“Well maintained boats and very clean on arrival! The team are always on hand to help and are super friendly: we had such a lovely week on the Broads. Highly recommend”
“We liked the layout and comfortable seating, it could have been cleaner,windows, toilet brush ! And shelving in cupboards replaced having to pick up plates of the floor (basically) difficult. Hatch on the floor became loose and was a trip hazard. The hamper was a lovely surprise and food delicious. Would have preferred cleaning stuff rather than toiletries.”
“We booked this boat because it was part of the elite classic boats that Brinks hire out, we booked through Hoseasons. This boat is absolutely excellent in so many ways the power system in the boat is absolutely fantastic. We arrived very early and was shown the location of the boat which was on the pontoon side. All staff at brinks are really nice, friendly and polite. I was told they would ring me when the boat was ready and then we would be shown how the boat worked with one of the men. Despite being the first person to make them aware that we was on site we was one of the last to leave this was despite three of their five checks they do on boats being completed already when I arrived !!! was this because we had booked through the third party ( Hoseasons)and not direct with Brinks and we'll you decide.
Once on the boat it had a fridge with a small freezer which we needed for our dog food but unfortunately the freezer was full with ice and my wife had to chip away the ice to get the dog food in the freezer, the powered mudway would not work and drop correctly I had to ring the uncle engineer who suggested jumping down on the front of the boat, the lights in the bedroom at the back of the boat would not turn off one night the on-call engineer who was a female was fantastic told me where the trips which is were and how to reset it and then it worked perfect she even called me back the next day to check. We had some heavy rain which leaked onto the main driver's seat and we had to put masking tape and rags to soak up the water coming in the roof, this must have happened before because this boat is years old and these very successful they have about 7 or 8,I will let you decide if the boat should have been taken back into the workshop to be fixed, because I would bet it never leaked when it were brand new. The windows were also extremely dirty inside and out. The boats very good on fuel you can go all the way down to Beccles on about half a tank fuel. I found staff at brinks to be nice but the Health and Safety at the yard if shocking many trip hazards and being told just watch for them is not good enough, lines, power cables, water pipes should be kept short or put away tools should be away from customers Brinks have a Duty of care towards its customers and staff, and brinks clearly need to think about this and compare to other boat yards. Please don't get me wrong I am not saying that I wouldn't ever book with Brinks again, but I have already booked and paid for my next trip on the Broads and it's not we Brinks,which is a real shame they had the opportunity but failed.”
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your detailed review. We’re really pleased to hear that you found the boat excellent in many ways, particularly the power system and fuel economy, and that our team were friendly, polite and helpful during your stay.
We’re sorry that some parts of the experience fell short. We do get customers aboard as soon as we are able to, but each boat has to complete its checks and any service work before handover. Our arrival information explains that boats are normally ready between 2pm and 4pm, and this applies whether a booking is made directly with us or through Hoseasons. We are also working on making this easier for customers through our app, so guests can see more clearly when their boat is ready.
Thank you for letting us know about the freezer, powered mud weight, bedroom lights, leak and windows. We’re pleased our on-call engineer was able to help with the lights, and we will ask the team to check the other points you have raised.
We’re also sorry you felt concerned about the yard. It is a working boatyard, so there will sometimes be hoses, lines and equipment in use, but customer and staff safety is very important to us and the site is regularly inspected by our health and safety advisors. We will pass your comments on to the team.
Thank you again for your feedback, and we’re sorry we didn’t quite win you back for your next Broads holiday.
All the Best
The Team at Barnes Brinkcraft
“This was my second time on the Broads hiring a boat from you guys, last time we had a Tempo. Personally, I do not think this boat is as nice as the Tempo. You can steer from inside and the steering area feels very claustrophobic and it’s very difficult to see. You can’t see the front or back, or gauge distances as easily. With the Tempo you have the ability to drive up top on the open deck which gives you visibility all round so easier to manoeuvre and moor up.”
“Very nice boat but the view while driving is restricted, we had a couple of problems while on the boat but not major ones and someone came out from the yard to us and put it right for us immediately. The staff where all fantastic so we would highly recommend barnes Brinkcraft”
“Very nice boat, everything worked as it should. Comfortable cabins and good showers. The bow thrusters made life much easier. Batteries charged quickly and efficiently.”
