I took a day long snowmobile tour with Rocky Mountain Riders earlier this month and I have to pass along a warning. A friend damaged his sled (his fault), and the guide took me off the newer one I was on and put me on an older 2 stroke. At one point, we stopped and shut down the sleds to wait for people to catch up, and when I pulled up on the kill switch to re-start the sled, the plastic button came off in my hand. I was told I damaged their sled and was responsible for the cost of a kill switch falling apart. I was told by the guide it would be $40 tops. I got an invoice for it for $138.99 with NO information on it other than being told that is what I owe them. I asked for the part number of the switch, the year and model of the snowmobile, and I was told the following:
"Your welcome to calm down to any Ski Doo dealer for a price comparison. But we do not provide part numbers. Sorry.
Luke"
My reply:
"If I'm paying for a switch that literally fell off in my hand, I don't see why you wouldn't provide a catalog part number.
Can you tell me what the specific model and year of the snowmobile was?
Thanks"
His response:
"All the kill switches are the same. Year and model does not matter. As mentioned in your rental agreement you are welcome to call and have a Ski Doo dealers quote at your expenses. All part costs are exact costs from our local dealer.
Thanks"
I looked up OEM costs for a kill switch, and the part costs $14.50. They are attempting to charge 9X what a switch costs for something that could not and was not damaged by misuse.
It's quite clear by the refusal to provide a part number, year, or model of the snowmobile that they are using their customers to finance their maintenance and upkeep of the sleds they rent to you. A reply from them to a different review that "Our sleds are in mint condition" is laughable, as most didn't have working speedometers, were missing rear view mirrors (that had previously fallen off), etc.
Use these guys at your own risk.
On the flip side of things, our guides Steve and Ni'ce (probably misspelled) were absolutely fantastic and showed us an amazing time...right up until the owner decided to try to rip me off.
Edit 3/19: After saying I was going to dispute the $138.99 invoice I got for the switch, I woke up this morning to find an unexplained $420 charge on my credit card from them. I guess they are doubling down on ripping people off if they complain about getting ripped off.
STAY AWAY!!! read more