Complaint Review: Stillwater Marina Stillwater Yacht Club Teri Kampmeyer - Stillwater Minnesota

 After receiving a call from d**k Johnson, the owner of Stillwater Marina, we agreed to meet for coffee. d**k was kind and understanding. He told me that he has been doing business, in a number of capacities, throughout the area for a long time. He prides himself in the good experiences and friendships he cultivates with his customers. The issue listed in Ripoff Report is a black mark that he wanted to remedy.

d**k told me that the employee involved in the incident is no longer working for his organization and asked me how we could resolve our issue. I told him that, as stated in the report, the reimbursement of the charges would make me whole. d**k agreed that that was a reasonable solution and reimbursed me before our meeting ended.

I found d**k Johnson to be sincere and professional. He told me they have revised their Boat Storage and Release policies. Since the offending employee has been replaced I believe that anyone reading this should consider Stillwater Marina as a viable option for their river boating services.

Stillwater Marina has had an impeccable record since 1985. This is the first time in our history anyone has filed such a report, which is totally embarrassing to us and our staff.  The employee (Teri Kampmeyer) working for Stillwater Marina in 2007 is no longer employed at our marina.  After looking closer at the complaint, both parties were correct.  If Joseph calls us, we will be more than happy to sit down and resolve this matter.  

This matter has nothing to do with our quality of service, it is strictly related to whether or not the extra billing for storage extending past his contract was appropriate.  As a result of this, we have decided to change our contract policy with boats stored at our facility after the expiration date.  Call us if you have any questions, 651-439-5658.

You can plainly see my complaint and Stillwater Marina's response. This should be all the information you need to decide where to take your business. Good Luck with the other marinas. We'll see you on the river.

I am not going to respond to this anymore. Each time I do, more lies are made up! The guy did call me, I did say if HE CONTACTED RIP OFF REPORT AND MADE A complete RETRACTION AS HIS INFORMATION IS SO OUT OF LINE, I WOULD REFUND HIS MONEY TO 1. HIMSELF, OR 2. A CHARITY WOULD BE MY PREFEReNCE. HE AGREED HE DISTORTED THE TRUTH BUT WOULD ONLY RETRACT IN FULL HIS STATEMENTS AFTER I REFUNDED HIM. I told him I wanted to see the retraction first and because he didnt want to be honest and do the right thing and started yelling at me, i did hang up. Im done with this character.

Stillwater Marina, through Teri Kampmeyer, called me in the afternoon of July 14, 2008. She said if I state in writing that my complaints to the Better Business Bureau and Ripoff Report are lies she will refund my money. She also threatened to sue me if I continue to stand by my statements. I told her this incident will be resolved after my $775 is returned to me. Of course I am not lying about my experience therefore this company cannot force me to make that claim. The true facts of this case are as follows: $2995 was paid for Dry Stack services. The boat would not be accepted before June, 2007. A $25 per day storage charge was never mentioned during telephone conversations discussing my membership non-renewal and boat pickup timing. There was no effort to contact me indicating a need for the space the boat occupied or the fact that storage fees were accumulating. The marina office was closed during normal business hours in April when I personally delivered my access key. I had to leave it with another business on the property. The boat was not returned to me on June 1, when I arrived to pick it up. (Less than one year after the boat was accepted by the marina). The marina would not return my boat to me until I gave them an additional $775. I was told that if I was unhappy about the charge I could take as long as I wanted to figure out my options but the amount would increase $25 per day until I paid and removed the boat. There was no willingness to discuss the situation except to say "Look at the Contract" leading me to believe the previous silence regarding the additional storage fee was intentional. No effort has been made to listen to or otherwise work with this unhappy client who believes he has been unfairly charged and badly treated. All follow up communication has been emotional and unprofessional with Teri yelling, hanging up the phone, or turning her back to me.

We accepted his boat immediately upon contract.They never had to use other marinas. We have never complained about putting anyones boat in, this is what we do. We have a large staff and try our best to be timely. There is a two hour window from the time the customer calls until the time we must have the boat in the water. I told him it was fine to pick up your boat after the opener but if you read your contract any removal after may 15 there is a charge of 25.00 per day as the boat is now out of contract and storage fees apply.When he finally did call on June 1, 2008 we were swamped and I did tell him that this particuliar day would not work. In the contract it states clearly that we charge 25.00 per day if the boat is out of contract and it is just sitting here. We do not charge because (people dont want to renew) we have a waiting list so we like to get the next person in to that spot as soon as possible. To say that we are predators is a un-lawful charge. I never stated that last years records were to far baack. we keep contracts and records for many years. His responsibility was to pay what he owed. I think that mr. Mcdonough needs to re read the definition of extortion and to realize he is out of line. I said "this happens to about 5-6 people a year not (we do this to them) If Mr. McDonough would like to retract what he has un truthfully told the bbb and this site as well as how many others, I will gladly refund him the money he owed us as we do not have unhappy customers and dont appreciate his untruthfulness. I have tried to reach him, several times and he does not answer my calls.

Better Business Bureau states the following about Stillwater Marina: You should be aware that the company you have filed a complaint against maintains an unsatisfactory customer experience record with your BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota. In your BBB's experience, this company may or may not resolve complaints presented to them.

It is hard to believe a company would treat their clients this way but the following story is absolutely true. I contacted Stillwater Marina in April of 2007 to inquire about their Splash N Stack Dry stacking service. They store your boat on a shelf in a pole shed. Upon request they use a forklift to place your boat into the St. Croix River. They put it back on the shelf when you are finished using your boat. We paid our dues of $2995.00 but were told they would not accept our boat until the first weekend in June. We used other marinas on the river, paying daily launch rates, throughout the month of May. When we were able to use the service Stillwater Marina complained that they were busy and may not be able to have our boat ready each time we requested. However, the boat was always in the water when we arrived. In March, 2008 I told the office manager, Teri Kampmeyer that we would not be using their services this year. I stated at that time that we would remove the boat after the fishing season opened in the middle of May. She said that would be fine. We attempted to retrieve our boat on June 1. We were told they were too busy. On June 4, Teri Kampmeyer called me stating I owed $25 per day from May, 1, 2008, until I picked up the boat. At this time she stated I owed $875. She reduced the amount to $775 because we had attempted to retrieve the boat on June 1. Teri Kampmeyer told me to -Look at the Contract- no less than 6 times during our two conversations. Stillwater Marina charges $25 per day when clients do not renew. When asked why she didnt mention this policy to me in March when I told her of my intentions to leave she stated she didnt have to because I should -Look at the Contract-. The fact that Stillwater Marina uses -Look at the Contract- as their mantra to justify unknown or unfair charges to their customers is symptomatic that the marina uses unethical and predatory policies. I stated that we bought an annual contract and were not allowed to place our boat until June of 2007. Since the cost was not prorated our contract was still in force when we attempted to receive our boat on June, 1, 2008. Teri Kampmeyer stated that last year was too long ago for her to think about so she would not look at her records to see when they accepted our boat. No kidding! They would not take my boat off their shelf until I gave them a credit card. They also stated that they would charge me $25 per day for every day that I didnt give them my credit card number. As it is they shook me down for $775. This is extortion in its clearest definition? Extortion 1. To wrest from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity; to wrench away (from); to tear away; to wring (from); to exact; as, to extort contributions from the vanquished; to extort confessions of guilt; to extort a promise; to extort payment of a debt. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/extortion