Delaware Golf Cart Rentals — Local services in Put-in-Bay Township

I reserved a golf cart for a full day in advance via the online reservation option. When we arrived the reservation worker verified my reservation in writing and on my cell phone screenshot and proceeded to offer me an HOURLY rate option instead of a daily rate per my contract. We decided that given the time of day it would be cheaper for us to go with the hourly rate. I signed the rental agreement, the reservation worker indicated the hourly rate amount to me ($15 per hour) and also wrote the time of our rental on the form. We used the cart for 3 hours, returned and paid with a credit card for the hourly rate for 3 hours. At no time did the reservation worker indicate to me that I would be charged for the entire day AND the hourly rate. At no time did she indicate to me that I can't change the reservation from daily to hourly. She allowed me to pay for the hourly rate and this company turned around and charged me for BOTH. I have tried to work with the company for a refund and they have NOT been cooperative. I understand that I signed and accepted a daily rental but when I was given the option to choose hourly at the counter I assumed (as any normal customer would) that this would not be a duplicate charge. I see from another review below that this happened to them (on the same Saturday it seems) so this is clearly standard practice. Instead of being rude to customers I think education should be provided to employees to NOT offer hourly rentals to folks who are going to be charged for full day rentals. Educating the employee is your responsibility and scamming customers is bad for business!

**Edit to add a response to the business owner: You charged my credit card for an hourly rate AND a daily rate. You can't charge someone 2 times for a service they had 1 time. I fully understand that I signed and agreed and clicked accept for a daily reservation. The issue is that upon arrival I was allowed to change the daily reservation to HOURLY and subsequently I was charged for hourly. The problem at hand is that you feel it is ok to charge twice. That is fraudulent. I expect a refund for one of the charges. Also, important to note for anyone reading this he is blatently lying regarding surveillance. I SIGNED the agreement on site for an hourly rate which included the departure time written on it by the reservation agent. I showed her a copy of my daily reservation screenshot on my phone and she STILL agreed to allow me to rent hourly. When I retuned the cart she wrote my return time and charged me for 3 hours. I signed a credit card receipt for it as well. This owner has MULTIPLE complaints online with multiple sites indicating he does this same thing repeatedly to other people . Not just me. If you do not offer hourly rates or you do not offer people to change the daily to hourly then you would not have charged my card for it. But you did. My fear for others is how many times has he done this and people do not fight the charges?! He admitted in writing in an email that if he charged my card twice in error he would refund the hourly rate. He now refuses to do so....

I've never felt so compelled to write a review, but I absolutely have to share the experience I had with Deleware Rentals. Me and a few friends were visiting Put in bay during Aug. 6-7. After setting up our campsite, me and another friend went to pick up a cart around 3pm. I paid for the cart in cash, and wasn't given any type of receipt. In order to rent with them, you have to leave either a card or your ID, which wasn't a big deal. We had the cart for less than 5 minutes before the steering failed and wrecked the entire cart! My friend drove the cart out of the lot just down the street to his car. Once he got into his car, I started driving the cart. He warned me that the steering was a little wonky, but how bad could it be, right? Totally wrong. I drove down a straight street. I stopped at a stop sign at a 3-way intersection, and waited for cars to go by to turn left. For the entire turn, I had the wheel as far over as it would go. It would barely turn and I ended up going over the curb. The curb was standard height but somehow it damaged that cart so badly that the cost of repairs was $750. Once I went over the curb, the steering was completely gone and the cart wouldn't move at all. There was a man across the street who witnessed the entire ordeal, said he worked for the company, and that he was going to call someone to pick us up. The woman who initially rented me that cart arrived, and was being very very rude. When I told her what happened, she made it evident with her tone of voice that she didn't believe me. She responded with "It just didn't turn??" and "Well how fast were you going???" I was turning left from a stop sign, in a golf cart that doesn't go faster than 20mph. How fast could I be going?? Anyway, she told me that she was on the phone with the owner and he estimated the repair cost to be $500. Upon our arrival back, I was given a final price of $750, with all the parts and their prices listed in the picture attached to this review. (Note that steering joint is listed twice, with two different prices...) I asked if I could be billed, as I didn't have that kind of money with me. She rudely said no and stated that I would need to pay upfront. So I had to have another friend cover the rest of the cost. I paid $185 in cash, which I got no receipt for. I'm a young adult, (21 year old female) and have never been in this kind of situation. So I wasn't sure if I was being taken advantaged of or not. Now that I've returned home and told friends and family about the situation, I'm certain that I got scammed. Unfortunately I didn't check the reviews of this place beforehand. I have absolutely no problem taking responsibility for damaging things, but I feel as if it wasn't my fault because clearly the cart was already on its last legs. I felt as if I couldn't argue the situation because it was so obvious that they wouldn't even believe me. And I knew they would just tell me that they always check out their carts before they hand them out or something similar. Looking at the other reviews, it's obvious that this is not the case, and upkeep maintenance on the carts isn't...

DON'T RENT HERE! (Edited to reflect owner's response) People, read the reviews. Their 3-star average is skewed - short 5-stars are balancing the 1-star ones. I found three of these 5-stars are fluff and do not apply to Delaware, but to Put-in-Bay or the vague notion of how wonderful it is to take a vacation - which artificially raise the average. Look for yourself. Read the 1-star ones and you'll get an idea of what this place is like. See the snapshot below of their TripAdvisor review. To the owner: NO. It did not say "print a copy of this page as confirmation." In fact, there was nothing on the page that indicated anything had actually been reserved. Only, 'Your message has been sent." That does NOT mean I have a reservation in a sense that anyone on the internet who makes reservations comprehends. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Made a reservation online via link on the island’s website. Never received a confirmation. Had no idea where to go or if I even had a reservation. Arrived on the island not knowing where to pick up and discovered it was the other side of the island. I tried to call, but they screen customers by using an answering service. During business hours. Not sure that I even had a reservation, I rented from another company who was available at the dock. Was later contacted by a taxi who got my number from Delaware Rentals (!), saying I would need a ride from the ferry dock to the rental center on the other side of the island. They charged me anyway under the 24hr cancellation notice requirement. But here's where it gets shady: They will keep your credit card information physically printed out on file for one year to combat charge disputes. Leads me to believe they have this issue often. The practice of keeping physical copies of personal and credit card information is considered unsecure. Please be aware of this if you rent from them. Your full CC number, email, address, and phone number are all on file in their office. Sidenote: When I arrived on the island, a local employee of another shop (not a cart rental competitor, mind you) warned me of Delaware. She said she sees people all the time who mention renting with Delaware and not knowing if they actually had a cart. She said, "Oh, they will charge you. Be careful." Giving out my phone number to third parties to sell me a ride to your business is not good. I will notify my credit card company that you maintain a hard copy of my personal information and credit card details. Please listen to the bad reviews - the voice of those from whom you have taken money. I'm a small business owner. I don't "go after businesses." But your practices warrant...