most expensive free boat hire ever.

[bigmike20vt]

My parents (in 70's) and my 3 year old took a 4 person cayak on the river Cambs . work have an account with local punt hire company so we get free boat hire
All went well on the way to Grantchester but on way back we managed to hit a tree and the boat capsized. Could have been worse, my son had a life jacket on and passers by were amazing (massive shout out to the lady who gave my son a spare top and helped dry him)

My mum and son went back to the pub and the landlady phoned a taxi. Taxi company were warned they were a bit soggy but pub gave them bin bags so as not to get cab seat wet.
My dad and I got the boat out of the water (more help from nice people) emptied it out and then paddled back.
We got back to the punt place expecting my mum and lad to be there (took us over an hr to get back) but no joy. All phones ruined so could not call.

30 mins later my mum and lad turn up very upset the sod of a taxi driver dropped em at the wrong place swearing and ****** & jeffing (filter block) telling my mum they both stank and made him feel sick, calling them filthy (she told him why they were like that and he was being mean) , he forced her to give her credit card and took £90 before kicking them out of the taxi (no idea where they were). My mum had hip op 12 month ago and my lad is 3. They had to walk 2 miles across town.
(Taxi seat was dry it was just they smelled of the river cambs)
We got home eventually and no lasting harm done though my mum can barely move the following few days and is black and blue after banging herself up falling out of the boat and I am not sure if my boy fancies another boat trip.

Total cost 3 pairs of shoes
2 Motorola g5+ phones
1 leather handbacg
2 leather wallets
£200 pair of glasses (mine fell off in the water).

I was so grateful for all the nice people esp those who comforted my mum who saw the altercation with the taxi driver and those who looked after my lad getting him out of the water and dry whilst i swam around getting oars and the boat out of the water.
I was livid about the taxi driver and filed a complaint. They promised a full refund and will be talking to the driver and said he will be disciplined as it reflects badly on them

At least no one hurt but looking at around £500 in lost stuff (more really as the 2 new phones I ordered are technically upgrades (insurance don't cover water damage) so was £350 just for 2 phones)

Sorry just needed to vent

 

[bigmike20vt]

actually i havent spoke to the insurance..... i just know water damage is not covered.... so, i suppose i could do that but it sounds a bit suspicious doesnt it? there is no real reason i would lose the phones, 1 maybe but not both.

also depending on what they bothered to check.... both phones did power on for a bit so they could maybe tell that..... the screen is dead on one, and the other worked perfectly fine for about 10 mins after being in rice for 36 hrs before packing up. if they looking into it i fear they could tell the phones had been, at least in part, used.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Why do people still believe that this works?
I thought it was well known that is a complete fallacy by now?

it was a shot in the dark........ didnt have anything to lose (other than 50p of rice)

 

[bigmike20vt]

That is really **** of the taxi driver, glad you're getting the money back and the firm is going to have a word with him. How on earth did he even justify £90??? Was he trying to throw in some extra charge for causing damage/cleaning fee etc...? I'm presuming the distance you got in the canoe wasn't anywhere near £90 worth of taxi driving.

Ref: the insurance - To be fair why should the insurance company pay for the phones - that's completely avoidable and is the OP's own fault for not just sticking them in a waterproof bag.

the taxi fair was £9.40 the rest was for the smell in his cab - he said it would need a full valet - my mum swears the seats were dry because they were sat on bin bags and didnt lean back.

RE the insurance.. isnt that kind of the point of accidental damage? if i drop a tv when moving it, or spill ribena on a sofa, with hindsite most are avoidable

Why has it cost 3 pairs of shoes.... Dry them out....

so my pair i have done just that but they will be good for gardening shoes only. they are proper buggered after being coated in claggy mud. To be honest the part of the story which angered me most is the taxi incident.. and the price of the rest is neglagable compared to the price of the phones and glasses. The other 2 pairs are my parents, and my mums boots were screwed, and my dad is under the thumb and does what he is told

 

[bigmike20vt]

That taxi driver deserves a damn good thrashing

had i of been there i think things may have gone different, however that said, confronting a total stranger when you have a 3 year old on tow is not really a good idea. nothing good would come of it from my lads perspective.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Well yes and no, some common sense should apply too - for example if you accidentally leave a ground floor window open or front door unlocked should the insurance company pay out for a burglary?

I guess it depends on the policy. Dropping a phone in every day use a bit different to say doing water sports/activities (obviously rather high risk to your phone) and not either leaving your phone behind or keeping it waterproofed if you must have it with you.

For the record i was not complaining about my insurance and indeed i have not even bothered to put a claim in - though i will probably phone them today to find out what is what. i will be honest with them however and if it is covered great and if it isnt no bother.

that said, the reason why we were not that prepared i was expecting to get a rowing boat which i would say is pretty risk free... i didnt know the company stopped doing rowing boats a few years ago and instead replaced with kayaks. even then tho, they are pretty big and are actually not that easy to capsize so decided it was still pretty much risk free. i do plan on doing it again, fantastic fun however will be better prepared.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Why? I wouldn’t give people covered in rancid water a lift in the vehicle I’m using all day either. How is he supposed to expect his next customer to get in a car that smells like crap?

**** situation but it’s not the taxi drivers fault.

1) because he was advised (or more accurately the company was advised in advance) of the situation

but 2) the big thing, regardless of the situation, calling an elderly woman a ******* dirty smelly ***** esp infront of a 3 year old, and being incredibly aggressive aint cool even IF he was annoyed at the situation.

he saw my mum putting the bags on the back, and my mum told him what had happened.

he could have took the £90 and said he needed that to vallet the car (which would have been a lie as the seats were dry and clean) but had he done that and dropped of my mum at the correct place i would not have been so mad, but throwing an elderly lady and 3 year old out in middle of a city they do not know aint cool.... and to be honest if you think it is i suggest you dont go into being a taxi driver.

 

[bigmike20vt]

We have one side of this story. I imagine the taxi driver wasn’t as entirely unreasonable as they’re made out to be.

ahh so you think i am lying... in which case you should have started with that! :/

Next time take ziploc bags for your phones!

indeed, sound advice. had i known i was getting a cayak and not a wider bottomed rowing boat i would have been more prepared..... to be honest losing my phone and glasses is not the worst/most stressful part of this story imo - and the water itself was surprisingly warm.

At least you’re not a top revenue earner, otherwise you would be adding a Gucci belt to that list.

some of my friends have suggested i add my tablet to it to cover the excess and any "loss" of value that the insurance add on... but it is not how i roll, I try and be as honest as possible most of the time.

(though the music industry would argue that perhaps if they saw my mp3 collection

 

[bigmike20vt]

No, I haven’t said that at all. That is a huge leap from what I said.

I think there are two sides to every story.

Your dramatic reaction to what I said is a good example of how your point of view might be different to the taxi drivers.

My response was to someone saying the taxi driver deserves a good thrashing. That is a stupid thing to say having only half a story.

fair point on my response to your post..... over reaction on that perhaps, but only because i am so smegged off at what happened. however on the taxi driver I am happy to stand by everything i said, but then fair enough you do only have mine/my mums word on that...... she knows how to handle her self however and it takes a lot to reduce her to tears esp in a public place. ideally should/could have taken the names of witnesses of the kerfuffle but she just wanted to get out of there.

i have no idea if private cabs have onboard cameras... if they do i would be interested to be a fly on the wall if the cab company do chase it up.

 

[bigmike20vt]

I would speak to them. Unless your policy specifically states it's not covered for water damage and covers you taking stuff away from home, you would be covered. Where I work we repair phones/laptops etc on behalf of insurance companies and more than half of them are liquid damage. It's not uncommon we see stuff which has been dropped in rivers either.

thanks.
I spoke with the insurance and i was pleasantly surprised. No problem at all. i just need to photo the phone as proof along with any recipts for other stuff and post on.
She asked i keep the stuff just incase they want to see them, but the impression i got was it is unlikely they will bother. (perhaps would have been more interested if i had been claiming for an iphone X or what ever the newest £800+ phones are.