Weeki Wachee The Kayak Shack — Attraction in Spring Hill

I was expecting to have a great experience, but that is not what I was met with. One bad apple can ruin a business’ reputation, and that’s exactly what happened. This past Saturday, I called what I thought was the Kayak Shack. This was my mistake as I’d been researching the day before, and I kept going back to the kayak shack. When I decided to call that morning, I must’ve clicked the wrong tab on my internet browser as I was looking up multiple. When I called, I asked if they had any rental reservations open. The lady told me that their reservation spots were booked, but they had 9am folks that were likely returning at 12 so I can go there at 12, and they should be able to send me out on the water. I told her I’d be there 12-12:30. Now remember, this mistake was mine. I was never speaking with the kayak shack as I thought. When I arrived @ the kayak shack, I was met with the parking attendant that told me “if you need parking, I can find you a spot, but it’s $30.” That’s where the business initially lost me. I’ve rented kayaks many times, and I’ve never had to pay them to park in their lot while I go out on the kayaks that I am paying them to rent. That’s like going to a restaurant, and you get charged to park in their lot. Anyway, onto what brought on this review as I never do this. I went looking down the street looking for some free parking then realized I should go back to stop in to let them know I’m there, but I need to check for free parking first. I went back to the attendant and waited while she was taking care of other customers. When she came over, I told her what was said when I called earlier so I wanted to check in before continuing to look for parking. She said that they stop docking at 12. I told her that I told the lady I’d be there 12-12:30. I still wasn’t aware at this point that I talked to the wrong company. I was confused. I told her I talked to someone before I drove up which took over an hour. I don’t fault her or them for any of this. This was my mistake, and I’m only mentioning it for full detail. She grabbed her walkie & said she’d ask them so she says, “I have a Briana here. She said that she called & said she’d be here around 12-12:30.” In the nastiest nearly yelling voice, Kristin responded with “OH NO SHE ABSOLUTELY DID NOT, I WOULDVE REMEMBERED THAT!” “NO SHE DID NOT. ID KNOW IF THERE WAS A LATE DOCK!” Shock instantly took over the parking attendants face, and she apologized and hurried to turn down the walkie as this lady would’ve kept snapping. She said that she is sorry, and she has no control over it. I said, “woah, y’all are definitely getting a bad review. I cannot believe she just spoke like that knowing a customer is right there with you.” I’ve never encountered this behavior towards a customer. As I drove away, she yelled to call me back and said we will send you out. She apologized kindly, and SHE TOLD ME that she has no control over that woman & make sure I get the woman’s name (Kristin) for the review & the owner will see it. What does that tell you about Kristin? That parking attendant KNEW how wrong the woman was for talking that way, and clearly knew this woman had a bad attitude. When I went to the dock, she sure didn’t try to turn the experience around. She greeted me with a nasty grin, told me to sign the paper, and then proceeded to “correct me”. The problem here is that you DO NOT treat customers this way. I didn’t give her good reason too. My mistake didn’t warrant this. If I was nasty then okay, treat me how I treat you. That wasn’t the case here. She was just as nasty when I got over to her. Her every word to me was hostile, and I wasn’t even attempting to argue her. I tried showing her the numbers. She nearly yelled at me. It was so bad that when the parking attendant originally yelled out to me to come back, my son didn’t want to go anymore because he was afraid of the lady on the other end of that walkie. That is how nasty she was. My son was afraid she might hurt us. That’s how hostile the experience was. The guys that pulled us out...

Uoate::: please show this video you speak of because I assure you we all have more clsss than this see my rebuttal on friends account that went

have been coming here for many many years this place was my favorite kayak rental business to bring my kids and now my grandkids but I am sorry to say we will be using the place across the street and across the river We pull up to an empty parking lot and we were told after taking our coolers kids grandkids out of our cars to move we had 3 vehicles a total of 8 rentals I proceeded to say I’m sorry but I work on what we were told on the phone parking lot is first come first served so we got there super early and made our reservations for early take off to avoid this. We were never asked the amount of vehicles we had. We arrived and were told we had to may vehicles I said if we had reservations for 8 kayaks and never asked how many vehicles just told arrive early for parking I’ll be parking exactly where I am at I’m not reloading kids grandkids and coolers back in cars. I resolved the situation on my own and didn’t move. Oh yes btw sorry for the loss of your main building as we are also dealing with last years hurricanes being local Floridians. When we were rudely greeted and after listening to the lady in front of me be disrespected by your employees I was ready for the lip lashing We were never told it would be 10 percent charge for using a credit card We were not asked to sign a waiver We were not fined any specific direction but to have the kayak back by 5 and to stay in the boundaries and laws of the river and to take a pic of the hand written sign that’s faded and looks like rain washed it mostly away thannGod this was not my first experience there I would of been lost. She was so rude to the people in front of me the lady told her husband to deal with her she was too upset how she was spoken to. The 10 percent charge was never discussed there was no sign when making reservations we were not told

Any business charging a credit card surcharge must clearly disclose the fee to the customer before the sale is completed, usually through signage or on the receipt. Surcharge Limits: While surcharges are permitted, they cannot exceed the cost of processing the credit card payment.

I called several merchant service as I own a business and non of them charge this outrageous percentage even Amex highest rate was 5 percent to small business using square.

So this to me is not a fair rate at all

Now to the nice part the boys loading you on and off the dock were amazing polite and helpful without them you would have no return customers

The place across the street is cheaper they have food drinks ect they don’t charge you the 10 percent it’s up to 5 percent depending on the credit card You can swim at the beach and park there after your finished kayaking til sunset. There plenty of parking and it is first come first served parking so if you want up front get there on time lol

Small businesses need to be accountable for their employees or the lack of as I own a small businesses and the fist thing I would do is fire the incompetence working your kayak window if we were burn with no waiver we could own you business and it don’t hurt to smile and be friendly people are only there for a good time not to be yelled at and given an attitude from the entrance to the dock. We were never told a service charge will be added We were not given the option to pay cash Things you should be told at the time of reservation One car per every 2-3 kayaks 10 percent service charge unless paying cash If parking lot is full you will be directed to a different lot You lost a lifetime customer because of the lady taking your cash credit card ect was extremely rude and the parking situation...

I have been coming here regularly for years and recommending this kayak rental to anyone who would listen. Today I received the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced at any establishment. My mom lives in the area and I visit a couple times per year from Wisconsin. As we pulled in to the lot we noticed that it was extremely busy, no big deal. Beautiful day in Florida so its understandable. The parking lot was full but cars were lining up in a row in front of the fence by the street. I began to pull in to the next available spot, next to the last car in line. Out of nowhere this woman (an employee) comes running over and yells at us, saying she is telling people where to park and that we need to back out. There were no signs indicating this and not how it has been done in the past. We were completely shocked by how rude her attitude was. Could have just asked and we would have been happy to oblige. I then backed out into the street, to the point where I was in the way of traffic going both ways. She then walked away from us and started chewing out another customer for the way that they parked, even tho she seemed to direct them into that position??? My mom and I figured we would be next in line, but nope. She ushers the car behind us forward and lets them into the lot! We had one kayak in our car (my moms) and planned on renting one for myself. The lady comes back and informs us that we are not allowed to put our own kayak in at their dock, even tho we also will be paying customers and renting one of theirs. She wanted us to drive to the other side of the canal, put our one kayak in, then have the other person walk back over to grab a rental?? We tried to explain we have been doing this for years, and she straight up said "No you have not!" So now she called us liars! Its fine if the policy has changed, but there is absolutely no excuse for her behavior. After this ridiculous display she walked away and refused to come back to us. I understand how it is difficult to be busy and the Florida heat can mess with your head, but I'm not kidding the way she talked to us was appalling and embarrassing. It almost ruined our entire day, which is sad because I hardly ever get to spend quality time with my mom. We took our business to one of the other kayak rental places across the way. Walked in and the gentleman at the register greeted me with a smile and said "How's it going sir?". Is that seriously so hard? We will not be back to this establishment and I've shared my experience with over 10 people already. This is the first one star review I have ever left for a business, if that shows you how bad...