Value for money at £95?

[Guest]

When we visited Colecraft their yard was full of the boats and the old chap there (Can't remember his name, but he showed us around) was telling us the company that ordered them originally ordered 30 boats. After building started they reduced the number to 20 then to 15. It sounded like they got the quote for 30 accepted it then when they'd paid they reduced the boat numbers to get a better price (robbing bastards!).

 

(disclaimer - I'm only going by what I heard and what my opinion is. I base none of the above on fact)

 

However if that is correct - and we have no real reason to say it may or may not be, it would demonstrate incredible naivety in them (Colecraft) not having a contract stating the individual unit price was governed by the number of units ordered, so that if the final number ordered and delivered reduced the unit price would increase.

[trampyjoe]

However if that is correct - and we have no real reason to say it may or may not be, it would demonstrate incredible naivety in them (Colecraft) not having a contract stating the individual unit price was governed by the number of units ordered, so that if the final number ordered and delivered reduced the unit price would increase.

 

A very good point. I should really try waking up before posting.

 

Build slots were something that was mentioned (now I've had a coffee I remember that!).

[magpie patrick]

If they can get £95 a throw, good luck to them. Make hay whilst the sun shines and all that. That said, there is something called elasticity of demand, put simply, does a price hike raise more money or put so many people off that money is lost on the deal. This is why rail companies have cheap tickets subject to certain conditions (a seat mile used can not be recovered, so there may as well be a bottom on the seat, BUT it is also necessary to extract the cash from those willing to pay more, otherwise the overall revenue is a loss maker).

 

Sometimes though, the elastic snaps. About twenty years ago an FA cup semifinal at Old Trafford failed to sell out, and with classic corporate logic the FA blamed it on there being too few seats with a restricted view (in other words, seats they could discount). They couldn't see that perhaps they'd charged too much for what is, after all, only a football match

 

Val has tickets to the diving at the Aquadrome: we have booked into a basic pub for two nights at a not exactly cheap price, but I've seen what the big chains are charging (four figure sums), and there is one other factor. The pub is within walking distance (okay, a long walk, about four miles) of the Olympic Park. Unless the powers that be are going to charge for walking, and close the pavements due to congestion, we will actually get to see the events.

 

You don't have to use these boats, there are other ways of getting to the Olympic park. If there is one thing that gets me down about the Olympics (and the FIFA world cup) it isn't this sort of thing it's big corporations demanding to be protected. There has been a fuss over our Sunday trading hours meaning that T shirts and other souvenirs can't be sold immediately afetr the closing ceremony. Ahem, they can, small shops, pubs and street stalls with a licence to trade can sell them, it's just that Megasports.inc can't, and Mesasports.inc resents others making a few bob, a pitiful amount compared to their own turnover.

[Guest]

A very good point. I should really try waking up before posting.

 

Build slots were something that was mentioned (now I've had a coffee I remember that!).

 

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's not possible but the builder in question has been in the game for years if not decades and I couldn't see them getting caught like that TBH.

[Chertsey]

Well, (assuming this operation is fully above board), there will be an awful lot of people with the required certification to operate trip boats, (is it still called "Boatmaster"?), but probably not enough future demand for their services for it to be too much use to most of them.

A while ago they were advertising for people who already had one - who would have got it at their own expense, and it's not cheap.

I haven't seen any suggestion that they're funding training. There was also some speculation a while back that there simply wouldn't be enough sufficiently qualified people to operate so many boats, nor the time and funds to train them.

[trampyjoe]

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's not possible but the builder in question has been in the game for years if not decades and I couldn't see them getting caught like that TBH.

 

I agree, they don't seem like the type of people to get shafted by a big company, lets hope they didn't.

 

A while ago they were advertising for people who already had one - who would have got it at their own expense, and it's not cheap.

I haven't seen any suggestion that they're funding training. There was also some speculation a while back that there simply wouldn't be enough sufficiently qualified people to operate so many boats, nor the time and funds to train them.

 

Maybe they hired 'overseas' personnel who have the qualification or equivalent qualification?

[Chertsey]

 

 

 

Maybe they hired 'overseas' personnel who have the qualification or equivalent qualification?

I know someone who's steering for them; he didn't mention that happening.

[magpie patrick]

 

Maybe they hired 'overseas' personnel who have the qualification or equivalent qualification?

 

There isn't an equivalent certificate for the local knowledge bit, although I did at one stage suggest sub-contracting the operation out to (say) an Amsterdam boat operator.

 

I notice that many seats at the Olympics remain unsold... the high end corporate ones, as I said earlier, sometimes with price elasticity, the elastic goes "twang"