Woolverstone Marina - unethical behavior or to be expected?

[trailer_dave]

I will stop now, as this is becoming one if these daft forum arguments where people don't read what's written and jump to conclusions. For the avoidance of doubt:
1. Setting up a marina costs, so to use it I would expect to pay.
2. I paid to use the slip, £30, no quibbles
3. Partly due to staff I ended up being stuck
4. Staff knew I was going to Shotley.
5. They also knew I was going to hook up and go
6. The suggestion was made to leave it.
7. The proper analogy with a restaurant would be if they said- no worries, leave the boat, and we can launch for you tomorrow. That would have cost them and so would be obviously chargeable
8. If it had stretched to months I wouldn't have written here.

Can I be clearer? Still, as the view is that I'm naive in accepting at face value a casual "just leave it here" and they had no 'duty' to say that I only had a few hours to launch, then I will say no more.
As to why I had lunch? A hungry 6 year old daughter was calling!!
For those that know the slip in question, it does look as though it is available for a much wider tidal range than it actually is.
David

 

[Searush]

Nah, let's face it Dave, "The whole World's against you!"

I would just say let it go, it's an expensive lesson - but you don't seem to have accepted the learning points. Life's tough, and there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. (TANSTAFL)

To be honest, your refusal to acknowledge your own part in the debacle sounds rather like my teenage grand-daughter's refusal to accept the consequences of her own decisions.

 

[timbartlett]

I will stop now, as this is becoming one if these daft forum arguments where people don't read what's written and jump to conclusions.

Indeed it is. I have read every word that you have written, but you seem unwilling to read any of what has been written in reply (other than to stamp your foot and say "you're all being beastly to me").

1. Setting up a marina costs, so to use it I would expect to pay.
2. I paid to use the slip, £30, no quibbles
3. Partly due to staff I ended up being stuck
4. Staff knew I was going to Shotley.
5. They also knew I was going to hook up and go
6. The suggestion was made to leave it.
7. The proper analogy with a restaurant would be if they said- no worries, leave the boat, and we can launch for you tomorrow. That would have cost them and so would be obviously chargeable
8. If it had stretched to months I wouldn't have written here.

1. But this is precisely the point: you have made it clear that you did not expect to pay and you regard it as "unethical" that they should ask you to.
2. You paid to use the slip, but you seem to think that entitles you to an indefinite length of free parking as well.
3. No, you got stuck because you wandered off to have lunch while the tide was falling.
4. You said in your original post that you were thinking of going to Shotley. Even if you had said that aloud to the marina staff, how are they supposed to know that you had already paid for Shotley, or exactly what you had paid for?
5. Go where? If it had been back to Manchester, I think you would have been grateful to leave the boat, even at £55 per week
6. It was a suggestion. You chose to accept it.
7. "That would have cost them and so would be obviously chargeable" Would it? or would you now be arguing that the staff were already there and paid for (just like the slipway and hardstanding are already there and paid for) so it doesn't cost the marina anything to have the staff launching your boat?
8. It did stretch -- from two weeks to one month. Just how much free berthing do you think it is reasonable for you to expect for your £30 slipway fee?

As to why I had lunch? A hungry 6 year old daughter was calling!!

Now it sounds as though you are blaming a six year-old.

 

[Woodlouse]

Work it out and the charges the marina have asked you to pay amount to less than £4 per day. That is near as dammit free considering what most of us pay to leave the boat on the hard standing.

I'm afraid I can't really see the marina doing anything wrong here other than not answering questions that you never asked.

FFS, they even gave you free credit on the use of the slip next time, because you missed your opportunity by having lunch while the tide slipped out.

 

[Alfie168]

Ok so what you've had is an unfortunate experience thats cost you a bit, but its not exactly big bananas when compared with some people who have been unfairly wheel clamped and received bills for hundreds and hundreds of pounds.Most of us have had something similar happen to us at some stage, so you bite the bullet, grind your teeth and get on with life.

I once got a taxi from Pisa to Florence on the assurance the fare would be x Euro.....it was double the quoted price when we got there and took quite a chunk out of our holiday money, so it hurt, and you feel a bit done, a bit of a fool, and you move on.

They did provide you with all the services you asked of them. I'd agree their communication was poor, and may justify you making a complaint that the costs were not made clear enough but in my book its a given just to ask "how much is all this going to cost me" for the avoidance of doubt. I've been in just this position this week seeking a mooring for my boat. You need to know the bottom line, so you ask, nobody minds.

In any event enjoy your sailing and put this one well behind you. As North Easterners say "Get the monkey off your back".

Tim

 

[trailer_dave]

see what I mean about degeneration?

in post 1 I write "mistakes on both sides" becomes "refusal to acknowledge my part" by post 20.

in my second qnd third posts I write "interesting views expressed by all" and "thanks again" (to posters) becomes "you're all being beastly to me". Most seem to think I was naive - i can live with that.

"i look at the slip and it still looks fine" becomes me blaming my daughter.......as if a 6 year old decides our lives.......

This monkey is off the back, the cheque has been written, another life lesson learnt and the water calls.

thanks again to all the contructive comments.

can't wait for my next thread!

David

 

[Koeketiene]

can't wait for my next thread!

I look forward to it

To quote Fletcher (R Barker - Porridge): Don't let the b*str*rds grind you down

 

[jonic]

Just imagine if he'd been trying to launch a Bavaria with a Rocna anchor on it that had pranged an HR with no chart table.

 

[Lakesailor]

...or ensign.

 

[shmoo]

Would a boat being launched stern first like this be stand on with respect to another boat crossing the base of the slip from port?

 

[trailer_dave]

Well, seeing as it was being power driven, of course I had to give way. Power gives way to sail, dontcha know ;-)

 

[BlueSkyNick]

...it's clearly a misunderstanding/nativity on your part .....

which will be celebrated on an annual basis with lots of food, booze and presents.

 

[jonic]

which will be celebrated on an annual basis with lots of food, booze and presents.

Huzzah! for TrailerDave.

 

[samwise]

Still, silver linings and all that - we were thinking of using Woolverstone as our base next year to avoid the locking in and out at Shotley. Based on this and comments above I think we'll stay put.

David

You could try Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the other side. They have a good all- tides slip and loads of hardstanding.

 

[davidfox]

We left Wooverstone because of the awful attitude of the manager there. The staff were wonderful but the guy running the place seems to have done his customer relations training with the Territorial Support Group.

Couple of examples.
They decided one day to not sell diesel in cans (way before red/tax and all that). After a lengthy "discussion" he retorts "it is my diesel and I will sell it how I choose"

Another time I turned up to check on the boat in a strong westerly blow to find it away from its usual berth. Went of office to find out where it was only to discover him watching it grinding its fenders in an exposed berth, just below the office window, broadside to the wind. "Those fenders aren't going to last long" he said calmly. I asked if, since they had moved it to its present unsuitable position, could they lend me a couple of big fenders until I could get some and help me push the boat off to squeeze them in. "No, that is your responsibility" came the reply.

We left shortly afterwards.

Completly agree with you, we left for exactly the same reason!

 

[nathanlee]

Completly agree with you, we left for exactly the same reason!

I left because, well, I wanted to continue North. However, they did charge me a tenner to ferry me out to my boat, 150m off the pontoons. I thought that was a touch steep, but then again, that's marinas. It took the lad who took me 10 minutes to take me out there including all the bits around that, like starting the boat and whatnot. That's £60 per hour, although at a pro rata rate (which one would reasonably expect to pay more for). In fairness, understanding commerce, that's not really excessive, but for £2 more I could have been in Shotley on a pontoon.

My overall impression of Wolverstone, as short as it was, was not particularly welcoming. He made his tenner, I'm not complaining, but I won't go back there. That strikes me as a poor way to run a business. Part of due diligence for a purchase is "good will", it is valuable asset, but one which they perhaps have not realised.

Anyway, it just goes to show that you shouldn't take things for granted. Ask the silly questions and get confirmation first. I once ran a boat aground, and a kind soul at the boatyard (the owner) said "If you can't get it off I'll come out with my motorboat and pull you off."

"That would be brilliant" I replied.

"Ah, don't worry about it, we've all made mistakes", he said.

I couldn't get it off, so I took him up on his offer... turns out, I was charged for the boats time, plus two staff on it x 3 hours. That was a few hundred quid, and back then it was an awful lot of money to me.

I was naive for thinking it was a favour (one which I would have gladly repayed), and he was a bit of an arse for not making it clear that he'd charge me. I don't blame him, people do that sort of thing, it was my fault. I learned a lesson.

Anyway, the bottom line is, take it on the nose, and don't be so naive in future... I mean absolutely no disrespect by that by the way, just expect to be fleeced, and when you do get good will, you'll value it more.

 

[Marmalade]

Might the guy have been offering to let you park the boat for nothing for two weeks but thought you were taking the P*ss when it was still there a month later?

 

[coliholic]

I once ran a boat aground, and a kind soul at the boatyard (the owner) said "If you can't get it off I'll come out with my motorboat and pull you off."
.

Which reminds me of a Paul Gascoigne story. When playing for England under Bobby Robson early in his international career, Bobby said to him, "now listen to me young Paul, I want you to play your heart out and run like mad for the first half and I'll pull you off at half time". To which Paul replied, "ooh thanks boss, at Spurs we only get a slice of orange".