- Report: #601574
Complaint Review: Aqua-Direct Boat Club LLC - Jacksonville Beach Florida
Reported By:
Stephanie -
Jacksonville, Florida, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Aqua-Direct Boat Club LLC
2315 Beach Boulevard, Suite 201 Jacksonville Beach, 32250 Florida, United States of America
Phone:
904-638-6294
Web:
aqua-direct.net
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Business Rating:
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Aqua-Direct Boat Club LLC MyClubDirect.com This company will falsely accuse you of damaging their boats- Part of their Ponzi scheme mentality Jacksonville Beach, Florida
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Steer Clear of this Company !
Aqua-Direct Boat Club Of Jacksonville, Florida.
2315 Beach Blvd., Suite 201
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
904-638-6294
Web Address: www.aqua-direct.net
Submitted: Monday May 3, 2010
Aqua-Direct Boat Club seemed like the perfect alternative for me after owning boats for over 30 years. I was happy to say good bye to the maintenance that goes with boat ownership.
For the first year I could not have been happier. Each time I reserved a boat there was one waiting for me at the dock. Off I would go for the afternoon. When I returned I would just turn over the keys and let the Boat Club do the rest. This sense of "Freedom" came to an abrupt end one afternoon. On April 8th, 2010, I had arrived at the dock with my son and his friends looking forward to a nice time on the water.
We were greeted by the Dockhand who had tied up and placed the boat I reserved at the end of the dock. He said we were all set and off we went. We stayed at the dock for about a half hour before deciding to depart. This was a 36 cruiser type boat with dual inboard engines. I am used to only using the starboard engine on any of the large boats to conserve fuel cost. We never cruise faster than idle speed with a boat over 26. I fired up the starboard engine and we slowly cruised north up the intercoastal waterway. When I did decide to run the port engine the boat did not steer properly so I shut both engines down and decided to anchor where we were and call the dock. When I contacted the dockhand I explained that we had also at this point entangled to anchor line in the props because of the windlass not working properly. He said he and a mechanic would be out in about a hour to help us out.
The boat was freed and the dockhand raced the boat with us back to the dock full throttle, ignoring the alarms that were going off. The mechanic was riding along in the rescue boat trying to get his attention about the outdrive and the alarms. I also begged him to slow down to no avail. We made it back to the dock and left for home.
That evening I phoned and also wrote an email to Rudy Theale about this experience and other issues I had with the boat that day. (these are included below) He responded and was apologetic, offering to refund our fuel cost and that the maintence issues would be addressed.
Several days later I unexpectedly received a call from the Club Ceo, Rudy Theale asking what happened to the boat, indicating that there was extreme damage to the outdrive I was instantly put in the seat of the accused.
I returned to the marina to view the damage in question and was greeted by the mechanic that works for the Club.. The boat at this point had been moved to a different location. He pointed out the damage indicating that it was not there when we left the dock. Had the dockhand done his job when I arrived and looked around the boat in my presence the damage would have been evident.
The damage looked more like it occurred from corrosion or poor maintainence or even from removing it from the storage rack than an on the water incident.
Admittedly I failed to look at the exterior of the boat in his presence before and after using the boat. However, with the boat already in the water there was limited opportunity to see the outdrives and underside of the boat. This should have been part of the boat clubs policy to have dual observation of the entire boat.
. He was not interested in discussing this with me and referred me back to accounting for collecting on the damage. I contacted an attorney about this who further contacted the Club without success.
Shortly after, the damage estimate was shown to me. The total was $4500. I was told that the Clubs insurance would not cover this and I would have to immediately submit a $2500 deductible. In the end I paid the damage to clear my name and received an notorized receipt. At the same time I cancelled my membership. Do you think I got a call from Mr. Theale? Of course not.
My advice to you if you are considering joining this boat club or any other is to be on guard. Be as thorough as you can when accepting the boat and when it is returned. And also, hope there isn't any damage that you can't see when taking the boat but is later found by the Dockmaster. You could be liable every time, up to $2,500.
Good luck with your decision.
From: Stephanie Conrad [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 10:03 PM
Subject: Big Blue 4-8-2010
Hello Rudy,
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me tonight about my concerns.
As for my experience today with the boat Big Blue, my major concerns were the following:
For safety reasons:
Windlass motor clutch would not engage and take up slack rode resulting in prop entanglement.
Port trim/tilt switch is not operational.
I believe a boat this size should have an extra emergency anchor and rode , an anchor ball retriever and a boat hook. ( this is my opinon only, with an anchor ball, there is less chance of prop entanglement, less strain on the windless and gypsy and can be used by a single operator on the boat.)
Horn does not work
GPS Nav screen just stays on frozen
Faria gauge depth finder is not operation correctly, it will alarm at a low water level,
but for the depth reading, reads: UKWN
Courtesy and comfort concerns:
THE HEAD - was full with previous users waste and not working.
I had call Jeff twice this week to check on the condition and asked what to expect or what was damaged or not working. He told me that the dinette table had been torn out of the floor, but that was the only concern. When we arrived at the dock today, he said "Has anyone told you what was not working on this boat?" I said " No, geez, Jeff , I called you three times this week to make sure I had no surprises."
ALSO- I have gone though the same thing with the head on several other boats and several horrible gross full days old livewells. Well Connected, Banana Boat, Mud Minnow...
Also, it is hard to believe, even with it's size and dual 5.0's that from Beach Marine to the Wonderwood bridge and back would run $107 of gas. I've trolled 60 miles out near the ledge all day and only ran about $300. Please correct me if I am wrong.............
.................
Thanks for your concern,
Stephanie Conrad
----- Original Message -----
From: Rudy Theale
To: 'Stephanie Conrad'
Sent: 2010-04-09 04:52
Subject: RE: Big Blue 4-8-2010
Thanks for the email Stephanie, I sincerely take to heart the experience our members have in reference to our club. These things are intolerable and will be repaired post haste. I will refund of your fuel cost as I explained on the phone last night and going forward we will absolutely do our best to strive for excellence. Our mechanic will be back Monday and will jump on these things ASAP!!
Happier boating in the future!!
Rudy
?
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2 Updates & Rebuttals
flconrad
Jacksonville,Florida,
United States of America
Not So Fast...
#2Author of original report
Tue, May 25, 2010
The following is my personal rebuttal of the above statements made by the owner of Aqua-Direct:
1) "The member arrived at the club April 8th with guests. As described our helpful dockhand met them, went through our traditional written point check on the boat, everything checked out fine and our team member wished them well."
*** The dockhand went over the things that he knew were wrong with the boat that day, but there was no official checklist documented. I did not receive or sign a copy. If one exists, I sure would like to see a copy of it. *******
2) "The boat is actually a 32' (not 36' as claimed by the membersreport report) and is a 2007 vessel in which certain components of the boat are still under warranty."
**** This was not the information that was provided to me on a notorized receipt. Also the FL number supplied on the receipt does not register to the VIN number supplied. It registers to a 2008 18' Kenner boat. The VIN # does not register at all. See pic below. *******
2) (cont.) "This vessel we call Big Blue, had been used 4 of the prior 7 days and ran and steered perfectly fine contrary to her report. Our dockhands dock the boats for the members in many cases and certainly would have noticed any steering issue. There simply were not any."
*** Dockhand asked me to get off the boat and assist him in moving the boat to the end of the T dock because of the difficulty he was having after 4 to 5 tries. I had assumed this was from his inexperience with boats or tide current. I was to later find out there was a steerage issue******
3) "We recieved a call from the member stating the engine shut off and they needed assistance. Two of our team members, Jeff and Rick, headed out to help finding that the reason for the engine shutting off was that the member had unfortunately improperly tried to raise the anchor line by hand rather than the windlass (our lead mechanic with more than 20 years marine repair experience promptly checked the windlass and found it was working perfectly), they had also clearly utilized far too much anchor line and a belly formed in the line. It was obvious from the taughtness of the line that the member had been utilizing the engines in gear to try and race towards the line causing the belly and the line was quickly wrapped around both outdrives."
**** This is a totally fabricated story. The reason the anchor rode was caught was because of the windlass clutch would not engage and dumped and excessive amount of line which was caught by the undertow current beneath the boat and wrapped the props. I am not denying that the props were wrapped, just that it was through no fault of my own and to have to pay $2500 when it was the vessel equipment that malfunctioned. I also had four other persons aboard that were witness to this. Also I believe that the club's dockhands did not supply the club's owner with the full story of what they did to the boat on the way back in, in hopes of the entire incident being blamed on me.(Note my statement from above:
"The boat was freed and the dockhand raced the boat with us back to the dock full throttle, ignoring the alarms that were going off. The mechanic was riding along in the rescue boat trying to get his attention about the outdrive and the alarms. I also begged him to slow down to no avail.") *****
3) (cont) .... "and literally busted the gimble and nearly pulled the transom plate off of the back of the boat."
**** Such exaggeration. ( see pics of outdrives above) Crack in giimbal ring was caused by corrosion from improper bottom painting and maintenance. Below are Quotes from my mechanics that viewed the boat when it was pulled into dry dock:
"Did you or your mechanic take the nut off? Or did you find it like that? "
"For it to break like that, something would have to hit the drive while in reverse. Or someone hit the drive with a car or truck when it was on the dry rack."
"Looks like the gimbal ring corroded enough to split in half at the upper swivel shaft when the u-bolt loosened up. Most likely the transom shield is also corroded and ruined from the sideloads on the unsupported swivel shaft when the gimbal ring broke."
"With that gimbal ring corroded that bad at the weakest point on it, I doubt if you would even have to hit anything for the upper swivel shaft to split it once the u-bolt loosened up."
"Good Eye/Call on the corrosion to the gimbal ring, I can agree to that also."
" looks like to me the paint comes all the way up to the side of the transom housing assembly."
"If it is painted and touching the transom housing assembly, then that would be a source of how the transom housing assembly could get corrosion on it so badly."
"The paint would need to be about inch and a half away from the transom housing assembly."***
4)" I did speak to the member that evening, however there was no discussion of the details and that the boat had been damaged due to operator error. Once I found that out from my staff two days later I called the member and explained what had happened, she did not deny the damage."
**** Oh, yes I did. And I received repeated harassing calls asking me "when was I going to step up to the plate and pay up". That it was so urgent that you get this boat fixed and back in the water and that you had already paid half down for the parts to be ordered. , which I found out was totally untrue after I had decided to pay you the money.
I requested a receipt for the repairs, which after you expressed that it was so urgent to get done, where, suppossedly done 3 weeks later. You supplied me with a generic receipt, that does not even have what boat was worked on. This could have been a receipt for any of the boats in the club...(see pic.)****
5)" The member came in and opted to pay for the damage she had done which we appreciated very much and immediately thereafter she offered to help us set up for the upcoming boat show!! That weekend the member came down to the show and was an absolute advocate of our club and was quite vocal on that note and we welcomed her support. Again this was after she viewed the damage on the boat and paid the company the deductible."
*** Yes, this was after I paid the money, but before I figured out that I had been had. I supplied the $2500 when I was given a estimate of $4800 by the club owner and was told that his insurance would not cover this damage so I figured with tax and everything that we would both pay half and clear my name before this escalated into a "he said, she said situation" I now feel that I have been had, and still have no proof supplied to me that this actual vessel was repaired . ****
" After review of the members account it became evident she had signed up for a membership that allowed only 4 uses of a boat per year and that we missed that fact and allowed her to boat more than 15 times. We notified the member of our software error and explained she could either utilize the boats within the 4 usage guideline or begin to pay the $299 per month fee going forward for unlimited use."
***** My membership had been graduated for 1 year to a higher level in exchange for bringing new members in, setting up club meetings with your membership salesmen with several of the fishing and boating clubs in town that I belong to and putting out beneficial PR in town where everyone that has to do with boating or fishing knows me and respects my opinion. This change was made in Aug. 2009. You salesman now denies this.
I am 50 years old, I have owned 17 boats in my life, I learned boat handling at a young age in Michigan on the great lakes as a Coast Guard Aux. member. I have lived and boated in Jacksonville, FL for over 25 years. This obviously does not prove my yachtsmanship, but I have had enough experience to realize a problem on the water due to a mechanical malfunction and not a captains's error. ***
Report Attachments
Aqua-Direct
jacksonville,Florida,
United States of America
It is Unfortunate you had a negative experience however rules are rules...
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, May 19, 2010
As the majority owner of Aqua-Direct, LLC I can tell you that we strive to make every boating excursion fun and safe for our members. It is unfortunate that in this case the anchor line got away from this member and her guests and caused severe damage to one of the club vessels. The facts are simple:
1) The member arrived at the club April 8th with guests. As described our helpful dockhand met them, went through our traditional written point check on the boat, everything checked out fine and our team member wished them well.
2) The boat is actually a 32' (not 36' as claimed by the membersreport report) and is a 2007 vessel in which certain components of the boat are still under warranty. Twin engine boats are meant to be run on two engines and this is taught in our training sessions we do with each and every member. This vessel we call Big Blue, had been used 4 of the prior 7 days and ran and steered perfectly fine contrary to her report. Our dockhands dock the boats for the members in many cases and certainly would have noticed any steering issue. There simply were not any.
3) We recieved a call from the member stating the engine shut off and they needed assistance. Two of our team members, Jeff and Rick, headed out to help finding that the reason for the engine shutting off was that the member had unfortunately improperly tried to raise the anchor line by hand rather than the windlass (our lead mechanic with more than 20 years marine repair experience promptly checked the windlass and found it was working perfectly), they had also clearly utilized far too much anchor line and a belly formed in the line. It was obvious from the taughtness of the line that the member had been utilizing the engines in gear to try and race towards the line causing the belly and the line was quickly wrapped around both outdrives and literally busted the gimble and nearly pulled the transom plate off of the back of the boat. The engines have an auto shut-down when things are wrapped around the props which is what caused the engines not to run prompting the call from the member.
4) I did speak to the member that evening, however there was no discussion of the details and that the boat had been damaged due to operator error. Once I found that out from my staff two days later I called the member and explained what had happened, she did not deny the damage. I explained that the membership agreement calls for a $2,500 deductible and asked if she planned on living up to her obligation. We agreed to meet the following day. We met and discussed the damage and the quote we had recieved from Isle of Palms Marine Service for over $4,000. I explained to the member that if for some reason we were able to get the boat repaired for less than the deductible we would propmtly refund the delta amount. After receiving 3 quotes the repairs were in fact $3,200+ and wesent a copyof the paid invoice and check to the member.
5) We were never contacted by any attorney contrary to the claim here. The member came in and opted to pay for the damage she had done which we appreciated very much and immediately thereafter she offered to help us set up for the upcoming boat show!! That weekend the member came down to the show and was an absolute advocate of our club and was quite vocal on that note and we welcomed her support. Again this was after she viewed the damage on the boat and paid the company the deductible.
After review of the members account it became evident she had signed up for a membership that allowed only 4 uses of a boat per year and that we missed that fact and allowed her to boat more than 15 times. We notified the member of our software error and explained she could either utilize the boats within the 4 usage guideline or begin to pay the $299 per month fee going forward for unlimited use. This is only fair to our other members that pay full fee monthly. At this point she began acting very erratic and angry and I asked the staff to treat her with professionalism even though her words and actions were less than professional. The member never cancelled her membership as she claims in the report in fact was wanting to continue to have access to the boats for the lower fee which was not an option.
In the end we feel bad for the mishap but at the same time we have rules that have to be followed in order to make boats available and in good working order for our entire membership base. We have a solid membership group that enjoy boating with anamazing fleet week in and week out and wish that this members experience could have been betterbut unfortunately sometimes things happen.
