Family Kayak Adventure Center

Review: I will include the email I sent to the owner after our "adventure." She did not have the professionalism to reply. I'll acknowledge that if it had not been so windy, the tour may have been better, but I still believe the company has a responsibility to cancel their tour if the weather poses any possible danger - or at least notify people with children that it may be difficult or even dangerous. Here's the email - it is not an exaggeration:Hello [redacted] -On Sunday, my wife, XXXXXX, and I took our two kids, 7 and 10, on your kayak tour of San Diego Bay. I am writing because the experience we had was really troubling. Let me start by saying that your two guides, [redacted] and [redacted] (I think that was his name...) were terrific. In the face of a bad situation, they handled themselves very professionally. Having said that, I am curious about how you decide whether or not to conduct a tour. On our way out, the water was smooth and the tour was pleasant - obviously the wind was at our backs. On our way back, it was downright scary. The winds were such that I, with my 7 year old son in front of me, could barely keep myself out of the middle of the bay and out of the way of oncoming boats while paddling as hard as I could, non-stop. The guides did what they could to help us, but there were at least 4 kayaks that needed help and only two guides. One family finally gave up and somehow got a ride back in. Your business is called Family Kayak Adventure. Well, my children were scared to death. Frankly, I was pretty scared myself. Your web site should display prominently that this tour is only for children who can be helpful with paddling and that if the day is windy at all, a high level of fitness and skill may be required to safely navigate. Even the kayaks with two adults in them were working extremely hard to stay on course and were exhausted afterward. I know you don't control the weather, but you do control whether or not to go at all. This "adventure" was an absolutely terrible experience. We're all lucky no one got hurt.Desired Settlement: I've thought a lot about what an appropriate resolution would be to this situation, and although I was not sure whether or not I wanted a refund before, the fact the the owner of this business has completely disregarded two emails I have sent her has become the last straw in an overall terrible experience. If she had the good sense to simply reply to my message, I might feel differently, but at this point I am beyond frustrated.

Business

Response:

Thank you for the

opportunity to respond to this complaint. I apologize for the delay in

responding. I have received many phishing email messages from the Revdex.com in

the past and did not realize that this was a legitimate email from the Revdex.com

regarding a customer complaint. Thank you for your telephone message

alerting me to this complaint. This is

the first complaint that I have received through the Revdex.com in my 11 years in

business.

Family Kayak Adventure

Center is very conscientious about offering safe family tours. We do not

take customers out in the open ocean, but rather in the protected waters of San

Diego Bay. We use wide sit-inside recreational kayaks that are more stable than

those of our competitors. We offer guided tours rather than sending

people off on their own.

Our lead guides are

certified by the American Canoe Association which means they have training and

update their training every year. Our guides are equipped with VHF marine

radios that keep us updated on the weather and that can also be used to call

Channel 16, the emergency radio channel used by the Harbor Police and all

marine vessels. We also use our vision and common sense when determining

whether or not to take clients out on the water.

On our tours, we take

a maximum of ten 2-person kayaks out on the water with two Family Kayak guides

on each tour. We get everyone fitted in life vests, talk about safety and

give on-land instruction before we leave the beach. As the customer

stated in his complaint, on this particular day, the weather was calm and the

water was flat when the kayakers departed the beach. We have one guide

lead the group and the second guide take up the rear of the group. We

work to keep the group together and stop to talk about the sights and give

folks a rest break throughout the 3-hour session.

At approximately the

half way point on the tour in question, the wind came up from the north, which

required the paddlers to work harder as they headed back to the beach into the

wind. Seven of the kayaks followed the lead guide to an area along the dock

protected by wind. Three of the

kayaks had a difficult time moving forward.

The tail guide put a tow rope on the kayak with the wife and child of

the customer and brought them up with the group.

The lead guide went

back to assist the last two kayaks. They

did not want to paddle so a boat was arranged to give them a ride back to the

beach.

The group continued

back to the beach and arrived before 4pm, the typical ending time of the

afternoon 1-4pm tour. On the way back,

the customer was having difficulty keeping his kayak on course so the tail

guide gave him a tow for awhile to bring him back over with the group.

At no time did either

of the guides feel that anyone was in danger.

If so, they would have called the Harbor Police for assistance. In fact, they paddled right past the Harbor

Police station on their way back to the beach.

I understand that the

wind coming up made the paddling more difficult. However, the clients were not in danger.

We get a wide variety

of guests on our tours. Some are in good

physical condition and some are not.

Some are willing to continue paddling in tough conditions and some are

not. We often take out scout and school

groups where there are two children per kayak.

They learn that if they work together, they will reach their goal. We also accommodate people with special

needs.

When people are

scheduling their tours, I let them know that the morning paddles are typically calmer

with less wind and boat traffic. We

offer two timeframes every Saturday and Sunday, 9am-noon and 1-4pm. Some people choose the afternoon tours

because it fits their schedules better.

We do not turn them away.

We do cancel a tour

if the wind is too strong or it is raining.

In fact, we cancelled the afternoon tour last Saturday, November 2,

1-4pm and we are in the process of rescheduling those clients.

I hope this full

explanation of our company procedures will reassure our clients that we have

their safety in mind whenever we offer kayaking adventures on the water. In 11 years of offering tours we have not had

any client injuries.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

It is important to point out a couple things.

#1. I did not say the wind and water were calm at the beginning of our trip. I said that the beginning was smooth and pleasant because the wind was at our backs. Our tour guides should have been able to determine in advance that this would present a tremendous challenge on the way back.

#2. One of our tour guides used these exact words when addressing the group on the way back: "This is a dangerous situation." That is a direct quote. After the tour he told everyone he would not accept tips and that he felt we all deserved our money back. In addition, I was paddling as hard as I could in the middle of the bay and several large boats were coming directly at me and my 7 year old son. I think my own judgment about whether or not the situation was dangerous is more informed that that of a person who was not there.

#3. This reply seems to call into question my level of physical fitness and willingness to keep paddling. Although I am not in perfect shape, I am a grown man. Exerting all of my effort, nonstop, I was unable to stay in a safe area. Even the kayaks with two adults in them had an extremely difficult time and were exhausted at the end of the trip.

#4. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I attempted to contact [redacted], the owner of this business, directly 3 times after our tour. To this day I have received no response. It was only when she saw the complaint to the Revdex.com that she took the time to respond - to the Revdex.com, not to me. Had she simply taken 5 minutes out of her day to return my call or email, and maybe offer a discount on the next tour or even just an apology, I might have just let it go. There are other reviews of this business that confirm her lack of professionalism with customer service. It is clearly a problem beyond just me.

In the end, her response to my complaint is basically her attempt to offer an infomercial for her business and it confirms her unwillingness to take even a small amount of responsibility for what happened that day. What she wants you to believe is that two families who were literally unable to paddle back to shore on their own are an anomaly. What's worse though is that she also wants to blame us. The family that stopped paddling? They must be out of shape or quitters. The family that made it back? They must be out of shape or unwilling. Plus, we did pull them back in to shore after all. Give me a break. My children were both frightened and my wife and I were working extremely hard to follow the guides. The guides were both obviously worried about everyone's safety.

Do I still want a refund? Absolutely. Do I think [redacted] has the decency to take responsibility and offer one? I doubt it.

Regards,

Business

Response:

I checked with the guides again and they again confirmed that

the water was flat when the group left the beach. There was no tail wind and everyone was

handling their kayaks quite nicely and keeping together as a group. It was about half way through the paddle that

the wind came up from the north.

The guides also confirmed that the customer was never in the

middle of the bay. He was farther from

shore than the rest of the group which is why the guide went over to give him a

tow back to the rest of the group. Part

of the safety talk is about the group staying together. The guide may have used

to word “dangerous” when explaining that he wanted the paddlers to head toward

the rock jetty to get protection from the wind.

This is the first request that I have received wanting a

refund. The customer purchased discount

tickets through a third-party [redacted]-type promotion that we ran. He did not purchase from Family Kayak

Adventure Center. He is welcome to

contact the party he purchased the tickets through for a refund.