Service levels in the Marine Industry

Bought a Merry Fisher 925 from Walton Marine in 2007. First saw and had sea trails at Brighton Marina with a guy called Chris excellent service, bought the boat from there branch at Walton on Thames from Craig who spent 1 whole day on hand over and took care of any warranty issues promptly.
That was when the market was still good. Now with there profit margins down the one with the best customer service will shin
 
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Electronics chandlery who advertises themselves with a contact number clearly on their website, and no email address. Call them & an answer phone message says they are an internet based company please email! They advertise that they are happy to give advice, but when I asked if they knew if the transom bracket I have will be OK for the new transducer unit as it is just a newer & better Navman unit they didn't know. When I asked if they could measure the width of the unit they wouldn't respond.... I still ended up buying the bloody thing from them as they were the cheapest around. Now fitted and it was the same size so easy peasy...


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Sorry to pick on your post but it's the perfect example.

As long as people make their final decision based on cost rather than service, companies will only prosper if they base their business model on cost, rather than service.

Everyone is complaining about a situation that they actively encourage by voting with their wallet for cost over service.
 
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Sorry to pick on your post but it's the perfect example.

As long as people make their final decision based on cost rather than service, companies will only prosper if they base their business model on cost, rather than service.

Everyone is complaining about a situation that they actively encourage by voting with their wallet for cost over service.

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No, you are quite right to pick up on my post....

.... in all seriousness I do expect even the most competitive suppliers to offer good service which they certainly didn't, but the choice was so limited. I ended up buying from them after I had actually called three times to Navman-Marine, who were £30 more expensive, but the phone just rang and rang... nobody ever picked the thing up, (if they had answered and given me the info I am sure they would have know I would have happily spent more money on the same unit with them), hence in a fit of peak after trying them for the third time I just bought from the cheapest supplier online and hoped for the best.... is that the sort of service and ordering experience we should enjoy... of course it bloody isn't! But I needed the unit, what else could I do!? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I have now been in Conwy for just over 12 months, I have contacted 8 repair folk, everything from dinghy parts to upholstery, electrics, antifoul and engine servicing. Not forgetting the Webasco. It has all been a complete disaster.

They either turn up, four or five times and tell you they cant do what you want, dont turn up at all. Turn up, but tell you it's your fault they cant do it or blame some one else. Mostly no transaction takes place at all. In any event, little gets mended.

By contrassed nearly nothing goes wrong with my car. If it does, it gets mended the nexd day, and no it has no guaretees, just like the boat.
 
Yep, I've been there as well.
Actually the best service I've had was from a Danish supplier of a new Ryds.
Any problems we had were promptly sorted by them paying a local UK company to do the repairs.

I'd also say that Wessex Marine were excellent in finding our current boat and still provide good aftersales service.

Generally, however, your experience is typical. Mind you it is also typical of the Estate Agency business and the Building Trade.
 
Hmmm. It's a mixed bag. I can give a list of bad service/repairs/non repairs, as can many. Including the now defunct Peters plc

But there are some good firms out there and it's worth compiling a mental list and just sticking to them as much as you can. For small chandlery and stuff I'm impressed by aquafax.co.uk & sea-screw.com. flexicovers.co.uk have always been great for tonneaus etc. teak-decking.co.uk make lovely teak stuff. For bigger stuff Essexboatyards.com are outstandingly helpful and committed to customer service. Throw any problem at them and they will fix it. My new boat had a windscreen leak just after it arrived in France. I reported this on a Monday. That friday, a crate of parts arrived at the boat. The next Monday 9am 2 guys arrived from UK by plane to fix the leak. On the next Wednesday 2 guys from Fairline factory arrived by plane to fix the cabin trim that had some water damage, and while waiting for their plane home they fixed my neighbour's Targa 52 jammed sliding roof.

There is some good service out there.
 
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