Kate Boats

I'm sorry that Pretty Funked Up has had a problem. Kate Boats run 11 hire boats and 7 shared ownership boats out of Stockton Top Marina, and 13 hire boats out of the "tiny little place" at Warwick (head office - no boats there because they were all out working!) We have diesel delivered at least once a month, and have had no problems ourselves, or with any other passing trade. I would have prefered if the customer had come back to us to at least give us the opportunity to help, rather than post on a public forum. The issue of the 60/40 split has been discussed at some length on this forum previously. I just need to keep it simple. We don't make a fortune out of selling diesel, there is not the quantity of passing trade on our section of the Grand Union to make it really viable, the only reason that diesel is available is that we stock it for the hire fleet. Cheryl ================== www.kateboats.co.uk ==================

Hi Just to clarify Kate Boats and Stockton Top Marina are run as one organisation. I twice asked the person who started this to contact me so that I could work out what went wrong, and had no response. Having a look around the forum, I found another message from that boater making derogatory comments about Kate Boats under another topic. They had contacted us last Sat (after the diesel incident) with a breakdown (alternator), which we had promptly fixed, and they suggested that we had tried to take the old one for our own benefit - in fact the engineer had suggested they return it to where they had originally bought it as it was under a year old. They had paid by cheque, which gave me the name to match to my diesel paperwork, leading me to be able to find the said document. OK, this is the piece of paperwork that started all this! Now I understand that it might not be completely clear, however the amounts in the litres column is refering to litres purchased, and the total due refers to an amount of money (hence the £ sign). There is a slight discrepency, with the actual amount being coming to £38.70 if you add the litres and do the calculation, this being a rounding error on the pump. The boaters are given a similar slip for their records. Maybe we need a better system, but this is what we have at the moment. I am unsure how this looks like we are fiddling. I can't quite understand why this particular boater, who was very cheerful (according to the engineer) when they came back to us for their repair felt the need to start all this. Mud sticks and we really don't need this sort of publicity. I understand there are lots of side issues here, but I hope this lays to rest the initial accusation of dishonesty. I have generally found the boating community to be friendly and easy going, and have been horrified at the vehemence of the response on this forum. Happy boating to all! Cheryl Kate Boats Warwick and Stockton Top Marina

I will add a quick comment here, and then confirm when I have had a chance to check exacly what happened. Our policy is to sell diesel at a 60 (propulsion): 40 (domestic) split at 90 pence per litre. That is what my wharf man meant when he said flat rate. When pressed he would have become defensive because he really understand what it is all about! The paperwork should have reflected what was sold (at a 60:40 split). We are fed up to the back teeth with the whole diesel thing. Every transaction involves muttering from boaters and additional paperwork. We have annual Customs and Excise inspections, which usually involve two inspectors spending a full day at our office. They have never had a problem with our systems, or any suggestion that we are not fully complying with all legislation as required. Cheryl ================ Kate Boats 01926 492968 www.kateboats.co.uk ================