Quote for work

I paid the boatyard a visit today, they are so busy which is great to see. I'm in no hurry and I mentioned this to the boss.
They are very short staffed as well at the moment. I can wait a year and book the work for 2023. I want this yard because of the quality of workmanship. They have gone the extra mile for me in the past and I will stay loyal to them
 
PaulRainbow said:
Pretty much since Covid broke out the marine industry (amongst many others) has had a hard time, with one thing and another, add Brexit to the mix for good measure, oh, let's not forget the fire in the chip factory that's caused a Worldwide shortage of certain chips.

During the first lockdown a lot of people put pre-booked boat work on hold, as they didn't know when they would be able to use their boats again, that was a mistake. Other owners decided the fact they couldn't use their boats as a good time to have work done, so we were still very busy. At the end of the lockdown, all of those with jobs on hold came back, asking the work to be done, all at the same time, along with all of the other work that had been booked in, in the meantime. We were even busier, impossibly busier.

All of the boats that were sitting around for sale got sold, as foreign holidays were impossible. The new owners wanted the new (to them) boats bringing up to scratch, having faults fixed, upgrades doing etc. We were even busier, impossibly busier, lot's of jobs being turned down.

We've been hit with shortages of most things, with waiting lists months long for others. We order equipment and get a delivery date and book the work in, the delivery date changes, we have to re-arrange everything, over and over in some cases.

Normally, we tick over at a nice steady pace in the Summer and are flat out during Winter. Last Summer was busy, all of the time, Winter even busier. This Summer has been worse, all the more chaotic because of the shortages. I've worked all week, then add a Saturday, or a Sunday, add in working all day, getting home and spending until 8 or 9 o clock doing paperwork, invoices, estimates, quotes. If we all worked 9 till 5 this Winter, there would be a lot of boats not sailing next season.

There are just about enough people in the marine industry to manage on a normal year, just about. Barely any new people taking up some of the trades. With the abnormal workload we are all working more hours, trying to keep up, not always succeeding, despite best efforts. You can't just call the job centre or the local gangmaster up and ask for a marine electrician, a rigger, a GRP specialist etc, they are all employed already.

The vast majority of people i deal with are reasonable and understand the current situation, many of them are in business themselves and are also having a hard time of it.
Click to expand...
Yes Paul everyone is aware of the pressure some businesses are under due to the variety of issues you’ve highlighted. I just wish for at least an courtesy acknowledgement for a request for work that I’ve asked for even if its “sorry we are very busy and will get back to you”.
 
Caladh said:
Yes Paul everyone is aware of the pressure some businesses are under due to the variety of issues you’ve highlighted. I just wish for at least an courtesy acknowledgement for a request for work that I’ve asked for even if its “sorry we are very busy and will get back to you”.
Click to expand...

Yes, i agree you should get some form of acknowledgment. I'm usually pretty good at that, but i confess i have lost track of the odd enquiry, so if i were you i'd give the rigger a gentle prod.
 
Caladh said:
Yes Paul everyone is aware of the pressure some businesses are under due to the variety of issues you’ve highlighted. I just wish for at least an courtesy acknowledgement for a request for work that I’ve asked for even if its “sorry we are very busy and will get back to you”.
Click to expand...
And they should not waste people's time by pretending interest in work they know they will not be able to undertake.
 
Poignard said:
And they should not waste people's time by pretending interest in work they know they will not be able to undertake.
Click to expand...

As they have not replied to the initial query they cannot possibly have pretended they were interested.

Perhaps they didn't get the inquiry, perhaps they've overlooked it, perhaps they did reply and caladh didn't get it, who knows, you certainly don't.

Perhaps they are too busy to take the work on, in which case they should have said so, who knows, neither of us, for sure.
 
I have been buying goods and services for over 40 years. Every transaction I went into which went eventually wrong began with a supplier who messed around at the outset.

Sometimes this was a tactic to gauge how desperate I was to buy from them, or to buy time during which they were aware that my choices of other suppliers was reduced, or sometimes it was just that they were too busy but wanted to keep me sweet either because they did not want to offend me or because they liked to have spare customers keeping demand and prices high.

Either way I now give someone either one second chance or no second chance at all, and no surprise things are less stressful and less things go wrong...
 
PaulRainbow said:
And i'm sure the contractors in your area are equally pleased you do your own repairs.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I don't much care what pleases them. I would be happy to pay people to do things for me, as I do with my car and house repairs, but there I have found people I can rely on. I have not been so fortunate with most of the contractors I have come across in the yachting world.
 
Poignard said:
I'm just grateful that I am able to carry out pretty much all my boat needs in the way of repairs without having to employ people. Long may it remain so! ?
Click to expand...
Me too, nothing could be worse than a boat that you can't sail alone or a house car or boat that could become unusable unless you can get an outside expert....
 
PaulRainbow said:
Pretty much since Covid broke out the marine industry (amongst many others) has had a hard time, with one thing and another, add Brexit to the mix for good measure, oh, let's not forget the fire in the chip factory that's caused a Worldwide shortage of certain chips.

During the first lockdown a lot of people put pre-booked boat work on hold, as they didn't know when they would be able to use their boats again, that was a mistake. Other owners decided the fact they couldn't use their boats as a good time to have work done, so we were still very busy. At the end of the lockdown, all of those with jobs on hold came back, asking the work to be done, all at the same time, along with all of the other work that had been booked in, in the meantime. We were even busier, impossibly busier.

All of the boats that were sitting around for sale got sold, as foreign holidays were impossible. The new owners wanted the new (to them) boats bringing up to scratch, having faults fixed, upgrades doing etc. We were even busier, impossibly busier, lot's of jobs being turned down.

We've been hit with shortages of most things, with waiting lists months long for others. We order equipment and get a delivery date and book the work in, the delivery date changes, we have to re-arrange everything, over and over in some cases.

Normally, we tick over at a nice steady pace in the Summer and are flat out during Winter. Last Summer was busy, all of the time, Winter even busier. This Summer has been worse, all the more chaotic because of the shortages. I've worked all week, then add a Saturday, or a Sunday, add in working all day, getting home and spending until 8 or 9 o clock doing paperwork, invoices, estimates, quotes. If we all worked 9 till 5 this Winter, there would be a lot of boats not sailing next season.

There are just about enough people in the marine industry to manage on a normal year, just about. Barely any new people taking up some of the trades. With the abnormal workload we are all working more hours, trying to keep up, not always succeeding, despite best efforts. You can't just call the job centre or the local gangmaster up and ask for a marine electrician, a rigger, a GRP specialist etc, they are all employed already.

The vast majority of people i deal with are reasonable and understand the current situation, many of them are in business themselves and are also having a hard time of it.
Click to expand...

Ditto. Plus dealing with the summer heat & humidity here in Spain.

Pretty much every phone call starts with me asking ' Is it urgent? Is the boat on fire or is it sinking?

This year has been crazy, absolutely non stop.
I have learned to say no more often, if only fir the sake of my health.
 
starfire said:
Ditto. Plus dealing with the summer heat & humidity here in Spain.

Pretty much every phone call starts with me asking ' Is it urgent? Is the boat on fire or is it sinking?

This year has been crazy, absolutely non stop.
I have learned to say no more often, if only fir the sake of my health.
Click to expand...
Good time to put your prices up! ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top