Swanley Brokerage

Me and my wife bought Serendipity around the beginning of June 2020.Andy, the brokerage salesman did a great job with showing us around the craft and we loved it.we asked if there was a survey of the vessel and duly brought out a very favourable survey of Serendipity, carried out in July 2019.Serendipity was on offer for £51500 and we agreed at £47000.we moved on to take her on a 4/5 day trip home to Lyme view Marina in Adlington, Macclesfield and that's when the first of many troubles began.On the first morning after purchase, we awoke to find that the calorifier had leaked all of its contents of fresh water into the engine bay so we had no running water for the rest of the trip and a confirmed fracture in the surcal calorifier due to frost damage (£515 to replace + fitting).During our trip we noticed a Strong Urine smell from the Thetford toilet although it had been emptied regularly during our trip, on removal we noticed that the unit wasn't for a narrowboat as there had been a hole drilled into the base so we think its been thrown in for the sale (£649 to replace + fitting) and we had just come out of lock down due to Covid -19 as well.we finally got to the home mooring and decided to plug into the mains for the first time, only to receive a nasty 240v shock and all the fuses to trip, we found that the external 16amp socket fitted was full of water which was a second shock as the vessel had just PASSED a safety inspection and been given its certificate.We don't blame Andy the salesman because that's his JOB, he sells BOATS, we blame everyone, the previous owner allowing a vessel to be sold in that condition with covid-19, the Calorifier, the toilet and the shock off the electrics.anyone could have known of these faults and could have told us.i know we should of had a survey on purchase as Andy explained when we called him about the burst calorifier but all i was wanting was some honesty but i suppose when your parting with that much cash, no one is your friend................learn your lesson..........once you part with your money.................TOUGH LUCK.

We have recently completed the purchase of our first narrowboat and Swanley Brokerage have been excellent throughout. Both Andy and Malcolm were friendly and attentive without being either pushy or over officious. The whole process put us at our ease and felt secure yet relaxed and not too onerous. We would have no hesitation recommending them.

We had our narrow boat moored at Swanley for several years and always found everyone at the immaculately kept marina really friendly and helpful. Recently we decided to sell our lovely narrow boat because we just didn’t have sufficient time any more to get out any about on the canals. Andy’s valuation was spot on and following much interest, a sale was secured in a matter of a few weekst. The whole sale process was really efficient and painless. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Swanley Brokerage . Thank you all. Hopefully we will see you all again in the future.

We recently sold our 4 year old Narrowboat with Swanley Brokerage. What a brilliant team! Our boat sold within hours of their advert going live. Andy and Malcolm dealt with all aspects of the sale and made it a trouble free experience. We would have no hesitation to recommend anyone thinking of buying or selling a narrowboat to use Swanley Brokerage.

Brilliant. From first call to money in my bank it took just under 5 weeks for Swanley to sell my boat. Highly professional, helpfull and friendly from beginning to end. Can't thank you enough.

My parents who bought through Swanley Brokerage: Andy was very friendly and helpful as well as communicative throughout the purchase of our boat. He even followed up with us after the sale to see how we were getting on with her. He also gave us details for the onsite engineer who helped us with the broken thermostat.I personally feel that Andy is approachable and quite caring for his customers. He seems to be up for a laugh whenever we cross paths too. I think he's an overall dependable and smashing chap.

For several years had been continuously cruising and then putting my narrowboat into Swanley Bridge for a few weeks over Xmas so was aware of the friendly service provided by the marina. When I decided after some soul searching to sell my boat I approached Swanley Brokerage to help me. Malcolm and Andy were very helpful both on the phone and in person. They were flexible and helpful even at short notice, they kept me updated via phone, and the sale went through quickly and efficiently, taking less than a month from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Andy and Malcolm were very thorough in going through what was needed to put the boat on brokerage, the photos and video Andy took were excellent, they kept us informed and gave us plenty of notice when potential buyers were coming to view, the boat didn`t take long to sell, and Andy took care of all the paperwork, my only regret is that it was a high value boat and 6% is a lot of commission, looking back I think the commission should be on a sliding scale. Apart from that, we were very pleased with the service. Paul.

We went to look at cowrie Queen and ended up putting a deposit on cloud nine. Lovely people there that make you feel very warm and welcome.

We decided to sell our boat and spent a day visiting various brokerages in order to find the most appropriate to our needs. Upon speaking with Andy at Swanley Marina we instantly knew that the team there were the most professional and knowledgeable we had come across. They explained everything in detail regarding the sale of our boat and the process involved. The subsequent process of selling the boat once we had taken our boat to the brokerage was effortless and made the experience pleasant and stress free. Whenever we had any questions as to the sale of our boat, both Andy and Malcom were easy to deal with and very knowledgeable regarding all matters. Thank you to all staff for selling our boat which we had owned for 13 years. We would not hesitate in recommending the excellent service given by Swanley Brokerage.