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Just returned from a nightmare broads visit, help!


AJW21

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Hi I'm new to this forum so hellooooooooo

Ive just returned (saturday) from a nightmare week on the broads well not on the broads with a boatyard (wont mention names) ive not been on the broads for 25 yrs my grandad died (who was born in beccles) and i spent my inheritance to go and visit as he had holidayed on the broads hundreds of times and always spoke of them so highly I wanted to come, my dream was ruined by this yard, I loved the area the people the places :-) sheer heaven but i was left with a wife in tears and me with steam out of my ears, should i come back can anyone recommend a yard that will give customer service at a realistic price, i loved the area but the yard and its staff attitudes and service stunk to high heaven. I could of hit the bloke the way he spoke to my mrs!

cheerscheers

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Hi ,and welcome to the forum,sounds like you havn,t been put off the area, don,t be there are good yards and some come highly recommended ,indeed a member of staff of one yard regularly post on hear (c riko :naughty: ), don,t go down naming and shaming on open forum ...tempting as it is,there is a lifetime of experianced hire boaters on hear who can guide you into booking with confidence for your next hols.

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i cant believe the attitude of diesel falcon ! dont name and shame !! why not this guy sounds like he as been treated very badly !!!! cheersbar

It,s not my attitude but the general attitude of this forum i believe, i am not saying this guys not been treated badly but to slander a company on an open forum,when for a example it may be one individual in that company having a bad day ,could have legal Consequences (worst case), if the op has a valid complaint against the company ,this should be done privately between the two parties.Sad but in these days of litigation ect you can,t be too careful,not a mods view all imho .

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Without naming or shaming the OP probably feels better for getting it off his chest. I am sure he will follow the correct procedure and hopefully if the company is worth its salt this will be nipped in the bud and everyone will feel better. Having absolutely no idea what happened or why it is a bit difficult for any of us to have an opinion. I have always found that if you go to the very top of the company Chief Executive or Managing Director or the owner you tend to sort matters out extremely quickly.

Dont be put off , one rotten apple and all that. We are a good bunch up here, private boaters, hirers, boat yards etc, give us all a second chance.

Come back another time to the Broads and forget all about this previous episode whatever it was - life is too short believe me.

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Firstly sorry that your holiday was spoilt I however agree with Df that it is not appropriate to name and shame on open forum...yet maybe later From the discussions you see on many forums people forget that this is the worldwide web It often seems to me that particularly on this and other broads forums people think it's just like a group of friends chatting in a Norfolk pub

My own course of action would be to write formally to the owner, MD CEO or whatever is top dog of the organisation Your next course of action is to take it up with the agency you booked through Blakes Hoseasons or the local travel agent. Please don't be put off coming again your experience was not the norm.

Whilst it might be unfair to recommend one boatyard over another,so I won't directly but a yard was mentioned by DF where you will be made welcome and treated like a valued customer. Need another clue it's at Stalham Remember though if there are any delays it's because they have lots of customers that's got to say something

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It,s not my attitude but the general attitude of this forum i believe, i am not saying this guys not been treated badly but to slander a company on an open forum,when for a example it may be one individual in that company having a bad day ,could have legal Consequences (worst case), if the op has a valid complaint against the company ,this should be done privately between the two parties.Sad but in these days of litigation ect you can,t be too careful,not a mods view all imho .

Trevor & Gordon are exactly right, that is indeed our policy, there are two sides (at least :naughty: ) to every story. The OP is asking for a recommendation for a good reliable yard and we can all name at least one, so rather than dwelling on the bad experience let's try to restore his faith in the area and it's businesses. :grin:

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Antares your right thats the purpose of my post to not find myself in the same position again and to regain my faith, much the same as falling of a bike and getting straight back on and thats my theory. How Im going to justify the cost who knows but I was going for a specific reason and for that very reason i need to return

The broads left a fantastic impression on me and my partner and no matter the dealings with the yard my enjoyment of the area was not spoilt, and i will be back infact as we type (speak) im looking into a return visit ASAP (sooner the better) so our sadness can be put to bed.

As for retributioin, my very calm yet concise letter to the MD of the company involved raising all of my concerns / complaints was received yesterday via recorded delivery so will await their reply (if any). I believe the measure of a good business is how they deal with complaints as every business will have them, so the response I will await with interest. As for name and shame thats pointless in these days of litigation, my theory is remain calm stick to facts and hope the company act appropriatly

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.... should i come back can anyone recommend a yard that will give customer service at a realistic price....

Should you come back - yes, the good thing is you can change the bit you didn't like - the yard & boat as there is a good level of choice, but you cannot change the bit you did like - the waterway, thank goodness!

I have no idea what the issues or disappointments were but your words above hint towards part of the disappointment possibly involving the percieved value in what your money got you. It is quite expensive compared to many other UK holidays because of the relatively short season, high boat & operational costs so sometimes expectation from what you've spent and what that hire fee buys you could be a bit different, when you've never been before. It's hard to pass comment on a conversation as we cannot really know what happened, as each persons viewpoint is a bit biased to their own view and agenda, and only one account is being retold. Also, personality clashes will always happen even in the best businesses, as critiscm is handled well by very few people, particularly if it is considered unbalanced by the person you are talking to. You are following the best path for that, put it in writing and try and sort it out with them direct or with an agent. If you didn't use an agent it might be something to consider next time. I'd normally say go direct anyway but it does give you a different course of complaint, which might be a reassurance that would be welcomed having apparently just got your fingers burnt.

I would suggest a day out visiting a short list of operators looking inside boats that are in, or if possible those you have identified as in budget/size etc. Once you've been a few times you get to be able to gauge the space/standard from the layouts, appearance & internal photos etc that the websites offer in fair numbers these days, but until you find which designs etc you like & match your own percieved value this can be a bit tricky. Have a day out and I'm sure you will fix this and also guage which yards have the priorities & outlooks that you yourself value, and wish to spend your money on.

I think most of the Broadland fleets offer a reasonable product and service from my experience, but I guess as with everything some are better than others and indeed this is not just linked to money spent.

For a northern based holiday I would be very suprised if you were disappointed with your boat (bearing in mind its hire fee) if you had a craft from Horizon Craft, Richardsons, Royalls, Summercraft, Faircraft Loynes or Moonfleet Marine.

For a Southern holiday the same I would say for Swancraft & Silverline.

These are the ones that came off the top of my head, it's not to say the others aren't providing a good service, or an alternative type of craft/budget etc etc.

Dan

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Hi Dan cheers for your input, i had no expectations what to expect in terms of the boat or the experience just heard my grandad speak about it so fondly, we had been over in may and looked at boats (spent a weekend here) and owning a static caravan were pleased with what we viewed. We paid a considerable sum all considering and we could of easily paid alot less elsewhere for a different boat of course at another yard but unfortunatly didnt.

Im not hear to point fingers / blame etc, just to find an alternative, the boatyard we used are not small and should know better in my mind, they suggest excellence in customer service etc this we didnt experience dispite some very serious issues indeed.

We did book direct and have filed a formal complaint.

Richardsons seem to get great reviews and during our visit we visited stalham and viewed thier operation, my grandad spoke so highly of the area and its people its a tragedy to me it was spoilt by a third party, i just need to come back but dont want to risk a repeat performance im not in the business of blame, I will conduct this outside of a public forum.

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I have said elswhere that I am againt giving businesses negative comments on the world wide web, It's over tough on that business especially if the problem has been resolved down the line, but the original complaint is still accessable on the web.

Having said all that, it's also tricky to help someone to avoid such problems when we know neither what the problems were or who caused them.

Perhaps if the original poster could give more information as to what happened, we may be better able to advise.

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