Marinas Rip Off Electrical / Water Meters - How Do I Check?

[MarkJ]

How do I check I am not being ripped off when I plug into a marinas electrical socket or my hose into the water?


In Indonesia we were ripped off to the max with water! 960 litters they said in 8 days!!!!!!!! And we were using bottled water!



Mark

[Vasco]

check the meters first.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Vasco

check the meters first.

How?


Or as a French person would say: "'Ow"?

[amytom]

If you know where the meters are (on the pedestal depending on their setup) just record the numbers and when you leave write them down again. Subtract the starting number from the ending number and that's how much went through the meter.
That being said, is the meter accurate? Are other boats on the same meter?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by amytom

, is the meter accurate? Are other boats on the same meter?

Thats what I am asking. How does one know if its accurate. Its easy to determain if another boat is on the meter. Its hard to tell if the electricty is split etc.

[rtbates]

With your boat not plugged in and not drawing water or elec simply verify that neither meter is moving... As for the accuracy of the meters, that's a tad more difficult to determine. I suppose you could draw a known amount of water and verify that the meter agreed. Same for the elec meter, but drawing a known amount would seem difficult. Sorry to hear of the rip off.

Good luck

[amytom]

In the case of obvious rip-offs the best thing you can do is advertise who ripped you off and where they are. The next victim will be forewarned.

[Hurricane Harry]

Thats a lot of water in 8 days. Where you makin moonshine?/Harry

[David M]

Tell them you know a LOT of cruisers who will not be coming to this marina if they do you an injustice. Tell them word gets around quickly in the cruising community about such injustices. Ask him if overcharging you is worth the loss of future business.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

... 960 litters they said in 8 days!!!!!!!! And we were using bottled water!

Originally Posted by Hurricane Harry

Thats a lot of water in 8 days....

But not that much home brew. Just remember MarkJ has a track record with home brew

[donradcliffe]

I always make a point of asking the dock boy how to read the meters when I arrive, and then writing down the starting values. If they know you are watching, they don't try anything fancy. Of course your neighbors could have borrowed the hose when you were out seeing the local delights.

The worst ripoff I ever had was in Athens, where the fuel truck didn't reset his meter to zero when he started, and I was too busy to check. The meter at the fuel dock in Turtle Bay (Baja) put 8 gallons of fuel in a 5 gallon jerry jug...

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The meter at the fuel dock in Turtle Bay (Baja) put 8 gallons of fuel in a 5 gallon jerry jug...

That has been happening for many years.

A friend (fluent in Spanish) demanded to know how 6 and a half gallons could be put into a 5 gallon jerry jug.

The answer?




"Es un Milagro!"

(It's a Miracle!)

Steve B.

[flashmutt007]

mark - here is a water meter that you hook up to your hose...it's in USGallon's, but gives you an idea of what to look for. Hook one of these up and you could verify what the marina's output is.

Watermeter

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by flashmutt007

mark - here is a water meter that you hook up to your hose...it's in USGallon's, but gives you an idea of what to look for. Hook one of these up and you could verify what the marina's output is.

Watermeter

Thanks Bill!





Now for an electrical meter too and we will be fine

A friend (fluent in Spanish) demanded to know how 6 and a half gallons could be put into a 5 gallon jerry jug.

We had a dock fight in Ambon, Indonesia when the fuel truck filled the gerrys of a couple of boats including us about 3/4 full. They didnt have a guage on the truck. Said they uesd a bucket they showed me. LOL I just stood there screaming at the top of my voice. It was great! Everyone tells you to smile nicely at Indonesiand, but screaming works a treat! Got my gerrys re-filled, so did the boats previous and the ones ahead

They call them Indonesian Litres. LOL

[osirissail]

- - Some marinas do not have meters and charge a "daily rate" for water or electric. These charges seem to be extremely high for normal boaters and low for boats running lots of airconditioners, etc. The marina averages their monthly electric and water bills by the average number of boats in the marina (not actual number of boats), adds a fudge factor and comes up with a daily charge. I tend to not use these marinas as the electric and water charges are seriously inflated.
- - The other type of marina actually has wattmeters in the power pedestals and water meters at each spigot. Then you write down the numbers when you arrive and when you leave (or end of month) and subtract to get your own usage. Whether the numbers actually represent gallon/liters or Kwh or not is not important as everybody is paying for their "units" of use based on their consumption.