Starry Night Marine Industry
Golden Anchor Customer Service Awards - 2009
The Golden Anchor 2009 for exceptional customer service is awarded to Cove Marina, Brundall
At Cove Marina you are one of the family! The two Daves will do anything for you to ensure that you are a happy boater. When we needed a mud weight, no problem, Dave found a second hand one for us; battery needed charging over the winter, no problem, Dave looks in once a month and puts it on charge for us; need any advice on boats, the Broads, weather, spares, pubs or anything thereabouts and Dave or Dave will help you out and dispense those vital tips and tricks that come from years of experience. The location is superb and the atmosphere so friendly. It's a perfect place to keep your boat. That's what I call service! Thank you Dave and Dave of Cove Marina for a great year.
The Bronze Anchor 2009 for excellence in customer service is awarded to King's Lock Boatyard, Cheshire
When I needed advice after the coupling incident I was pointed in the direction of Mike at King's Lock Boatyard by Vetus UK. Mike spent a lot of time talking me through the issues, and explaining the ins and outs of the Vetus coupling which he clearly knows a lot about. He was quite happy to field my questions over a period of several weeks as the facts emerged. His solid advice gave me confidence that what we ended up doing was the proper engineering solution. That's what I call service! Thank you Mike. Click here for the full story.
The Rusty Anchor 2009 for exceptionally bad customer service is awarded to (see if you can guess!)
Back in October 2004 we had Starry Night's shaft log replaced due to rusting. The work was done at a well known yard on the Thames between Teddington and Staines which specialise among other things in repairs to Dutch steel boats. This involved the removal of the prop shaft and then its subsequent re-installation. That was the last time anyone touched the coupling until it let go of the prop shaft this last May, when our engineer discovered that back in 2004 the coupling had been misassembled - installed with the taper lock back to front. The proprietor of the mystery boat yard, Felix Lane (not real name), tried to tell me that the taper lock would work better when assembled back to front! Having refuted that, he then threw up other red herrings as to why the coupling failure was just one of those things. It was bit like a bad script from an old film from the nearby studios. In the end it required some legal beagles to extract recompense, which has now been banked! Felix didn't get a Christmas card! Click here for the full story and here for the technical stuff.
The Golden Anchor 2008 for exceptional customer service is awarded to Raymarine
Raymarine lent me a course computer, at no charge, to check against my own five year old model, in an effort to help pin-point the source of a problem I was experiencing that could not be duplicated on their test bed in Portsmouth. There were no strings attached. I could have it as long as I needed. When the fault was isolated to my one (the loan unit performed faultlessly) they offered to exchange the units permanently at no cost to me. That's what I call service! Thank you Raymarine!
The Bronze Anchor 2008 for excellence in customer service is awarded to Ramsgate Marine Services
Ramsgate Marine Services sourced and obtained an exact replacement automotive alternator when our old one failed at Ramsgate. This was all done in the space of 30 minutes on a Saturday morning. This involved someone taking my old alternator to a local specialist for diagnosis, and finding the replacement. Without their speedy assistance we would have been stuck in Ramsgate, missed the good weather to cross the channel, and been prevented from starting our Dutch cruise. That's what I call service! Thank you Ramsgate Marine Service. Click here for the full story.
The Rusty Anchor 2008 for exceptionally bad customer service is awarded to Power Store (Merlin)
Power Store sold me a Balmar alternator and regulator in July. The alternator had a manufacturing fault in the D+ output logic which was reversed. Despite everyone I spoke to at Power Store being very friendly and wanting to help, it was impossible to actually speak to anyone who understood the problem - everything had to be relayed through an intermediary at their end to an overworked "expert"; they were hopeless at returning phone calls; they had no system for recording my problem so everything had to be explained repeatedly over a period of several days.
Power Store have failed to reply to three letters, a phone call message and e-mail, sent over the last four months asking for a written explanation of what is happening inside the alternator, and for an extended warranty if I keep the defective unit. It's a shame because the alternator's output performance is great - it does everything I want. I won't be shopping at Power Store again! Click here for the full story.
The Golden Anchor 2007 for exceptional customer service is awarded to ICOM
ICOM upgraded the software and then endurance tested for three months my ICOM 601 DSCVHF radio and Command MIC after I reported an intermittent fault on the set. All this was at no charge. Since then I have had no problems with the set. That's what I call service! Thank you ICOM!
The Bronze Anchor Award for 2007 for excellence in customer service is awarded to Haven Knox Johnston Insurance
After we were hit by a hire boat on the Norfolk Broads, Haven Knox Johnston gave us excellent service, support, and advice while we sorted out what to do and who would pay for the repair. It was reassuring to talk to someone who seemed to be looking after our best interests. The outcome was perfect. That's what I call service! Thank you Haven Knox Johnston! Click here for full story.
The Rusty Anchor 2007 for exceptionally bad customer service was not awarded this year as no-one deserved it!