River Canal Rescue - should one join?

[Emerald Fox]

I was told it's not worth joing RiverCanalRescue - but with no explanation... it seems to be an AA/RAC of the water channels. Is it worth joining, or what? What does one do if one's boat breaks down (I'm thinking more of engine & electrical failures, etc.). Is the RCR better than calling to a local boatyard for help?

[by'eck]

Its really your choice. Like insurance its the masses that benefit the few but who's to say one day you won't be one of the latter.

 

It may well be that RCR call out the local boatyard as one of their contractors.

[NB Lola]

From my perspective and experience, definitely worth joining

[Leo No2]

I take the view that being single and female it gives me some kind of insurance. If I break down on, for example, the Oxford summit I am fairly sure they will come out with the right part (if the symptoms I have given are correct) and get me on my way.

 

I have a standard setup with a PRM gearbox and a Beta 43 engine. If however I had a Bolinder or maybe a Gardner engine or something else older I am not sure that membership would be of any benefit to me and I'd call on the likes of RWLP, of this Parish, for advice. But having a standard setup I feel RCR will get me moving again within a reasonable time scale.

[Arthur Brown]

It all depends on your use of your boat. If you are a marina based live aboard then probably not, if you are a cruiser then probably so.

 

DO you have the phone numbers of all the engineers in your cruising range, does your marina workshop open 24/7?

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Hi ya,

I use to belong to 'Sea Start' which is sort of the same thing, Never Had to use it myself, but was a Comfort & piece of mind,

I did see there boats Zipping around quite a bit at one point, But Coverage was sparse on the East Coast, so Decided not to renew.

However this C&RR that I've seen advertised a lot, my be a great idea, Especially for Some of the Rivers Like The Lower Thames Say Gravsend, Medway say Kingsnorth, Arun say Littlehampton, and alike, where things can go from bad to worse quickly !.

Anyone know there response times !.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[junior]

So say I called them out and said I think my fuel pump has packed up socthey brought one with them, would I have to pay them a call out fee plus the cost of the water pump and the fitting, or just the cost for the parts?

[bottle]

Depends on the cover you have: retained, bronze, siver, gold.

 

http://www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk/

[Arphamoe]

I joined and had the misfortune to break down - RCR attended and dealt with a broken cable, paid only for cable but also got a 'credit note' for the value if I needed to call again. Service time very good so I'd say take the offer. I have also done a weekend Course with them which gave me much more confidence to deal with issues myself!!

[Arthur Brown]

I'd hope that any recovery service would take some notice of a declared fault, but I'd be surprised to find any recovery service that took the first call as a total and correct diagnosis.

[Timx]

I called them out last year in July as there was some water in the bilges and I couldn't work out where it was coming from,They came out within a couple of hours and found out the problem and advised me what to do.last month they rang me to say I owed them a hundred quid call out charge as it was deemed an emergency and that is not covered in there charges.,I argued the toss and they sent me a threatening letter court etc. Read the small print there is not much they will do without charging you extra,. They mostly appear to be a starting point to ring who will either send there man out or a local contractor. If you have google you can do that yourself.

[Paul C]

If you have google you can do that yourself.

 

So its quite possible you're on the boat, broken down, can't move, and in a signal area with no internet/data coverage but you have a 2G phone signal....

[dor]

Depends on whether you know your boat, carry tools and can fix things yourself; and have the sort of mechanical sympathy that lets you detect things before they fail.

 

I've called therm out once in the ten years I've been a member - I could have fixed the problem myself but decided I've given them enough money over the years. My biggest bug with them is the paltry no-claims discount they give. If it was higher, it would discourage the people who call them out for trivial things (and some people seem proud of how many things they call them out for, right down to a dripping tap) and reward people who look after their boat and do regular maintenance.

 

If you are the sort of person that never lifts the deck boards until something happens, then it might be worth joining.

[Emerald Fox]

...since posting I have been looking t'Internet-thingy for bits about CRC and there seem to be mostly positive evaluations. We may be inclined to join them... thanks for comments, all helps.

[Tony Brooks]

What far too many people do not do is read the small print. They do not cover domestic equipment and services as far as I know. This extends to a faulty domestic alternator. If anything prevents stops your engine then I think you are covered but with lower levels of cover you have to pay for all parts. With the cheapest Retained cover you also pay a stated call out fee.

 

Last year, when we went up north and away from my native area I happily paid the for Retained cover but still sorted an alternator failure myself. If it had failed a couple of days before I would have been very happy to call them and pay even though I am more than capable of sorting such things myself - I am not capable of sorting local transport to an unknown town to get spares. A taxi could well cost more than RCR's retained call out fee.

 

The boater I came across on a Bank holiday Saturday who snapped a 21 ft control cable would not have had to tie up for two or three days until the local yard could order in such along cable if he had been a member.

 

I will not be renewing the cover when I am not making trips well away from the south.

[Mac of Cygnet]

I called them out last year in July as there was some water in the bilges and I couldn't work out where it was coming from,They came out within a couple of hours and found out the problem and advised me what to do.last month they rang me to say I owed them a hundred quid call out charge as it was deemed an emergency and that is not covered in there charges.,I argued the toss and they sent me a threatening letter court etc. Read the small print there is not much they will do without charging you extra,. They mostly appear to be a starting point to ring who will either send there man out or a local contractor. If you have google you can do that yourself.

I can't believe that anyone would call out RCR because of water in the bilge, unless it was pouring in and threatening to sink the boat. However, they should have made it clear on callout that this would be charged for. They are there to help if you actually break down, and will get you on your way, just like the motoring organisations.

 

I disagreed with their change in policy three or four years back whereby certain parts are covered as well as labour and callout, with consequent increase in premiums. It makes things much more complicated, as there have to be precise definitions of what is covered and what is not. Still a member though, with the convenience of one number to ring if anything goes wrong. I've used them several times in the past few years, with only one unsatisfactory experience, where I was nearly persuaded to get a new alternator when the culprit was water getting into a fuse. Otherwise their own engineers and contracted boatyards did a good job.

[Paul C]

Our first year on the boat we had Silver cover, basically because we were unfamiliar with the boat, and this package got us home if there was a serious issue. The Gold cover is much more expensive but I believe also covers the cost of relevant parts - more like an extended (and open ended) warranty than a breakdown cover. Now I'm more familiar with the boat and its mechanics, we're on retainer cover, just in case there's something I can't fix. The 2 times we broke down were show-stopping (no drive forwards or backwards) but were in fact minor issues which were possible to fix in around half an hour of spannering, once I'd diagnosed it.

[jim and pat dalton]

I wrote about my own experience with RCR on here last year.

 

Reading it you might not think that it was very good as it took many many days to fix my problem and thanks to a clumsy engineer I was left with another. however RCR came good on all of it and we renewed our membership (as I said I would)

 

Like any organisation nothing is absolutely perfect but RCR do work at getting it right and deserve support. we personally recommend them and think the service they proved is essential.

 

Its good to have something in your back pocket for when it goes wrong, ours is the Silver membership and it has paid pack more than it has owed us so far.

 

So yes, go for it.

[DustyDave]

I've never been a member. Broke down once, called a local engineer. He was with me the following morning and fixed the boat within an hour. Far cheaper than joining RCR. If I was a member the would have sent the same guy. The only reason he wasn't with me faster was because he was on an RCR callout.

 

Dave

[Circe]

We had a very bad experience with them when we broke down shortly after buying our boat. The engine mounting bolts had sheered.

 

They subcontracted it to a local yard, who said he could get it fixed same day. He subsequently charged us for loading and unloading his van - for travel time (several times a day to and from his yard to collect things - including his lunch!) and did jobs without authorisation (like changing the stern gland packing - done less than 3 weeks previously). The bill for the work was enormous.

 

If that wasn't bad enough, because he'd taken a couple of parts away on the first visit, we were stranded. After 3 days, a full loo, no electricity (because we couldn't run the engine) and 3 kids on board (including a disabled one) - we gave up and got a friend to drive and collect us.

 

This is all with silver cover.

 

We still have RCR cover - albeit at a basic level - but I'd do pretty much anything to avoid having to call them out again.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Circe