Will try to keep this as short as possible, only focusing on the facts that impacted the…read moreexperience. I never leave bad reviews, but in this case it was absolutely necessary.
- "Boat Rentals of Key West" is a broker, but does not disclose at time of booking. After making a deposit on phone, we were sent to pickup our boat at a place called "Paradise Boat Rentals" at Murray Marine on Stock Island.
- We arrived at Paradise Boat Rentals at 1pm where final payment was charged. Upon which, the owner "Rocky" recommended he guide us through the narrow channels to main water. Very shallow area that surrounded the location.
- When we hit open waters, Rocky waived us through and we were on our way. 35 minutes later, the boat broke down. From 1st contact, it took them 3 hours to come assist us.
- By 5:15pm, we had everything swapped over to a replacement boat. We used this replacement boat to tow Rocky 45 minutes closer to KW (out of courtesy).
- It was cloudy, windy and the water was very choppy that day, not to mention, we were in a flat bottom deck boat. It was extremely rough to say the least, and we still had to make it back to Murray on Stock Island.
- By 6:45pm we could barely see. We realize at this time, the replacement boat has NO lights and NO navigation device. My wife calls Rocky on his cell, and explained we were about 500 yards from his marina, but needed an assist due to no lights or nav - it was not safe trying to navigate the narrow channels without someone experienced with such area. He begins screaming at her and accusing us of being intoxicated. I get on the phone and he begins cursing "I know what F...n games you are playing", "I'm not coming to help you", "Just wait until you get here and see who you are messing with", etc, etc. I explain to him that 3 of us on the boat, including driver had not taken 1 sip of alcohol that day.
- At this point, due to the situation and the threats from Rocky, we pulled over to a bulk-headed area and called the local authorities. They agreed we should not drive the boat as it was very dangerous to do so without lights. They then helped return the boat and coordinated our vehicle pickup from Murray. At 9:30pm, we were finally returning to our hotel.
- We are now going through the channels of dispute with our credit card company for right at $400 in charges (from both this broker and Paradise rentals)!
Rant over. Proceed with caution.