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Hull blacking NEAR MERCIA MARINA


Andrew B

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I'm wanting to take my 40ft NB for the hull blacking ASAP near Mercia Marina ( I don't mind travelling a full day or so). I'm wanting 3 coats of blacking on and if possible the closest and prices if you know what they are.

 

Mercia has quoted me around £475 I think at the top of my head a few months ago and that was for 2 coats. I always thought the rule of the thumb was 3 coats minimum hence why I am posting this.

 

Regards

Andrew.

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I'm wanting to take my 40ft NB for the hull blacking ASAP near Mercia Marina ( I don't mind travelling a full day or so). I'm wanting 3 coats of blacking on and if possible the closest and prices if you know what they are.

 

Mercia has quoted me around £475 I think at the top of my head a few months ago and that was for 2 coats. I always thought the rule of the thumb was 3 coats minimum hence why I am posting this.

 

Regards

Andrew.

 

Hi Andrew,

 

Try Paul Westby at Kegworth marine just near Trent lock on the Soar. Paul does a great job and is very reasonably priced. If you need any further detains just PM Me.

 

Regards

 

Redeye

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I'm wanting to take my 40ft NB for the hull blacking ASAP near Mercia Marina ( I don't mind travelling a full day or so). I'm wanting 3 coats of blacking on and if possible the closest and prices if you know what they are.

 

Mercia has quoted me around £475 I think at the top of my head a few months ago and that was for 2 coats. I always thought the rule of the thumb was 3 coats minimum hence why I am posting this.

 

Regards

Andrew.

 

Sounds like a fair price to me, and if the work is to be done by Justin's team at Aqua NB at Mercia I'm pretty sure you will be getting a good job done.

 

but

 

There is a place at Trent lock opposite where we moored last Saturday who seemed to doing a roaring trade - and to make it cheaper they offer the DIY option too.

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I'm wanting to take my 40ft NB for the hull blacking ASAP near Mercia Marina ( I don't mind travelling a full day or so). I'm wanting 3 coats of blacking on and if possible the closest and prices if you know what they are.

 

Mercia has quoted me around £475 I think at the top of my head a few months ago and that was for 2 coats. I always thought the rule of the thumb was 3 coats minimum hence why I am posting this.

 

Regards

Andrew.

 

 

Red Hill Marina - just onto the Soar do a drag out for £200 per week - DIY. Although they will probably do it for you, ring them for a price

 

 

Alex

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Having mine done at Shobnall now, so the juries out. The jury well and truly came home regarding the most convenient one for us who moor in Mercia after we noticed last August a lot of the blacking had come off having only been done February 2010!! We're the second on our pontoon to have had this problem hence going further afield.

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Had mine done twice to date, at Shobnall and Calcutt. The Calcutt job seems to have lasted longer, but there's a lot of variables that make it difficult to compare. I've only ever had two coats, I'm giving three a try this Autumn with Ventnor Farm Services.

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Having mine done at Shobnall now, so the juries out. The jury well and truly came home regarding the most convenient one for us who moor in Mercia after we noticed last August a lot of the blacking had come off having only been done February 2010!! We're the second on our pontoon to have had this problem hence going further afield.

 

As I am currently sitting in the dry dock at Shobnall on Intrepid and seen the standard of work I will be thinking to bring The Maisibert here next time.

 

Regards

 

Andy

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As I am currently sitting in the dry dock at Shobnall on Intrepid and seen the standard of work I will be thinking to bring The Maisibert here next time.

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

How much do they charge - our boat will need blacking shortly and we are at Mercia?? - just up from there.

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Sorry to hear of this, but unless you let us know that you've experienced a problem then were unable to investigate the issues that may have caused it. We have had customers in the dock that have experienced problems with hull blacking from various other yards but i always suggest that they contact the yard to discuss it with them, certainly before posting a comment on a public forum. On our system we've got the blacking being completed in Sept 2009? Unfortunately there are lots of variable factors that can affect hull blacking from moisture when being applied, physical abrasion, weed growth, indequate drying time etc. But we will always do our best to look into any concerns that a customer may have.

 

Justin

 

 

Having mine done at Shobnall now, so the juries out. The jury well and truly came home regarding the most convenient one for us who moor in Mercia after we noticed last August a lot of the blacking had come off having only been done February 2010!! We're the second on our pontoon to have had this problem hence going further afield.

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Sorry to hear of this, but unless you let us know that you've experienced a problem then were unable to investigate the issues that may have caused it. We have had customers in the dock that have experienced problems with hull blacking from various other yards but i always suggest that they contact the yard to discuss it with them, certainly before posting a comment on a public forum. On our system we've got the blacking being completed in Sept 2009? Unfortunately there are lots of variable factors that can affect hull blacking from moisture when being applied, physical abrasion, weed growth, indequate drying time etc. But we will always do our best to look into any concerns that a customer may have.

 

Justin

 

Nicely put Justin and fair play to you.

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Dear Justin,

 

Or Jus73, until you were identified.

 

I was not happy with the service you provided and would have considered it a one-off but, unfortunately, I have heard first-hand experience of your blacking services from a neighbouring boat. Thus in good faith, I have expressed my justification of using Shobnall services.

 

The date of the blacking is open to debate. I paid for the service in September 2009 in full. Athough the event itself was organised by an associate of mine I am prepared to accept our dates my differ - I recall it happened in February. My concern remains that even if you had done the blacking in September 2009, less than one year later,the blacking was largely absent from my boat. However, in my decade-long experience of being a boatowner, and not living in a bubble, this is my first experience of anyone not being happy with a blacking.

 

You may be right that there are a number of reasons why you are not to blame for this. You may also be in business and wish to protect your profit margins by arguing that it's not your fault. As you state: you have also have encountered blacking which is substandard by other companies - that is neither my dispute nor concern. I have met many people whose values, ethics, beliefs are at odds with mine.

 

I had to re-black my boat at the earliest opportunity and have gone elsewhere. I have not approached your company because, as a customer, it remains my prorogative to choose suppliers. I was not satisfied with the services rendered and I have chosen not to exercise my consumer rights. At this point, it is only fair to point out that you can appeal to the moderators to have this thread pulled, exercising your rights.

 

If you are upset by negative customer feedback, I suggest that you be more proactive: ask your customers whether they are happy with your services after one year. If your blacking, in your opinion, is sufficient, you should not fear the response. May I remind you: the opening poster was concerned that you only do two coats, but believed three was standard. I am not an expert as to whether 2 or 3 coats are required. I am merely an expert in knowing whether or not I repeat business with companies I have used.

 

One final point. If you do not like public discussions, you could have sent a private-message asking me to remove my comments.

 

You escalated.

 

I have responded.

 

Penelope Brown

NiceNarrowboat.

 

Rant over??

 

So why didn't you contact Aqua NB direct with your concerns???

 

and do them the courtesy of allowing them the chance to rectify before you rubbished them in a public forum???

 

You were the one that escalated BTW with your unsubstantiated rant.

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As I understand it, the standard dry dock booking slot at Mercia isn't long enough to allow the proper drying times for 3 coats. The dry dock is owned by Mercia Marina not Aqua Narrowboats, so they don't have a choice in this. I think Justin has taken the view that in the circumstances it's better to do 2 coats properly than 3 in a rush, and I think he's right.

 

Penelope, if I were Justin then right now I'd be pleased you're going elsewhere, after that completely unnecessary post. He's not said anything that warrants it, indeed the impression I get from his post is that he's more than willing to investigate and (if appropriate) rectify any problems that are brought to his attention. As he says, blacking can be affected by all sorts of factors, not all of them controllable. The point about other yard's boats wasn't to say "Other places do a bad job, so that's ok", it was a point about communication. He's saying he always recommends that people talk to their own yard first, if they're unhappy. Makes sense to me.

 

I might add at this point that my own boat was blacked by Aqua Narrowboats 2 years ago and we did hit a snag in the process. I too did my fair share of ranting on here (unnecessarily, in retrospect) but in the end we managed to work out a solution that, if anything, was noticeably more in my favour than Justin's. He wouldn't take any extra money so in the end I put some cash in the tea fund (or was it the Xmas box?). Two years later my blacking still looks excellent, though admittedly I specified Rylards, which isn't Aqua's normal brand, and in the end I think I ended up with 3 or 4 coats. That's not to say that Aqua's standard stuff is inferior btw, I just prefer Rylards.

 

I do agree with those who say that 3 coats is best. This is something I will take up with Robert in the Marina office as he is in charge of the dry dock arrangements. Perhaps, Penelope, you'd like to do something positive and mention it also?

Edited by sociable_hermit
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We're the second on our pontoon to have had this problem hence going further afield.

A further thought - this is the first I've heard of anyone having problems like this at Mercia (what happened with my boat is unrelated). However it transpires that someone else on the same pontoon has had the same trouble? That says possible galvanic corrosion issues to me.

 

Oh, and in terms of the identity of Jus73, I'd say the name was a clue, as was the content of the post, oh and the names of the boats shown under the avatar. Maybe not, though...

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Oh, and in terms of the identity of Jus73, I'd say the name was a clue, as was the content of the post, oh and the names of the boats shown under the avatar. Maybe not, though...

 

I also think Justin's signature sort of seals it -

 

Aqua Narrowboat Hire & Aqua Narrowboats

www.aquanarrowboathire.com

www.aquanarrowboats.co.uk

Blog

 

 

For Penelope to hint or even suggest that he was in some way 'outed' or 'revealed' is just plain ludicrous.

 

Dear Justin,

 

Or Jus73, until you were identified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

..

Edited by MJG
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From what I can see Justin has actually had the guts to respond to your message and most people of boat yards - doing hull blacking wouldn't even bother to respond. Especially if they know you arent going to trade with them again and I also agree you should have contacted Aqua direct at the first instance it was starting to come off. You rant on over consumer rights but if you were to actually pursue someone regarding this they would ask if you contacted Justin - Aqua regarding this which which you didn't so how did he know whenever there was a problem if you didn't notify him?

 

I've met some despicable pieces of turd before for customer service which has been appalling and I have and will continue to report these to trading standards and consumer direct. Justins reply was more than adequate for service espesically recalling it was 2 years ago.

 

I also know people who are happy with Aqua's service and I thoroughly agree with MGJ.

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Going back to the original question, does the small yard at Fradley Jn do blacking?

 

If so they'd be worth asking for a quote.

 

They certainly do NB painting - we got a quote from them for our side panels last time we passed through, and they have a dry dock I'm pretty sure - not sure about them doing blacking though and I've left the leaflet I got from them on the boat.

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