Falcon Floats — Hotel in Tahlequah

Do not rent boats from Falcon. They suggest arriving before 10am we arrived at 9:35 and within 10 min waivers were signed and we were waiting for our names to be called. We waited till 11:15 till our names were finally called to load the bus for our 13 mile float in kayaks. When we arrived at the launch we reserved two kayaks and the only two there were in bad shape no straps to tie down our cooler and we were not even given trash bags. I had to convince the driver we had to have a strap for our cooler and he offered a strap from the boat trailer with one hook and I made it work. We just threw our empties back in the cool to keep from littering. After a few miles I noticed the kayak behaving like it was full of water and it was not. Needless to say it had a hole and the hull was filling up. We managed to make it to the put in for the 8 mile floaters and there was a Falcon kayak trailer with one single kayak and 3 tandem kayaks there so I swapped out for the single. Once I unloaded the new one, got it to the water and was about to set off, a guy walked up asking what was going on and I showed him the 4 patches on the old kayak and the place the fifth patch must have come off the bottom of the boat. The new boats didn’t look much better with 3 patches on the bottom but I was just ready to go and tired of flipping up the kayaks so it would drain through the drain hole in front. Well less than a mile down this boat is taking on water too. To explain what it feels like when your hull is full of water is like trying to lean a little but the water inside wants to lean a lot and flip you side ways. It’s completely uncontrollable and you end up sinking. I pull out with my friend and we call Falcon to see if they can float us one of those tandem (2 person) kayaks down or any floating vessel. I assumed it would not be that hard to have one of the many workers(5 office workers 1 guy sitting in his car at 8 mile, 3 bus drivers) tie a boat behind and float from that 8 mile put-in spot to us and then they could get out at their next take out/put in. I would be maybe an hour inconvenienced but we could finish the float. They said that was impossible they can not do that. My only option was to make it down to the next spot 3-4 miles down river, go back up river or they could call 911 to rescue me. I tried to reason with the guy and he refused to offer any logical help saying you can float on down go back or I will get 911 to rescue you. I was starting to see how little they cared to help but held my cool. He offered a gift certificate for future floats and for me to let them know when I end up at one of those places or if they should send rescue Emergency boats by calling 911. So we decided there was no way to make it up river so my buddy offered to relieve me swapping out with him and we would just go fast paddling to make up distance as it took on water. We paddled hard for 1.5 hours stopping 5 times to drain the water from inside the hull. When we got to the point they said we were too tired from all the heavy paddling and flipping the boat on its nose to drain we just wanted to be done. When we pulled both boats out of the water they both were full of water. So now 3 boats we have used have holes. All three kayaks had a minimum of 3 patches on the bottom one had 5. Luckily the wait was only 15 minutes after I made the call for a pick up and we were in the bus heading back to our vehicle. No apologies, no questions, no offer of refund, no one met me to offer a gift certificate with an apology, no in person anything. We got back, unloaded the bus and just drove off. This place cares nothing for their customers. Even if they replace these 3 bad vessels do not rent from them. There are too many more options to go through...

DO NOT RENT FROM FALCON FLOATS

I'm not one to go and leave reviews everywhere, but I have to say something about this company so no one else experiences what me and my group had to go through.

We reserved a bunkhouse and three rafts to float on the Illinois River. Upon arrival, they gave us the key to a bunkhouse that was already being used and delayed us from getting on the river. When they were finally able to bus us 8 miles to the river, we found out that one of our floats was deflated and we would only have two floats to carry 13 people and 6 ice chests.

We quickly noticed that the two rafts they gave us were deflating and we started to wonder if they would make it down the river. It got so bad that we were tying life jackets to the raft to keep it afloat. Unsurprisingly, one of the rafts took on so much water that it couldn't float anymore and they were forced to ditch the raft and carry the belongings 2 miles to our campsite.

Here's where it gets more interesting:

We called them to let them know that the raft was deflated and we had to ditch it. The girl on the phone said that they previously had some vandalism committed against some of the rafts, and she said that was why the rafts we had were deflating. They called the fire and police department saying that we needed help when we didn't, we just needed Falcon Floats to get their raft. When talking to the firefighters, the owner rudely interrupted us and demanded to know where his raft was. Didn't ask if we were okay or anything, just wanted his raft and threatened to charge us $2000 if we didn't bring it back. He then proceeded to argue with us for the next 30 minutes and was acting so unprofessional.

Don't even dare asking for a refund, the owner is more stingy than Mr. Krabs. He is completely clueless on how to handle customer service issues. All he cares about is your money.

Oh, I also need to mention that the bunkhouse we stayed in had water which was contaminated with E. Coli. It has been contaminated since early June.

So please, do yourself a favor and rent from anyone else besides them. There are many available options such as Diamondhead or Sparrowhawk. Do not give this...

We reserved a 12 member girls retreat in advance & paid a $200 deposit for a cabin with a kitchen, bathroom & enough room for all of us. When we arrived, we were told that we couldn't float for 3 hours b/c they had overbooked & didn't have any rafts. We were then taken to a bunkhouse - not a cabin - for $389 for 1 night (their site says $150-$200 per night). We were told that was all they had for us to stay in, as they didn't have us on their reservations. We slept all together, but can you imagine 12 girls in a bunkhouse with a bathroom the size of a small closet? The bunks were 3 beds & didn't have ladders so we had to jump up & climb up as best we could - NOW we were not preteen campers @ church camp! We are grown women in our 30's & 40's. It was not an easy task, I tell ya. So, we finally get to go on the river, after being told by several workers & the owner that we were next & watching other groups still go before us. We had paid for a 6mile trip, but were told that if we wanted to get on the water, we would have to take the 4mile trip (WITHOUT ANY REFUND). The river was so full of debris, broken branches, logs & big bolder rocks that it was a chore to navigate around it all & get down the river. There was no FLOATING THE RIVER involved on this trip. There was no lay back & enjoy the solitary parts of nature. It was a hoax. It was work! The drivers of the vans back & forth were ridiculous too! They were young kids, driving like 50 miles an hour around the mountains, no windows in the van, the doors broken off & 1 driver even told us that he only had 1 brake pad on 1 wheel! I will go back again, but I will never use Falcon Floats & I hope anyone reading this review chooses not to use...