Suppliers worth using
Tucanon
Dick and Irene Craig
Thu 10 Jun 2010 03:18
local people. Fortunately we have adequate provisions on the boat to enable
us not to have to buy anything, although some chocolate would be nice.
I looked in several shops but the only vegetables that seemed to be
available in tins were sweetcorn and mixed vegetables. This is probably not
a problem for the local people but a greater variety would be good for us
yachties.
I have nothing but praise for the after sales service provided by Panasonic
in the UK. I recently dropped the paddle, from the pan of my breadmaker,
into the sea. It is lost forever. We sent an email to Panasonic and the
immediate response was for them to send us a replacement, free of charge, to
the MD of World Cruising club in the UK, who is bringing it with him when he
flies to Fiji on the 10th of June.
This is not the first time that Panasonic have been so willing to help us
out. While we were in Greece around October 2008, we contacted Panasonic
about a fault on our out of warranty, flat-screen TV, which we use on the
boat. Once again their immediate reaction was positive but because the
problem needed on-site attention we were referred to their Greek agent.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get any response from Panasonic in Greece
but had we been able to get local help, Panasonic in the UK would have
refunded our costs.
There are few companies that still remain interested in their products once
they are out of warranty and certainly when they are no longer in the
country from whence they were purchased.
Forsheda is another company that we would recommend and will continue to
use. We purchased a number of their rubber compensators while in Turkey.
These are used on the mooring lines which run from the boat to the pontoon
or dock and help to take the jerking movement away when there is a lot of
swell or rough sea.
One of these compensators failed within the first season and without
hesitation, was replaced immediately at no cost to ourselves. Subsequently,
a year down the line another failed and was instantly replaced.
Ocean Safety should also be commended for accepting responsibility for the
automatic inflation of their Jonbuoy, while we were sailing off the coast of
Turkey. Although there was no local agent in Turkey, while we were in the
UK, they gave Dick a lesson on how to repack the Jonbuoy as well as
supplying us with a replacement gas canister, at no charge to ourselves. In
addition, even though we had purchased all of the safety equipment for our
boat before leaving the UK in 2007, most of it supplied by Ocean Safety, the
MD came aboard to ensure that everything was as it should be before we left
the country.
We need to look after suppliers like these as there don't seem to be many
around who still have an active interest after the sale.