Robyn

We made an access hole under the steps at the back, one under the fixed double at the rear, one down in the area behind the front steps and one under the cupboard in the kitchen so all access areas were hidden away. Regarding the level of the boat, we just added/removed the ballast from areas until it looked level. Good luck with everything, I'm not sure what engine you have, however, we also added to a thread with all the replacement filters equivalent to the Izuzu ones if you search you may find it, or I think I still have a copy somewhere I can dig out for you. Michelle

No, I just don't sign in and read as a guest. Just saw my user id pop up and wondered why. Now I know ?

Hi, We ended up having to cut a couple of holes in the floor and laid the floor coverings back over the top leaving easy access. Also, used avery weights and a railway track in the engine bay. You can also put some weights under your kitchen cupboards. Michelle

Hi Many thanks for the nice comment it's appreciated. I've spoken with the customer today and have agreed a part credit for him as a gesture of goodwill and we are arranging to meet up the weekend to take samples of vinyl as his boat is moored not too far from where are moored. 'Kendal' is more than happy, so that makes us happy. Michelle

Hi Terence So sorry to hear about this, your teapot still has pride of place in our boat and we still would love to do your course. You have a wonderful talent and we hope that you do not give up as you will be letting these scum win and think of all the people who will miss out on your lovely paintings adorning their boats. I hope that you manage to catch them soon and get you items back. All the best Michelle & Will

Fair enough, but as stated we do have a disclaimer right underneath the add to cart, and also on the FAQ's, and we have had many people that have requested a sample before they purchased, which in this case would of saved dissapointment on both sides. As stated though I will speak with the customer tomorrow direct and go from there. Thanks Michelle

Hi Pete I will resend the email to you, we have sent it to the one registered on the original order. I've read your email and whilst I understand you are stating that people should always get a colour sample, I do not agree that it needed to be posted on a public forum to get attention when we do clearly state on the lettering designer for all to see that if you need a specific colour to request a sample as many customer have previously. I'll speak with you tomorrow. Kind regards Michelle Hi again I must say we are suprised ourselves as our roses have laster two year and seem okay, although we are now painting the boat so will not be able to test the three year period the manufacturer states, but if you could also send me an image when back I can send it to the manufacturer for comment as we also only use Roland Eco Sol Inks and not compatible inks. If it is the same postal address as the original order, if you can PM me the name it was ordered under I can get another laminated set sent Friday for you, so they are there for when you get back. Kind regards Michelle

Hi, I must say I am dissapointed that you chose to post your grievance on the canal forum despite our email to you today explaining that we are sorry that you are not satisfied with the cream, however everyone's interpretation of cream is different and to please everyone is hard hence the reason why under the add to cart we have the disclaimer 'Please note: The colour chart is only to be used as a guide.Both screen and printer colours will vary from one computer to another meaning this colour chart won't be an exact representation of the physical colours. If colours are critical please request a sample.' Unfortunately you did not request a sample of the colour and we sent the cream vinyl that we have been using without issue for the past five years. We have never ignored customers emails whether positive or negative, we aim to give good customer service and as boater ourselves, we would never sell anything that we are not happy with ourselves. As you said you are more than happy with the graphics and the quality, it is just the colour that you are not pleased with, therefore I do think publishing on a public forum where a lot of our customers come from is a bit unfair, however I appreciate that it is freedom of speech etc. Unfortunately we only supply the one colour cream as that is the only shade our supplier produces in the range we use. Matching vinyl up to paint as you have informed us you wanted to do is almost impossible unless you have printed vinyl instead of cut vinyl, however printed vinyl is much shorter life than our cut vinyl and we would not advise that for boat names. By all means feel free to contact us tomorrow by telephone on 01213143223 to discuss further but we would not be able to match you cream paint. Kind regards Michelle Hi We replaced the graphics as soon as we realised that we made a mistake and immediately sent you new ones, our printed graphics are supposed to last for three years unlaminated and five laminated. It would of been nice if you contacted us to let us know as we could of sent you a laminated pair free of charge, as you saw from the last contact we have good customer service and do not ignore customers. If you wish to call us tomorrow to discuss, please do so and we can arrange delivery of a laminated pair. Kind regards Michelle

Ah but you never saw the ebay message I was sending to him, calm is definately not what I would call them.... :-)

Thank you and sorry if my response to yours was sharp, I understand you posted before things was evident it was not our advert.

Hi, just to let you know I had a reply off the ebay messaging asking what I meant by saying it was a scam advert. I explained and asked them to post it if they were the real owners of the account, then went back on ebay and the advert has been removed by the seller. Result, well as long as it means no one paid a deposit first.... Thank you all again. Your comments are unhelpful. As said the boat owner (Me) did not know anything about this and your insinuation that we done it for extra interest is appaling!

I probably will when the panic has died down just too concerned that no one gets ripped off! Just wanted to thank everyone who posted the information regarding the scam and our true contact information and also the text from Matty40s whom without his text we would be non the wiser, I think we owe that man a very large drink!

Not at all an advertising gimik. As if we would sell the boat that cheap! It's was on Apollo Duck for three times that! The advert is a hoax and we have been notified by another member and am trying to sort it (That account is not ours) As said it is a scam advert nothing to do with us. The advert on Apollo Duck showed All 40 odd photos and was for three times that amount with full details. We were notified by a member of this and have tried to get the advert taken down but ebay are saying 24 hours whilst they investigate!

Contacted ebay and they say it has to be 24hours to investigate. Have done a message on ebay item to tell people not to be but guessing that won't be posted to the advert. We have reported the item four times. Now taken Apollo Duck advert down in the meantime. Looks like all the sellers details have been changed none of the numbers are valid. Not sure what else we can do, any ideas? PS have thanked Matty quickly but will do proper when sorted this out. Thank you

Thats my boat with no permission to sell on ebay, not even our account. How do I report the item asap

The Graphics Boat www.thegraphicsboat.co.uk The Graphics Boat is an adapted narrowboat that currently travels the system selling our goods and we are proud to be British Waterways Licenced Canal Traders and a member of the Roving Canal Traders Association. We now have an Online Boat Name Designer which makes creating, submitting and purchasing your vinyl letters easy and fast. As you enter the desired lettering, this system will provide your purchase price in real time. Please take a look at our online shop and if you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thanks Will

You started your so called discussions with the statement that the traders were whinging. The traders are not whinging we are talking constructively to BW who are in fact listening to us, and have postposed the increase for the moment that was set to take place in April just gone, as we are trying to amicably come to a suitable solution and as stated it is NOT just an arguement about the cost as BW want to overhaul all the business trade licences and are working with all the traders, we are part of the small traders that have come together to work together with BW. We also have a PO Box it's not something special so not sure why you feel the need to bring this into a discussion about trade licenses! and I don't see why the small traders should change their business models as you suggest to pay for the increase.

No, you are probably right, I just don't agree with traders being called whingers when he does not understand what the small traders and BW are working together on. I think the comment was unfair and unjustified.

Oh my gosh, you really are hard work If you look at the site there is more to our discussions with BW than the increase in the fee....... you have no idea and are just spouting your opinion which is fair enough even though it is wrong, without facts.... you were quick enough to want a page on the RCTA though wasn't you? not sure why if the traders are all whingers!!!! The RCTA website is set up for a communication base between BW and the small traders and is currently working well as we discuss and not whinge!!!!

Rather than insult my business model, I suggest you get your facts correct........ I am not into slanging matches on forums, we travel to shows and sell our products, you are well aware of the RCTA and what we are trying to achieve as you have previously contacted us through it! The hike is a lot for small traders, regardless of your attitude in relation to our business we are happy with what we earn, we do not want to be a massive company, we just want to earn enough to live off, and we are in converse currently with BW to find an amicable solution for all parties. Regarding your comment on diesel, yes we get full propulsion on it but this is going to change soon with the EU pushing rules through, so we will get no so called perks soon anyway. I am not going to go in to detail here as suggested do your research first before insulting peoples business models......

Hardly whinging, a lot of canal traders rely totally on what they earn from trading on the canal, and a lot don't earn much.... So when you state we are whinging, it is unfair. All we are doing is putting to BW that the increase is a lot for a small trader. Maybe go to www.canaltraders.org.uk and you will get more facts!!!!

We was moored near Chirk last year and had a Canal Boat Club boat hit us hard knocking everything off the shelves, including and expensive slr camera which consequently fell in the sink of washing up water (We was going to wash up soon, honest!) and subsequently got water damaged. We shouted after the 3 girls on the boat who just ignored us, so we phoned up the hire company who asked us to put the details in writing with a photo of the damage to the boat (Surprisingly just a small dent and paint missing) along with the photos of the camera. We did this by email and include the witness telephone number, within half hour I had a call from the main person who deals with the claims who asked me to send them two quotes for repair or replacement of the camera and boat damage. This was all sent to her the next day, she acknowledged receipt and passed it onto Towergate Marsden and 8 days later we had a cheque for £950 and an email of apology from Canal Boat Club. The hirers did admit hitting us but said they did not think they hit us too hard, so maybe them admitting it helped us, but either way I am more than happy with the customer service we received. So not all hire companies are bad. Cheers Will

There is a website now established with British Waterways knowledge which traders are getting together to put our opinions to British Waterways. Unfortunately not all the traders that wanted to go to the forum meetings were able to due to transport issues therefore the meeting that the OP mentioned was suggested by Susie, and Susie asked Helen on the Cheeseboat 2 if we could post it on our traders website. The website is www.canaltraders.org.uk (Roving Canal Traders Association)the problems that BW are saying that they currently have, is that they can not get in touch with all the traders for one reason or another and therefore not enough suggestion on the Trade/operators licence are reaching BW. Hence the reason between Helen & David on the Cheeseboat and us, Will and Michelle on the graphics Boat, the Roving Canal Traders Association was created. It is a free site and we have already got traders and BW staff registered on the site, so between all parties I hope we can get a solution that suit all. Please feel free to take a look at the website and join, it is updated regularly and comments are always welcome. Cheers Will

Hi Neil Thank you for your comments, at the moment however we are running the RCTA as a free and separate entity, it is purely for the Roving Canal Traders so that we can try and get us all together and make a contact list of all the traders, as one of the issues BW stated as the reason there was not that many canal traders at the meeting was because they had no contact for them, so hopefully if all the traders can combine together this will no longer be an issue. We hope to get a good turnout of canal traders at all 4 of the meetings this year, but as the website was only set up a month ago we have not yet managed to get the word out about it. I'm hoping that keeping this thread live will enable other canal traders who do not use the internet on a regular basis get chance to see it and join up. Again, I would like to say that this website is completely free, we do not charge for adverts for the Roving Canal Traders and don't intend to, there is a contribution button, but this is solely to help fund the domain hosting, anything over that amount will be put towards advertising the site. Many thanks Will

Hi Feel free to register on the site and you will automatically be sent updates on the business licence and outcomes of trade meetings. Cheers Will