Nice marina spoiled by corporate greed
We moored at Tattenhall Marina for four years and, for almost all of that time, our experience was excellent. The marina is beautifully maintained, the facilities are very good and the local team were always friendly, professional and helpful. We made many happy memories there and still have family and friends who continue to moor at the marina.
Unfortunately, our experience at the end of our time there completely changed my opinion of Lakeland Leisure Estates’ head office.
We sold our boat through Lakeland’s brokerage service and, as required by our agreement, gave three months’ notice to terminate our mooring. We never disputed the contractual notice period.
Our boat was moved from our premium end berth to the brokerage berth and, just two days later, our premium berth was allocated to another annual moorer.
Our dispute was never about the notice period. It was about Lakeland’s changing interpretation of its own contract.
When I questioned the reallocation of our premium berth, head office told me that our agreement was for a mooring within the marina generally, not for berth A1 specifically. In other words, we had no contractual right to remain on that particular berth.
However, when I questioned why the separately charged End Jetty Premium continued after A1 had been relinquished and reallocated, the interpretation changed. I was then told that the premium remained payable because A1 was the premium berth we had occupied.
Those two positions simply cannot both be true.
Either the agreement related to any suitable berth within the marina, or it related specifically to A1. Lakeland relied on the first interpretation when explaining why they could reallocate our berth, and the second when explaining why they continued charging the premium. That inconsistency was never satisfactorily explained.
What disappointed me just as much was the way the matter was handled. On more than one occasion I had to chase for replies. The dispute was eventually escalated to one of the company’s directors and, after I raised what I believed was the central contractual inconsistency, the correspondence simply stopped.
That is a real shame because it completely overshadowed what had otherwise been four excellent years at Tattenhall. Wed paid four years mooring fees on time including the premium rate, we paid full broker fees despite them valuing our boat at half of what it sold for (in four days) and if that wasn’t enough they also deducted the premium berth rate from the sale proceeds and then played contractual gymnastics to try to justify it. Thats bad business.
I would happily recommend the marina itself and the local team. My criticism is directed entirely at the way this dispute was handled by Lakeland Leisure Estates’ head office. They promote themselves as a friendly family run company when in truth they’re quite ruthless.
If you’re considering a premium berth, my advice would be to make sure you fully understand how the notice provisions and premium charges will be applied if you ever decide to leave. There’s a group elsewhere online for people with a similar take to tell.