Tahoe Keys Boat Rental

Review: On July 18th, 2015, our family (4 adults and 2 children) rented a boat in Tahoe Keys Boat rental. We thought it would be a fantastic journey but it turned out to a nightmare. In the beginning, everything looked fine. we signed the form and paid quickly. We got the boat, and one guy introduced us the basic equipment on the boat and the basic operation. And then we left the marina.The nightmare began. The boat was stuck at the entry of the marina to the lake. This happened just 5 mins after we drove the boat ourselves. We called the marina and waited. 40 mins later, two people from marina came and helped us. They told us the water at the entry is so shallow that the propeller was stuck in the sand. Without checking anything, they left. Now we can drove in the lake but the nightmare continued. We heard there was beep on the back of the boat, we asked the marina through radio what's the sound but nobody responded us. 20 minutes later, we smelled bad smell and saw smoke in the boat. We stopped the engine and called the marina. Nobody responded. We called their phone and waited for their people. 30 minutes later, one guy came but he cant repair the boat. So he asked the marina to send a boat to pick us up. We had to wait for another 30 minutes in the cold wind and it's almost dark.Back to the marina, we met the worst customer service in our lives. The supervisor asked us to pay the repair fee of their boat because sand blocked engine when the boat was stuck. But we always drove following their route. There is no sign of shallow water. The lady checked in said she showed us a map. Maybe she sometimes did it to others but not to us. All they did was to put all the responsibility to us. They didnt care about customers experience even if they are safe or not. They even asked us to pay the late fee.Today I saw there is a $790 charge from them in my credit card. This is totally unacceptable! We think they didn't do their job to remind customer of the shallow water with even a simple sign.Desired Settlement: 1. Explain what's $790.12 for and give me a detailed break down.2. Refund $790.12.3. There is a separate $50 which is not rental fee. I don't know what's this for. This should be Refunded.

Business

Response:

At Tahoe Keys Boat Rentals we pride ourselves on customer service. In response to the following letter, we regret that one of our valued customers had a bad experience. That said, the customers diatribe is inaccurate and clearly an attempt to circumvent the repair charge. At Tahoe Keys Boat Rentals our check out process is standardized. We clearly and carefully go over a contract with each customer, show them a map of the Lake, and a route in which to follow. The circumstances stated in the above letter from said customer are inaccurate and troubling. In the complaint letter, it is stated that they should not be held responsible for damages because they stayed on “the route”. Later, they affirm they were never shown a map. This discrepancy clearly shows that “the route” was given to the customer and they were shown a map as part of protocol. Additionally, at Tahoe Keys Boat Rentals we keep careful notes on any boat issues and document response times. What may have seemed like a long response time to the family in question was in fact routine and prompt. The log for the evening in question clearly shows adherence to all protocols. It is unfortunate that this family had a less than stellar experience at Tahoe Keys, and we wish them nothing but the best as we continue to strive for excellence with each and every customer. Our staff is well trained to handle situations in a timely and expeditious manner. [redacted] arrived at our boat rental office at approximately 5:45 p.m.on 7/18/15 to rent a boat. Upon initiating a rental with Tahoe Keys Boat Rental (TKBR) we take a $50.00 authorization and explain that the $50.00 charge will show up for three-five business days as a pending charge. The authorization has already been released to the visa used ending in 5909. After taking the authorization we go through a very thorough checkout process, inclusive of a very specific map, and directions on how to avoid shallow parts of Lake Tahoe. Our dock hand had efficiently showed this client the basic operations of the; propeller, fenders, bimini top, swim ladder, dock lines, boat hook, paddle, ski flag, stern, anchor light, bow light, anchor & rope, as well as, the adult, child, and throw-able personal flotation devices, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, stereo, VHF radio, VHF antenna, and the kill cord for the vessel. We even require that the client initial that we have gone through all of this information, and that the client in fact does understand operations, up to and including navigation through the marina, no wake zones, and specifically how to operate the vessel in the dark blue water only after exiting our marina. The clients spent over 30 minutes of instruction with our office and dock staff prior to departure; they left our dock at 6:20 p.m., this allowing an acceptable amount of time to go over operations of the vessel properly. Lastly, Tahoe Keys boat rental cares very deeply about our customer’s experience, as evidenced by the fact that we only charged the customers one rescue fee ($125.00) even though we had to rescue them twice for instances that were their own negligence. The customer was aware of this potential fee because they signed a contract that clearly states this fact. Sanding the engine or operating in shallow water will pull sand into the engine and do extensive damage to the motor; a charge of $250.00 will be assessed if you operate in shallow water in addition to any damages done. The boat was in fact sanded, resulting in the $250 charge, and required a new impeller as well as a new water pump to return the motor back to working order and repair the major damages caused by said customer. The [redacted] Penta-Sea Water pump item # [redacted] sells for a price of $462.75 at [redacted], also the neoprene 6 blade flexible impeller sells for the price of $57.99, from Marine accessories. We do receive a discounted price on the part and pass that onto customer. We also waived the repair charge as we have to pay a mechanic to do the repairs to the vessel. An additional $15.12 was added for a gas refill, which was handled by us due to the fueling dock office being closed. Price Breakdown: Sanding - $250 Rescue - $125 Impeller/water pump - $400+Gas Refill - $15.12Total = $790.12Please feel free to call anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. if you have any further questions regarding complaint #[redacted]. Sincerely, [redacted] Tahoe Keys Boat Rentals[redacted]

Review: Reserved a boat in May for the Fourth of July. Web site clearly says reservation was for 1/2 Day 4Hrs and 4 Hour Rental in the Afternoon. Paid a $50 deposit at time of reservation. Reservation was for 1pm to 5pm on the 4th and instructions say to arrive 30 minutes early. We arrived a little before 12:30pm and checked in; the girls out front briefed us and we waited on the benches right in front of them. Other customers came and went while we waited. At about 1:30pm, I inquired about our boat they seemed a little confused and asked if we ever checked in. After a few minutes they determined the boat was returned by the previous customer at 12:55pm and then they spent some time trying to locate it. We got into the water just after 1:50pm with a mention we had to be back by 5:30pm for the next customer so as to avoid a late fee. I asked about our 4-hour reservation and they said that three hours is the same fee as four hours, so we were not losing any money. No apologies on their part and I didnt want to argue, so out we went. Boat was fine theyre definitely more concerned about checking the props than customer satisfaction.On return (just before 5:30pm) I again asked what they could do since we were cut short. Nothing could be done, they said.After getting home, I realized they did not deduct the $50 deposit and we were overcharged. Sent an email on July 9th and never heard back. Called on the 22nd and spoke to [redacted] who seemed reasonable. [redacted] called me back shortly thereafter and was able to refund the $50. I asked her about the time we were shorted and she gave the same line as the others, the price for three hours is the same as four, so you didnt lose anything. She also reiterated that if we had kept the next customer waiting past 5:30pm, we would have been charged a late fee. I explained the reservation was for four hours- as stated on their web site and paperwork, and she stuck to the same line. No apology, no credit for next time she said directly they would do nothing for me.Desired Settlement: Refund of 20 minutes pro-rated from $569.63 4-hour rental ($47.47) plus appropriate credit for rental leaving 50 minutes late. (Using 50 minutes pro-rated of their late fee would be appropriate since that is what they would charge us if we were not back on-time.)

Business

Response:

The customer had the boat from 1:50 TO 5:30. Due to the fact the customer didn't get their full time, they were refunded a portion, or $50.00, of the total. Due to the nature of our boat reservations, we had to impose the same penalty for this group if they were to stay out late just as the boat before them was charged a penalty. The situation was unfortunate, but the $50.00 refund or discount more than made up for the time in a financial sense. It is more unfortunate this customer saw our staff as rude. We try to treat all customers with respect and my agents assure me they were as polite as possible given the difficult circumstance. Thank you for your time and please contact us with any questions or concerns. Regards, Ted Moorhead Tahoe Sports Tahoe Keys Boat Rental Ski Run Boat Company [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: