Dear Friends,

We are unhappy with the customer service of the Watts Valve Company and
their Singapore distributor.  So we are encouraging everyone to buy from
their many competitors; we can supply names or you can find them on the
Internet.  Here are the details:

We wanted to install a Watts mixing valve (details in addendum below) on
AKAMA.  A fellow Whaleback owner recommended a Watts valve and it was
advertised in the pages of Living Aboard Magazine.  I contacted Watts and
they in turn put me in touch with their local distributor---so far so good.
It turns out that the distributor has no stock, takes a long time to get
stock, wants way over the usual price, and will only sell me six of them
rather than the one I need.  Despite a strong protest, neither the dealer
nor Watts has reconsidered (or even responded).  The implication is that if
you have their valve and it fails here in Singapore, or presumably many
other out-of-the-way places, you can't get another without waiting for over
a month, and when you get it you will pay too much and be stuck with five
spares that you'll likely never need.

Please support us by boycotting the Watts Valve Company and telling your
friends.  You are, of course, free to do as you wish.  We apologise for the
cross posting, which will mean that some of you receive multiple copies of
this.

Best to all and have a happy holiday season,
Maurice & Louise-Ann Nunas
M/V AKAMA
Pier 2, Ponggol Marina
Singapore

Addendum: Why would you want such a valve (for those that missed the initial
discussion)?  We measured the temperature of the hot water coming out of the
water faucets. It was about 180 degrees when heated by the engine heat
exchanger, and about 140 degrees when heated by an electric heating element.
Also, because the "cold water" in the tanks, here in the tropics is already
reasonably warm, the levers on the showers had to be adjusted to the nearly
off position to get the right temperature for showering.  140-degree water
can cause third degree burns in only seconds of exposure; I shudder to think
what 180-degree water would do. Also, the variability factor of electric vs.
engine heat made for an unpredictable situation, which might be confusing,
especially for guests.  A tempering (anti-scald, mixing...) valve installed
on the output side of the water heater premixes the hot water from the
heater with cold water from the tank to a reasonable temperature that you
can adjust (e.g., 125 degrees).  So the hottest water is now reasonably
safe, and the shower valve is in the middle position for warm shower water.

I live in the town of North Andover Massachusetts where Watts is
headquartered.  Many of the Watts executives live in town.  I took the
liberty of forwarding your note to Timothy Horne (company chairman) and the
export department Jeannie Martin.

Hope you receive some satisfaction.

Regards,

Peter North
Salty Dog KK42 #52

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-trawler-world-list@samurai.com
[mailto:owner-trawler-world-list@samurai.com]On Behalf Of AKAMA
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 9:48 PM
To: Live-aboard List; Trawler-World-List; Living Aboard Magazine
Cc: MARTINJJ@wattsind.com; sensort@cyberway.com.sg
Subject: TWL: Please Don Not Buy Watts Vales

Dear Friends,

We are unhappy with the customer service of the Watts Valve Company and
their Singapore distributor.  So we are encouraging everyone to buy from
their many competitors; we can supply names or you can find them on the
Internet.  Here are the details:

We wanted to install a Watts mixing valve (details in addendum below) on
AKAMA.  A fellow Whaleback owner recommended a Watts valve and it was
advertised in the pages of Living Aboard Magazine.  I contacted Watts and
they in turn put me in touch with their local distributor---so far so good.
It turns out that the distributor has no stock, takes a long time to get
stock, wants way over the usual price, and will only sell me six of them
rather than the one I need.  Despite a strong protest, neither the dealer
nor Watts has reconsidered (or even responded).  The implication is that if
you have their valve and it fails here in Singapore, or presumably many
other out-of-the-way places, you can't get another without waiting for over
a month, and when you get it you will pay too much and be stuck with five
spares that you'll likely never need.

Please support us by boycotting the Watts Valve Company and telling your
friends.  You are, of course, free to do as you wish.  We apologise for the
cross posting, which will mean that some of you receive multiple copies of
this.

Best to all and have a happy holiday season,
Maurice & Louise-Ann Nunas
M/V AKAMA
Pier 2, Ponggol Marina
Singapore

Addendum: Why would you want such a valve (for those that missed the initial
discussion)?  We measured the temperature of the hot water coming out of the
water faucets. It was about 180 degrees when heated by the engine heat
exchanger, and about 140 degrees when heated by an electric heating element.
Also, because the "cold water" in the tanks, here in the tropics is already
reasonably warm, the levers on the showers had to be adjusted to the nearly
off position to get the right temperature for showering.  140-degree water
can cause third degree burns in only seconds of exposure; I shudder to think
what 180-degree water would do. Also, the variability factor of electric vs.
engine heat made for an unpredictable situation, which might be confusing,
especially for guests.  A tempering (anti-scald, mixing...) valve installed
on the output side of the water heater premixes the hot water from the
heater with cold water from the tank to a reasonable temperature that you
can adjust (e.g., 125 degrees).  So the hottest water is now reasonably
safe, and the shower valve is in the middle position for warm shower water.

Friends,

First and foremost, thanks very much you for the offers of assistance.  I
really appreciate that some of you would even source and ship a valve for a
stranger---OK, many of us sort of know each other by email, but we've never
met.  For the moment, I'll pass. It is also good to hear something good
about Watts, although there was only one such message.

I agree with those who pointed out that sending a single valve to Singapore
constitutes a bit of a location problem. I can also accept that the local
dealer might not want to get stuck with the other five valves on a minimum
wholesale order of six. But that's not the issue here.  I'm a customer and I
want and need only one valve.  Why refer it to the guy in Singapore who has
no stock, probably never had any and clearly has no inclination to carry
any? As another listee pointed out to me, many of their distributors
specialize in international orders and probably would have been happy to
ship me a single valve.  More importantly, once I made it clear to Watts
that I was not happy that the local dealer attempted to gouge me (they admit
this) and ignore my needs as a customer, why did Watts not step in
immediately to rectify the situation?  Why did they only react after I made
my request to you good folks for a Watts boycott?  Bad customer service on
the part of some of their people, that's why.  Read on and learn how one
responsible Watts employee nearly saved the day, only to have another lout
snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

First, I got a very nice email from Watts apologizing and offering me a free
valve.  This was better than I thought I deserved; a simple apology and the
name of a dealer willing to ship one valve at a reasonable price would have
been enough.  I was all set to issue a retraction to all my friends here on
the lists, reporting on this wonderful treatment.  Had I misjudged them?  I
was beginning to feel a bit remorseful that I might have unleashed some
undue economic harm with a premature appeal for a boycott.  I need not have
worried!  I got a second email, from somebody else at Watts, somebody much
less professional.  He took issue with the first fellow for offering me the
free valve, telling him not to do it!  Moreover, the misrepresentation, tone
and innuendo of this second email was enough to make my blood boil.  This
guy's bottom line, translates to, "Hey, this guy is just a small boat owner
who will only buy one valve and never mean anything more to us; so, to hell
with him."  An interesting perspective coming from a company that is in the
process of adding a marine page to their web site and who advertised their
valve in Living Aboard Magazine.

So, I am now seeking the email address of the Watts chairman.  I have some
emails I want to copy to him, along with the name of the man I suggest he
fire.

Very best,
Maurice & Louise-Ann Nunas
M/V AKAMA
Pier 2, Ponggol Marina
Singapore