The Island Surf Shop — Attraction in Indian Rocks Beach

Unpleasant Experience at Island Surf Shop During Vacation

During my recent vacation, I had a regrettable experience at Island Surf Shop, which left me quite disappointed. The incident occurred when my 4-year-old son accidentally dropped a small pink guitar in the store. Instead of handling the situation with understanding and grace, the store owner reacted rudely, admonishing me to "watch my son" despite my close proximity to him and my immediate efforts to address the situation. When the incident happened I had been actively telling him to put the guitar down and he was listening to my instructions when he accidentally dropped it.

Feeling taken aback by her approach, I expressed my displeasure with her rudeness and decided to leave the store. To my surprise, the store owner followed us out and insisted that we pay for the small pink guitar due to a minor paint chip caused by the drop. This demand not only upset me but also deeply affected my son, who was left in tears and fear by the unexpected confrontation.

In an effort to demonstrate good manners and responsibility to my child, I offered to pay for the damaged item, despite my belief that the reaction was exaggerated and unwarranted. To my astonishment, I discovered that the small pink guitar was priced at $68, resulting in a total of $73 after tax. After negotiating, I settled on a payment of $48.15, feeling shocked and disheartened by the entire ordeal.

It was evident to me that the store owner's behavior was fueled by past experiences, leading her to unjustly take out her frustrations on me and my son. I found the encounter to be distressing and unnecessary, especially considering the circumstances that led me to visit the store in the first place. I had chosen to spend time there with my son, who was unwell with an ear infection and needed a day away from the beach during our vacation. It was also disappointing because the store itself is cute and had a lot of nice items that I probably would have purchased. We come to Indian Rocks on vacation once a year and I’ve shopped there a few times before.

The lingering unease caused by the encounter made our walk back to our rented condo an uncomfortable one, with my son feeling scared and anxious that the store owner may still be following us. Overall, my experience at Island Surf Shop was far from pleasant, marred by unwarranted aggression and a lack of empathy from the store owner. I hope that this review serves as a reminder for businesses to handle such situations with compassion and understanding, especially when young children...

We are on vacation with our family this week. Myself, friends, and 14 year old sister decided to stop into this store. As my sister and I were looking at the jewelry I noticed the male owner zooming in on his computer looking at the cameras taking pictures of us. I thought this was odd so I grabbed my sister and friends and we left the store without buying anything. As we were walking out we said goodbye to the owners and they told us to have a nice day. We went to a store a few blocks down following that and not even 5 minutes after leaving island surf shop the female owner had approached my 14 year old sister in this next store and started screaming at her (drink in hand). This woman yelled at my sister to empty her pockets accusing her of stealing from her store. We told her that we did not steal and my sister even emptied her pockets to show her but the woman continued to yell at her saying she was lying and that she was going to call the cops. We told her to call the cops if she felt that we stole and she said we weren't worth doing that and then left the store. She also went up to the manager of the store she followed us into and told him we were thieves. After leaving this store we were walking back to our condo and at this point both owners came out of the store and started screaming at us once again threatening to call the cops. After all of this they refused to call the cops, because they had no proof. My 14 year old sister has never stolen in her life and I think it's ridiculous that a 60 year old drunk woman is targeting a child over a $10 bracelet that she thinks she stole. Both owners were clearly under the influence and I would caution anyone vacationing in this area to avoid even walking past this store, especially if you...

I was there three days in a row last week (Aug 14, 15, and 16), Wed at 2pm, Thurs at 1 pm and Fri at 12 pm. The sign in the window was flashing “open” the hand written sign on the door said “beach day see you in the morning”. Wed was an overcast but ok day. Thursday and Friday it was raining. Looked like no one had been to the shop in a while as the rental boards were all knocked over. Called to see when they would be open, left a message. No call back. Too bad for them, spent $2000 + at competitors instead. Go to Nekton just a mile or so north of there or Suncoast 15 min south, both on the same road, both open when they say they will be. a...