Saturday, July 21, 2018

AFTER LAKE POWELL A FAMILY ADVENTURE



Needless to say, I was pretty pissed at the condition of the houseboats we rented.  Rather than re-write what I've all ready written in a letter to the boat rental, you can find it below.  It's long I know, but it was actually fun writing it.  Before sending it off, I spoke with the General Manager on the phone to find the correct address to address my letter.  I also asked him for the address for the corporate office and his boss in Philadelphia.  He responded by stating, "e-mail me the letter and perhaps we can work something out."  So I did. 


July 18, 2018


Robert Knowlton, General Manager
Boat Rentals
Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas
100 Lake Shore Drive
Page, AZ 86040

Dear Mr. Knowlton,

After over a year of planning, on July 8, 2018, my wife and I rented two 59' Discovery XL houseboats for a week long family gathering.  Eighteen members of our family had been looking forward for this vacation with great anticipation.

After checking into the office at the marina, our instructor Bob gave us a walkthrough of both boats explaining how different systems worked.  We first looked at houseboat #54.  When it came time to see if the engines turned with the wheel, we encountered our first of many problems.  When Bob turned the wheel the motors turned in one direction but not the other.  Bob called someone over from maintenance to fix the problem while we checked out houseboat #59.  We did not see what the maintenance man did on the boat, but he was there for about 10 minutes.

When we left the marina, it was almost impossible to steer the boat properly.  My adult son was at the helm and could not keep the boat on a straight course.  I was watching this from our private speed boat.  He told me via the radio that the helm wouldn't respond properly.  Going through the cut he hit the side of the channel with the front of the boat and became sideways in the channel, monetarily blocking other traffic.  After exiting the cut, I boarded the houseboat and took over the helm.  I have piloted many boats, sail, power and houseboats and have never experienced a helm that was so unresponsive.  It took at least ten turns of the helm to make the boat respond, then it would turn in the desired direction and keep turning until I turned the helm ten or fifteen turns the other way.  Only then it would respond.  The only way I was able to control the boat in a proper manner was to turn the wheel back and forth very rapidly or use the throttles.  Only this way could I  keep it on some semblance of the desired course.

Needless to say, we didn't want to return through the cut, so we went and found a suitable beach for a campsite.  I attempted to call the marina on numerous occasions over the next several days, with no response on the radio.  Dead area or bad radio, I don't know.  We also didn't have and cell coverage.

We had planned on going further up the lake on our trip, but decided not to because I felt that due to the condition of the boat it would be unsafe.  I also felt that even if the steering was fixed, I couldn't trust the mechanical condition of other systems on the boat as it was apparent to me that they are not maintained properly.  We decided for safety sake to say put in one place, not something we had originally planned to do.

We made a trip into the marina to pick up someone and I went into the office to speak with maintenance.  A clerk took down a couple of my many issues and called maintenance on the phone so I could speak to them.  Now,  I'm the first to admit that I was upset with the situation and was a little hot under the collar, but I was never abusive to your staff.  When I said something about the missing screen door and suggested that it should have been replaced before renting the boat, I was told, "we don't do that during the season".  I said then that perhaps they should have gone to Home Depot and get one, the maintenance guy said it's too far.  I said something like, "Well, that's not my problem."  At this point he said I needed to speak to a manager and he hung up on me.

I then spoke with a woman manager in the office who, after learning of my most important issues, the steering and air conditioning, said she would send someone out.  She took down my cell phone number, which was useless as I had no service in camp.  No mention was made of when this would occur, but since it was early in the morning, I assumed that someone would be out soon.  Well that didn't happen.

About three in the afternoon, with no one arriving, I climbed to the highest point near camp and got service for a phone call.  After being transferred several times, I finally was connected to the houseboat office and was greeted with a recording to leave a message.  I did, but wasn't going to stand on some hilltop waiting for a return call that probably wouldn't happen.  Never did receive a message or call.

Finally about 6 pm or so, Jeremy from maintenance arrived.  Besides instructor Bob, he was a ray of sunshine and for the first time dealing with this problem we were speaking to someone in your employ who actually seemed to care about our plight.  He knew relatively quickly what the problem was and fixed it.  He told me that the normal, stop to stop turn on the helm should be 6 to 7 turns, not the 10 to 15 that I was experiencing.  He also checked the air conditioning in the other boat (#59) and confirmed that it was not working properly and he would find the person who could fix it and send them out.  The air was fixed the next day.

The bottom line is that after over a year in planning, spending approximately $13,000 for two deluxe houseboats, which by no way meet that standard, our family gathering was soured by your ineffective ability to maintain you fleet in a proper and safe manner.  For you, as one of your employees told us, it's turn those boats around and ignore the problems.  According to your employee, they are not given sufficient time to do the required maintenance before turning the boat over to the next renter.

Since the steering was fixed 4 days into our vacation and the air conditioning on the 5th day, I propose to you that we are refunded 50% of the cost of the houseboats.  This makes perfect sense because if both problems had only been on one houseboat, we would have had at least one good boat.

This situation was very dangerous and could have very easily injured someone or in the worst case scenario, killed someone.  It was obvious to me that you just want to turn the boats around and overlook both minor and major maintenance issues.  In your case, the dollar comes before the safety of your customers.

I wish I had read some of the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp before giving you my business.  If I had I would have rented from another company.  Perhaps you should read what people are saying about your service.  It might be an incentive to improve.

Finally I would like to suggest that a log of some sort is kept on each houseboat and customers should be encouraged to log defects they have found, thus enabling you to make timely repairs.  The log should stay on the boat so customers can see for themselves if you are keeping up with your agreement to provide a "deluxe" houseboat, which in this  case you did not.

It is my intent at this time to use every social media source that I can to voice my displeasure with your company and it's service.  You're gonna get someone killed.


HOUSEBOAT #54


Overall in bad shape, dirty, worn out
Steering inoperative after being told it was ok
No screen door on front slider
Broken Blinds
Missing blind in head
No mouse traps (we had mice)
Numerous loose or missing bolts, nuts and screws
When air is on, little or no air coming from rear vents (air worked a little)
Tape residue on walls
Broken light over island
Oven door broken
To shelf on refrigerator door is missing
No lift ring on rear deck
Coffee maker doesn't work, two hours make a pot
No stove top coffee maker

HOUSEBOAT #59

Overall in bad shape, dirty, run down
Air conditioning didn't work, blew air that wasn't cooled
Torn screens
On single wide mattress on top deck.  Asked for more and was told none available as they are custom made.
No mouse traps
Beach ramp is missing the stop that keeps it from sliding all the way our on one side.
Torn and deteriorating canvas on rails
Numerous loose or missing bolts, nuts and screws
Ceiling fan in salon does not turn at full speed
Tape residue on walls
Broken window shade in rear head
Exhaust fan in rear head doesn't work
Door on BBQ broken
Drinking water spigot in rear head does not reach into the sink and flows onto the Pullman top
Wash down on front deck doesn't work
No stove top coffee maker

"So, what happened?" you ask.

Well, the next day at the appointed time I got a call from Mr. Knowlton, who gave me the opportunity to vent a little more.  He didn't make a lot of excuses, but that no longer matter to me as he accepted  my proposal to refund 50% of the houseboat rental fees.  To top it off he also refunded the fuel for the affected houseboat to the tune of $500.  Not too bad and I was satisfied with the outcome.

I still posted a bad review on TripAdvisor and Yelp, and corporate will get the same letter I sent him.  My advice still stands, never rent from this company.

Oh, and I sold the speed boat today and made a profit of $250, not too shabby.


EVERYTHING COMING UP STRAWBERRIES


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