“Man at reception excellent. Boat poor. Toilet wouldn’t flush, because we had the cover off it was on the back three seats, so the five of us were uncomfortable on the remaining seats. The toilet door fell off on to me as held on with only one screw in top hinge. Took boat back early.”
“We were unable to take the Brinklet under Wroxham Bridge due to the canopy frame being fixed. This is a great shame, as we were hoping to visit Coltishall. The website shows the frame down. So, we were disappointed to find it was fixed upright. However, the service, as always was excellent.”
“Great experience.Friendly young man welcomed us and gave us a great handover of a fantastic electric picnic day boat ! Gliding silently along the river ! It was a wonderful relaxing day! Will repeat the experience for sure 🙏Great service 🤩”
Thank You Mandy
I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much - and it looks like you got the best weather. We hope to see you again soon
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“Online booking was easy and first class had a query as to discount on forces card phoned up straight through and lady sorted it and the whole booking in a quick friendly manner now really looking forward to our trip done lots of canal boat holidays but never been on the broads booking this and getting advice was great better than most canal. Boat companies”
“Was easy to book our boating holiday, was given instructions and plenty of information beforehand, was given a brief lesson/handover before we were left on our own, all very good, no issues was very enjoyable. Returning the boat was easy as well.”
“This was our first time and we absolutely loved it.best well organised company. The boat was great.
Customer service was fantastic and very knowledgeable.”
Thank you very much for this review, we're really glad you had a great time on Brinks Sonnet - it's what we aim for
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We didn't have a proper induction and had to call as no gas when using hob.
The boat had a toilet on but no paper provisded, nor were there matches to light the hob or tea towels to dry the pots.
We had to waste 1hr of our 8hr trip moored up waiting for someone to come by road to get the gas working. They also brought other things that were missed from the boat too.
The boat wasn't well looked after and parts broken/missing.
Boat load and steering awful.
Not a great experience when you thing how much we spent on it.”
Hi Mr Winterburn
Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback – I’m really sorry to read that your day didn’t live up to expectations.
First and foremost, you’re absolutely right that the boat should have had gas available and been properly checked before you set off. The delay you experienced is not the standard we aim for, and I completely understand how frustrating it must have been to lose part of your day on the water.
To give a bit of context (not an excuse, just transparency), we had just opened the site for the season and our usual day boat manager is currently off on long-term sick leave. A new team member stepped up at short notice and, with a sudden burst of good weather and far more bookings than expected, things didn’t run as smoothly as they should have. We’ve already reviewed what happened to make sure this doesn’t repeat.
Just to clarify for future customers reading this, we don’t advertise that we provide items like tea towels, crockery or cutlery on our day boats – but the essentials, like gas and a properly prepared boat, should absolutely have been in place.
What matters most here is that your experience fell short, and we’d really like the opportunity to put that right. Please do get in touch with me directly at sara@barnesbrinkcraft.com, and I’ll personally make sure we sort out an appropriate gesture of goodwill.
Thanks again for your feedback – it’s genuinely appreciated and helps us improve.
“People were very polite and helpful,
Even though they were very busy.
Definitely come back again.
The views are amazing, and we saw seven herons and many more birds.
Highly recommend”
Thanks Jayne
This is much appreciated
We have to admit we did get caught on the hop with good weather over Easter - pushing us a bit hard - I promise you its usually very serene
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We arrived early, and our boat was ready, so after a warm welcome we set off in our lovely boat, Chorus. The weather could have been kinder but we thoroughly enjoyed our week on this wonderful boat, all modern conveniences and a wonderful comfortable, walk around, bed. It was a pity that a lot of eating places didn't open until the following week but that date was our choice! We would definitely choose Barnes and the same boat if we came again, but age determines that, I'm afraid.”
Hi Anne
Thanks very much for such a kind review of Brinks Chorus and the Broads
We're in total agreement about the bed on Chorus, one of my favourite boats
We hope to see you again soon. Even if you swap from boating to cottages
All the Best
Sara
Hi John
Thanks for your feedback.
I think I have picked up the correct booking (not absolutely sure), and it looks as if you booked online. We are reviewing our online payment system and will look into it for you. In the meantime, please give us a ring on 01603782625 and we can help sort that out for you
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“We had a lovely time on a day boat which we hired for two hours, the guy who meet us was friendly and helpful, he also gave clear instructions on how to operate the boat and how to find our way in and out of the marina.
I have give a 4 out of 5 star review, the negative point was the engine noise, at maximum speed (4mph) the noise was so loud we had to shout at each other to be heard, the engine exhaust needs a better silencer and the engine needs to be better insulated for noise protection.”
Hi Mike
Many thanks for the feedback. We'll take a look at your booking so we can work on the boat you took out. Its also worth noting that we are gradually replacing the fleet with silent run electric boats, which might be a preferred option for you in the future. its worth noting the book earlier though
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“The receptionist who took my call was very friendly and helpful as I had no idea what sort of boat to hire. According to our needs she suggested a picnic boat as it would have a toilet and a kettle and a hob if we needed it which was perfect as we wanted the boat for half a day and planned to have lunch on board. When we arrived we had to wait for quite some time before being shown to our boat as there was only one member of staff on duty, not really his fault we had to wait seeing as there was only him to show everyone the ropes. Luckily we looked in the cupboard before we left as there were no mugs for us to have a hot drink so my friend had to go and buy some before we set off. When we stopped for lunch we went to make a cup of tea but there was no gas as the gas bottle was empty and the handle of the kettle was broken so we wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway, there was no cutlery either, in fact the boat was not stocked at all with anything useful which we had paid extra for, we might as well have just booked an ordinary day boat🙁We mentioned this to the member of staff upon return and he said that it should have been cleaned and stocked the day before. Clearly this didn’t happen so for future bookings, might I suggest an inventory is done before the hire to avoid any further disappointments.”
Hi Helen
Thank you for your detailed feedback – and I’m really pleased to hear our receptionist was helpful in guiding you to the right type of boat. It’s just a shame the rest of the experience didn’t follow through as it should have.
You’re absolutely right that there were some things that should have been better prepared. The empty gas bottle and broken kettle are not acceptable, and the boat should have been properly checked before your hire. I’m very sorry that this wasn’t picked up and that it impacted your day.
It also sounds like there was some confusion around what is included on board. We don’t provide items such as mugs, cutlery or crockery on our day boats, and we try to make this clear on our website. However, it’s clear from your experience that this wasn’t communicated properly at the time of booking, which is something we’ve now addressed with the team.
You were also very understanding about the wait on arrival – thank you for that. As you spotted, we were a bit stretched that day, but that’s not how we want the start of your day out to feel.
We’ve taken your suggestion on board regarding pre-hire checks, and we’ve already reinforced these processes to make sure every boat is fully ready before guests arrive.
Most importantly, I’m really sorry your experience didn’t match what you were expecting, especially when you’d chosen a picnic boat for a special day out. If you’re happy to, please do get in touch with me directly at sara@barnesbrinkcraft.com and I’ll make sure we put things right for you.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback – it really does help us improve.
Sara
Barnes Brinkcraft
