The delivery of the tin of varnish I bought from Pirates Cave Chandlery was very poor. I got the product 5 days after. However, the service was good, Jessica managed to get the product delivered t... See more
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See what reviewers are saying
Ordered a automatic life jacket on a Friday but understand it wasn't getting dispatched till the Monday then it took 5 days to arrive, which was to late as we were away on holiday on the Friday mornin... See more
I don't give 5 star reviews lightly... in fact I'm a moany hard to please sod who values customer service greatly. I do however give a rather rare 5 stars to these guys because from start to finish t... See more
I have just recently taken up kayaking at the tender age of 68. Knowing little about the subject I looked online to find out where I could purchase a personal floatation device and found this excellen... See more
Company details
Information provided by various external sources
Established in 1991, Pirates Cave Chandlery has grown to become one of the largest, well-known and well-stocked Chandlers in the South East of England. Our main shop is based in Rochester, Kent and we're ideally located near the River Medway and River Thames with Chatham Marina, Gillingham Marina and Hoo Marina just a few minutes away. With two floors and over 3,000 square feet of floor space, we stock a wide variety of chandlery products to cater for our customers, whether they be dinghy sailors, yachtsmen, motor boaters, or canoeists, we've got it covered, and all at highly competitive prices. What's more - we're open 7 days a week. Our website has become our 'second shop' and we thrive on being able to serve many more customers, with our chandlery products, wider afield. We even have a dedicated centralised stock warehouse to cater for our online sales. Our Staff (or Crew as we like to call ourselves!) are highly experienced, some having served our customers for over 14 years. We enjoy finding solutions and providing advice to our customers - it's something we pride ourselves on. We have a large supplier base, which enables us to stock and source all the items you would expect to find, whether it be from the smallest individual bolt (in Stainless A4 no less!) to clothing, lifejackets, paint, cookers, rope, dinghies and so much more. Of course, it would be impossible to stock every item for every boat - such as that diaphragm you require for your 10 year old bilge pump - but we will do our utmost to source it and get it for you, and fast. That's why we have thousands of loyal customers - customers who we are always so pleased to see and serve.
Contact info
6 Kendon Business Park, Maritime Close, ME2 4JF, Rochester, United Kingdom
- 01634 295233
- customerservices@piratescave.co.uk
- www.piratescave.co.uk
No recent history of asking for reviews
This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative
Replied to 40% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 1 week
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Be aware
on there website it says if ordered before 1pm then delivered next day, I ordered late on Thursday (expecting item to be delivered Saturday) and didn't receive it till Monday which meant a few people who had offered to help couldn't managed because of work. I phoned the company to say I would like my postage returned but was told that they would have to pay extra for it to be delivered on Saturday so no way they would give me anything. So be aware that if it is later than Thursday 1pm use someone else.
Warning pirates cave chandlers
Phoned up tp order a raymarine transducer on website says £229, phoned to order suddenly £266. Buyer's
Beware

Reply from Pirates Cave Chandlery
Brilliant customer service
I bought some deck shoes from Pirates Cave but they mixed up 2 orders and I recieved the wrong shoes.
I called them about the issue and within half an hour I recieved an email with a return label and in less than 24 hours I received the correct shoes from them.
Unbeatable customer service.
Lowrence hook 2 Fishfinder
Saw they had what I was looking for. First time buying from this company, will definitely get more things from pirates Cave. Communication has been brilliant and quick delivery. Thanks again 5 stars definitely
Click and collect
Purchased some fenders to collect in-store. I phoned up and they checked the stock for me, I paid over the phone then collected a few hours later.
Made an order 2 weeks ago and nothing
Made an order 2 weeks ago, had emails to say order successful and another to say payment complete, haven’t heard anything since about delivery or being dispatched and have emailed and tried to call with no answer to either.
Customer care does not exist
Not great - they will accept your order online for items they do not stock and you pay in full, then you wait weeks and weeks without receipt of the item you ordered. They never return calls despite numerous promises when I called them and they never answer any e mails. Finally I have received my refund but it has taken a month.
Great customer service, expedient shipping
Fantastic customer service and great people to work with. They gave me time and attention while being rather busy providing excellent service to other customers as well. My parcel arrived within 24 hours of them shipping between UK to USA. Unbelievable. Highly recommend!
really great business recommend and will use again
placed order online ,i missed off my house number so had to ring in,great customer service details were updated ,got my boat next day delivery at a fantastic price ,very professional business with the most competitive rates i could find
Please reply to my three emails about only half my order being delivered on 8th May
Pirates Cave Chandlery please reply to my three emails about only half my order being delivered on 8th May after my order place on 22nd April. After almost a month I still do not have all the items I paid for.
Order ref: ORD58094
My experience of Pirates Cave Chandlery so far…
I placed an order for four lifejacket maintenance items on 22nd April.
A (partially) delivery, 16 days later, was made on 8th May.
The courier did not ring the bell (both my wife and I were in), left the delivery bag on my doorstep and recorded it was signed for by a name I do not recognise. When I picked-up the delivery bag I noticed there was a hole in it so, being worried about the damage, I took a photo of it before I opened it. On opening it I found only 2 of the 4 items present.
I immediately emailed Pirates Cave Chandlery to state only a partial delivery had been made along with photographs of the hole in the delivery bag and the items delivered.
I have since sent two further emails chasing for an update on 14th May and 16th May and still heard absolutely nothing.
Pirates Cave Chandlery, please contact me to confirm how you will complete your contractual obligations as per our order agreement.
Regards,
Matt
Efficient
Easy to use, well stocked online store with great back up support. Delivery was fast and efficient. Very impressed.
Hugh delivery costs not refunded
I ordered a pair of deck shoes as a present. Unfortunately they were too small in the recipients usual size so I returned them for a refund plus placing a replacement order. I was very disappointed that not only did I have to pay postage to return them but also the original high delivery fee (of £5.95) was not refunded. I contacted the company and was informed this was the policy. I’ve therefore lost nearly £10 just because the shoes didn’t fit. I had even already placed a replacement order (and paid postage again) which I wouldn’t have done if I’d known about this. Perhaps don’t sell products online that need to be tried on if this is your policy.

Reply from Pirates Cave Chandlery
Excellant service
Excellant service, items arrived on time , were well packaged, delivery instructions were followed to the letter. very pleased
Brilliant customer service
Friendly and helpful service, plenty of stock that’s well organised and easy to locate, at very good prices. Very happy with my experience, will 100% be back in future.
Great experience
The staff were helpful and friendly. Lots of stock to choose from.
Brilliant staff and service
Ordered a life jacket over the phone, the staff were very helpful and the delivery arrived within the promised delivery window.
I would definitely recommend Pirates Cave and will be using them again in the future.
Great quality product at a good price
Superb company superb products highly…
Superb company superb products highly recommended
Poor communication that improved
Ordered an item with a promise of next day delivery as before 1. Made the order at 12:57.
No email/text within 24 hours so contacted and told it would be going out later that day and would likely be with me the next day. Gave them the benefit of the doubt given how close to 1 it was.
Next day no contact so phoned and given a tracking number over the phone. Checked item and not due to be delivered until day 3 as sent via Royal Mail 48 hour tariff.
There are some brilliant online businesses who do get the item to you the next day even if you have ordered late at night. This is not one of them. If like me you need in a hurry then be wary about trusting them to fulfill their sales pitch.
Even cancellation is difficult as they want you to send back item when it arrives rather than taking the mature step of recalling it themselves.
Update and upgrading from 1 because they did everything possible to sort the late arrival issue and it transpired that it was due to the carrier negligence rather than the company. The customer service was excellent once the issue had been raised,

Reply from Pirates Cave Chandlery
Poor Service
22nd June 2023 - Placed order for deck shoes and received an email advising "working hard to complete your order and get this shipped out to you". No further communication. On 7th July I decided to check my account with Pirates Cave and found a note against order "HELD - Customer to Contact". As I had heard nothing from Pirates Cave I phoned them - "out of stock" was the reply. So cancelled order and ordered identical item form Marine Super Store - FedEx advised arriving 10th July - that's real service with the added bonus of being £4 cheaper!

Reply from Pirates Cave Chandlery
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