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Old 12-07-2007, 12:13 PM   #1
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Why is it that so many people who work for marina management companies are so blasted grumpy? Perhaps it is that they are envious. It should be a prerequisite for any marina based employment that applicants either have, or have spent a good deal of time aboard, a cruising boat.

A cheery "G'day mate" should be acknowledged by more than a grunt from some jaded twerp wearing a permanent scowl and who's idea of good customer service is to take just one foot off the desk when you walk into his office.

David.
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Old 12-07-2007, 02:27 PM   #2
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Having lived in several marinas on a long term basis. I have seen it is a small society like any other group of people. There are the whiners, freeloaders, pains in the BUTT tenats just like anywhere else. Not to mention the needy, and incapable people. It can be difficult working with the public. That could be part of the problem. Then again there are the people who are just plain GRUMPY , and that might be your manager of the marina....LOLOLOL
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Old 12-08-2007, 12:43 AM   #3
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It's not you, David. These are simply furloughed flight attendants keeping their professional skills current.
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Old 12-09-2007, 08:20 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Auzzee View Post
It should be a prerequisite for any marina based employment that applicants either have, or have spent a good deal of time aboard, a cruising boat.

David.
Haveing had my own marina for some 15 years before i went cruising I fel tempted to turn Your 'suggestion' the other way around:

It should be mandatory for any cruiser to work 12 months on a marina before going cruising.

I visited quite a lot of marinas on my way and was allway friendly met.

I met quite some cruisers 'complaing' like You on marinas, and in a lot of cases I understood the marina peoples reaction. Yachties likes the words 'me', now', and 'free'.

Some yachties does not understand why they can't 'borrow' the workshop and equipement for 'free', they have payed for the parking!

Some yachties live in the belief that the marinas and facilities are waiting for just 'them' to arrive.

If You are met with a 'grumpy' attitude at every marina You go, I do not quite thing the marinas are to be blamed.

There are of course exceptions, thay are all human, and nobody is perfect in the eyes of everybody.
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Old 12-09-2007, 09:00 AM   #5
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I guess then, that if the checkout chick at the local supermarket was rude, offhand and discourteous to you after you had offered a cheerful greeting you would accept her bitterness, purely because an unknown and unrelated customer was less than pleasant to her a week ago.

Anyone who chooses to work in a service industry, must understand the concept of service. I pointed out in my post that I had proferred a pleasant greeting. I do not make demands, I deliberately avoid confrontation and I keep my boat clean, quiet and I always pay my bills on time.

To generalise cruising yachties as self centered, impatient and cheap ("me..now..free") is exactly the sort of pigeon-holing that characterises the marina worker I was complaining about and, with respect, if service industry workers can't tolerate that customers' attitudes will always vary, they should consider a different career path.

Haffiman, I note you have published similar sentiments regarding service you experienced through dealing with a propellor manufacturer. Bad service delivered by dispassionate and uncaring individuals is BAD SERVICE, irrespective of the branch of industry and it cannot be justified by previous customer dissatisfaction.

Cheers

David.
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Old 12-09-2007, 12:08 PM   #6
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David,

I remember very clearly when I arrived for the very first time in the Marina at Club Marina Cove in Hong Kong. I arrived as a member having parted with a huge amount of HK dollars for a membership debenture. I would also have to pay monthly fees for the berth plus electricity, water, car parking etc.

I had taken delivery of my new boat halfway between The RHKYC and CMC .

Shortly before the entrance to the marina, I dropped the sails, started the engine - engaged forward and proceeded to my designated berth - lined up - reduced speed - tried to change gear to neutral (prior to reverse) gear would not disengage from forward - my new boat continued on its way and then mounted the pontoon that lay at 90 degrees to my berth. At that point I was able to switch off the engine which allowed the boat to slide back. The boat had barely come to a halt with the help of a couple of yachties having taken lines, when a person jumped on my boat and started to abuse me in no uncertain terms - his abuse continued despite my explanation of the gear shift problem. My adrenalin , already at a high level , decided that this person was being unreasonable - I then threw him over the lifelines into the marina's filthy

water. What a good feeling !

By the time I left a few years later , that person - the marina manager and I were good friends.

Richard
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Old 12-09-2007, 12:38 PM   #7
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Contrary from You I did not generalize,I clearly stated 'SOME'.

There is a huge difference from my statement of yachties favourite words: me,now, free to what You describe them as.

Most cruisers are on tight budgets and who blames for trying? Unfortunately SOME goes a bit to far.

As I said 'they (marina workers) are only human' - I think their mood have the same rights to vary as the customers.

You have obviously browsed my web-page, hope You got some useful hints out of it. I visited quite some marinas on my way, and I do not remember having much to complain about when it comes to treatment.

As for the GORI comment, yes, and I still stand for it! I was even from time to time rather annoyed with Jeanneau as well, but thanks to a good distributor back i Norway most got sorted out. I have had quite a number of suppliers during my time, but GORI was outstanding in a negative way.

Yachties are a special 'breed', close to eremits. The open sea, the loneliness, the challenges and al lot more is what keeps them going and surviving. They are normally quite strong personalities with their own opinions close to stubborn, and they need it to survive when things get rough. It is nothing negative about it, just a reality.

Your post indicates that You find the majority of marinas not up to Your wanted standard of service and smiles, my experience is the opposite.

From Your 'nick' ,Auzzee, I take You are from 'down under. I found both Cairns and Darwin Marina including customs, immigration, port authorities, coast guard and even the few service outlets I visited for spares etc excellent and friendly.
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Old 12-09-2007, 08:23 PM   #8
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I don't have a huge amount of experience with different Marinas, because most of the time, if I'm away from my home marina, I'm swinging on the pick. Neverthess, I would say that 90% of the marinas that I have visited have been helpful & cheerful. The most notoable exception was at the vernerable and famous CYC marina in Sydney (of Sydney - Hobart fame); When I arrived there, having pre-booked a berth, but not having details of where that berth would be, I found a free spot and tied up so that I could go find the marina manager and go through the necessary formalities & check where I was to be berthed. We had barely tied up before some bloke was shouting and swearing that we weren't allowed to tie up in that spot and who did we think we were. I tried to explain the temporary nature of our parking, but he wouldn't listen, so I walked around him and headed off to find the marina manager, ignoring his continued ranting.

Funnily enough, when I found the manager, he couldn't have been more friendly or helpful. And it turned out that the idiot that had been giving us a hard time, was just a barman and had nothing to do with the management of the marina.
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Old 12-10-2007, 04:11 AM   #9
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It's been our experience that when a marina is bad, it's very, very bad. And when it's good, the people couldn't be nicer. Management seems to be the key. A pleasant and hard-working manager hires pleasant and hard-working staff.

Sometimes we cruisers gripe just because it's been a bad day. But sometimes we gripe because we encounter bad (up to terrible) service. Even laid-back, "What me worry?" Peter has been pushed to his limit on occasion, and then he can get REALLY bit**y. I think it's worse when we're in a situation where we can't just pick up and leave - vote with our feet.

One that was annoyingly bad was Sebana Cove in Malaysia. We would sit in our cockpit and watch the staff creep down the dock and hide behind a boat, crouching down so they wouldn't be seen, and they'd just loaf there most of the day. The place was badly run, and many of the staff were lazy and unpleasant. Not all, mind you. There were some who were quite nice, but they were the minority. Most of the boats treated the place as a joke, but sometimes it was hard to maintain a sense of humor.

New management took over just before we left, so I can't say what it's like now. I hope it's better, because it was a great location, was beautiful, and should have been as pleasant as Rebak - which had great staff and was a pleasure to visit.
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Old 12-13-2007, 07:03 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeanneP View Post
It's been our experience that when a marina is bad, it's very, very bad. And when it's good, the people couldn't be nicer. Management seems to be the key. A pleasant and hard-working manager hires pleasant and hard-working staff.

Sometimes we cruisers gripe just because it's been a bad day. But sometimes we gripe because we encounter bad (up to terrible) service. Even laid-back, "What me worry?" Peter has been pushed to his limit on occasion, and then he can get REALLY bit**y. I think it's worse when we're in a situation where we can't just pick up and leave - vote with our feet.

One that was annoyingly bad was Sebana Cove in Malaysia. We would sit in our cockpit and watch the staff creep down the dock and hide behind a boat, crouching down so they wouldn't be seen, and they'd just loaf there most of the day. The place was badly run, and many of the staff were lazy and unpleasant. Not all, mind you. There were some who were quite nice, but they were the minority. Most of the boats treated the place as a joke, but sometimes it was hard to maintain a sense of humor.

New management took over just before we left, so I can't say what it's like now. I hope it's better, because it was a great location, was beautiful, and should have been as pleasant as Rebak - which had great staff and was a pleasure to visit.
Oh , Jeanne , I am afraid that Sebana Cove Marina, is just about the same today, Dec/07 , but maybe now for a few different reasons.

One reason is that the marina manager has quit and moved away, taking with him the best of the marina staff .

The resort manager has also quit and moved on ,,, leaving the accountant in charge, with no replacements for either managers.

The attitude of the marina staff, seems to be" who cares, we don't" . There is also a problem of the language barrier, between staff and guests.

I have come to find out that Sebana Cove, has been ripped off by the employees since day one.

I have also found out that the staff and contractor paychecks have to be approved in K L , and it is usually 3 or more months wait, before the ckecks are delivered to the workers.

So far all attempts of AM Bank to sell Sebana have failed, primarily because the buyer is not willing to accept the provision of 51% Malay ownership included in the deal.

Gosh the list goes on and on,,,,, but this reminds me of the quote " Dishonesty and thievery are not justified by poverty ".

Currently, we are having a problem with neglegent security,,,, we lost over USD $ 9,000.00 worth of tools and repair supplies, from repeated break-ins during a one week period last May 2007, and we are not the only boat that has been ripped off, while here, or so we found out, after our thefts .

I want to Thank You for this forum, we really do find it helpful with needed cruiser information.

Douglas, S/V Calliste, Sebana Cove, My.
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