Home FAQs
Get answers to the common questions relating to MDL and its products such as MDL Fitness, MDL Holidays, Otium and much more.
No. Otium is a new way for annual berth holders to use their MDL discounts giving you more choice on the products you would like discounted even choosing to hold all of your points to use against next year’s renewal. But customers who berth with us already can retain their MDL Freedom Berthing discounts and services which today include up to 20% discounts on boatyard services, Freedom Berthing overnight stays, fuel at cost and so on. All of our existing annual Freedom Berthing members will be offered the choice of remaining on a standard Freedom Berthing agreement with the benefits applicable to that product, or move to the new berthing with Otium product where they will be given points up front applicable to the fee they have paid to be redeemed against MDL service discounts. The choice is yours, so if you don’t like change stick with the Freedom Berthing you have enjoyed with us but if you would like to see the real benefit of choice ask about making a switch when it’s time for you to renew.
New berth holders will automatically join our Berthing Plus Otium scheme, this includes 8 weeks storage ashore at MDL boatyards (30 days at Queen Anne's Battery) and the ability to earn points that can be redeemed at specific discounts against those additional services. If you settle your berth up front in advance, we will give you your starter points there and then and you can use them whenever you wish and on whatever you want.
If you are a Visitor, Simply Plus Berthing or Swing Mooring customer, you can earn Otium points for the services you purchase. This earning rate is at a much smaller amount than the berthing with Otium customers and you don’t receive any points when you first join. Points can be generated via the use of MDL’s services at the tariff price and these can be used as discounts on other or the same services at a future date.
New dry stack berth holders will move straight to the Dry Stack Plus Otium scheme, the ability to earn points that can be redeemed at specific values against those additional services. This new scheme gives you much more flexibility than ever before, whilst you don’t need storage or lifting you can use your points as discounts against fuel and overnight stays, great for the dry stack lifestyle.
Some residents and lease berth holders in MDL Marinas receive limited discounts on some MDL services, this includes lifting discounts and some limited overnight stays. These benefits which do not form part of the lease and have been granted over time by MDL and can be changed, updated or amended any time but will not automatically switch to Otium. The Otium loyalty scheme is designed to give all our customers more choice, residents or lease holders may join and use the scheme generating points on our services to be used against future services, if done on a wholesale basis not as an individual. Residents and lease berth holders have the same redemption and earning value as visitors as no berthing payments are made. Service charge and berth rental payments are exempt from Otium.
Berthing Plus Otium is payable up front in advance in one easy payment or is available as a Direct Debit. If paying up front in advance which you can do up to the day your boat arrives you will benefit from a 5% of the value of the contract Otium point injection. You can also pay by monthly Direct Debit but remember this agreement is a full 12-month term, you are obligated to make your payments for the whole 12 months and will earn Otium Points at a rate of 5% for each monthly payment. All Visitors can earn Otium Reward points on purchases of MDL Services.
Each point on your account is worth a £1 discount against and MDL product or service (terms and conditions and restrictions apply, see contract for further details). Otium points have no cash value. They can only be redeemed on qualifying MDL or Otium partner services or used to renew a Berthing Agreement. Other than this, points cannot be cashed in or credited against an Otium Points Account Holder’s account.
Yes, it's only available where they are un sold berths in marinas.
Yes, you can but only by terminating your current Freedom Berthing agreement by exercising MDL’s Annual Berthing Refund Policy terms or you can wait for your annual renewal to be sent to you.
Yes, you can do this at any time by paying the difference between the two products for the unexpired period remaining on your agreement.
Yes you can, you must give us four weeks written notice and you will be subject to MDL’s standard annual berthing refund policy.
The Berthing Plus Otium product is for a 12-month marina berth. But you can still earn Otium Reward Points as a monthly or daily visitor. However, Otium gives you more choice about how you use your discounts on our services, so if you do have a 12 month Otium berthing agreement with us and would like you use your points to pay for trailer storage at an MDL Marina you can do so. Just contact the marina directly to make these arrangements.
Yes – your business will earn Otium Reward points if you are on a Berthing Plus Otium contract. These reward points can be redeemed at specific values against additional services.
Otium points will be automatically added to accounts on the remaining invoice amount, after deductions of any points used for any transaction. Points earned on a transaction will be available to spend on an account within 2 working days.
Points earned on a transaction cannot be used for that transaction.
The current conversion value of points is one point equals one pound (£1).
As a Berthing Plus Otium member, you can spend 100% of your points against the value of an MDL service in one transaction. Otium Rewards members (visitors), Simply Plus Berthing members, swing mooring customers, and other berth holders (non-Freedom Berthing) can use a maximum of 25% of the total cost of the service. For example, if a service is £100 then a maximum of 25 points can be used.
Otium points collected are linked to the main Otium customers’ account allowing them to spend their points as they wish. Members are only entitled to one Otium account each but may have multiple owned boats in the account (boats must be proven to be in the account holders name). MDL reserves the right to refuse, merge or close additional accounts at any time.
Customers converting from a visitor status to a berth holder will automatically keep the points balance and will start to earn on the berth holder rate.
Customers converting from a berth holder status to a visitor will automatically lose any points held on account.
Points are earned on the paid value of a transaction. For example, if you visit another MDL Marina for a week and you use your Otium loyalty points to pay for 2 of the 7 nights you will earn points on the value paid for the remaining 5 nights.
You can earn a maximum of 10,000 points in a 12-month period.
Points are redeemed using the oldest points first. Points can only be used for purchasing products and services from MDL Marinas where MDL Marinas is providing those services or MDL 3rd party suppliers who are subscribed to this scheme and cannot be converted to cash, vouchers, or any other scheme.
Points will be reimbursed to the members account on transactions that have been reimbursed. If you pay for a service you don’t then use and that service is credited back to you then the points you earned when using that service will also be removed from your account.
Yes, earning points on MDL services can fluctuate dependent on various factors including the cost to MDL to provide that service.
Members can choose to leave the scheme at any time. By leaving the scheme members forfeit the right to any points already accrued or issued, unless converting to a berth holder from a visitor.
You are entitled to up to 8 weeks storage ashore free of charge at an MDL marina. The various marinas within the MDL network have varying storage arrangements so please contact your Home Marina for further guidance relating to storage ashore. Queen Anne's Battery in Plymouth offers 30 days storage ashore for Otium customers.
The terms and conditions for both Berthing Plus Otium and Otium Rewards can be found via the following links:
https://www.mdlmarinas.co.uk/_assets/special-conditions-2022-2023.pdf https://www.mdlmarinas.co.uk/_assets/otium-rewards-for-visitors-2022-23.pdf
If you are wanting to become a Otium partner then please contact marketing@mdlmarinas.co.uk and they will contact you further information.
You can see all the current Otium Partners in your "My MDL"
We always go for best price as much as we can but last year we came to the end of our term deal and we saw an increase in MDL’s energy costs, which has affected the marina berths and tenancy. We charge the cost price of electricity and it’s a blended cost across the invoices you receive including the standing charges that come from the electricity provider, and that’s the electricity charge that’s passed on to you.
We know that we don’t have the WiFi coverage or speed that we would like to have in every single location. One of the reasons is due to the location of our marinas which means the supply of internet to the site is restricted. We’re due to review with our supplier the provision of the nodes and the terminals on the marinas to try and improve the connectivity in some of these locations and we’ll be doing that over the course of the next 6 months.
There is no doubt that customers are the lifeblood and everything we do we try to do from a customer centric view. The reason the forums have taken place is that we want to get as many views and questions from customers as possible to improve your experience with us. The main way we measure customer service is through the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer surveys.
We’re aware that we have challenges with car parking at some of our marinas. We have a roll out programme in place for some managed parking in some locations like Ocean Village, and we’re working on different programmes for different marinas dependant on the types of demand. We’ve noticed a significant increase in parking requirements from members of the public. New parking permits will be issued in April and, with increased seasonal staff, it’s intended that we’ll spend more time checking permits in cars, as well as off-site contractors working at our marinas, making sure they’ve appropriately registered with the marina office.
Customer shopping habits have changed, which has had an impact on chandleries. The chandlery business model no longer works in smaller locations with the majority of businesses now online. We appreciate how important a chandlery is to all berth holders and tenants, and several of our marinas are beginning to stock some general chandlery items. We’re also working with Force 4 Chandlery to see if an essentials and click & collect rack can be provided in the Marina Office. We’re waiting for further details from Force 4 on this concept.
The cleanliness and appearance of our marinas is important to us as we know it impacts upon your enjoyment. Keeping our marinas clean and tidy, especially where we have boatyard activity, has been made difficult by the distraction of COVID and the new way of working. Next year we are focusing heavily on auditing and we’ve brought in the teams and processes required to be able to regularly audit the quality of our proposition at each of our marinas to make sure we’re much more consistent about the service we provide. This extends through things like making sure air vents are clean, shower cubicles are maintained properly, door handles work – the finer details that make a difference to our customer experience.
We’ve had to minimise staff this year to minimise contact and operate in a different way at our marinas. We’re hopeful that restrictions will move away next year, and we will be focusing on providing many more summer seasonal staff at the marinas to assist our customers next year. The focus will be on service items so it will be taking lines, serving fuel and collecting trolleys and being there to support you as customers. There are lots of things going on in the background to make our service provision better to you.
We are looking at a digital solution for yard bookings, but this is about 6 to 12 months off. In the meantime, our teams are implementing new procedures for yard bookings to improve the booking process.
Customer who have been with us a long time will know that safety and security is important to us. We know we fall down on this occasionally and site security and CCTV is something we’ve been focusing on in the last few months in every location. We have an aspiration to be able to centrally monitor and hold the data recorded from CCTV cameras. One of the reasons is that by having it stored in the Cloud we have much quicker access and get higher quality recordings in the event that someone needs to explore the footage.
We are looking at what we can do from a webcam perspective. There are challenges due to the size of our marinas and the quality of camera needed, but we are investigating.
You’ll find that most, if not all of the major marina operators won’t allow to you to sleep onboard your boat ashore and primarily the reason is safety. If a boat happens to be hit by a gust of wind whilst in the marina, the worst it’s going to do is heel over. If a boat is ashore and there is a gust of wind, there is a potential for it to fall over and cause serious injury if you’re inside. For your safety, we can’t allow this, and we will not change this particular ruling.
We’re aware that our activity has an impact on the environment and that is why we’re committed to environment improvement. We’re proud to be the primary supporter of the Blue Marine Foundation. We also support the Green Blue campaign and we’re hosting the first Green Tech Boat Show at Queen Anne’s Battery in June 2021. All the electricity we purchase is Green energy and comes from 100% renewable sources, so this means you benefit from cleaner Greener Energy and that tends to be produced in harmony with the environment. We’ve installed solar panels at several of our sites to return power to the grid, installed further electric car points, and we also have two water treatment systems in place where we can recycle the water from pressure washing, clean it and put the clean water back into the waterways. We’re working with the Environment Agency on getting a clean water discharge consent, something no other marina operator has ever been able to achieve.
We’re always actively looking for new locations. However, any new marina would have to complement what we already offer e.g. the ability to cruise to other locations, which is really important to us. If marinas come up we will certainly look at them.
We’ve done a lot of work over the last 8 months integrating all of our systems to make sure our communication is a lot faster and more importantly, relevant to you. We’ve brought in a new CRM system and developed a new website that it is mobile optimised and contains topics that are interesting to use as a berth holder. We communicated every step of the way as the legislation changed on COVID, including regularly updating the FAQs on our website. We introduced an online community forum - The Even Keel - based on feedback from the face-to-face forums we held earlier in the year. Berth holders said, if they were new to boating or were at a marina and didn’t know anyone, they wanted an area where they could try to get to know people, arrange cruises and talk boating. We’re hoping that you will have noticed these improvements and now start to receive communication based your boating with MDL.
If you have an enquiry or would like to submit feedback, it’s best to use the enquiry and feedback forms on our website, as it will go to the right person and we can track the response and in turn improve our response rate.
Email for us is always the first port of contact. However, just because an email is sent it doesn’t guarantee that it will arrive in your inbox. Which is why we also put anything that we think you’ll need to know, not just across our social channels, but across our website as well.
If you are needing to get in touch with us, for whatever reason you should get in touch with the current marina that you are at. If you arnt at a current marina please call the marina you want to be put in.