Muskoka Boat Rentals — Attraction in District Municipality of Muskoka

The $5000 scratch. Unreliable boats and massively inflated repair charges will ruin what should be a great boating experience.

We booked a Mastercraft X46 which, according to the website, and indeed the staff we spoke to on the phone, was newly delivered. However, the day before we were due to collect the boat we were told that the boat wasn’t available because it hadn’t been delivered - interesting considering it had been advertised on their website all season and we were renting in mid-summer. We were however offered a replacement for a lesser calibre of boat.

Keen to maximise time on the water we paid extra to have the boat delivered to a slip on the lake near our rental house. Sadly this was a mistake as the boat was delivered nearly two hours late with very little in the way of an apology from the gentleman who delivered it.

After a great day wakesurfing we headed back to the slipway to drop off the boat. As we approached the dock the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree along with several buzzers and alarms warning of high bilge water level, engine over heating and catastrophic engine shutdown. At the same time all the bilge pumps started up with water being pumped out of the boat in four different directions. A quick look in the engine compartment revealed a dangerously high water level so we made for the dock as quick as possible (despite the restricted engine revs), got the fenders out and tied off while waiting for the trailer. Despite the initial concern on the boat, our experienced crew didn’t panic and our first thought was to make sure the boat didn’t sink in the middle of the bay!

While pulling the boat out we explained the issue to the driver (who seemed neither concerned nor surprised by the news), and went around the boat to check for damage, and here we noticed some mild scratches to the lacquer over the gel coat at the stern starboard corner (see pictures). Checking the photos we took before we left we agreed that they weren’t there previously and, despite honestly not having a clue where they came from, we agreed that they were our responsibility and that we should pay for their repair. Having been around boats my entire life, I honestly thought we were talking ten minutes with a buffer and a few hundred dollars. How wrong I was…

When I eventually received the final bill (which involved an awful lot of hassling and the rental shop holding on to my deposit for over two months), I was charged over $2000 for the scratches. Not only that, but I was charged for transport to and from a gel coat specialist nearly a hundred miles away. Now, while I think this is a pretty outrageous charge, I could have lived with it - after all, I rented a boat and returned it with scratches - that’s the deal I guess. However, what completely pushed me over the edge is that they charged me an ADDITIONAL days rental (another $2000), claiming that the boat was out of service while these repairs were done. Now, while that might be the letter of the contract, it is a complete misinterpretation of the intent of the contract. A clause that allows you to charge for lost rental time is intended for when you return a boat in an un-rentable condition - say with a hole in it, with a bent skeg, or missing a propellor. There is no way that they needed to take the boat out of service for a day to make repairs and, in the opinion of the lawyer I consulted, completely unreasonable to charge us for that privilege.

In the end I was charged over $5000 in costs for the damage to the boat. In my honest and experienced opinion, this is ten times what it should have been. No attempt to discuss this with them went answered. Dozens of emails were ignored and when I called them the person I needed to speak to “had been in a car accident”, “wasn’t in today”, or “had Covid”.

So, be warned: If you must rent from MBR I implore you: photograph and document everything, drive the boat like it’s made of eggshells, and pray for divine intervention should you be unlucky enough to...

Update -- I saw a recent news article about the sketchy practices outlined below

I was charged $261 for a black cap on a jetski that cost $11.99 RETAIL at a store 7km away from their shop. This was a total scam.

The black plastic ski pylon cap behind the seat of the seadoo I rented fell off during my one day rental. I recall it may have been held on with a piece of tape when I took the rental and should've said something.

Muskoka boat rentals took $261.03 from my $3000 credit card authorization for the rental to pay for the cap: $35 for the cap cost and $98 each way to get it from Barrie. With them having a $3000 CC authorization, I was pretty powerless to refuse. The manager said he was not charging me for 2-3 lost days of rental due to the lost cap, even though he threatened that he could. It is typical of a dishonest person to threaten that he COULD be extremely unreasonable, then act like he is doing you a favour by only being very unreasonable.

I called Northland Recreation located 7.2km from the rental shop and they confirmed they had plenty of caps in stock for $11.99 retail (not $35 non-retail that I was told). I informed Muskoka boat rentals of this. They told me to go get it and bring it in to see if it fits. I live 20km away and they were in the same town as Northland, but I still had to drive to Northland and deliver the cap that I didn't touch and that they taped on. After delivering the cap that fit, they refunded my $261 and pretended they did not know about this seadoo parts retailer located in their town right on the side of the highway with a big seadoo sign -- "Northland -- I'll have to write that down".

Muskoka boat rentals' song-and-dance about $35 for the cap, $98 each way transport to Barrie to avoid not having the jetski out of service, not knowing who Northland was, etc was a poorly told lie.

Zero trust for them -- which is key for rental businesses-- and I will have to rent elsewhere next summer and beyond.

Don't be next to get...

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. This is a fraudulent company. In July 2023, it scammed us out of 3000* safety deposits. We rented a pontoon boat that day, and the propeller fell off by itself without hitting anything. The company took the entire deposit and refused to provide itemized repair invoices. They also refused to communicate via email to avoid leaving written evidence. There are numerous old reviews listing similar experiences to ours. Some of the old comments even mentioned that people were charged the entire deposit for small scratches they hadn't noticed before renting. They are committing fraud regularly, so please be aware, people. I set a reminder for myself a year from 2023 to leave this review because the summer season is coming, I don't want anyone to experience the same horrific ordeal that we did. Do not rent from them!

Correction: It was a $3,000 safety deposit. I have corrected this in my review. Further clarification: The owner did not have a proper building last year. They were located in a trailer near a small, rundown building. Response to the owner's comment #3: You did not provide the itemized invoice we requested. We needed an itemized invoice to understand the individual cost of each part being repaired. Instead, you only had one line item for the repair cost without further breakdown and refused to provide one. Response to the owner's comment #4: The propeller did fall off the boat on its own. It's possible it hit something beneath the lake that we couldn't see, but we were always in the center of the lake, away from the shore. However, I must remind everyone to read the contract carefully. You will lose your deposit if damages occur, no matter whose fault it is (the company's boat, yourself, or...