I still live with my mother and should go home and have a w**k

At the IWA Festival I had an unpleasant unmeeting of minds with the guys on the BK Marine stand.  BK Marine is the UK distributor for Webasto to the canal boat market.[Update: BK Marine is no longer a Webasto distributor.  I'm not sure why, but I can't stop you speculating.]

It started when I asked them about the curious story of TakeyTezey and TakeyTezeyResponce [sic].  Was the engineer concerned, I asked, genuine, kosher Webasto-trained as he claimed.  Because earlier I'd rung Webasto UK and they hadn't heard of him.

Barry Kaye (BK) told me that the author of the TakeyTezey blog was 'a silly woman'.  His son Jason (JK) - not knowing who I was - said "you can't trust what they [blogs] say" and warned me not to listen to them.   He also expressed scorn for forums. 

I told them that I wrote about the waterways, that I did it on the internet, not in magazines, and that I'd definitely report what they said, as I thought it was a pretty shabby way to talk about customers and potential customers.

BK then made my jaw drop by hinting at legal action if I did write it, and saying "It will be your word against mine".

I've always thought that 'your word against mine' is thuggish language.  That was the trip-wire.

Things went downhill from there, especially when I revealed that I'd started recording things on my mobile phone.  (I then said I was bluffing, but it was a double-bluff).

It hit bottom when BK said "there's always one at every show".   

I spat out sarcastic abuse against myself ('Oh, I'm just a worthless nothing, I'm a tw*t', and more in that vein).  This is a passive-agressive tack I sometimes take when I'm annoyed.  I don't abuse my opponent.  Instead, I say about myself what I think they are thinking.

BK then said "You aren't right in the head", and JK said "I bet you still live at home with your mother", and BK polished the turd with "Why don't you go home and have a wank, have a wank".

I repeated those final insults out loud, verbatim - the better to remember the moment when I wrote it down later - then took one final photo before I left the marquee.

Thus ended my meeting with the Webasto distributor.

Later, I went online to investigate BK Marine. 

There's a basic website. But I can't find much evidence of the Kayes (and the company) on the internet beyond the website.  This seems to bear up their scornful comment that you can't trust blogs and forums.

I was interested to see mentions of Barry Kaye on CanalWorld.  In a recent Canalworld thread entitled 'Webasto Nightmare', someone has published an email he says he received from BK, which includes:

... Some stupid rumour seems to have come from Kingsground narrowboats, who got this in their heads.

... I would appreciate you telling me where your information came from as Webasto take a very dim view of incorrect and damaging comments, and often persue the matter further.

... I imagine that this is just typical "towpath talk" subject to inaccurate and incorrect information, however boat owners can be very gullable, and often pass on this information without checking as you have done.

On the same thread there's a quote about a conversation with JK:

I also mentioned discussion forums to which he [JK] was a little scathing, suggesting that anybody who took notice of talk on on a forum, wouldn't be a welcome customer.

The issue here isn't the facts.  It's the attitude of Webasto's agent to their customers and potential customers.

Not only is a Webasto customer a "silly woman", but Kingsground originated a "stupid rumour", boat owners can be "gullable" [sic], and there's a sinister hint that Webasto will "persue" [sic] action against their customers for simply publishing a point of view. 

And a Canalworld regular gets the impression that you won't be a welcome customer of BK Marine if you take too much notice of what other people say online.

I'm sorry, but I see a pattern emerging.  For a long, long, time I will associate the name Webasto with:

"I bet you still live at home with your mother. ... Oh, go home and have a wank, have a wank!"

(The ironic thing is that Granny Buttons was named after my mother.  This means that although my mother died nearly two decades ago, I do still live at home with her, in a sense.)

It's all a great shame, really. This winter I was planning on having a refit on Granny Buttons, including replacing my Kabola diesel space heater with a diesel central heating system. 

Any recommendations?  Not Webasto please, I don't trust its after-sales support.  Webasto sucks.

And the secret phone recording? 

Well, I copied the card to my computer, but I haven't listened to it yet.  To tell the truth, just like Dirty Harry when he fired the gun, I quite lost count of how many times I took it out of my pocket to record what they said, and whether I caught the right moments.  But I feel like saying:  Do you feel lucky?

If  you need a service engineer for your Webasto, I've heard good reports of Boating Leisure Services near Northampton.   

And Heather of TakeyTezey recommends Mobile Boat Services.

Comments

[Sue]

I too have had a terrible time with these guys after a Webasted was fitted in my new boat. They basically told me to **** off.

[Stewart MacLennan]

I had similarly unhelpful experiences when looking to put air-con in our new wide-beam, though did not get the dumbfounding advice you did on what to do when I got home!
I understand that BK Marine might now no longer be a Webasto dealer.
Stewart MacLennan
"Endellion"

[Heather]

No need to go for another make of boiler Andrew, after much research Webasto boilers are just fine provided they come from any of the other main dealers - apart from BK of course...

[Peter]

What a shame that a good product by Webasto can be seen in such a bad light by the actions of their UK agent!
From reading your comments I must assume that JK is the one on the left of your photo sitting in the pushchair!

[diesel dave]

Try Ed Shiers at Four Counties Marine Services, Staffordshire.

A brilliant sevice offered by a polite knowledgeable young man who actually cares about his customers and their boats.

A first class service, well done Ed.

[Lesley K NB Caxton]

Andrew
Do have a look at the Hurricane marine heating boiler. After a lot of research, we have had one fitted to NB Caxton as it seems the most reliable. Calcutt Boats Ltd are the UK distributor for this Canadian product which IS designed for the marine environment rather than a lorry cab.

Best of luck