My wife and I own a 28ft (8.6M) sailing yacht which is about 20 years old. So she is increasingly in need of attention for various bits and pieces. Recently we had two very different experiences from two local suppliers.
First, we decided to add a new piece of navigation gear. We looked up their website, phoned all their dealers one Saturday in the East Coast of England and none of them had the product in stock. So we phoned the manufacturer and ordered it direct. They delivered it to our dockyard the next day. So far so good. We then installed it and started to use it. The instruction manual was poorly photocopied and confusingly referred to two different products with different instructions for actions for each. The practice chart that was supposed to be included was not. We tried using it on the first set of charts and all was well. We then tried using it on a second set of charts, those for Solent waters. This area has the highest concentration of sailing enthusiasts in the UK. The charts were not pre-entered.
We sent an email query to the manufacturer over the weekend, but hadn't heard anything by Tuesday afternoon. So I called them. The person who read those emails was on holiday so no one had read the query. It turns out that for our needs we have to have a plastic cover for the charts, cost about 10% of the unit extra. We would also need a software update kit to enable us to update the electronics when charts change. Cost about 25% extra. So our cost of ownership suddenly jumped 35%.
At the time of writing we have agreed with the manufacturer to return the unit and get our money back. Their customer service did not seem very friendly. When I questioned why they didn't have an answering machine for out of hours calls, they said that they expected people to call back during their business hours. I suggested that their website could use a little updating so people understood what the proposition was. This was met coldly. I also told them that I had tried to buy it from every retailer on their list. Not much reaction.
The bottom line - the equipment was designed to speed up navigation while underway (and if you have ever bounced around in a strong sea in a small boat, you will know how important that is). As shipped it would take a lot of work to get all the charts we would use in, and they would not be sequenced in a user friendly way. Only by spending 35% more could one achieve something close. It also didn't make clear how the chart updating service/software would work and how essential that is for successful use. And their customer service attitude was typical of the 1950s in Russia. You are lucky to have us sell you this. Sorry, but no. For that price I am almost in chartplotter territory with additional bells and whistles.
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