Family in town good weather lets rent a boat and Picnic.
I rented a block of time 6 years ago from these guys and all was well. I checked the reviews and yes the calls are not returned,but I live close by so a quick visit is simple. The boats are not in great shape ,but I don`t mind a tear or two in the seats.
Well we go out and have fun for 2 hours except that after 90 mins the boat dies. We call the company and Oscar says what number boat. Oh that happens all the time,you just turn it off and wait 2 mins then it will work. The girls get nervous as we drift into the parked boats. After 2 mins it starts and we head back at a reduced speed ( all it can manage at this point). We get close and it dies again this time the old technique does`nt bring her back to life,but the wind is on our side and we drift in. Oscar takes the rope then disappears. He has to go tow a dead boat in. The girl in the office is unable to help and is clearly embarresed as she is dealing with another customer who`s boat had to be towed in. She directs me to her boss Oscar who is not there. Ok we`ll call as the other customers is happy to be dealt with over the phone so am I. No returned calls for a two week period then Oscar answers the phone. I ask him what he can do for me as I cut the trip short 20mins. He argues and I simply restate my question. That comes out of my pocket is his reply. I restste the question. More complaints from Oscar but after I ask my question again he relents and say he will pro-rate 20 mins; I thank him and we end the call. He calls back imediately and says he`ll send a check for $14. I quetion his math bearing in mind the $85/hr rate and help him arrive at $28.33. I thank him and he says You cannot rent from us again. I thank him.
I give it two weeks before I call asking when I can expect the check. I get a call back. The Boss says you will not recieve a refund !
Ok it`s not the money, clearly $28.33 is not going to make a great deal of diffence. The promise to refund and the U turn after the service we recieved leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
A simple call to the credit card company will be quite satisfactory.
Looking at the Duffy Boat web site I see these boats have an expected rental life of 3 years. When I rented 6 years ago these boats were near new. It appears that rental use is very hard on the boats and that these boats have not been renewed recently. They are not cheap and times being what they are I can see why they are old. Still cleaning the bird poop off the boat can`t be that costly and the torn screens allowing multiple birds into the boats makes a mess.
We still enjoyed the boat ride right up until it died. A quick look on Craigslist found a private Duffy boat owner who rents his boat cheaply and it`s clean too. Boats are fun so do your research and make your choice
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