ribcraft visit

[mike]

hi, if anyones going to visit ribcraft this week could youkeep an eye out fory 7.8 orange hull blue console, I'm going down shortly but getting keen for a pic of the new boat.
a bit cheeky I know but i'm a bit keen and looking for every progression.
thanks if anyone is able.
mike

[Devon Powerboat]

Hi

Have you got your new boat yet? i was at ribcraft yesterday to collect mine but it still wasn't ready its now 3 weeks late.

How have you found their customer service??

Regards
John

[mike]

no its just come out of the mould and will be fitted out week 12/2/07,
to be fair my order has gone on a bit but purely because of me this end i have had loads of problems. As soon as they finally had the last schedule from me they poured the hull.

I find phoning the best as they seem really busy and to be honest emails seem to be one of those things I'm best not bothering with as I always phone after a day which doubles the job for them .

quite happy at present, my first boat a valiant was 3 months late so a complete season went by.

mine should be lurking in the glass room at present, I plan now to go down next fri.
mike

[al40]

Originally Posted by Devon Powerboat

Hi

How have you found their customer service??

Regards
John

After-sales service seems to be a hit or a miss.... I've been having various issues and they were initially very responsive but have ignored emails for past 2 weeks. It's just niggly things like my console cover stud fasters breaking 3rd time I removed the cover, bilge pump not being screwed down so water was getting into GRP etc, but it's still problems that I should not be having and that they are not addressing. They did send a new bung and tube of sealent when old one was leaking (not enough sealent applied to it) and also to re-seal leaking anchor locker.

I really like the boat but I'm getting a bit fed-up with (lack of) aftersales care.

Al

[Devon Powerboat]

yeah I know what you mean with the after sales, i ordered a boat in november 2005 and was due in january but ended up being a month and a half late which was a real pain as i was setting up a powerboat school. when i did finally get the boat it failed its MCA coding, the transom was too low. so after lots of complaining and having to get solicitors involved they did a temporary job untill Dec 06, where it went back to have the problem solved.

when i took the boat back i was very pleased to hear they were going to replace the boat with a 6.8m and put right all the faults. The boat is now 3 weeks late and im still trying to get them to do what they had agreed to do.

They dont seem to care that my business is being affected by this or be bothered by the way they speak to me now they have their money.

John

[IBWET]

Unfortunately my experience was the same re the phone calls.

My boat arrived on time and appears (based on the short time I've had it) to be very good

However it's the little things that would steer me away from RC in future.(or any supplier who didn't return my calls)..Frustrating really, as the boat are good.

A little concerning if anything goes wrong in the future.

[jace]

Hi All

This post has come to my attention so I am going to reply to the actions taken by Ribcraft to resolve these matters. Fortunately warranty issues are few and far between but when the do happen we do make every effort to look after our customers.

We’ve been in business getting on for 20 years now and I’ve personally been associated with the company since around 1993. In all that time I’ve never had to give a customer their money back, no ones every had to cancel an order and we’ve never had a solicitors letter sent to us to prompt us to honour any of our responsibilities.

It’s very unfortunate there’s not more post on the forums about every time we’ve gone the extra mile to resolve issues and keep customers satisfied. If anyone has any complaint’s they feel they’ve been unfairly treated with, I would urge them to contact me directly.

Kind Regards

Jason Purvey
Sales Director Ribcraft UK

PS. Coming up with a couple more posts to answer the questions individually

[jace]

Originally Posted by al40

After-sales service seems to be a hit or a miss.... I've been having various issues and they were initially very responsive but have ignored emails for past 2 weeks. It's just niggly things like my console cover stud fasters breaking 3rd time I removed the cover, bilge pump not being screwed down so water was getting into GRP etc
Al

Hi Alasdair

Apologies for this, we weren’t deliberately ignoring you. When I found this post I sent you this personal message

Quote:
Originally Posted by jace
Hi

Who did you send the e-mail to did you chase with a phone call, if so who was dealing with it. I'll chase it this end for you.

Regards

Jason

You Replied

Hi Jason, 2 emails sent to charlie@ribcraft.co.uk.

Charlie did call me after I sent an email / voicemail to yourself or Dorian (think it was Dorian) re leaking sump bunk / anchor locker and he did send me a new bung etc but hasn't responded to email since then. I would hope I should not have to follow up with phone call - defeats purpose of emailing! I assume email address is correct as I have not had any incorrect mail return and it's what was on the business card.

We have found the e-mail this morning; Charlie has tried to phone you, can’t get hold of you and has sent an e-mail to this effect. If you can e-mail which contact numbers you are on today, he will phone you.

Kind Regards

Jason

[jace]

Originally Posted by Devon Powerboat

yeah I know what you mean with the after sales, I ordered a boat in november 2005 and was due in january but ended up being a month and a half late which was a real pain as i was setting up a powerboat school. when i did finally get the boat it failed its MCA coding, the transom was too low. so after lots of complaining and having to get solicitors involved they did a temporary job untill Dec 06, where it went back to have the problem solved.

when i took the boat back i was very pleased to hear they were going to replace the boat with a 6.8m and put right all the faults. The boat is now 3 weeks late and im still trying to get them to do what they had agreed to do.

They dont seem to care that my business is being affected by this or be bothered by the way they speak to me now they have their money.

John

Hi John

I’ve replied to your latest e-mail but as you’ve posted this, I’m also going to reply to your public post as well.

First of all you’ve never sent us a solicitor’s letter, all of what we have done to solve your issues has been done with the desire to settle your grievances and turn you into a happy customer.

Because of the configuration of having the liferafts at the stern the freeboard was an issue to meet the newer MCA guidelines. To resolve this as a temporary measure we manufactured a transom skirt to get you through the coding and onto the water. We came up with the permanent solution of a GRP motor well; you rejected this as you said it would spoil the look of the boat.

As a final measure to solve the problem our solution was for you to use the boat for the 06 season and then in the winter when you weren’t busy, we would upgrade you to the Ribcraft 6.8 free of charge. This would give you increased capacity to dissipate the loading and solve the problem. We have done this at no extra cost to you.

Unfortunately you have had other problems out of our control that haven’t helped your season.

The Ultra flex Hydraulic steering had a problem; we leant on the manufactures to arrange a quick replacement to be fitted onsite

The boat was also dropped by the boatyard when being lifted into the water as you were using slings and not lifting eyes as recommended. We had the boat back to survey the gearbox and repair the skeg which gave you more downtime.

At the end of the day we have gone way beyond what most companies would do to insure that you are a satisfied customer. Most companies would have rectified the problems to the minimum of the legal warranty and left it up to you to sue them if you weren't happy.

We decided without quibbling to build you a new boat to completely rectify and solve the transom well issue. We have also arranged collection and delivery of your boat on several occasions at our expense. I don't know of another company in the marine trade that would have been so accommodating.

Kind Regards

Jason Purvey
jason@ribcraft.co.uk

[al40]

Originally Posted by jace

Hi All

This post has come to my attention so I am going to reply to the actions taken by Ribcraft to resolve these matters. Fortunately warranty issues are few and far between but when the do happen we do make every effort to look after our customers.

We’ve been in business getting on for 20 years now and I’ve personally been associated with the company since around 1993. In all that time I’ve never had to give a customer their money back, no ones every had to cancel an order and we’ve never had a solicitors letter sent to us to prompt us to honour any of our responsibilities.

It’s very unfortunate there’s not more post on the forums about every time we’ve gone the extra mile to resolve issues and keep customers satisfied. If anyone has any complaint’s they feel they’ve been unfairly treated with, I would urge them to contact me directly.

Kind Regards

Jason Purvey
Sales Director Ribcraft UK

PS. Coming up with a couple more posts to answer the questions individually

Jason,

I think that's a little unfair. There are pleanty of posts that do detail where you guys have done a fantatsic job of pulling in schedules, working with customers to exceed their needs. I know I've made some of these comments as have various other RC owners on this forum and I know I've recommended RC - in fact you were recommended to me by someone on this forum. As a froum we are quick to praise but also will highlight issues. That goes hand-in-hand.

I think everyone is in agreement that the boats are great. The issue that has been highlighted is that there are occasions when customers feel they have been dropped / ignored. This is a competitive market and it's the little things that differentiate between products.

I'm happy to hear that you are putting steps in place to address these issues. One comment would be that we, as customers, don't know if an email has been received by Ribcraft etc. What about an automated response giving contact details and a reference to call if email is not answered within a set time? At least that way we know the email is in the system and can follow up with it, rather than them just going into an apparent (from our perspective) void. The fact my mails ended up being binned by the spam filter also needs to be looked at.

I have no doubts the issues I am encountering will be solved and look forward to working with you on this. (I'm about to call charlie)

Al

[jace]

Hi Alasdair

Thanks for the post and phone call, all comments and suggestions are much appreciated. I hope that Charlie has matters in hand. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Jason

[mike]

as I said earlier I am happy and cannot wait for the boat to arrive,!!!
Apologies to fellow forum members but I was hoping for pix only.

mike

[al40]

Originally Posted by mike

as I said earlier I am happy and cannot wait for the boat to arrive,!!!
Apologies to fellow forum members but I was hoping for pix only.

mike

Good luck with your new boat. They are good boats - no doubt about it. I'm sure you will be pleased with it when you get it. Post some pics!

Appologies for the threat hijack - it kind of snowballed. It's better RC know that there are some issues in the system so they can be fixed.

[DJL]

I've been very pleased with my experience with Ribcraft.

Jason and Dorian were extremely helpful and patient during the order/build process. I spent quite a lot of time sitting in boats at the factory and deciding over colours etc. They also gave free tickets to the London Boat Show so we could finalise details there.

After sales has also been very good.

• They promptly replaced my bow fairlead with a new one (updated design) after the original seized shut.
• Arranged for Yamaha to bring props to RIBEX for me to try
• Helped me put pressure on Garmin to sort out my broken marine network.

Not forgetting that the boats pretty good too

[mike]

bugger I knew I should have tried to scrounge a couple, still there's alway southampton or ribex! I feel a phone call coming on!

[Devon Powerboat]

Originally Posted by jace

Hi John

I’ve replied to your latest e-mail but as you’ve posted this, I’m also going to reply to your public post as well.

First of all you’ve never sent us a solicitor’s letter, all of what we have done to solve your issues has been done with the desire to settle your grievances and turn you into a happy customer.

Because of the configuration of having the liferafts at the stern the freeboard was an issue to meet the newer MCA guidelines. To resolve this as a temporary measure we manufactured a transom skirt to get you through the coding and onto the water. We came up with the permanent solution of a GRP motor well; you rejected this as you said it would spoil the look of the boat.

As a final measure to solve the problem our solution was for you to use the boat for the 06 season and then in the winter when you weren’t busy, we would upgrade you to the Ribcraft 6.8 free of charge. This would give you increased capacity to dissipate the loading and solve the problem. We have done this at no extra cost to you.

Unfortunately you have had other problems out of our control that haven’t helped your season.

The Ultra flex Hydraulic steering had a problem; we leant on the manufactures to arrange a quick replacement to be fitted onsite

The boat was also dropped by the boatyard when being lifted into the water as you were using slings and not lifting eyes as recommended. We had the boat back to survey the gearbox and repair the skeg which gave you more downtime.

At the end of the day we have gone way beyond what most companies would do to insure that you are a satisfied customer. Most companies would have rectified the problems to the minimum of the legal warranty and left it up to you to sue them if you weren't happy.

We decided without quibbling to build you a new boat to completely rectify and solve the transom well issue. We have also arranged collection and delivery of your boat on several occasions at our expense. I don't know of another company in the marine trade that would have been so accommodating.

Kind Regards

Jason Purvey
jason@ribcraft.co.uk

.................................................. .................................................. ....

Hi Jason and Dorian,

Just a brief note to say thank you for providing such an excellent boat and for all that you have done recently. Following delivery, the boat was successfully coded by the MCA, approved by the Plymouth City Council boatmaster and had all of the signwriting completed.

I have attached some pictures I took last weekend to feature in my advertising and these reached the printers before the deadline. My first commercial work was a Birthday Party last Saturday and this was a huge success. The boat handles and rides so much better than the previous one.

I know the last year was a long one beset with disappointment, problems and the sending of letters back and forward. However, I sincerely hope that that we can put that behind us and start afresh and work together to recommend each other. You will note that I have added a link to Ribcraft on my website http://www.devon-powerboat-training.co.uk/Links.htm If you would like alternative wording please just let me know.

Maybe I will see you in Plymouth at some stage and have the chance to take you out. In the meantime, again, very many thanks for what on first impressions appears to be a superb boat that I am absolutely delighted with.

Regards John