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Boat builders who don't


duztee

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After weeks of comparing web sites of builders I e-mailed 4 of the ones I liked with an initial enquiry for a guide price and time slot.

Replies, None!

All 4 go to great lenghts on their web sites to express the importance they place on good customer care!

Ok, in all fairness I am only looking to have a shell built, and I was trying to find a builder in reasonable travel time of me, who also had hard standing space to rent for me to do the fit out, but even so I would have expected a reply, even if it was negative.

I think 2 weeks is a reasonable time to expect a response, so I guess it is a case of looking farther afield or a little higher up the price scale.

So, kind people are there any totally satisfied customers out there who would recommend their builder?

Duztee.

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My experience is that most good boat builders are too busy building boats to respond quickly and the bad ones are often over eager.

I appreciate that this is a bit of a sweeping generalisation, but you get my drift I'm sure.

 

Give them a call on the phone and check them out. You will find you get a much more positive response.

Go and see the ones which sound promising.

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Our sail-away builders aftersales service - a well known company with full page adverts in the magazines - is absolutely appalling to be honest. After waiting for 'action' to sort out our failed paint job we phoned the independent engineer to find out what was going on! Needless to say we had a phone call later from the company who apologised for the lack of communication. Problem still to be sorted though. I don't think its a case of not wanting to put the problem right its a case of when.

Other than that the shell and internal lining is supurb for the money so very pleased.

Edited by bag 'o' bones
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After weeks of comparing web sites of builders I e-mailed 4 of the ones I liked with an initial enquiry for a guide price and time slot.

Replies, None!

 

There is no excuse for poor customer relations - particularly if the company want to stay in business - Naming and shaming will warn other potential buyers what to expect.

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After weeks of comparing web sites of builders I e-mailed 4 of the ones I liked with an initial enquiry for a guide price and time slot.

Replies, None!

Duztee.

 

This seems typical of widebeam and narrowboat builders. In the past I have done the same kind of research as yourself then emailed, snail mailed and telephoned boat builders. Many ignore your enquiry and you wonder why the hell they bother to waste their money advertising.

 

If they ignore your initial contact, when they should be trying to get your business then can you expect them also to perform negligently once they've got your money and building your boat .

 

My advice is if they ignore your enquiry do not consider doing any business with them unless you are a masochist.

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Thanks,

The replies might not be inspiring of builders, but at least i am not so worried that it was just me, wording my requests badly.

Yes I agree that I could always 'phone, but I feel it is inconsiderate to drag a man away from his work to answer general inquires which it is my personal view he (she) would prefer to deal with during a tea break or in the evening.

But I agree those who do not answer do not inspire much confidence in any (expensive) future partnership.

duztee

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Actually, I can see your logic, but IMHO it often works the other way.

Many of the smaller hull builders pay for their website to be constructed by others but aren't

particularly PC friendly themselves. They will often chat quite freely about boats at shows and on the

phone but shy away from e-mails.

 

You only have to consider how many builders participate in forums ?

 

The handyman at Cowroast gets so much junk and spam on his business e-mail address, he told me

he doesn't even read e-mails anymore.

 

You have to remember that a lot of the UK narrowboating scene hasn't penetrated the 21st century.

 

Bearing in mind that a lot of forum members are the same people on the different canal related forums,

I would guess that only about 10% or less of boaters actually bother with the internet forums.

 

In my sphere of experience, most of the boatbuilders who do, usually have a dedicated member of the family or an employee who "does" the Internet.

 

My advice is:

 

Ring them, ask them to send you a spec/price, etc and give them a time limit that they agree to. If it doesn't come in the post by the time promised, bin them.

As has been said, if they cant send you a brochure or spec sheet, what chance for a painless boat birthing.

If they are welding when you call, they will have an answering machine. If they don't return your call in a day or two, BIN 'EM.

Edited by NB Willawaw
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I tend to agree with Willawaw, boat builders are plagued with 'tyre-kickers', what are you looking for anyway, a boat builder or a marketing man in a smart suit.

 

Hardly a tyre kicker when I've bought four new boats over the years but I've also suffered the same ignorant negligence suffered by the OP.

 

Where do get your assumption a "marketing man in a smart suit" is expected by an enquirer? I really think you are reaching wrong conclusions, perhaps based on your own requirements?

 

All that is expected is a polite, helpful and informative answer to an initial enquiry.

 

If a boat builder doesn't want enquiries by email, phone or snail mail why is he not honest and state in his advertisment 'personal callers only'. Which then means he has to interrupt his work schedule to deal with visitors and unable to prioritise his workload.

 

Such a builder has poor business management as it is far more effective to deal with an initial enquiry in the evening by phone or email etc. Also if a builder doesn't know how to effectively sift out 'tyre kickers' without ignoring every enquiry his business will be doomed to failure. He must face that consequence or employ somebody to deal with initial enquiries informatively and politely - hardly rocket science.

 

In business, no sales = no money = failure. This is being proved by the recent closures of some boat builders. Perhaps these builders would have not suffered their demise if they had dealt with their initial sales enquiries promptly and courteously.

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In business, no sales = no money = failure. This is being proved by the recent closures of some boat builders. Perhaps these builders would have not suffered their demise if they had dealt with their initial sales enquiries promptly and courteously.

 

Surely many of those who have gone under recently suffered precisely the opposite problem - very good at making sales but not so hot actually delivering the goods. I know what I'd rather have.

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Thanks,

The replies might not be inspiring of builders, but at least i am not so worried that it was just me, wording my requests badly.

Yes I agree that I could always 'phone, but I feel it is inconsiderate to drag a man away from his work to answer general inquires which it is my personal view he (she) would prefer to deal with during a tea break or in the evening.

But I agree those who do not answer do not inspire much confidence in any (expensive) future partnership.

duztee

 

Its never inconsiderate for a someone to answer a phone from someone who could potentially become the next job.

 

What is inconsiderate is the dickheads who e-mail myself regarding my outside bar business wanting know everything about it from what beers we sell to the colour of the front of the bar. So I send them a proper reply - I don't don't do standard replies - and then...... nothing. Not even a 'thanks for replying ' so you never even know if they received it (although deep down you know that most can't be bothered to let you know that they recieved the e-mail)

 

So the moral of this story is: Phone them. Then they know that your serious about spending money and that if they tick all the right boxes then they are sure to gain your custom!

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After weeks of comparing web sites of builders I e-mailed 4 of the ones I liked with an initial enquiry for a guide price and time slot.

Replies, None!

 

Duztee.

 

Blimey ! I would be round your way pronto especially in the current market !

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Hardly a tyre kicker when I've bought four new boats over the years but I've also suffered the same ignorant negligence suffered by the OP.

 

Where do get your assumption a "marketing man in a smart suit" is expected by an enquirer? I really think you are reaching wrong conclusions, perhaps based on your own requirements?

 

 

I really don't know why people try to personalise these matters, many builders used to have ten or more enquiries in their mail every morning each asking for a personal reply and quotation and he would have known that many of those enquirers couldn't even raise a deposit on a boat.

 

I would in their place, take the view that if they were in any way serious about buying a boat they would be prepared to ring up and talk to me..

 

Most builders are essentially one man operations, if you want a new washing machine, do you send off multiple applications for quotations or do you go down to the local shop and look for the one you need.

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I really don't know why people try to personalise these matters, many builders used to have ten or more enquiries in their mail every morning each asking for a personal reply and quotation and he would have known that many of those enquirers couldn't even raise a deposit on a boat.

 

I would in their place, take the view that if they were in any way serious about buying a boat they would be prepared to ring up and talk to me..

 

Most builders are essentially one man operations, if you want a new washing machine, do you send off multiple applications for quotations or do you go down to the local shop and look for the one you need.

 

If any business offers an email enquiry service then they should reply, even if it's just an automated reply. So if a business can't/won't use email to respond to enquires then that service should not be offered.

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This is not limited to a boatbuilder problem as I find this, not bothering to email/ring you back, attitude is endemic amongst most businesses I seem to deal with today. Even if you phone them, they'll promise to sort you out a price or availability of a service, then that's the last you hear from them. Chase them up, call round and nag them, even see them of an evening getting their shopping in Tescos and remind them gets no response.... :lol:

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When I had my boat built (after a lot of research) I rang the people I wanted to get quote from and made appointments to go and see them. This might be a bit tedious in terms of time spent travelling and is no guarantee that you wont be let down. However, a face to face meeting at their premises when thinking about spending a chunk of money seems wise.

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This is not limited to a boatbuilder problem as I find this, not bothering to email/ring you back, attitude is endemic amongst most businesses I seem to deal with today. Even if you phone them, they'll promise to sort you out a price or availability of a service, then that's the last you hear from them. Chase them up, call round and nag them, even see them of an evening getting their shopping in Tescos and remind them gets no response.... :lol:

 

The only time I get nagged is when its someones wedding. Usually the bar is booked about 12 months in advance and then we get an e-mail or phone call around every 2 months before the big day: 'is everything still ok?' they say. Yes were still here.....no problems. I suppose I can understand everyone wants there big day to go without a hitch and the last thing they want is someone pulling out of a contract at the last minute. Perhaps i'm one of the more contientious outside bar operators even if something untoward did happen and that for some reason we were unable to supply the bar at the last minute i've got plenty of contacts with other operators who would step in to save the day. Hmm I reckon I could teach some of these boat builders a thing or two about customer care!

Edited by bag 'o' bones
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After weeks of comparing web sites of builders I e-mailed 4 of the ones I liked with an initial enquiry for a guide price and time slot.

Replies, None!

All 4 go to great lenghts on their web sites to express the importance they place on good customer care!

Ok, in all fairness I am only looking to have a shell built, and I was trying to find a builder in reasonable travel time of me, who also had hard standing space to rent for me to do the fit out, but even so I would have expected a reply, even if it was negative.

I think 2 weeks is a reasonable time to expect a response, so I guess it is a case of looking farther afield or a little higher up the price scale.

So, kind people are there any totally satisfied customers out there who would recommend their builder?

Duztee.

 

Everyone is fairly new to the internet,and warned about ignoring spam, and that opening anything unknown could contain viruses,and trojan horses n stuff that could splice the mainframe and suchlike. Sending them detailed plans of how you want your boat, i.e. thicknesses, hatches, doors, primer base, and it may seem a sensible way to communicate, otherwise surely phone is best, then they know it's safe to open your email and that you'r not a spambot. :lol:

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Everyone is fairly new to the internet,and warned about ignoring spam, and that opening anything unknown could contain viruses,and trojan horses n stuff that could splice the mainframe and suchlike. Sending them detailed plans of how you want your boat, i.e. thicknesses, hatches, doors, primer base, and it may seem a sensible way to communicate, otherwise surely phone is best, then they know it's safe to open your email and that you'r not a spambot. :lol:

 

 

I don't agree with your "fairly new" comment, but the point is that if you DON'T like/trust email as a communication method then DON'T offer it!

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The shell bit might be part of the problem, it's hardly worth building them at the moment.

 

The only ways to do it are build in volume which means you need to sell them in volume (Nigh on impossible at the moment) or build very expensive one off shells one at a time for customers who are prepared to pay for what they want.

 

Unfortunately the tyre kickers come with the job, we have a build slot in November to fill and I have probably done twenty or so quotes for it along with a few meetings. Some of those "potentials" were serious, some didn't really know what they wanted, others needed to find the funds and others were just time wasters.

 

The Internet generates nearly all of enquiries since we stopped advertising and saved the £4K we had been throwing away to the magazines. We probably average out at about two requests a day for information via the Internet from all over the world, it would be nice if they all turned into orders but they don't and you have to accept that.

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The reality is that non-response is not just with boat builders. It occurs in hire too. We have a lovely couple on our boat at the mo for 5 weeks and they recalled horror stories of hire companies either simply not responding to their request for a boat for 5 weeks or actually refusing to hire (on the basis of too much hassle if it breaks down outside our normal operating radius)

 

On John's point about the washing machine, I do the opposite of what he suggests. I bcc a group of retailers with the spec I want and invite them to tender their best price. Most recent achievement was a £900 saving on a settee from the 'sale' price of a long established shop.

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We probably average out at about two requests a day for information via the Internet from all over the world, it would be nice if they all turned into orders but they don't and you have to accept that.

 

But if you didn't respond to those two calls you wouldn't get any orders. I can't understand how someone in business can give out their email address then not bother to reply. I know of one builder who is bemoaning the lack of work and I suspect he is in serious danger of going under. Yet he is notorious for not returning phone calls or answering emails.

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Thanks Everyone,

As always a good response, and I think a fair set of answers for both sides of the argument.

Basically I think if you are going to advertise your e-mail then you should respond, even if it is as was suggested, only with an automated answer, just to show it was recieved.

But I take Gary's point that since I was only asking about a shell, they probably put me straight into the 'no funds - fender kicker' box.

Anyway I take the general concensus that I have to pick up the 'phone and get in the car if I want to get the answers I seek.

Duztee

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