Best Boat Club

Recommends

city6652

Joined 2 years ago

Comment on Revies. I am the owner of Best Boat Club and Rentals. We have been in business since 1996 and have never had a complaint like this. There are a few things that my employees did not do well but all has been corrected to the satisfaction of our guest. At first I did not pay much attention to this posting because it is so over the top I would think that anyone reading it would not give it much merit. I have since decided I should address it in case anyone would pay attention.

Real Facts

The boat broke down with a complete lower unit (gear box) failure. This could be from normal use or impact damage. The employee messed up and did not explain our policy well. It was not clearly communicated to the renter that we are going to hold the $2000 until our mechanic can look at the motor to see if the renter did in fact hit something that damaged the gears. The renter did not give us time before he went on this rampage and written assault. After the mechanic looked at the boat it was determined that it was not impact damage but a component failure. The renter (self proclaimed expert of over 30 years experience) in his written complaint said he knows ?exactly what happened? diagnosed the problem as a spun hub and lack of maintenance. He was completely wrong since it was a complete component failure of the gear box. His statement ?This company, in effect, rented me a boat with ?bald tires? is again a complete fabrication of the facts. The reason we had questioned whether there was impact damage is he was in an area that he was told not to go and with the whether being as it was we wondered if he hit the rocks of the jetty. Our boats are allowed in the ocean as the web-site states but we do restrict it when it is too rough for safety reasons.

Other Facts

1. Renter was told verbally not to use the ocean, (employee forgot to get the signature not to go into the ocean since it was truly too rough.)

2. Boat was rented for 4 hours and broke down 3 and a half hours into rental.

3. Customer did not wait but 22 minutes for tow.

4. Tow Boat loves us because we pay a huge contract to cover 25 boats in Broward County and last year we had only 24 tows, including operator error by renters, out of our almost 3,000 rentals. This is an excellent record!!!

5. Absoulutey ridiculous that the renter said there was a hole in the boat and it was taking on water as well as other maintenance issues. (Complete fabrication)

Conclusion

After mechanic determined the renter was not at fault we released the hold on the $2000. The customer was never even charged the rental. The customer stated the price of the boat was more than he was quoted but he knew the price quoted did not cover tax and fuel (which does not matter anyway because he was never charged for the boat rental). I personally had several conversations via the phone to handle this and he was completely satisfied with the final outcome.

I have been in business for over 15 years at the same marinas. If I operated a

Doesn't Recommend

christinat10

Joined 5 years ago

FRAUD - WORST BOAT RENTAL EXPERIENCE. FRAUD - Worst Boat Rental Experience – FRAUD

To call Best Boat Rentals a scam would be like calling the earthquake that hit Japan a minor inconvenience. I truly believe this “business” is nothing but a front for a tourist rip-off ring.

Last weekend my family, locals of Fort Lauderdale, rented a 21-foot boat for a half-day on the water, with two small children and two adults. Best Boat Rentals sale representative David Tabb seemed very nice when he wanted our money. In fact, it was our second time visiting him to consider joining their $6000/year boat club. We seriously thought if we had a nice experience renting a boat once, then we would join as members.

To make a terribly long story short, I will summarize by saying that the boat broke down in Port Everglades by the rock jetty (less than a mile from their dock). The wind was blowing us towards the rocks. I radioed them a dozen times on Channel 16, which Dean – their rental agent - said they monitor in case of an emergency. They don’t. Tow Boat US came to our rescue because they heard the many urgent radio calls; they were monitoring channel 16.

Unfortunately, the towboat that pulled us away from the rocks was en-route to another call and left us in a safe area to wait for another tow. We were stranded more than 1.5 hours for another tow. During the rescue, the Tow Boat US captain made it clear that his company LOVES Best Boat Rentals – as they regularly tow stranded customers back to the dock…. “it’s a good money maker for us!,” he exclaimed.

After leaving the dock, I also noticed: 1) The depth sounder didn’t work. 2) The engine temperature gauge did not work….because there wasn’t one. 3) The passenger seat was not secured properly and when crossing the wake of another boat, my wife almost fell out of the seat. 4). The glass windshield frame was missing screws and falling apart. 5) While anchored and swimming, we looked back at the boat and noticed a large area where the boat had significant hull damage, of course this is the side of the boat that was tied to the dock at Best Boat Rentals. 6) This explains why the bilge pump (the device that stops the boat from sinking) ran continuously during our ½ day excursion.

Yesterday I found an unauthorized fraudulent $2,000 charge on my debit card from these con artists. Additionally, they overcharged me for the rental. The rental contract read $275 and I was billed $339.50. To charge me anything for this experience is disgusting. I have reported these fraudulent charges to MasterCard.

Best Boat Rentals claimed the damage to the engine was my fault because I took the boat into the ocean. Nowhere on their contract, in their literature, facilities signage, or in the boat does it say that the boat should not go in the ocean. It was a beautiful day, and we rented the boat to go in the ocean, explore beaches, and swim with my two boys – ages 6 & 8.

Interestingly, when I returned the boat under tow, Best Boat Rentals dockhand checked the propeller and looked over the entire boat and said it was clear to him that we had done nothing wrong. Having owned boats for more than 30 years myself, I know exactly what went wrong. It was simply a lack of maintenance to the propeller hub. This company, in effect, rented me a boat with “bald tires” and when I returned it, tried to tell me that I need to buy them new ones.

If anyone doubts the veracity of this story, call Tow Boat US and ask them how often they rescue Best Boat Rentals victims.

Richard Ticktin and Christina Twomey

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Anthony V

Joined 3 years ago

Best Boat Club of Ft. Lauderdale #1 Boat Club. OK Like ALL memberships there are rules its simple, YOU BREAK IT, YOU BUY IT! Obviously the guy complaining must have wrecked the boat and didnt want to pay. Learn to drive MORON! If you know how to drive a boat then you will not have the problem he had.

I was a member of Best Boat Club Ft. Lauderdale from March 2009 to March 2010. I look forward to renewing my membership but havent due to obvious " Econimc " reasons. It not only upsets me but sickens me that some dishonest scumbag would write such garbage about this particular boat club. During my membership with them they were absolutely 100% honest, incredible, & made my family and I feel like we were home. Upon our arrivals they would load the boat from our truck with out us asking, they made sure that we had everything we needed at all times and never nailed us with late fees when arriving 30 minutes or an hour late like ALL OTHER BOAT CLUBS DO!

The manager Dave is extremly professional and courteous, he occassionally calls to see how the family and I are doing and kept us abreast of specials and discounts.

Heres the kicker, my wife and I shared our 5th year anniversary last year and the Manager Dave came up with the idea to use one of there boats to make our night special. He had his staff dress the boat with roses and candle lit upon arrival! He not only discounted the boat rate but he also went as far as preparing the evening by making local reservations to an exclusive resturant which was dock ready. He had a staff member stay a little late to assure our safe passage back to the marina. He made our night incredible without expecting or recieving a single dime for it.

The point is that these guys are a family business and will make you feel a part of it, wether your a member or not. I highly recommend the Best Boat Club of Ft. Lauderdale to anyone. I cant say anything bad about them and really look forward to doing more business with them. Try them out I promise you wont be dissappointed, these guys truly are awesome!

Recommends

Jimi Club

Joined 4 years ago

Very Honest People. I am the owner of Best Boat Club, I have operated from the same marinas for almost 15 years. It up sets me to read a bad review especially when is not true. The only possible reason for the bad review on this site is one of two things.

1. The guy damaged my boat and simply was not man enough to admit it and take responsibility for his actions.

2. A jealous competitor is being nasty.

No one in the tourist industry has a better reputation than me and Best Boat Club!! If I was not doing a great job I would have been kicked out of the marinas I do business with, instead I have a long term relationship with Bahia Mar, Pier 66, Sands Harbor and South Seas. All of the local hotels send their business to me because they know that I can be trusted!!!!!!

We pride ourselves on our service and products. All of our prices are posted and are fair. Occasionally some one might damage a boat and they are responsible for damages.

Doesn't Recommend

yachtcaptns

Joined 4 years ago

Look elsewhere! These guys are con-artists.. Though the prices might look attractive at first, DON'T BE FOOLED!

These guys make their money by hitting you with the extras once you return. They try to hold back as much of your deposit as possible. I've met many a used car salesman that were more honest in their business practices.

When I returned to the dock they applied several hundred dollars to the bill for "minor damages" that I and my guests were 100% certain were already on the boat when we picked it up. Not to mention that I HAD bought the optional insurance to cover such things, yet somehow they said that it "didn't apply".

And I wasn't the only one that day. As I was discussing my dissatisfactions with an employee, another customer was threatening to call the cops on them for trying to grossly overcharge him for the amount of fuel that he had used.

The people at the Best Boat Club are not to be trusted, but that's just my opion from my experiences.