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Rcr helped us and we will never forget how good knowledgeable they are


Glynda joyce

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2 minutes ago, pete.i said:

I used RCR twice in my ten years of boat ownership and they were brilliant. It's only the whingers on here that get the bad experiences.

Have to say that during my early years on the boat I also called them out twice and can't say I was that impressed. The first occasion the oil warning light had come on so obviously I stopped the engine immediately. The guy who came out took the approach that is was 'probably just the sensor' and fired the engine up to prove his point. He was in fact right, but if he hadn't been the consequences would have been a seized engine. Had he come to that conclusion after eliminating all of the other possibilities I might have been more impressed. On the second occasion the domestic alternator failed, it had recently been installed (5 months earlier) and so I asked if I could have the old one back to return under warranty, I was told he would do that but he'd have to charge me the full price for the alternator, which turned out to be £220. I have subsequently found that I can get exactly the same alternator from Electrostart at Daventry for £90. On both occasions we were moored up for 3 days waiting for the repairs to be completed.

 

In these days of the internet I find it better to look up a local marine engineer, check the reviews, and call them out myself rather than paying a bucketload to RCR to do much the same.

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2 hours ago, matty40s said:

Ah, I will get my wallet out and join them now, do you have the account number, sort code and membership forms available Glynda?

I'm not convinced she could type all the details in a form you could understand.

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10 hours ago, StephenA said:

You joined the site just to post that?

Evidently, and full marks to her for doing so: many people are quick to blame but slow to praise.

We have been members of RCR for many years; during that time I think we have needed their help on only three occasions, and we were satisfied on all three. They also serviced our engine on one occasion (I think there was some sort of special offer during the winter months). On this occasion the mechanic who turned up was obviously unfamiliar with Gardner engines, so he used his mobile phone to contact someone who did know about them, and the work was properly done as far as I could ascertain.

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Thanks for the post as others have said it tends to be the bad experiences that get posted. 

 

I'm not a RCR member but had a sort of retainer type cover via my insurance for a few years and never needed to call them out. Then the cost kept going up so dropped it. I periodically check the costs versus cover and everytime  conclude its better value to just pay when needed. A bit like most 'breakdown' insurance policies in my experience. 

 

Still not entirely sure what they did but it seems like they did something with a leaking bow thruster, although anything short of a boat out and welding repair must have been temporary presumably?

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6 hours ago, MtB said:

As with lots of companies with a large customer base, the odd person with a bad experience tends to make a lot of noise about it on the net while the satisfied customers just get on with life. So you posting about a good experience helpfully adds some balance.

 

A lot also depends on the competence of the bod who turns up on the day, and RCR must just get on the fone and ring around looking for a local technician when they get a call-out, so you who you get is entirely pot-luck. You hit gold I'd suggest. It could easily have gone the other way. 

This. When my drive plate failed on christmas eve just after leavin a river in flood ( phew ) theyb were amazing, quick and competent. The bloke who did the job was on time and spot on. Of course it will depend on who turns up.

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1 hour ago, Glynda joyce said:

Yes I did why the did you join because your a sad negative person

Hi Glynda.

Most of us aren't. Thanks for your post.

A lot of stuff on here does look like negative and complaining about things, but that's because one hardly notices all the things that go well, like happy cruising and working locks (and engineers who turn up and do a good job), so we tend to fulminate when things go wrong or we get badly treated.  But there's also an awful lot of expertise and good advice, and a large number of people who will have had the same problem as  may turn up for you or a.n.other and will go out of their way to help.

Edited by Arthur Marshall
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I used them once in 2008 flexible exhaust broken, they came measured went away came back and replaced it! Faultless service. 

Nowadays I don't bother I know who they will send from my area and I don't want them! That and the fact it's an electric drive so it's unlikely they could fix it anyway 

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1 hour ago, Glynda joyce said:

Yes I did why the did you join because your a sad negative person

 

And yet...

 

This "sad and negative person" is the author (IIRC) of the fantastically useful "canal Planner" programme given free to all boaters, and widely used and respected. Thank you StephenA!! 

 

https://canalplan.org.uk/cgi-bin/canal.cgi

 

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13 hours ago, Glynda joyce said:

Yes it burst apparently it had rust on it for some reason I woke at 2 in the morning got up sat down my partner got up and said I can here water it was the bow thruster burst he stuck he's finger in the hole till help came itvwas really scary 

I take it you’ve just bought the boat, was the bow thruster tube rotted with rust?

Edited by PD1964
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1 minute ago, PD1964 said:

I take it you’ve just bought the boat, was the bow thruster tube rotted with rust?

I take it you’ve just bought the boat, was the bow thruster tube rotted with rust?

I take it you’ve just bought the boat, was the bow thruster tube rotted with rust?

I take it you’ve just bought the boat, was the bow thruster tube rotted with rust?

I think we've got your point.

I think we've.....:D

 

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Well I've had good and bad experiences with RCR recently.

 

First call out for what turned out to be a broken driveplate sent out a local engineer who carried out basic diagnostic checks an that I'd already done and confirmed there was an issue with either the gearbox or drive plate, probably the former based on context. A sensible course of action would have been to take the gearbox off (invoicing me for an extra hour or so's work if it took more than their initial callout time limit; I'd have happily paid) to investigate further. Instead, RCR sent me a plan of work which involved ordering a new gearbox, investigating the situation after this had arrived, then if necessary ordering a drive plate and returning again, I reluctantly accepted their quote after breaking a gearbox component carrying out an investigative check they wouldn't let the engineer do, assuming at least they'd probably be able to sort a gearbox replacement quickly and get me out of a remote fenland 48hr mooring and moving again.

Two weeks later, when I chased them for the third time a gearbox had finally arrived, and I was advised the engineer would come out in a week or so's time. Engineer came  quicker than that after hearing from nearby boatyards that I was ringing around for alternatives, identified the issue was actually a wrecked drive plate and suggested I speed things up by ordering a drive plate myself and using a spare part to fix the damage I'd inflicted on the gearbox. So problem finally solved 23 days later, but I'd have had it done within a week at less expense if I'd called the nearby boatyard and been recommended the same engineer in a private capacity! Then again, RCR still haven't invoiced me for his labour, despite me asking for it when they rang me up to carry out a satisfaction survey!

  

The good: a few days later, a fuse on the starter motor circuit blew whilst I was repeatedly bleeding/restarting the engine. A different engineer arrived within an hour and replaced the fuse and filters with parts in his van and sold me a couple of spares (charged without any obvious markup). He also spotted evidence of diesel bug in the filters as well as obvious sludge and suggested I contact a third party about getting my tank cleaned.

An excellent service.... except the filters he replaced were only 50 hours old, and the reason they were a lot more full of sludge than the last lot probably had something to do with being stuck in a fen for three weeks with low fuel levels (I'd intended to fill up the day it failed). 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I have reviewed my post.

 

I slagged off nobody.

 

It would appear that the burst bow thruster was a rust hole in the forward compartment.  An unblacked tube maybe?

 

I've often wondered about the wisdom of steel bowthruster tubes. Even if the thing is blacked or treated in some way, there's no way most owners are going to remove the thruster every time the boat comes out of the water and that tube is a pretty harsh environment.  Plus, how many surveyors are going to give an opinion on the condition of the tube? 

 

I can imagine there must now be a fair few older boats with aged rusting thruster tubes, it sounds like Glenda's boat is one.  Unless the tube is within a sealed compartment there's every chance a perforated tube could cause a nb to sink.  

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23 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

 

I've often wondered about the wisdom of steel bowthruster tubes. Even if the thing is blacked or treated in some way, there's no way most owners are going to remove the thruster every time the boat comes out of the water and that tube is a pretty harsh environment.  Plus, how many surveyors are going to give an opinion on the condition of the tube? 

 

I can imagine there must now be a fair few older boats with aged rusting thruster tubes, it sounds like Glenda's boat is one.  Unless the tube is within a sealed compartment there's every chance a perforated tube could cause a nb to sink.  

Its even worse than that, there  are certain shells that have never had the tubes blacked at all from new!  And the tube is thinner than the hull in some cases!

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23 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Unless the tube is within a sealed compartment there's every chance a perforated tube could cause a nb to sink. 

Why would anybody design a BT system where the tube wasn't in a "sealed" compartment up to deck level?

Gas lockers are like that so why not BT?

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