Beach Weekend — Attraction in Stock Island

I have never written a bad review before; in fact, this is my first one, and it comes after a frustrating and disappointing experience with Beach Weekend boat rental company in Key West. My family and I were excited about our day on the water, having rented a boat for 10 people with slides. I initially spoke with Abbie on the phone, who was very nice and explained everything to us. We followed the GPS they provided, adhered to the recommended track, and felt optimistic about our adventure.

However, our plans quickly soured when we encountered unexpectedly strong winds and rough waves. Despite leaving an hour early to ensure we would return the boat on time, we ended up getting stuck in very shallow water. The waves and winds were pushing the boat off track. We tried our best to navigate back, but the conditions made it nearly impossible. Eventually, nine of us had to work together to push the boat just to get it moving again, which was both physically exhausting and incredibly frustrating. We all ended up banged up, bruised, and scratched.

As a result of our struggle, we were an hour late returning the boat. Instead of understanding the circumstances we faced, the company charged us a hefty late fee of $195. This was incredibly frustrating, especially considering that we had made every effort to fulfill our rental agreement. We notified the company that we were late and were told they would send a boat to rescue us; however, they never did. We finally managed to get ourselves out of the situation.

When we arrived at their office, we encountered an employee named Cassie. Unfortunately, she was unprofessional in her approach and refused to hear us out. There was little concern from her to check if everyone was okay; she only cared about us being late and insisted that we would be charged a late fee. All Cassie cared about was that my husband was not nice to her in his approach. Well how can you blame him after the struggle we went through and all she cared about was money. No concern what so ever about our well being. I explained our situation, and Cassie stated that we wouldn't be charged until I would speak with the manager the following day. However, no one called me back.

The following day I saw additional charges on my credit card without receiving any response from the manager. I then called the company multiple times to resolve this. I spoke with Kevin, the manager, who assured me he would look into the matter and would call me back—but I never received a follow-up. Since that conversation, I have called five additional times, leaving messages, yet I have still not heard back from anyone. My card was charged the late fee of about $195 despite my repeated attempts to resolve the issue.

Two weeks later, I called again, hoping to sort this out before leaving a bad review—which I truly did not want to do. Finally, I was able to reach Cassie again, but her response was nasty, showing zero customer service. She seemed unconcerned and simply told me to do whatever I needed to do.

I truly wanted to avoid leaving a negative review, especially since I initially chose this company based on their positive feedback. However, the lack of communication, the dismissive attitude toward our circumstances, and the unwillingness to work with us have prompted me to share my experience.

I hope my review helps others make a more informed decision when considering this boat rental company. Your hard-earned money deserves better service...

Really enjoy the updates that have been made since their takeover. Its truly the most updated marina in KW and they continue to have new offerings all the time expanding to their amenities. We really enjoy storing our boat here year round.

The staff is great and always willing to help when/where they can. As a first time boat owner, its a sigh of relief to know they are willing to make me feel right at home. Pete the lift operator is awesome. Everything at the marina seems to flow flawlessly when he is there.

Reasons for 4 stars instead of 5: It would be ideal to have power hookups on the back half of the storage racks for lower level storage customers. Now that there are so many charters, its very difficult to get wash racks or the use of a hose to washdown after the boat is racked for storage as the marina is very busy these days. Also if we wanted to charge a battery, the only spot is near the wash racks, which the cables can cause tripping concerns for guests as well as water/electricity concerns. This is the only con vs other marinas in town as they have ample water/electric hookups near the racks for these purposes.

Lastly, we as rack/storage customers should receive merchandise or parts/service discounts. Currently I outsource most all of my mechanic/electrical work because its cheaper vs doing it there at the marinas shop. Most parts at the marina are far more expensive than buying from west marine down the street or from garrison bight. If we had a discount to even match these offerings of the mobile mechanic services, I'd absolutely keep all of my service/parts needs in house. Also I would be more keen to buy merchandise if I wasn't being charged the same...

I bought a 15 hp mercury outboard and was told that 100 hour service was included with the purchase. I called a few months later to schedule my maintenance and the receptionist verified that the 100 hour service was free. I was told to be there at 1 pm three weeks later and that it would only take about a half hour. When I made the very long and inconvenient trip they said they had no idea when they could service me, even though we set a date and time for my service. I told them to just give me the parts (oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, etc) they didn't even have half of the parts required for the service. So if I had waited for an indeterminate amount of time they would have either not done the service or lied to me and said it was done. Then they tried to charge me for the few parts they did have.

All this while being verbally abused. Do not patronize this establishment. They are liars and crooks. If I could give zero...