Problems with boat services people

[Portofino]

Sorry to here this ,but can see it .

U tube For DIY

Or franchised dealer .

In the SoF I had similar fix it probs - in the end last 2 y I instructed Sunsseker .Fr @ € 75 + tax / hour .+ parts =
Perfect service .( oh they are English too )

 

[martinriches]

You may have been a bit unlucky.I have found most things that I have needed done on my boats I could do myself .I just took my time, a bit of trial and error sometimes.There is a lot of help/information on this forum plus the internet in general. On the occasions I have needed a professional I have had a good experience.If you keep your boat in a marina I would say ask around and find out who other boaters use and would recommend.
If you take on the job yourself you will learn a lot and know that it has been done well plus saving money.

Martin

 

[jfm]

Ref EBY, aka boats.co.uk, last week, Wednesday evening 8pm I emailed Nick Barke @ boats.co.uk asking for help with a glitch on the boat. I only needed the supply of a part. Within 10mins I had an "I'm on it" reply. The part I needed was in my hands in the office at 11am Friday in time for my flight to the boat, with a copy of an email from the manufacturer to Nick explaining some "how to's", and an extra tin of stuff to help out that I didn't even ask for. The dedication of the EBY/BCU team to helping out quickly, and their strong personal relationships with the supply chain so they can get fast treatment, are pretty unbeatable imho. But finadamentally they're a sales firm with strong back up, not a pure service firm per se, so not 100% relevant here

I agree with Martin that sometimes a quick post on here can throw light on a boat glitch too. Like, if you want to know about batteries then there is way more info on here in the last month than any supplier or website seems able to tell you . When you multiply that by the 100+ other areas of deep knowledge among the many posters on here you can get right to a solution very fast (both my 10 volters have come back up nicely to 13.8 Anna, phew)

 

[rbcoomer]

Anna, you have had a start that sounds very similar to mine. I purchased our first boat/project in 2010 and despite being very mechanically minded, opted to have the outboard looked at by a local marine business whilst I looked at getting the hull and trailer serviceable (boat hadn't been used for a number of years). To cut a long story short, the first trip out resulted in a tow home because the outboard wasn't charging. Luckily I went out with a friend! The next two companies weren't much better and one told me that my ageing outboard was scrap as compressions were poor. I later did my own tests and whilst they weren't perfect, they were with 5 psi of each other and within 10psi of original specs! As I have almost always undertaken my own car mechanics, electronics, wiring, plumbing, building etc I made the decision there and then that I needed to learn how to do everything boat related myself. I probably went a bit over the top and acquired a rebuild project, but you don't really have to go that far! I'm really enjoying the learning process, but being a fellow geek I think that goes with the territory... It doesn't even mean you have to maintain yourself - just having that knowledge means you know when you are being told the truth or ripped off and you quickly get to know the cost of stuff. If a garage tells me the brake discs need changing, I can check myself and confirm - as I see it the boat is much the same and knowing how things work and what's involved to repair or replace means that not only do you have an idea how long a job takes, but when you discuss what you want done, they know you know!

I've found a good company locally now and having proved their integrity, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend and use for jobs I don't have time for or am unsure of. I also source many of the parts from them for the jobs I do myself. I also always turn up on time (or early) and do as much as I can to make their job easy. Also agree with the payment comments and either pay immediately or chase them up for the bill if they haven't done at the time of collection. DIY for me is as much a part of the hobby as it is a necessity, but surprisingly - and despite having a reputation for being expensive - I've found not only are their parts competitive with online sources, but their labour rates are reasonable too. They might be charging a hefty rate per hour, but their experience means they do faster than I can and hopefully with a lot less hassle! Perhaps I'm just more realistic having done myself?

I have got the impression that most marine companies are in the leisure sector for good reason however - as returning of calls and a sense of urgency do seem to be unusual

 

[A_8]

I don't think its worse in the boating industry compared to the car or home owner type services. Sometimes you find really good ones that will do all the right things (at great cost to themselves from time to time) but often you get the ones who just show up and don't care. The key is finding the right ones before you let them on your boat, car or house and you have to understand what needs to be done, what it takes and use that to challenge and qualify whoever before giving them your business. Networking and references are a big help as well. If they are a bit iffy and you don't have much choice then make sure you have leverage if something goes wrong so that you can pressure them to get it right or have the power to pull your money.

 

[rubberduck]

So could I , I was more than willing to do the work , replied to PM many times to be totally ignored.

What the hell are you talking about, I asked you to come to London (St Kats) to do some work, was more than prepared to pay a day's work, but you replied you don't work in London. I was a little miffed as I was under the impression you had done work in London, but now understand not that far in. Other than that the only dealings I have had with you is sending you some boat show tickets in exchange for a donation to RNLI (as far as I remember) If you have a problem go ahead & post pm's, I am not aware of any other than the above. I was referring to someone else in my post, that agreed to do work in a given month, which has now been & gone !!!

 

[Bbroomlea]

I have experienced exactly everything said by the OP. In fact most of the time the service and quality has been nothing more than disgusting.

I have only today paid an invoice for work I instructed to be completed 12 months ago and very nearly got into a nasty legal battle. It has very nearly ruined our boating season.

My saga started last December when we bought our current boat and I booked the boat in to have some service work done in February. It needed both outdrives servicing (anodes, bellows, oil) and a few other bits and bobs including new trim tab bellows. I also asked for a teak cockpit to be fitted and asked for Wattsons teak to be used.

Fast forward to April it was eventually on the hard standing and I was expecting all of this to be done. At the same time I asked for some additional work to be done on the batteries and add 3 new ones as we had two little babies on board over the summer (fridges needing to be ran all of the time, heating, lights etc.)

Boat was launched late April and no teak. Was fobbed off that Wattsons hadnt delivered and would soon be done. Within a few weeks port trim tab stopped working and the boat listed heavily to starboard. I checked the battery set up and they had fitted 3 new ones to the opposite side I specified and wanted 60kg of lead to balance it out. No offer to fix their mistake or supply free ballast. Many email exchanges later they offered to lift the boat and found the trim motor had water in it. Apparently nothing to do with their bellow change despite the fact the trim tabs worked all winter before they were changed.

Still chasing the teak in June and more lies I rang Wattsons myself - they knew of the order but had not started production as they were waiting payment from the boatyard. Fuming at this point I confronted them to be told more lies and excuses. Eventually the teak was laid in late August - 9 months after instructing the work.

In between all of this we arrived twice to find the boat not in her berth, not ideal with 3 month old twin in tow. One another occasion the boat was left with no batteries fitted at all. The work that should have been done on hard standing was done after launch and I wasnt made aware.

Invoices arrived and there were many mistakes with unaccounted labour costs for the servicing, battery installation was well over quotation as was the fitting and cost of the teak. Some more excuses and lies on what the labour was for direct from the MD this time. Truth was it could not be accounted for and eventually I got a credit to my account.

I cannot believe what we have gone through - the service has been truly shocking. Its made worse that only this particular boat yard can do the work in the marina where we are berthed. I do most things myself but limited to what I can do in the water and had not time this year to do anything else myself. No-one else is allowed to work on it without removing the boat from the site first so its a bit of a nuisance.

Despite this the Eberspacher packed up a few weeks ago and I got another yard to take the boat away and do a service and fix the issue. Sorted first time and at a very reasonable cost. They dont have lift facilities but they seem to think they can pull our boat out on one of their trailers so will be using them for everything in the future.

 

[Bbroomlea]

Ooops almost forgot - separate service provider this time. I put my hand through the front canopy screen in February whilst cleaning (was cold and it was a bit brittle near a stainless pole!). I asked for both front screens to be replaced by a local canvas/sail company which they duly did. By coincidence before settling the bill I stayed on the boat rather than in a hotel when I was away with work and noticed the screens were full of 1000s of scratches. I raised the issue as it looked older than the stuff that was there before. I was accused of causing the problem and threatened with all sorts. They did eventually replace the screens only for it to be no better. Some more calls and emails and an apology later they admitted a faulty batch of window perspex was to blame.

As others have said - its beggers belief how some of these firms stay in business.

 

[SLC]

I could post a copy of a pm right now, re some work I wanted done, but I wont.

So could I , I was more than willing to do the work , replied to PM many times to be totally ignored.

What the hell are you talking about, I asked you to come to London (St Kats) to do some work, was more than prepared to pay a day's work, but you replied you don't work in London. I was a little miffed as I was under the impression you had done work in London, but now understand not that far in. Other than that the only dealings I have had with you is sending you some boat show tickets in exchange for a donation to RNLI (as far as I remember) If you have a problem go ahead & post pm's, I am not aware of any other than the above. I was referring to someone else in my post, that agreed to do work in a given month, which has now been & gone !!!

That's the problem with vague, uninformative posts, they can easily be misunderstood.

 

[Winchy51]

Hello Anna I have been reading your post and the replies all the afternoon and would like to add my experiences i think that you are solent based ? I agree with everything that you have said some posters say do it yourself I am in my mid sixties and I find it difficult to get to the small places so decided to let the engineers look after my boat with exactly the same results you had i tried to become a regular customer of one 6 phone calls in one morning sat outside the workshop for 2 hours no one about right I will go to the main dealer WRONG the worst possible service and the highest rates per hour I had ever seen very poor workmanship. I had to have an exhaust manifold machined drove for an hour paid for it got it back to the boat IT HAD NEVER BEEN TOUCHED I could right a book about getting ripped of i like your comment about the big shiny boats of course main dealers choose them easy money. Yes and they do treat you as wet behind the ears I have been boating for well over 30 years I needed some help and got ripped of several times to the extent that I am considering selling up the people I have dealt with are not bothered because they no if you and I don't use them there are 20 more people to take our places I'm sure somewhere in the area there are some GOOD GUYS. I hope you find them and you can enjoy you boating again

 

[rubberduck]

That's the problem with vague, uninformative posts, they can easily be misunderstood.

If you knew the who, when & where, it would not be that Vague, the person I am having a dig at will know. I just don't appreciate being ignored, neither do I like paying storage charges, only to find I have to start over just before Christmas. However, I will not damage someone's business by naming etc. just because they have a poor memory, bad manners or just no idea how to run a business.

 

[volvopaul]

Ok

What the hell are you talking about, I asked you to come to London (St Kats) to do some work, was more than prepared to pay a day's work, but you replied you don't work in London. I was a little miffed as I was under the impression you had done work in London, but now understand not that far in. Other than that the only dealings I have had with you is sending you some boat show tickets in exchange for a donation to RNLI (as far as I remember) If you have a problem go ahead & post pm's, I am not aware of any other than the above. I was referring to someone else in my post, that agreed to do work in a given month, which has now been & gone !!!

This wasn't aimed at you RD, though it fitted your post, sorry for the confusion.

 

[volvopaul]

That's the problem with vague, uninformative posts, they can easily be misunderstood.

Sorted.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I suggest try staying loyal to a good provider and cut them some slack when needed. You might find they try a bit harder to keep you on the water.

Yup thats very true. We have led a somewhat nomadic boating life in the Med in the last few years and by far and away the biggest headache I have is finding reliable repair and maintenance companies in every new area we pitch up in. When I find somebody reliable, I try very hard to keep them onside often paying them upfront for work even if they don't ask for it. Sending Xmas gifts to any staff who have been particularly helpful usually pays dividends later on in the season!

 

[Nigelpickin]

I think that we must be pretty lucky in Falmouth...never had an issue with any marine artisan.l

Its important to tie service providers down on price, timing and requirement and if they drop the ball...move on to someone else.

It must be tough work dealing with the likes of us...we allwant our boats in and out of the water at the same time and most dont want anything looked at until theres a failure...

But I would say on the whole, we are very well catered for in the far west..
Honourable mentions:
Ancasta
AJ Marine
Royston @ FYB
Bob Orchard, (sparks)
Richard Overend

 

[superheat6k]

One of my greatest pleasures is the maintenance, even the tasks I moan about (like pulling the stbd shaft to renew cutlass beaerings). However, I am lucky in having the ability to do most of the tasks I am likely to encounter.

One thing not to overlook though is the rate of HAT (Hamble Added Tax) - this seems to affect everyone for quite a radius of our lovely River, and possibly rubs off on the attitude of some Marine craft purveyors.

 

[Winchy51]

Trevor A beautiful river indeed HAT yes it does affect a huge area and yes it has rubbed off on some marine craft purveyors as I said in my post if I and others don't use them there are 20 people ready to take our places so they are really not bothered about poor workmanship and hugely inflated prices

 

[rubberduck]

They are, as said, not all bad, but being on the east coast it is harder to find good ones. I have found Volspec to be good, also a guy called Rob Stockwell for grp & many other things as well. I take their recommendations for other stuff, but even they get let down from time to time. In my industry, if say Ryanair phone up in the middle of the night & tell us two of their planes have had a bump at Dublin airport & they need a new wing & some other bits, that's what they get, delivered by trailer at 2am in the morning !!!
We extend this service to all our customers, be it NHS, automotive etc etc etc. Perhaps this is why we are making money, & many in the boat industry are talking of recession still. Could be worse however, I have found recently a software company that we commissioned to write some software for a new product that make even the worst boat service companies look quite good, they are obviously everywhere.

 

[BoatShowAvenue]

That is really a shame! 6 months without sailing is a crime! Never hire them again! it's more expensive to hire professionals but in the long run it is cheaper.

 

[jrudge]

They are, as said, not all bad, but being on the east coast it is harder to find good ones. I have found Volspec to be good, also a guy called Rob Stockwell for grp & many other things as well. I take their recommendations for other stuff, but even they get let down from time to time. In my industry, if say Ryanair phone up in the middle of the night & tell us two of their planes have had a bump at Dublin airport & they need a new wing & some other bits, that's what they get, delivered by trailer at 2am in the morning !!!
We extend this service to all our customers, be it NHS, automotive etc etc etc. Perhaps this is why we are making money, & many in the boat industry are talking of recession still. Could be worse however, I have found recently a software company that we commissioned to write some software for a new product that make even the worst boat service companies look quite good, they are obviously everywhere.

Being in the software game ( we do our own stuff to create products - not commissioned work) we loose deals to customers commissioning their own work - which we don't mind as we know they will come back in about 12-18 months once they have spent more time and money than they ever imagined and spent time by the bucket load trying to spec what they want.

Good luck!