Midland chandlers - Store closures?

[ditchcrawler]

41 minutes ago, Shandybass said:

Such huge discount bargains to be had...

And you don't get the IWA discount on clearance items 

[Tonka]

41 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

And you don't get the IWA discount on clearance items 

Do they still give IWA discount ? I ask because they stopped giving HNBC members discount

[Lady M]

I got it last year.

[agg221]

On 14/02/2026 at 18:11, nealeST said:

Evri are just dreadful. They ‘fake’ photos to prove they have delivered I found to my horror when on the boat.  Lately I found a 25kg package the size of a flat screen tv dumped on my fathers driveway for a block of flats 800 meters away.👹

To continue this particular off-topic diversion, round here Evri are very good. For example, a parcel sent on Saturday arrived on Monday (yesterday) with a photograph which clearly showed it in the correct location.

 

By contrast, battles over the past week with ParcelFarce have included shouting language at the phone which would get me permanently banned from the forum (apparently the phone bot only understands 'yes' and 'no' and if you add descriptive explanations of what you think of it, it asks again). This stems from a delivery which made it from Germany to the UK in two days, attempted delivery on the 24th, I went online and rescheduled for the 28th but they attempted delivery on the 25th instead, then ignored the 28th and attempted delivery again yesterday. Having rearranged delivery you can't do it again, even if it's their issue because they failed to follow the instruction, so you have to find a way through their phone system which is deliberately designed to stop you talking to anyone. First phone call was on hold for an hour, then they shut and hung up. Second call the following day was on hold for an hour and a half before they hung up and finally got through on the third attempt after another hour. They assured me they would send me confirmation that it would be delivered to the local post office - still nothing. I have lost the motivation to ring them to find out where it actually is, which is of course what they want.

 

The only thing you can do with bad delivery companies is contact the sender to let them know your experience. It doesn't guarantee anything, but potentially they will look to shift to a different supplier if they want to deliver a good service.

 

Alec

[GUMPY]

If packages don't arrive or arrive damaged you can of course inform the seller that it's not arrived and you are going to your credit card company to dispute the transaction. The CC is as liable as the seller You did buy with a credit card didn't you.

Sometimes I just go straight to the CC and dispute the transaction and not bother with the seller at all.

Last year I did it with the DVLA they were tardy with the car tax refund. 3 days later the full tax was in my bank account, 4 days later the refund arrived. Took them 4 months to catch up with me and ask for the tax back.

 

[cuthound]

14 hours ago, GUMPY said:

If packages don't arrive or arrive damaged you can of course inform the seller that it's not arrived and you are going to your credit card company to dispute the transaction. The CC is as liable as the seller You did buy with a credit card didn't you.

Sometimes I just go straight to the CC and dispute the transaction and not bother with the seller at all.

Last year I did it with the DVLA they were tardy with the car tax refund. 3 days later the full tax was in my bank account, 4 days later the refund arrived. Took them 4 months to catch up with me and ask for the tax back.

 

 

The CC company is only jointly liable for purchases between £100 and £30,000, so no good for low value purchases, however I understand that PayPal will refund contested low value purchases.

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

The CC company is only jointly liable for purchases between £100 and £30,000, so no good for low value purchases, however I understand that PayPal will refund contested low value purchases.

Be aware that the CC company is only liable if there's a direct financial transaction between buyer and seller, for example if you buy directly from the company selling the product -- if you go through an intermediary/third-party (e.g. Amazon) this does not apply if that's who your contract of sale is with, and you only have charge-back to fall back on...

[GUMPY]

Amazon and eBay are no problem they offer refunds even if the seller declined to be helpful.

I have had several where the seller ignores me and after 7 days Amazon/eBay initiate a refund.

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

Amazon and eBay are no problem they offer refunds even if the seller declined to be helpful.

I have had several where the seller ignores me and after 7 days Amazon/eBay initiate a refund.

That's true (so long as it works and there's no dispute, not always the case), I was just pointing out that you can't rely on CC companies in this case.

[GUMPY]

I've had disputes where the seller has completely blanked all Comms and still got a refund, if you apply it's automatic once a certain date has passed no matter what the seller does.

[IanD]

14 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

I've had disputes where the seller has completely blanked all Comms and still got a refund, if you apply it's automatic once a certain date has passed no matter what the seller does.

And I've had a dispute where it wasn't resolved so quickly due to plain old lies from the seller, telling Amazon there wasn't a problem and I was lying and ripping them off... 😞

 

I agree that Amazon is normally pretty good, but not always -- and if they're not, you can't necessarily rely on the CC company to refund you.

 

That's just a warning, because many (most?) people think you can if it's within the £100-£30k limit, they don't know about the "direct contract" clause... 😉 

Edited March 4 by IanD

[stagedamager]

for those that didn't see the news from Mercia, Johnson's chandlery will be taking over the MC building and im assuming from the press release the drydock too. Vera used to work for MC so is extremely knowledgeable and her and Johnny have got a great business at Trent Lock. I look forward to seeing their business grow into the new space and will happily be supporting them. 

[Liam]

On 25/02/2026 at 07:48, pete23 said:

Rumour has it that aquavista are going to do something with the site. 

Not sure where the rumour came from, but not the case.

[pete23]

1 hour ago, Liam said:

Not sure where the rumour came from, but not the case.

The rumour about the stores closing was true so I’m going with this one as well seen as it’s from the same source.

[Liam]

23 minutes ago, pete23 said:

The rumour about the stores closing was true so I’m going with this one as well seen as it’s from the same source.

Somebody better tell their landlord then because he doesn't know!

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Liam said:

Somebody better tell their landlord then because he doesn't know!

Now lets all guess who that is 

[Momac]

Looks like Midland Chandlers will be at the Crick Boat show in May

 

https://www.crickboatshow.com/exhibitors/exhibitors/

https://www.crickboatshow.com/

 

 

 

Edited March 23 by Momac

[robtheplod]

51 minutes ago, Momac said:

Looks like Midland Chandlers will be at the Crick Boat show in May

 

https://www.crickboatshow.com/exhibitors/exhibitors/

https://www.crickboatshow.com/

 

 

 

Will they really be there or have a big screen to their online shop? 

[Steve Bassplayer]

Midland Chandlers have had a lot of money off me over the years. None of it by mail order via their web site that I recall.

 

If I’m going to switch to ordering via the web, what alternatives are there to Midland Chandlers. Any recommendations? 

Edited March 23 by Steve Bassplayer

[Hudds Lad]

29 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

Midland Chandlers have had a lot of money off me over the years. None of it by mail order via their web site that I recall.

 

If I’m going to switch to ordering via the web, what alternatives are there to Midland Chandlers. Any recommendations? 

In the past i found it cheaper to order from their eBay storefront rather than through the website, same product price but postage was free. May not be the same now.

 

Just find the part/item you want, then google it's specific description or manufacturers part no., you'll then find a load of places selling the same thing with varying prices. It's hard to pick one particular site or chandlery as prices differ so much.

 

We needed some coolant this weekend, was quite sad to pass the Braunston branch and not be able to stop in, luckily found a bottle of concentrate in the engine bay that i previously thought was oil  

[Jen-in-Wellies]

I did once find an item (a temperature mixer valve for a calorifier) that I couldn't find cheaper online anywhere else than Midland Swindlers, even figuring in postage. 🤯

[PaulJ]

Seems that Midland Chandlers arent the only ones suffering a lack of trade with Lee Valley Marina now shutting their chandlery too. (It is still open at Stanstead Abbotts)

Amazed at that given the vast numbers of boats in that area.

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

Seems that Midland Chandlers arent the only ones suffering a lack of trade with Lee Valley Marina now shutting their chandlery too. (It is still open at Stanstead Abbotts)

Amazed at that given the vast numbers of boats in that area.

Boats don't spend money

[PaulJ]

5 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Boats don't spend money

Nor do owners apparently.

[Steve Bassplayer]

Just found these guys. They seem to stock a lot of stuff also available via their web site. I have passed them on the boat in the past going down the Staffs & Worcester but not bought anything from them yet. The prices look very good…

 

https://pgl.store/