River Canal Rescue (RCR) - your thoughts.

[Deefor]

Our new Viking 20 arrives in early May and will need to be insured. I'm going to stay with N&G and it appears they have a deal with RCR http://www.navandgen.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E543CABF-10C6-4622-9064-DD394083AE7E/0/RCRBooklet.pdf.

Bearing in mind it's a brand new boat and on a trailer, should I take up N&G's discounted offer? RCR's "silver" option would suit me best but I'm thinking "what could go wrong" with a new boat .

So, does anyone have RCR cover and if so, have they used it and what was the service like?

Thanks guys .

ps. I might need someone to move our boat from Teddington to Oxford for free - any offers lol (yes, I'm joking if a certain poster reads this ).

 

[SimonA]

Never really seen the point myself. I have an old boat with a 35 year old inboard engine and have had two mechanical breakdowns in the 8 years I have owned the boat, one was a broken impeller and easily fixed and the other was the boat wouldn't start when I was in the marina, so easy to get the marina spanner monkey to look at it.

Out on the river it's easy enough to get help and probably far quicker than waiting to be rescued.

 

[oldgit]

Its mainly down to peace of of mind,if you really are not happy fiddling with your new toy and its £100 pounds or so to put your mind at rest then well worth the money.
Bearing in mind the worst that going to happen is a embarrasing drift to the bank followed by hoots of derision on here when you post your adventures, it just be worth keeping your cash in your pocket.

 

[sturmvogel190a]

We have it and have used once for a broken control cable [we rigged a bit of wood to the lever out of the back of gearbox that got us to a mooring having been stuck in reverse funny story fopr another time ] in the wild upper reaches miles from anywhere..the guy came with the part and sorted it the next day...we were tarvelling with a boat mechanic but without the part he is screwed .
Also used for overheating problem at our mooring there within an hour big thumb icon .

 

[jecuk]

But I view it as a free option. If I need them I could call and join over the phone paying their £55 penalty. Why join in advance unless you think you will need them every year?

 

[BrendanS]

The other extreme is that they won't be around to join if everyone took that view?

 

[jecuk]

The other extreme is that they won't be around to join if everyone took that view?

Of course. However I am comfortable looking after most things and with two engines should be able to get to a place of safety. There are some on here in recent threads who could have joined and made good use of their services though.

 

[TrueBlue]

But I view it as a free option. If I need them I could call and join over the phone paying their £55 penalty. Why join in advance unless you think you will need them every year?

It's not a penalty - the starter membership (paid in advance) gives you one call out.

The other extreme is that they won't be around to join if everyone took that view?

Absolutely - I called them ou last year - the first time ever that I cxouldn't fix the problem and they contactewd and put me in touch with one of their members.

Of course. However I am comfortable looking after most things and with two engines should be able to get to a place of safety. There are some on here in recent threads who could have joined and made good use of their services though.

Sadly the thread has been pulled giving the OP scope to come back later with some "major disaster".

 

[MFL]

Do not use River Canal Rescue

You should have nothing to do with River Canal Rescue.

My final complaint to them was this, before finding out that where they towed me to was pointless as they didn't have the facilities i required:


Dear Sir/Madam,

Over the last 7 weeks I have been in contact with various people connected with RCR. My problem was that my gears were obviously not engaging properly. Below is an account of my time dealing with RCR. It falls well short of the expectations created with the website’s claim that your ‘reputation for service and delivery is second to none, you can be assured that you will be in the safe hands no matter what the problem’. After each of my first series of phone calls to RCR, the person told me to “leave it with us.” I wonder what would have happened if I had:


16 july 1st callout
Engineer tried adjusting the linkages to get motion to no avail. I was told I would hear back in the coming days.
He agreed that it sounded as though the gears were not engaging.

In the coming days I made 3 phone calls to RCR, speaking to different people each time who told me 3 conflicting accounts of the status of my rescue, featuring 3 contrasting prognoses including confirmation that it could be repaired on site, the claim that it needed to come out of the water, and the suggestion that it was so unique that the manufacturer needed to be found.

20th July
Phone call from rcr saying that it may be possible to repair on site, asking for my approval for the engineer to come and have a try again, claiming “it wont hurt to try”. If this didn’t work I was told the nearest place to repair would be Limehouse.

23rd july

Engineer has no luck with the proposed new method and tells me I should try to get to within 2 hours of Limehouse if possible, for rcr to cover the tow. I was told rcr would be in touch with me to arrange the tow.

24-5th July

I tow the boat myself, like a horse, to Victoria Park, including ‘Hitch-hiking’ through both tunnels. Every boater in London meets me, climbing over their boat.

Between this point and the 1st August I called RCR on an almost daily basis seeking information. I was told a fascinating array of conflicting accounts of the progress of my “rescue”. Eventually I am told I need to send proof of servicing.

1st August.

I send a copy of the invoice

No response.

8th August
I call again and re-send the above.
The reply finally informs me that ‘X’ has been asked to call me to organize the repair.

No response.

10th August
I email Y ask for an update. She replies informing me that X has been off sick for 2 days and will then be available after the weekend.

No response.

13th August.
I email Y to ask for an update.
No response

15th August.
I call RCR to ask for an update. I get put through to Y who tells me that X is on holiday and will only be back Friday.

17th August.
X finally calls and tells me he is very busy. He states 3 times that he is working on his day off to help me. He asks if I have forward movement. I say no. He claims this is not true. I reassure him it is, hence my initial inquiry. He says I will hear back from RCR

18th August.

I receive a long message from Y finally explaining some terms and updates. She claims I may be liable for a tow cost of £200, in order to be towed back past where I had initially towed from. The email also included several possibilities of which only some were actually possible. I still struggle to infer which is which from reading this email.

In my reply I ask why I was told to move in the wrong direction and what compensation I would be offered for the neglect and poor service.

In her reply she offered 50% of a tow (less than was offered in the previous email). The email featured the phrase "we understood you to be on the move and mistakenly thought you were going to resolve yourself." She assured me that a tow could be arranged and they would “call ahead to book you in to the marina to have the outdrive removed for investigation”

I replied complaining that the length of the tow was down to the mistake of RCR and of my immense physical imposition and that the tow was the least I should ask for.

4 days later she replied saying I would hear from them shortly.

28th August 29

X calls explaining that another boat is being towed that way on Saturday and offers me the ride for the mere sum of £160. I say this is unacceptable for the obvious reasons. I was shocked by the audacity of charging me for a tow of their necessitating, when they were going that way anyway!
I later receive confirmation that I will not be charged.
I email to ask what happens after the tow.

X's rude and arrogant reply began with the lie “as previously explained” and then proceeded to contradict all previous correspondences and passed me the phone numbers for me to resolve the issue myself.

30th August

I email Y to ask if I need to call all parties, book ahead etc.
I also call, leave a message with RCR to ask for her to call me back.
No response.

X calls the following day, from which I infer my email was received, gloating that he had just spent “2 hours” on the phone trying to find a marina that would take me. This struck me as odd seeing as the tow was already booked. He implies that the tow will be the last I have to do with RCR.

So 7 weeks, 26 phone calls and 14 emails and I am told to resolve the issue myself. This seems to go wildly against the agreed terms when we entered this contract.

RCR only agreed to tow me because they were also towing another boat that direction anyway.

I am exhausted, angry, and my back hurts.

This morning Highline Yachting called me to complain about RCR having told them 3 different stories and asked me what should happen.

They said they will have a look today and if necessary remove the outdrive tomorrow.

All I ask is that, should that be the case, RCR deliver, arrange the repair for which I will pay, and return the outdrive as soon as possible.

Yours Faithfully,

...

I have not come across more incompetence or disdain for human beings than to be found within the ranks of River Canal Rescue.

They alleged that I had already been compensated through being shipped of to the wilderness and so refused to refund my membership.

In the end I got in the canal myself and removed the gearbox.

 

[CJL]

Why not go on a engine maintenance course? You can fix it yourself then!

Chris

 

[Phill]

I've heard nothing but good reports from users of RCR. Friend of ours Freeman wouldn't start because he'd flattened his batteries when he was at Medmenham. He called RCR who sent an engineer out with jump leads, jump battery and a multimeter to test the charge rate. He couldn't park very close so carried all his kit a fair way along the river bank.
I do wonder if some people don't maintain there boats properly and then rely on the rescue services to get them out of trouble.

 

[lynall]

[QUOTE
I do wonder if some people don't maintain there boats properly and then rely on the rescue services to get them out of trouble.[/QUOTE]

Thats how most people treat their cars, hence the reason for max number of call outs per annum.


Lynall