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Not all hire boats look nice....:


Magne R

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All the imperfections which you show appear to be on the exterior of the boat. During your trip, did you live in the inside or on the outside of the boat? How did some flaky external décor affect your holiday?

 

Grow up.

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Athy that's rude.

 

To Magne R,

I see what you mean, if I'd paid out the cost of hiring I'd expect a reasonable well painted boat. Hiring isn't cheap. Bumps and scrapes are inevitable. Rust no. Anybody ever got a flake of loose paint and rust under a fingernail, ouchy ouchy ouch.

 

If it was somebody else's boat or mine I'd just accept it as a boat and how it is.

 

Oh and welcome to the forum, some of us are quite friendly.

  • Greenie 1
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All the imperfections which you show appear to be on the exterior of the boat. During your trip, did you live in the inside or on the outside of the boat? How did some flaky external décor affect your holiday?

 

Grow up.

Did you get out the wrong side of the bed?

 

To be fair to the OP that is a bit of a scabby looking boat which will have cost a good few hundred to hire, when you see how the likes of Ashby and Valley cruisers send their boats out it's not unreasonable to expect something better than that.

 

The condition of the exterior does not bode well for the interior condition either. I think I would be miffed too TBH.

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Well, welcome to the forum....

 

and your reason to join was.

 

The people to talk to is the hirer.

 

Having said all that, it does look a little tatty, probably one of their older boats and missed out on its winter paint job.

 

It may be up for sale as it is at the end of its hire life.

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Did you get out the wrong side of the bed?

 

 

Almost. This morning I learned of the passing of someone whom I liked and respected greatly, and with whom I felt privileged to work over a period of some years. So my mood is not its usual light-hearted self I'm afraid.

 

Mrs. Cat, I was not aiming to be complimentary. We saw no photos of the inside of the boat. Whining about a bit of scruffy outside paintwork is perhaps not the most polite way to open one's forum account either.

 

However, that said, welcome to the forum Magne and I hope that you will contribute to other topics on here.

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Alvechurch standards have dropped now that there too big

I think they dropped a while ago! We hired from them about 15 years ago, out of Anderton to do the Caldon amongst other things. Boat was pretty tired looking. We got a couple of locks up the Caldon, Jeff was just commenting on how many used syringes there were lying around and how nice the little boy who held a brick over our heads as we passed under the bridge (nice because he didn't actually drop it until we were past), when the engine alarm sounded. A quick check revealed the alternator slotted arm had snapped and the belt was thus totally loose, so no charge and more importantly no water pump. This is the only time I have ever broken down abruptly in a boat.

 

Jeff said "we can't stop here" so I managed to rig up some rope to hold the alternator out enough for the water pump to be driven. Phoned Alvechurch, who said it would be some time... Limped to the pub by the Leek branch Jn. The guy finally arrived early evening and said "Oh yea, that alternator fell of last week as well". It was eventually fixed (whilst we attended the pub). It seemed as though this was all quite normal and naturally, no apology for our inconvenience.

 

I think Alvechurch think they are the bees knees and charge accordingly, but in reality there is much better value for money out there.

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I see a lot of hire boats in Stoke Bruerne. Top of the list by far is Wyvern Shipping - always look immaculate - we locked down part of the Stoke Bruerne flight in Sculptor with a Wyvern boat this morning - it was an old boat but looked great. By contrast the ABC and 'Canal Boat Hire' boats look as if they could do with some TLC or as my Mum would have said 'need a good wash behind the ears'. We get occasional hire boats from Wigrams Turn and Rose Narrowboats which all look good - it's the ABC and Canal Boat Hire boats which look tired.

 

NB not associated with any hire boat company

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Napton boats, yes, usually well turned out externally (and look good inside too). Calcutt's boats look a bit scruffy to me, though their livery does them no favours.

 

I thought that Alvechurch had become part of the ABC company?

Edited by Athy
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I have always been very impressed with valley cruisers who not only look very smart on the outside but have a very high spec inside as well.

If I was at all unhappy with the boat I was given to hire, the comp[any it came from would be my first point of call.

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Napton boats, yes, usually well turned out externally (and look good inside too). Calcutt's boats look a bit scruffy to me, though their livery does them no favours.

 

I thought that Alvechurch had become part of the ABC company?

 

There are two ABC's out there and not connected.

 

Alvechurch Boat company is I believe the parent company of ABC Leisure and also have Anglo Welsh, Canal Time or whatever they call themselves now, Viking Afloat and a few others.

 

They also have Diamond Resorts and manage a few share boats.

 

As others have said they have got to big and lost their way.

 

I was a happy customer for many years.

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What was the inside of the boat like? If I stayed in a hotel and the outside was a bit shabby but the inside was lovely, I wouldn't care.

Was the accommodation well looked after?

 

Also - I'm assuming you're a genuine customer and not a rival company who's taken the photo of an ex-hireboat while just passing by on the towpath!

Edited by BlueStringPudding
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When all these problems were pointed out to the hire company, what was their response? The OP was fast enough to besmirch the company's reputation here, and has been silent since. There's not even any proof that all the pictures are of the same boat.

 

As others have said here, I'm assuming the OP was actually a hirer, and not just someone with a grudge such as an ex-employee. The longer we wait for a reply, the more credence I give to the latter theory.

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I'm a "real" customer who booked online, paid the full regular price for that period , and post here using my own name. So "they" will know it is me. (may still call me "fake", using any nick)

 

Different people have different standards. If you think this boat is fine, why get offended by me posting some photos. If looking for a boat to hire and don't like what you see, perhaps my post is useful.

 

I wish I knew a few weeks ago that some boats look like this. That is the reason for me to join and post here.

  • Greenie 2
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I'm a "real" customer who booked online, paid the full regular price for that period , and post here using my own name. So "they" will know it is me. (may still call me "fake", using any nick)

 

Different people have different standards. If you think this boat is fine, why get offended by me posting some photos. If looking for a boat to hire and don't like what you see, perhaps my post is useful.

 

I wish I knew a few weeks ago that some boats look like this. That is the reason for me to join and post here.

So what did the hire company say to you when you brought your concerns to their attention?

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All the imperfections which you show appear to be on the exterior of the boat. During your trip, did you live in the inside or on the outside of the boat? How did some flaky external décor affect your holiday?

 

Grow up.

The point is that a canal boat holiday costs a lot of money so you would expect a boat to be better cosmetically than some £8,000 scrapper on Apollo Duck.

 

If I booked a holiday in a hunting lodge in the Lake District then regardless of how nice it was on the inside, I wouldn't expect it to look like a Liverpool (other cities are available) crack dealer's squat on the outside.

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I can see that the OP has taken photos of several tatty details of the outside of the boat. This will tend to present it in the worst possible light.

 

But I'm very much with Athy here, it's a hire boat, not a bleedin' wedding limousine, and if the inside was clean and all worked properly, I don't see a problem at all.

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