At least two local clubs have been put off booking rallies to Chatham Marina by demands for full payment in advance, even when the booking is for many months away. Fortunately other local marinas are available.
MDL have confirmed that these payments are non-refundable though bookings may be changed to other dates at their discretion. The change is the result of a new online booking system that issues an invoice per boat for each booking. The booking is automatically cancelled if payment is not made within 48 hours.
This unrealistically rigid requirement goes against the tradition of club cruising in the UK, which expects flexibility to allow for the vagaries of British weather and all the other uncertainties of boating. How long before MDL’s management realise their catastrophic mistake?
UPDATE: See below for replies, including from MDL’s Sales and Marketing Director, Tim Mayer. We understand that better arrangements will now be put in place to accommodate advance group bookings.
Beware beancounters, not so interested in entrepreneurship as the bottom line. They only wake up when the bottom line starts to dive because they forgot about the ‘business’ and its customers..
MDL is a private company, part of a range of private equity investments.
Well there’s a suprise and it just about sums up the mercenary attitudes of some businesses who fail to remember where the money comes from.
I say this, forget the quaint old tradition of voting at the ballot box, its big business that runs this country, and start voting with your feet by boycotting MDL and all other companies like them where at all possible, then we will start to see some real differences in our favour. I have no sympathy with those who moan but continue to patronise.
Beggars belief, I hope all of the clubs get together and show solidarity against this ludicrous idea. MDL Chatham would be far better off just keeping the lock gates working for more than a week at a time.
What has to be remembered is that MDL is managed by accountants and not boaters. It’s all about money, money, money. There is very little understanding about much else. and certainly no inclination to learn.
Can understand why MDL have done this due to folks booking and not arriving due to ” weather” or simply not bothering to let them know when they have changed thier minds and no intention of going.
“We” normally go to MDL Chatham for our Xmas Cruise every year, usually at least 10 boats.
Will we cancel probably No,…. just get anybody who wants to go to book and pay
individually.
As for any other “locked” marina with all the facilities, ie shops/pubs/resturants and other attractions all within walking distance, would love to know were it is…
do share. 🙂
Some marinas are going this way, fortunately very few if any expect a cruiser to book in advance. None expect payment, until now. Unless you are part of a “fleet” the best advice is to just turn up as most marinas are big enough to find space and they nearly all welcome cruisers.
If you have a large boat then its sensible to book, but not pay up front.
If part of a fleet, its almost always essential to book and let them know if you can’t make it, but again not pay up front. It’s frustrating when bookings don’t materialise, but a quick look at the weather the day before and a phone call will give advance notice.
All they are interested in is money money money. They do not care about leisure craft or people enjoying their leisure time using a free waterway. They do not even care about people or the craft themselves, all they want is to make more money and screw whoever gets in the way of them.
Maybe time for all leisure craft owners to totally boycott MDL Marinas, teach them that they cannot continue to screw the little man.
Any clubs, society’s that had plans to use MDL, as rightly stated, there are other places to go that would appreciate the extra money, totally boycotting all MDL facilities.
I would respectfully suggest the author has made a catastrophic error in this article and shown a complete miss understanding of the booking process. Responding to customer feedback, we launched a new online booking system, offering our berth holders and visitors the chance to book and pay for visitor berthing through our website. This latest development allows berth holders and visitors to view real time berth availability and to book online. If a berth holder books their boat out, when they’re leaving the MDL network, they’ll also receive an incentive if the berth is used. Visitor berthing is often difficult to secure, and our new system has enhanced berth availability allowing customers to secure a berth more easily therefore increasing cruising opportunities. We have a fair cancellation policy designed to ensure if events happen that means the vessel cannot arrive then of course a refund is available while at the same time ensuring users that do book are not taking up space they do not require. Other leisure industries have been offering this service for years, and it makes sense that the marina industry follows suit and offer people the convenience of booking a visitor berth via their computer, phone or tablet at a time when it’s convenient for them.
To be fair to all concerned, are we really interested in what happens in other industries? These big boys that have the ultimate control always have an excuse for their policies, but at the end of the day, it all comes back to one thing, greed.
MDL need to be reminded, if it were not for us leisure boaters, they would not have anything to operate. As such, it is about time they started to operate with fairness and forethought rather than hard and fast rules that just annoy people that are providing their wealth creation scheme.
I think some of the responders have missed the point. Many good marinas are privately owned, either by families or big companies. Some lousy ones are owned by councils. The point here is that a good marina (Chatham MDL) is effectively turning away club bookings by adopting an inflexible booking system that is not fit for purpose.