew training is mainly a process of continual experience. Hah! Now there’s a phrase wide open to abuse! Does the phrase come direct from the RYA?

All in all I think Moonfleet offers a safe value for money cruising experience with typical sea school food. Getting across the Channel with an inexperienced crew in recent UK weather is no mean achievement. After 10 years of operation we should assume Moonfleet is highly proficient at providing the essentials of this service.

The most telling thing I have read in this thread is from a pro skipper who describes the owners as not the most extrovert of people. For a skippered charter to work out well the skipper needs to be a charismatic individual who can play holiday camp redcoat once minute and sergeant major the next. This is the secret of SunSail's success.

 

[curve]

Re: summing up

[ QUOTE ]

Moonfleet states that the skipper arrived on time! This claim annoys me and it says a lot about attitudes at the business. Given that the yacht club was not a suitable meeting venue then the skipper should have been around 1 hour before in order greet people arriving early possibly after travelling a long distance.


[/ QUOTE ]

Personally I would really dislike the idea of meeting up in the yacht club. If I am going somewhere new for the first time then I would like to know exactly where I had to be and at what time. I wouldn't like the idea of having to try and find the skipper in the yacht club.

 

[tom52]

Re: summing up

Its a scruffy pub called the Yacht Club.

 

[alant]

Re: summing up

The most telling thing I have read in this thread is from a pro skipper who describes the owners as not the most extrovert of people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please don't be too selective in your use of extracts.
What I actually stated was "The owners Noel & Christine, were never the most extrovert of operators, but ran a fairly tight operation.

The emphasis should be "but ran a fairly tight operation".

They also followed up any complaints promptly, so cannot understand why Carol hasn't contacted them.

"to work out well the skipper needs to be a charismatic individual who can play holiday camp redcoat once minute and sergeant major the next."

Exactly! Plus inherently flawless good looks like mine! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Tranona]

Re: summing up

Hi Jonjo

I can see you are trying to be helpful, but most of this is your imagination - how can you draw these conclusions when you were not there?

Just one example of fact. Moonfleet website is very clear that meals are not provided on joining night. They suggest you can eat in Cobbs Quay. It is not a Yacht Club in the normal sense, but a bar and eatery such as you will find in almost any marina and perfectly adequate, but not open on the night in question, and Carol and Gary were advised in advance. If they needed food, there are more eateries in a 10 minute drive from Cobbs Quay than you can shake a stick at catering for every taste and pocket. There is no reason why any crew member should have gone to bed hungry other than by choice.

If you bothered to go into Cobbs Quay you will know that the Moonfleet office is about 10 yards from the building housing the bar/restaurant. As you walk from the car park to the bar entrance, look slightly to the right and there is a big sign saying Moonfleet Sailing which is the meeting point. I was in Cobbs Quay this afternoon - don't go that end of the marina often but drove up the car park to make sure my memory was correct.

You also claim that she was "new to yachting" - actually this is the exact opposite of what she said, claiming that she had been around boats for some time.

As you might conclude from my earlier posts this event is the proverbial "storm in a teacup", and really not worth the effort that you and many other well meaning people have invested in trying to see "both sides of the story".

Finally, customers are not always right. In many cases they are wrong. The art of dealing with them is to make them think they are right, even when they are wrong, but sometimes this is impossible for even the most attentive of provider.

I hope this is the last post in this sorry affair!

 

[Loginname]

Re: summing up

[ QUOTE ]
I hope this is the last post in this sorry affair!

[/ QUOTE ]

Your hopes have been dashed, but you are correct. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[m00nfleet]

I have just returned from a succeccful 5 day course with 5 satisfied customers so I am trying to catch up on this saga.

Carol stated that she had done a comptetent crew course some years ago and nothing else and couldn't remember much.

Noel
Moonfleet

 

[m00nfleet]

Re: summing up

I am afraid it may continue as I am hoping the other clients to post there views on the cruise backing up what I have stated.

 

[m00nfleet]

Carol does not have evidence that the cruise joining time is at 8pm as her joining instructions give 8.30pm (also see our website), also an evening meal has never been provided on the joining night, clients are advised on their joing instructions it can be purchased in the yacht club however on this occassion they were advised by email that the kitchen was closed due to a private function.

 

[m00nfleet]

For the record, there was no hint of a complaint or suspicion that anything was wrong from Carol and Gary during the cruise, no mention that bread was mouldy as she states, every one else was quite happy with the food. There was no complaint received by Moonfleet after the cruise either verbal or written, it was thanks to a forum member that we heard of this problem. If any problem had been brought to my notice at the time then steps could have been taken to rectify it.

 

[m00nfleet]

Lack of Tuition- Gary was on a 7 day cruise and had requested to obtain a competent crew qualifcation during the cruise. The course is normally over 5 days with up to 5 students therefore as he was the only student he had more than adequate time to assimilate the information. He was being taught from the moment he joined the cruise, Carol's comment about asking when he was starting the course was out of order, she obviusly thinks she knows more about teaching RYA courses than a Yachtmaster Instructor, I took the time to go through the syllabus with Gary from his log book to ensure he was happy about everything and to answer any questions he had. I have mentioned this previously.

 

[m00nfleet]

Moonfleet does have the evidence, although being new to forum's we are not sure how we post it, therefore if anyone would like the email regarding no food available on joining night sent to Carol or a copy of the joining instructions re joining time of 8.30pm then please feel to email us and we will gladly forward you a copy.

 

[m00nfleet]

Re: summing up

Whilst on board at the time a suggestion is the best and quickest way of preventing a slight problem becoming a complaint, if the skipper is unaware that one exists then it cannot be rectified.

The yacht club was available for drink, only the kitchen was closed, are adults not capable of going in to a bar without there hands being held, if they chose to arrive early after travelling all of 9 miles then that is their choice.

 

[m00nfleet]

Point taken about the email, we will take this on board and ensure we have confirmation in future. Positive feedback is very helpfull

Thankyou
Noel

 

[m00nfleet]

Re: summing up

The so called scruffy pub called the yacht club has now been fully re-furbished and is called The Boat House, visit it some time you may like it.