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So the truth emerges. You are blackening the name of a reputable company because you provided them with incorrect information on which to base their estimate. I would suggest that you delete your original post, or at the very least make a public apology

Surely this experience forms a new part of their reputation. If you quote £90 for a job as explained, then find it’s bigger than explained when you get to it, (to the tune of almost 5 times the quote, or over £400 more than the quote), there is no way that you carry on with the job without talking to the customer... that’s NO WAY!!! Whilst the price charged might be fair for the job done, the job done was way more than the job requested and quoted for.... a complete rip off in my book!!!

And possibly making and drinking endless cups of tea whilst doing his, ponderig and thinking, using the boats facilities, like gas, milk, sugar and tea bags to make it. Count yer tea bags OP, I'm talking as someone who is guilty of this crime. .

I don't consider myself hyper anything, but the OP is downright disrespectful. He needs to learn some manners imho.

Thanks for everyones comments... as I have mentioned in other replies we have chalked this up to experience. However glad to see the comments from some people with a lot more experience than I have confirming my thoughts about the job.

The hole in a skin fitting is often quite small. The result of trying to share the waste plumbing for a sink with a pumped source like a washing machine is normally that the washing machine water backflows into the sink. Adding a dedicated skin fitting was the right think to do. MP.

A quote is not the same as an estimate. Even if estimated, a huge cost differential like that, should have meant contact the owner first before starting work or stop work immediately and inform the owner of the extra costs.

I don't think I was blackening the reputation of anyone. The reason I posted in the 'new to boating' section rather than the 'maintenance' section was to highlight our experience as newbies in not getting what we expected due to not knowing what questions to ask. I do think I would point the finger at a lack of communication - as others have pointed out, to go from an estimate of £90 to a bill of over £500 without discussion seems to me a little short sighted. And to add... I haven't accused anyone of being a 'rip off merchant' - in fact in the earlier comments I made I did make this point. Perhaps you could point out where I have accused any boatyard of ripping me off.

I too would be reluctant to get rid of a working gravity system unless there was a real need, I've had a couple of boats where I've fitted gravity systems. You don't really notice the heat missing from the stove because its heating all that cold water, (does putting a kettle on a stove cool it down much?) anyway you don't lose the heat, it just goes somewhere else. I think its good for keeping heat and damp out of the ends of the boat, heat loves to rise but it won't go sideways. One of the most difficult things on a boat is keeping batteries charged and the easiest way to do that is to be very careful about using them, we have a cheapo fan heater that we only use if we tie somewhere with 240v, also if I trip over it it doesn't hurt, stubbing your toe on an oil filled rad doesn't half hurt

Sorry no I don't get out of the way of wannabee racing cyclists either, they need to be impeded otherwise these idiots will continue this anti social practice. Last year we were caught up in a full blown club run of maybe 30 - 40 of them, all trying to ride at road speed. We took great delight in slowing every single one of them down to walking pace, a few of them actually had to get off and push.

We have been moored at Tring summit close to the bridge near the railway station for two days heading north. Whilst preparing to leisurely set off this morning two ambulance personnel walked past us heading towards cow roast marina. About 30 minutes later they reappeared heading back towards their ambulance parked near the bridge and explained their problem with a patient on a boat about 1/2 mile south of us. He needed to be admitted to hospital but had a dog on board. I advised them to contact CART to see if they could help with the dog via their welfare programme. About 10 minutes later as we were setting off they again reappeared with a wheel chair heading towards their patient again. He would have had nearly a mile in that chair along a bumpy towpath and up the rough path to their ambulance so I suggested that if there was anyone heading north passing the patient then they could ask for a lift. As we approached bridge 133 at the end of the cutting (Grand Junction Arms) one of the same ambulance people appeared and said that they had moved the ambulance to there as their patient was being delivered by boat. Whoever that boater is then please accept my thanks for your unselfish attitude and helping someone in need. We could all be in a similar situation one day and need assistance. Thanks once again David

Magnet fishing has become more popular late and magnets more powerful. The dedicated can haul bikes out of the canal and recent finds have included safes and loaded guns. CRT appear to discourage the practice, yet it is a benefit to the navigation if rubbish can be removed from the waterway. The CRT objection may be the result of the finds being abandoned on the bank. Some who use the magnets do arrange for the metal to be taken away and may even have some financial benefits from doing so. If a licence was introduced then the CRT might also benefit as well as having their waterways cleansed. There is nothing worse than having mattress springs around the propeller shaft as some previous contestants in the BCN challenge have found out!

So has my boat....

Indeed. And it will be good to hear @Rose Narrowboats side of the story.

See you have NO IDEA about manners. Only my own good manners prevent me from saying you have the manners of a pig. So instead, I'll say you don't have the manners of a pig.

I had a similar experience to this a few years ago when I asked a boatyard - again an entirely reputable outfit - to estimate for some work to the engine exhaust. There was a fair amount of cutting and welding involved and I thought the estimate was a bit conservative, but when the invoice arrived for fully twice the amount of the estimate I refused to pay. It was a slightly different situation in that the work that was done was exactly what we had agreed, what was different was the amount of time estimated to do the job. My argument was if you give an estimate the final figure should be reasonably close to it otherwise what is the point of getting an estimate? Also, at some point it would have been clear that the work was going to take longer so why was I not at least informed of this. In the end we agreed to split the difference ie I paid 75% of the final bill which is about what I was expecting anyway. I do think sometimes boatyards (attached to marinas in particular) assume that all boat owners are stinking rich unless you send out a very strong message to the contrary.

They should have gone and checked it out properly before guessing.

OP welcome to the forums as seadog has asked exactly what did they have to do for that princely sum? as of now that marina has a black mark against them for me. So they will have none of our business when the time comes

I feel as if the this word should be included in the English language. The definition of this term being: "A selfish person, act or action, which specifically relates to self interest and completely disregards the needs or requirements of people, regulations or rules." Certain cyclists are guilty of this transgression when they: (a) cycle along a towpath at speed (b) cycle in narrow places where dismounting would be a benefit to others (c) the wearing of a digital recording device whilst on the towpath as there is no likelihood of being knocked of their bicycle through the action of a motorist, but every likelihood of supporting their actions, however wrong, when challenged by walkers or boaters (d) expecting walkers and boaters to move out their path so that they can cycle uninterupted (e) the neglect of having a bell or other warning device (f) wearing items such as head cams that restrict their ability to perceive the action of others on the towpath

And there lies the problem. The anti social lot get away with it as most people are quite rightly worried about confrontational pee locks. I am getting too old now realy but my background in armed forces/ police and then as a public house licensee means I have met every kind of scum bag known to the human race and had to deal with countless situations often on my own. I do not suffer fools lightly therefore but am very very helpful in most instances except with pee takers.

You can easily simulate 3 cwt just by standing people of a suitable wight on it. No need to spend money whilst experimenting, (unless you are Billy No Mates!).

An important accessory is a decent Cratch cover. Our is by A J Canopies and has let very little water into the cratch over the years.

While I think about it - I'm forgetting my manners. I bought a lovely boat and am really happy about it, but I should have mentioned how grateful I am to the forum members who gave me such good and helpful advice when I was asking questions to get a bit of knowledge before going to look at it. Thanks, all.

Spent 20 years living aboard and analysing the facts and have concluded separates are better. Just saying. Phil

Mastervolt also do separates, so it seems reasonable that their similar quality kit is similarly reliable. Doesn't it therefore follow that each element in one box containing a charger and an inverter is approximately as likely to go wrong as a charger and inverter pair in separate boxes? So the inverter/charger gets 2 bites of the unreliability cherry and a catastrophic failure of either element is likely to be fatal to the combined unit. Whilst perhaps no less likely, such a failure would affect only one element of the separates. That's the real issue with Combi V Separates: inherently similar reliability per element, but it's the eggs in the same basket thing. There is, however, other stuff in a Combi which, convenient though it may be, is another link in the chain. In my case (you may recall) it was the transfer circuitry, so my Inverter worked but on only the one of the 2 outputs and the charger didn't work at all. A quick shuffle of the wiring and a stand alone Ctek charger kept me going, so it certainly wasn't the doomsday scenario some foresee. I was very happy with my Mastervolt Combi until what I believe was a shore power issue took it out and I was considering replacing like for like. What I was less keen on was zero technical support from Mastervolt and the diagnosis (let alone repair) procedure being return to the Netherlands with an uncertain outcome thereafter. Them writing it off, scrapping it and offering a 20% discount on full RRP of a new one didn't seem a good deal. The worst a shore power issue could do to my new Victron set up is damage the charger at about 1/20th the cost of that Combi, although I suspect the stand alone charger is more robust. The cost in terms of convenience is a hand changeover switch and a lack of a battery support in the case of an inadequate shore power facility (which I never used), so although it's no longer a single switch operation as it was with he Combi I don't feel I have lost out too much. I certainly don't want to place my flag in the die-hard separates camp, and I don't lament the demise of wind up windows in cars either, but when faced with enforced Combi replacement the appraisal came out in favour of separates for me, and not just because the price was halved. I expect, in similar circumstances, you'd do a similar appraisal and possibly even reach a similar conclusion.

How about 4? Quadrouple the back up.

I don't know about magnet fishers but cyclists hould be licensed and taxed. But back to the topic. It's not just ordnance which could happen but is unlikely. Anything that is dragged up from the depths could cause injury or worse. CRT are just protecting their back because in this day and age they could get sued for almost anything. To be honest I don't blame them trying to discourage magnet fishing.

Perhaps they should have to throw their catches back after landing them like regular anglers . CaRT should be responsible for restocking the canals with scrap, unexploded bombs, shopping carts etc. Also magnet fishers need to be more grumpy. Jen Jen

Don't like cyclists on the towpath,but joggers I think are ok. Especially fit females in spray on jogging suits. A question for yous, at what age does a bloke change from being a young stud into a dirty old man ?

Don't read them then go back to reading the Daily Mail which you are so, obviously, fond of. The OP is correct. Cyclists on the towpath and on roads are a dangerous menace. It's high time they were licensed and insured.

A wise person has separates. Separate inverter if needed and a separate battery charger.All eggs in one basket is not a good idea when one has a problem.

Yes, he turned it off which is good,but the point being is he should not have had it running so late.

Stick the (nearly) teenager through the washing machine liberally smeared in swarfega and she will be too busy cursing you to care about the jacket. [ Inspired by @bizzard ]

You have obviously never had a dog, and have no idea whatsoever how much people care for them. You are quite right when you say the we don’t know that there is a dog left alone on the boat... and we don’t know that there isn’t. It would be no big deal for someone nearby to go and check. You, it seems, have no problem whatsoever, if it has been left on the boat, to die of starvation, having no idea where it’s best friend has gone, and why. It is almost certainly the case that, if this were to happen, the boatowner would be devastated. As I say - no big deal for someone to go and check. It doesn’t have to be you.

Futile

Oh, what subtle irony!

I used to feel a right scruff when I walked up to the nearest village in my boating clobber.Now,I just go without any thought at all.Not sure what this says about me, but in my very young days- I wouldn't have gone out for the paper without wearing mascara,eye liner & eye shadow.Wore some mascara twice during our 12 wk summer cruise ?.

Very pleased to read this... I'm usually dressed like a scarecrow whilst boating and feel a bit self-conscious when I meet others who are dressed less scruffily than me (i.e. most people). Now I will just consider myself to be a real boater, albeit only part-time.

That defeats one of the best aspects of solar. Connect via a fuse direct to the batteries and you can then turn off the boat with the isolator leaving the solar to maintain the batteries whilst you are at home. This avoids having to plug in to shore power for battery maintenance with the associated galvanic issues. Wiring the solar via the isolator will lead inevitably to someone disconnecting the battery from the controller, with the solar panels in full sun, what happens next depends on the controlle,r most will just reset to 24 volt charging when reconnected trying to cook the batteries, but some will emit the white smoke of death.