Canoeing The Grand — Attraction in Kitchener

It was our first time kayaking and everything was going well until we were in the water. The staff pushed the kayak in the direction that was against the current so we had assumed that that was the way to go as we did not receive any instructions otherwise. After an hour, we had barely made any progress as the current was strong that day. I had called and mentioned that we were struggling to make any progress. Since it was our first time rowing I did not think to mention the current while on the phone with staff because I did not know it was the cause of our struggle. Instead of trying to better understand my struggles and offer some solutions, staff just cautioned me to keep rowing. I had also mentioned to them that with the combination of heat and exhaustion I felt from rowing, I could potentially have an asthma attack. After multiple failed attempts to make progress, I called back twice. The first time, I relayed that my struggle was continuing and I requested to be picked up where we were dropped of as we were still that close after about an hour! The staff stated that they do not do pickups and cautioned me to keep going. The second time, on the verge of tears and in the midst of an asthma attack, I pleaded for them to pick us up. Staff reluctantly agreed and directed us to return to where we were dropped off.

After waiting to be picked up for 15-20 minutes, I received a phone call from the owner who was instantly unsympathetic, condescending (spoke to me like a child), and rude. She did not take the time to listen to what we had experienced nor did she make the effort to work proactively to come to a mutual agreement. After she was done yelling at me over the phone, she stated that they do not pick people up and as such we’d have to pay her $50 to be picked up. I also learned from one of the staff members that they do pick up customers almost every week/other week as issues frequently tend to arise. She left me with no other option but to pay the $50 because we would otherwise be stranded as we could not leave behind the equipment or we’d also be charged for that. This conversation with the owner did nothing but worsen the situation and left me anxious and in tears as I was being kind and cooperative meanwhile all I was met with was negativity.

When we arrived back at the main office, we were met by the owner who greeted us with a card reader and said little to no words to us. The staff member who had dropped us off and picked us up had tried reasoning with her stating that he should’ve told us to not go against the current. It was also this staff member that informed us about what the current was and that we should’ve went with it after the fact. The owner stated that we had already been informed to go with the current beforehand. We stated that we had received many other instructions but none relating to the current. She disagreed even though she was not there when we received instructions. Regardless, even if we had received that instruction and had forgotten, you would think that it would be the first suggestion that the staff should have provided to us when we were on the water struggling to make progress. Nonetheless, the owner stated that the $50 would be used as a gift certificate that could be redeemed if I come back. However, she stated that if I come back I would not receive the full allocated time but instead I’d have time deducted. I’m not sure when she decided that the allocated time became apart of the issue or if that was just a penalty that she chose to give but I did not argue because I did not intend on returning, especially if I was not going to be receiving full services such as the full allocated time.

If it wasn’t for the male staff member who had shown us kindness, I wish I could give this establishment a 0/5. The owner needs to seriously work on her customer service and problem solving skills as some of these reviews already articulate her unprofessional behaviour. This experience was miserable, avoidable, and a complete waste of money. Will definitely not be returning. Do...

tl;dr: Poorly maintained equipment ruined what could have been an enjoyable experience - they knowingly put our family on the river with broken kayaks.

We are a family of five and planned a trip with Canoeing the Grand. We chose the Breslau to Freeport route which we have done before as it's relatively easy and scenic. We reserved a canoe and three kayaks for our teenage sons who like to be in control of their own craft. (All three are intermediate kayakers, having spent many hours on a lake.) When we got there, the kayaks were not loaded, and we had to wait while they loaded them - a minor thing, but since we reserved ahead it would have been nice if they were ready to go.

The owner was very friendly and polite, and was firm with customers about the COVID-19 measures they have put in place which is great. We were glad to see they provide face shields to customers to wear in the shuttle. However, the young men who drove the shuttle were only wearing paper masks, and one of them sat shoulder-to-shoulder with one of the other customers. I was glad our family was at the back of the shuttle and properly physically distanced.

So far, (mostly) so good. We would have been happy with our trip if things proceeded well from there, because after all we're coming to Canoeing the Grand for the canoeing the Grand part! Unfortunately once we were dropped off at the launch point, the boys discovered that all three of the kayaks were missing the foot rests, and one of the seat backs was broken. If you have ever kayaked before you will know that the foot rests are critical to being able to properly control the craft because otherwise you have to rely purely on upper-body strength. The boys had a very hard time controlling their kayaks, and were very uncomfortable the whole time we were on the river. The boy who had the broken seat chose to walk and swim near the end of the trip because he was so uncomfortable and didn't enjoy the trip at all.

When we finally made it back to the office, I asked to speak with the manager (who I believe is the owner) and explained the problem. She was polite and apologetic, but said "oh yes, sorry, but most of the kayaks are broken and we can't keep fixing them". I'm sorry, what?! I was shocked by her response - they knowingly put us out in the river with broken / non-maintained equipment, endangering my family. I said "if the kayaks were broken, couldn't you have told us ahead of time?" she apologized again and offered us a $50 credit for our next visit. I politely declined and said that this would be our last visit. I'm giving a 2-star review because the owner was genuinely kind and respectful, but the fact that they knowingly put us out in the river in damaged equipment is unacceptable and ruined...

Staff are great, owner could be a little more thoughtful on user experience for their business as a whole.

We had a group of 3, where one person had their own kayak, while the other 2 of us rented a canoe to share. The person with the kayak met us at the Breslau drop off point. At the end of the trip all 3 of us landed at the canoe rental drop off point. It was at this point that a lot of confusion ensued and we were told that the person with their own kayak wasn't allowed to land there. After staff understood that we were there as a group, they mentioned that normally they don't allow this and to try avoiding it next time.

After that, the owner flagged us down while we were walking to the parking lot to tell us that there is a $25 docking fee even if the others in the group rented, but since we legitimately did not know about this docking fee, she noted this just for future reference. I get it, the owner needs to protect their business, and making sure that parking doesn't get overloaded by people doing things like using their area for loading and unloading and such. However, coming out and confronting customers after they just had an enjoyable day to tell them that there is a docking fee for the water craft that wasn't rented there, when there is 0 mention of this on their website doesn't give the customer a chance to do the right thing ahead of time. As of July 3rd, 2022 on their website: There is no mention of this docking fee on their website. There is nothing in their FAQ about this. "Request A Reservation" form doesn't ask if there are people in the party that don't require rentals. Using google to do a site search looking for key words mentioning "fee", "25", "docking", or any other key words that allow me to look this up after the fact, is non existent.

I will update my review to a 4 starts if their website is updated in a way that actually gives a customer a chance to avoid this unpleasant conclusion to their trip. I am not going to check your website for this update, ping me to let me know if it gets updated and I will update my rating if this information is...