Complaint Review: Palm Beach Boat Rentals

I recently purchased an online "deal" from livingsocial.com in which Palm Beach Boat Rentals offered a "FULL DAY" rental for 60% off. It turned out to be a ripoff in two ways.

First, the "full day" turned out to be 6, no 8 hours... a fact omitted from the offer.

Secondly, when I turned in the boat, they charged an outrageous $120 for gas. Unlike many other boat rental places they don't charge you for the gas you actually but instead they use some self-invented formula that amount to an additional $37 per hour, NO MATTER how much gas you use... or don't use as is usually the case. In my case, based on the distance I know I traveled with the boat, I KNOW that I used no more than 5-8 gallons of fuel, yet they charged me for about 25. RIPOFF!

Even the employee (Lucio) apologized for this horrible business practice, lamenting that, "People yell and scream at me all the time because of this but I'm just an employee and I can't do anything about it."

By the way, their literature mentions that (like other rental places) the rental rate is exclusive of tax and gas... what they conveniently fail to tell you is how they calculate the gas charge.

The boat was okay though it needed some work on steering and throttle cables... but if you're considering a boat rental, avoid this outfit like the plague! It's apparent they are just hoping to maximize the take from one time customers.