We planned the 2 hour charter where we planned to relax on a sand bar and the 2nd half touring around looking at the beautiful houses on the water. Perfect chill relaxed day on the water.
Well it immediately didn’t go as planned. Our pick up time was 10am. 10:10am rolled around, no boat, no phone call or message from the company. So I called and left a message. Captain Alex called me back and said that his boss told him the wrong location and that he will be to us in about 25 mins. He finally arrived at 10:40 and he reiterated that his boss sent him to the wrong place and he didn’t mind going full throttle and burning a bunch of gas because it’s his boss's fault. And that his boss can eat the gas costs. As a business owner myself, I didn’t think that was an appropriate response to customers after showing up 40 mins late. An apology would have been sufficient.
Anyway we went on our charter and we started the charter as planned. Sand bar and then home tour. Then in the middle of our tour he asked if we’d be okay going to a bait and tackle shop 5 miles away because he has a fishing charter next and he needs shrimp. I was a little hesitant because that would cut into our time but he sensed the hesitation and said that it was a beautiful scenic ride. We agreed to take the ride. And it turned out to be very terrifying. The water was pretty choppy that day and he decided to drive very fast to the bait shop and the boat was slamming up and down across the chop and we were in front holding on for dear life. Thank god there was a no wake zone closer to the bait shop because it was seriously scary.
When we got back on the boat from the bait shop I asked him if he could slow it way down on the way back. He kindly obliged. We did see dolphins on the way back which was pretty cool. He tracked them for a couple of mins so we could get videos. When we made it back to the car we were so happy to be off that boat. It was not the relaxing experience we thought we were getting. Now for the worst part.
I woke up the next morning to a text that was sent at 10pm at night from Captain Alex saying he didn’t receive a tip. First off, very unprofessional and uncomfortable. 2nd, we had other things planned that day at certain start times and had to cancel or reschedule because our later than expected return from the charter. Also we did not enjoy this $300 experience.
