Seago liferaft

[Gin]

It would seem from enquiries already made that this brand of liferaft, unlike others, is only serviceable by Seago themselves (others won't touch it- rather than can't is the impression).

Plenty will act as intermediaries but this equates to the high cost of returning the valise by post/ and return direct by the owner.

All in all a cost of well over 50% of the new price of £400+ of only four years ago.

BUT is this information correct and is there any other service station which has a pick-up and return nationwide or even better a service depot in Kent who will handle Seago?

 

[sailorman]

Re: Seago life raft

the one i had was taken to Suffolk Sailing for service they stated that only Cosalt service the Seago /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif.
they serviced my (At leased ) 20 yr old BFA no prob raft as good as new /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

the Seago 4 man was much much heaver than the BFA 6 man /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[knewboater]

After a lot of correspondence to various people over a longish period of time I found out that, to keep the manufacturers guarantee on your liferaft only the manufacturers agent can service your liferaft, if you have it serviced by anyone else then the guarantee is void. Which of course means that should your liferaft fail in anyway after having it serviced by someone other than an agent of the manufacturers your guarantee is void.
Now jokers will say if it fails at sea then no one will know, but if it fails at service time then the cost is yours not the manufacturers.

 

[snowleopard]

I'd back that up. I had my raft 'inspected' in the Canaries. All they needed to do was open the canister and confirm the sealed inner bag was still airtight. Instead they did a full service (badly), charged a fortune then had the nerve to tell me 'by the way, your warranty is now void'.

 

[bobgoode]

Mayday marine in Portsmouth. PO3 5NU
023 92 662990
About 160 squids

Lets face it, given the cost of a Seago, you are covered for the first 4 years and after that are likely to be more concerned with Will it work? rather than is this covered by warranty? It the repair cost are too great junk it and get a brand bew one. Having had a very expensive XM several years ago there are real issues getting anything fixed under the warranty.

eg, did you store it correctly?
Did you register with the head office in Germany and get acknowledgement?

 

[Anwen]

I had my Seago serviced by Cosalt - a few of us bought at the same time, and 4 years later organised servicing as a batch job. One of us dropped them off at Cosalt in Portishead, and I collected. The costs were very reasonable (less than 150GBP) and it only took a week. Cosalt replaced the standard painter with a longer one, which apparently is standard practice at first service.

I'm interested in the warranty or guarantee angle. When exactly will you claim -after it has failed to inflate and you are about to drown?

 

[knewboater]

Yes agreed but the one I had was £1,200 and at the second service(6 years) it failed and the cost was horrific, especially as the guarantee was void because I had it serviced by a well known agent at the first service, who was not the manufacturers agent.

 

[bobgoode]

I may be wrong but I recal something about manufacturers not being able to ditch a warranty claim because servicing was not carried out by an "authorised dealer" provided the documantary evidence showed that a service had been carried out to the manufacturers specification.!!!

 

[FWB]

Isn't a warranty on a Liferaft in the same category as a warranty on a parachute /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[knewboater]

If you can find evidence of the non ditching of guarantees then I would be very interested to hear from anybody. With motor vehicles e.g. BMW etc. apparently owners can do exactly what you suggest (take the vehicle to any garage that can do the work as laid down by the manufacturers, EU authority I believe.

 

[misterg]

I spoke to Seago about this at SIBS this year:

They said that they had picked up on the point about servicing their liferafts being a bit of a lottery, and had subsequently agreed standard charges with various agents around the UK. I'm pretty sure Cosalt on the Wirral were my nearest agent. Ours is due this winter, but I heven't done anything about it yet. Worth giving Seago a ring to see who the recommended agent near you is.

Andy

 

[FullCircle]

[ QUOTE ]
I spoke to Seago about this at SIBS this year



[/ QUOTE ]
Me too, I had a pop at the MD becuase of their attitude to servicing agents. I asked what they would do if I wanted it serviced when I got to the Carib? A dawning look, followed by a promise to get moving on it.
I believe they have had cross words with a few sevicing centres including the 2 that I have used for the last 20 years.

 

[benjenbav]

[ QUOTE ]
With motor vehicles e.g. BMW etc. apparently owners can do exactly what you suggest (take the vehicle to any garage that can do the work as laid down by the manufacturers, EU authority I believe.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is (or used to be) a different issue with BMW etc which was that the price you could sell the car for was less if you didn't have full BMW service history.

Probably doesn't work quite the same way now: if selling a big, old, juicy seven series then I expect you can have all the stamps in the book and still find it's not worth too much.

 

[boatmike]

Relax. The original problem was that Seago would not licence any cowboy outfit and insisted that either they themselves or companies that had passed their training course could service them. Cosalt used to be the only one but are expensive. In fact I pointed this out to Seago last year and they beat up Cosalt to reduce their price. There are now several others licenced including the guy in Portsmouth who I understand to be very good (see earlier post)
I take this to be good news not bad as there are horror stories about some outfits doing a poor job. I researched all liferafts on the market when I bought mine which is a top of the range self righting Seago and I think they are excellent value and they are not made from cheap PVC like some...

 

[Gin]

Thanks, to everyone's input- and to correct any misunderstanding I'm totally relaxed.

The essence of the problem is one of high expense to service this item if one doesn't live close to the manufacturer.

There seems to be some hope that something may change sometime, but it would seem not anytime soon.

Thanks again for your thoughts everone

 

[sailorman]

have a thought for the poor geezer who has one on "For Sale" forum /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Gin]

You appear to have vested interest so I shall say nowt!

 

[DAKA]

I had my seago serviced earlier in the year.
Cost £100, they even rang me when it was inflated so I could call and see it, I got 15 mins instruction including how to right it, I was given some first aid packs from bigger commercial stuff and a certificate.
Three separate service agents were happy to quote

Cosalt was one but they were expensive.
One was local to me.
The other one was also £100 but I had to arrange city link courier service.

I dont have details with me but if anyone wants the tel no please send me a pm and I will hunt the details out.

I recommend not leaving it too long, batter were zinc chloride.
these were replaced with long life procel batteries during the standard service.

 

[DAKA]

Anyone in Lincolshire or Yorkshire I recommend

Grimsby Inflatables std 01472 tel 241270 cost circa £100

Others can post via City Link (only ones to take the weight) to

http://www.norwestmarine.co.uk/liferaftservice.htm

Service £60 + parts (flares, batteries, seasick pills) + £30 carriage +vat

I calculated at £140 ish, not a write off and the same cost as any other make !

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Thanks for that Daka.... v handy!