0000

I've had enough, the trolls have won. Please forgive me for blowing my own trumpet but I think you should know a bit about me before I leave. I have owned boats for many years and have worked in the marine industry both on ships at sea and inland craft. I volunteer and give my time freely to several canal organisations - yes I am one of those people who put the marques up/down, stand in the pouring rain for hours at canal festivals trying to get public support for canal restorations etc. I think I have been a good contributor to this forum both in sharing both my engineering and general canal/boat knowledge and in hard cash! But this will be my last post. There appears to be a group on here who from the safety of their keyboards think its ok to post insulting personal remarks against individuals (in this case me) if they do not agree with the views put forward in a posting. I know there are many members who are not trolls and I am sorry they will miss out on not just my input but other who have left for the same reason. My only regret is that in a way this means the trolls have won but while the likes of MtB, the naughty cal, the happy nomad populate this forum, then I no longer want to be part of it. Goodbye and good luck to all the genuine canal enthusiasts and the few remaining boat owners on this forum.

I will not be putting any "leg work " with Rugby Boats, that does not mean that I do not do "leg work"!!

OK, maybe I should have used the word "prospective" in front of "customer". Regarding my efforts to buy a boat, I can assure you that I have and I still am making considerable efforts in order to purchase a boat but thanks for your comments. Still trying to start up another argument, what word describes that I wonder.

My mistake on the wording but "get a life" or "get a grip" is just as derogatory in my book.

Your remarks are there for all to see, I have addressed any valid points made and fully understand why they are not to your "satisfaction" .

Agree completely. What is a troll is someone who would for example call someone "pathetic" rather than presenting a reasonable augment to the point under decision.

Thanks for the advise. I think I need to make a decision if it's worth putting up with the trolls because of the benefits of forum membership. My current thinking is that I probably give more including hard cash to this forum than I take from it. Regarding MtB, to tell someone to "get a life" from the safety of his keyboard is a good example of how not to behave on a public forum so I am not a fan!

Resorting to personal insult again and you call me pathetic. This forum is all about people giving their views which you may or may not agree with. I do wonder if you have some connection with RBS as you seem so offended by anyone who raises an issue with them.

You are correct, I have not called them. I am the customer! RBS could have made a great deal of cash from my custom, clearly they are making enough in the current market so feel they do not have to respond to emails, up to them but I am not going to chase them with phone calls. I may loose out on a boat purchase but I am happy to take my custom to a more considerate broker.

Anyone can join and participate in this forum! you do surprise me. Boats have always been part of my life so maybe mean more to me than you. Regarding RBS, they were contacted regarding their mailing list as stated in my original post.

I do live on the canals and have done so for many years unlike the persons being offensive who seem to be ex boaters.

Yet another offensive remark, sort of proves my point so thank you for that.

You need to re read your insulting post! You made up that I was somehow complaining about "life isn't fair" when my comment was very specific about the actions of one broker and then went on to suggest that I need to do some legwork and not sit on my backside when clearly you can have no knowledge of the amount of effort I have made in my search for a boat. If you cannot see your remarks were offensive then you need help.

Thankyou very much for your comment. It shows just what this forum is about and I hope others take note. I was at the point of leaving this forum after the personal attacks I have received but you have restored my faith! All the points you make are valid and made from the viewpoint of helping other members. I am an experience boat owner (and ex marine engineer) of many years so I do have a good knowledge of how brokerage work and agree that with the coming winter things may change more to the buyers advantage. I wish you lots of luck and hope all goes well with your new boat. If I can be of any help, please do not hesitate to message me.

Resorting to insults MtB. What a nice person you are. In the wider scheme of things of course any of us buying (or not buying) boats or any other problems we have with boats is not important but, this is a boating/canal forum! it was set up to discuss boats including sometime when a boating subject is not positive experience to a member. Clearly you do not agree with the points I have raised and I am happy for you to punch into you keyboard with your views but please do not insult me.

No need to make things up! I was making a point about the way one company operates, not about life in general! and to suggest that I am not doing the legwork is just rude.

Every email received from ABNB (and ABC) have offer me boats that are for sale, they have never sent me details of boats that had already been sold. Can you not understand the real heartache of receiving details of a boat that ticks all your boxes, that you know you really want to look at and almost certain you will want to buy only to find out it was never really available for you to purchase. In my book, it's a horrible way to treat people. You seem to know about ABNB boat sales? I do not so cannot comment, I can only tell you of my actual experience.

Very true but not sure I see that as a major problem, I've already mentioned two other brokers who operate what I would consider a more respectful attitude to their potential customers and there are many many more out there.

Not what I would call "complaining loudly", I was making what I feel are reasonable points regarding the Rugby boats mailing list. With regards dealing with them, I don't think they have any interest in selling me a boat so I have lost nothing and when I place my current boat on the market, I will not be using Rugby boats so it is they who will have lost out on a possible brockage fee. Maybe if a few more "customers" pointed out bad service, then the boating world would treat it's paying customers with the respect they deserve.

Yes, but only received the email at 18:07 today!

Just received an email from Rugby boat to tell me of a boat that had been "sold on arrival"!!, They do not seem to understand the reason people sign up to the mailing list is because they want to buy a boat! almost without exception all the boats they have emailed me about is not available for actual sale. Not sure what their motive is to continually to send out emails of sold boats to customers wanting to buy boats! never had this happen with ABC or ABNB mailings (maybe proves my suspicion mentioned above re. VIP buyers list). For me, all they have achieved is to alienate me as a potential customer for buying (or selling) a boat with them now or at anytime in the future.

I feel rather let down by Rugby boats, I'm on their mailing list and when receiving information on a boat for sale, I always make sure I check it out on their website asp and every time the boat is already "under offer"! I did send an email to Rugby boats to ask why and pointed out there was not much point of the mailing list if the boats listed are already sold but never got a response. Its almost cruel i.e. we are telling you about this fantastic boat for sale but we already have a buyer so you can't have it!! I can only assume that there is some kind of VIP buyer list which gets the information before the rest of us. I sometime think I should forget about buying from Ruby boats but I must admit, I do like to see commodore Bumble checking out all the cupboards.

The diesel reservoirs on the thermstarts came with the engine so cannot help with like for like replacements, the proper name for these are "flip top oil cups" so maybe a search online will find some. Regarding the need for one thermostart for each cylinder, the answer is NO, only one required. I have two because that's what the previous owner fitted. Just a word of warning, if the thermostarts are allow to run dry, then they will just burn through the heating elements very quickly and they then are scrap - found out as part of my learning curve of Kelvin ownership! 24v thermostarts are not readily available so hard to replace (if anyone knows where they are available, then please let me know). 12v thermostarts were fitted to large numbers of agricultural machinery so can still be found so maybe worth designing a 12v electrical supply with suitable cabling to take the additional amps etc. Speaking of amps, Mtb, you maybe better off using a blowlamp because as we all know, any item with a heating element hammers the batteries and the K2 takes a lot of turning over so if your starting batteries are low then the extra load of the thermostarts may not leave enough umph to turn the K2. Having said that, the K2 will start within a revolution using the thermostarts so the batteries drain is normally not a concern if the batteries are fully charged.

I heard he is a good ratter 😏

If Bumble comes with the boat, I'll buy it 😀