PITA new owners

Robin said:
WE use our cellphones in preference to landlines for everything and they have loud notifiers for text receipts. pure curiosity I know but it is difficult to ignore and not take a peek to see 'what now FFS'.
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I sympathize with this. I find unwanted texts hugely intrusive. Especially when you're in a different timezone to the sender. Perhaps ask the new owners to email rather than text you? As I understand from previous posts you're British. You might have flown back to U-rope on any given evening. Not having annoying interruptions but instead being able to address an email as and when you have time, you might find yourself a lot less irritated by the questions.
 
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mjcoon said:
In which case texts will cost to receive and no doubt to reply to too. At least emails are not paid for per item...

Mike.
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We are in the same town as the boat and the new owners text usually from there or at home, also same time zone. USA cell charges mean you pay for incoming and outgoing calls normally but we have unlimited talk text and data contracts fortunately. my phone notifier says ' This is your phone calling, you have a new text message' plus a subsequent musical tone, all very loudly.
 
If you have an iPhone you can set a do not disturb period for all day and it will let or notify calls and texts from family.
 
I can't imagine having my life ruled by incoming text messages. RTFM and put it on "silent". Then attend to them when it suits you. Simple.
 
NormanB said:
If you have an iPhone you can set a do not disturb period for all day and it will let or notify calls and texts from family.
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+1
My Motorola Android phone allows me to set 'quiet' periods and also unique ring tones for specific callers whose calls are not inhibited by the quiet periods. All calls and texts are logged and can be dealt with at my leisure.

You obviously convinced the buyers that you had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the boat - my seller was a great guy who went to great lengths to correct any faults before handover but it was obvious to me that he would not be useful as an ongoing resource. I've never contacted him since purchase.

Your situation is similar to that of a colleague of mine who, rightfully, gained a reputation amongst our customers for being a 'guru' on a critical piece of kit. Eventually he twigged that his managers were concerned about his job performance - he was spending too much time obliging customers who found it easier to phone him than look up their notes (they had all been thoroughly trained and were more than adequately skilled). Once he 'mentally archived' his knowledge, his working day improved significantly and the customer techies did what they were paid to do!

I hope you resolve the situation soon
Bob
 
phone on silent or turned off is unhelpful as we live in a country with multiple time zones and west coast family members 3 hours behind so frequently call or text in what is mid to late evening for us. I can allocate different ring tones by contact name but not for incoming texts. I forgot one day to turn my phone back on after a hospital appointment (phones not allowed) and chummy simply texted SWMBO instead. Setting a silent period woul be difficult too as chummy not surprisingly is listed as a contact so his name appears on caller ID.

I think I just need to hasten our return to the UK and obviously get new phone numbers allocated or the calls will be in the middle of the night local time UK.
 
PS to previous information. One of many books given away after sale was Nigel Calder's Boatowners mechanical and electrical manual, latest edition. Plus 'Marine diesel engines' . Also given was a memory stick with many things including a pdf version of the 1'2volt BIble and Peggy Hall's excellent book on marine loos and systems..
 
Robin said:
phone on silent or turned off is unhelpful as we live in a country with multiple time zones and west coast family members 3 hours behind so frequently call or text in what is mid to late evening for us. I can allocate different ring tones by contact name but not for incoming texts. I forgot one day to turn my phone back on after a hospital appointment (phones not allowed) and chummy simply texted SWMBO instead. Setting a silent period woul be difficult too as chummy not surprisingly is listed as a contact so his name appears on caller ID.

I think I just need to hasten our return to the UK and obviously get new phone numbers allocated or the calls will be in the middle of the night local time UK.
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Stop complaining,
You couldn't had done a good job at explaining how things work if the guy keeps calling you .
 
Bow42 said:
Stop complaining,
You couldn't had done a good job at explaining how things work if the guy keeps calling you .
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If you sell someone a car you don't expect to have to show them how to drive it or where the dipstick is. The OP has sold a boat, not a training course teaching the new owners all about it. As suggested time to put your phone on silent or simply bar the number.
 
Robin said:
phone on silent or turned off is unhelpful as we live in a country with multiple time zones and west coast family members 3 hours behind so frequently call or text in what is mid to late evening for us. I can allocate different ring tones by contact name but not for incoming texts. I forgot one day to turn my phone back on after a hospital appointment (phones not allowed) and chummy simply texted SWMBO instead. Setting a silent period woul be difficult too as chummy not surprisingly is listed as a contact so his name appears on caller ID..
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Rather than putting your phone on silent and losing family calls, put a block on the number of the new boat owner. This will then mean you don't get disturbed by them.
Perhaps leave email open for a while, but if that continues flag as a junk mail sender and that will stop also.
 
Concerto said:
You have been too available, so you have made it too easy to "Lets ask Robin"...
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+1
Would anyone expect such a comprehensive, 24/7 service after buying even a new boat?

Robin, I'd urge you to make it clear that:
1. you won't respond to text messages, only e-mails;
2. if the answer to future queries can be found in documentation the buyers already possess, you will refer them to that and no more;
3. State what you already clearly recognise: that in their present state of knowledge they are a liability to themselves and others (you might be more diplomatic) and should seriously consider undertaking training in basic boat systems. Since you clearly fear for their well-being, surely this is both reasonable and prudent? Arguably it's even incumbent on you to do so?
4. given that this is the good old litigious USA, explicitly state that you accept no responsibility for their well-being due to any actions they might take on-board. It is their responsibility to ensure the vessel is seaworthy and to operate it in a seamanlike way. No-one buys a car (or even a light aircraft) and expects training on how to operate it to be part of the package.

However pleasant the buyers might be, they're living in cuckoo land.
 
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dunedin said:
Rather than putting your phone on silent and losing family calls, put a block on the number of the new boat owner. This will then mean you don't get disturbed by them.
Perhaps leave email open for a while, but if that continues flag as a junk mail sender and that will stop also.
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Last night was quiet thankfully, but might be related to my phone freezing up and refusing to reboot until the battery was removed and replaced, but that might be only a temporary cure. Looks like I may need a new phone the phone company say (exising galaxy Note 2 is ancient) so maybe time to upgrade and change number too despite the admin hassle of notifying all and sundry of my contacts minus the 1.
 
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macd said:
Robin,
a further thought. Why not tell the owners that, due to other pressing commitments, you've subcontracted their after-sales service to these experts in all things boatie: http://www.ybw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?13-Practical-Boat-Owner-s-Reader-to-Reader&
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:biggrin-new::biggrin-new::biggrin-new::biggrin-new:

I must stop letting it get to me. yesterday I even considered changing a password to RTF1DUM80 but decided against. as it might make a good number plate.
 
Robin said:
Last night was quiet thankfully, but might be related to my phone freezing up and refusing to reboot until the battery was removed and replaced, but that might be only a temporary cure. Looks like I may need a new phone the phone company say (exising galaxy Note 2 is ancient) so maybe time to upgrade and change number too despite the admin hassle of notifying all and sundry of my contacts minus the 1.
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I don't understand why you would change your number, inconveniencing yourself and your friends/family, rather than simply blocking one or two unwanted numbers. But it is your choice
 
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