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Do you haggle?


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Ok chaps and chappesses,

I posted this question elsewhere, but now elsewhere won't talk to me... so lets see what you lot think!!

Over lunch I watched a brief excerpt of a programme called 'Don't get done, get Dom' (I think). Well, anyway, what seems to happen is that a little bald crafty cockney type (Dom) assists members of the great unwashed to get good deals on goods and services. It just happened that I watched a bit where he helped a guy haggle with a travel agent to get a 3.5K holiday in Hawaii knocked down to a 'I'm cuttin me own throat' 2.5K... not bad I hear you say! cheersbar

Well here's the question: Have any of us haggled over the cost of a Broads holiday? Is there anything to be gained by saying to your Blakes telephone operator, or the yard concerned 'Well, I really want the holiday, but you're going to have to do better on price'? :naughty:

The guy on the show did it not once but about three times and gradually got the price lowered by a massive £1,000, and, all sorts of extras thrown in, like free travel insurance, and entry to the posh lounges at the airports! cheers

Danny

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Come on we all know the Agents are not going to make a loss are they, you can only haggle at what they can shave off the cream.

For example on a 2K broads holiday agents will be only making a few percent possibly a 30% mark up.

So they are not going to budge much, specially in peak season when they know that the boats will be fully booked.

If it was February then i would expect something like a bit of discount.

But the Lunchtime TV show may be a bit other the top.

Lunchtime TV is the equivalent of the Sun mixed with The Sport. Full of stories, but little fact or proof :lol:

Anyway Loose Women is far more entertaining :dance

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That seems a vast amount of money Brian, but to be fair, if it is a decent holiday for say seven or eight (or even more on some boats), not so vast. I know we have had that discussion before here, there and everywhere... I have looked at narrow-boat holiday prices before and they can be very expensive too.

I guess you may be right. In the example I gave, I have no doubt there were lots of variables where costs could be shaved. At least with the boat hire business on the Broads, the price structures are fairly transparent and the variables are not too great.

Mind you, it would be interesting to hear whether anyone has got away with a bit of bargaining!

Loose Women!!! Are there such creatures? :o

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Guest KeithC

Hi

If profit margins for the hire operaters are as small as they claim, i can't see many bargains being struck. There are however other items such as fuel and parking that could be looked at. I have always argued that especialy early and late season, it would surely be better for a yard to accept a reduced hire charge rather than have the boat sitting in the boatyard After all, the yards costs ie; insurance etc are still the same.

Take a yard the size of Richardsons or Woods ---there are loads of garages that would love to have their fuel sales each week.apart from anything else.

I have in the past been offered a boat for a further week at half price as it wasn't booked, but alas, being at work in those days it wasn't possible.-

As for trying to cut a deal nowadays--don't hold your breath. All the decent boats are fully booked by the start of the year so the yards don't see a need to offer any incentives. A good yard with good craft doesn't have much trouble getting fully booked.

Keith

Norfolk :wave

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Interesting reply Keith...

I was once made a similar offer by a very nice boatyard, but like you could not take them up on it!

I think this is the case, that there is far less margin for negotiation than with a travel agent for example.

I entirely agree though that having a boat out at all, even at reduced cost, must be better than having it sitting idle... or am I missing something? Correct me if I am wrong but I do not believe the whole hire fleet is booked out for any but a very few weeks of the year... The evidence of my eyes tells me that! Surely the operators could flag up the possibility of 'phoning for a 'short notice' bargain - lastminute.com style?

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But haggle on your chandlery!

Not obviously on screws and little things but a well known local chandlery gave me 2o% off some kit and the final bill was nearly 50% less than another local supplier quoted!!!

So it does pay to question prices and whilst invariably I do shop locally, always always use the internet to get guide prices before shopping!

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Maybe david but loose women always seem to end up costing far more than you anticipated so not much of a bargain.

As to the discounts, out of season you will get 10% if you are brave enough to leave it late, always talk directly to the yards as although blakes and hoseasons have them stitched for the main season if they cant book it out then the yard is free to do as they wish with 10 days to go.

Private yards will move a bit, Pacific at loddon is one that springs to mind but they will be older boats, we have hired from them with no complaints and it saved us about 20% on the equivelant 38' boat from Richardsons, the yards will also be more likely to do a deal if you have hired from them before, if you bought the boat back in 1 piece last time then it stands a good chance they won't have to spend money on putting it right this time either.

Always worth playing one off against another and it is usually possible to get a fuel discount or free parking thrown in.

Ian

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If you're not that good at haggling, there are still good deals out there (if you're prepared to wait until the last minute and risk something suitable not being available).

We did it some while ago with Richardsons.

We began our time off and took a drive up to the Broads.

Jo went straight into Lathams and I stood looking expectantly at the tide gauge (you know where).

Then we headed over to Stalham.

We asked what discount offers they had for a holiday at very short notice.

By this time they knew which boats were going to be sitting idly in the yard and gave us a good deal.

We returned a couple of days later for a week's boating at a decent price, and with a tankful of diesel thrown in free.

Not up to Dom's standards but we made a decent saving.

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Richardsons are one of the few boat yards on the broads who will

A. Deal direct

B. provide a good discount if they have a boat just sitting there un booked.

Broadsword - Its only on in the background :naughty:

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I would rather pay and know what I was getting, call me a snob but the days are long gone since we dealt with Richardsons !! have some nasty tails to tell there !! Mind you they have added some new boats recently.. BUT i prefer a smaller yard.

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No ones calling anyone a snob on here, we all have our views and budget for holidays on the broads

I would rather pay and know what I was getting, call me a snob but the days are long gone since we dealt with Richardsons !! have some nasty tails to tell there !! Mind you they have added some new boats recently.. BUT i prefer a smaller yard.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't imagine any yards being prepared to haggle in the peak July/August period, but we almost always manage to get something even at busy times like Easter or October half term. But you need to be a bit creative/flexible; getting a significant discount is difficult unless you wait till the last minute but once they know you the smaller family-run yards will often give you an extra day if the boat is not booked at one end of your hire period. That is quite a valuable extra!

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  • 1 month later...

:wave well not haggle our last 2 hires from martham boats we have asked to book a jayne and been told they wernt available and got a 6 berth judith for the same price as a jayne which works out at about a £200 saving oh and i did bid them on an easter hire in 2006 and got what i wanted so i guess it can work if you try.

Richardsons once told us we couldent have used as much diesel as they said we had so we got most of the fuel deposit back off them too we diddnt tell them we had covered most of the broads that week so well done them

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Guest JoeReu

I am completely useless at haggling for anything and would probably end up paying more!

But I am very envious of those that can.

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