Palmetto Outdoor — Local services in West Columbia

Their description of where to end the tubing route was not accurate. We were told to look for two silver aluminum docks and we would see a guy in a kayak waiting for us to guide us in. About 40 of us passed the "dock" we were supposed to stop at as they underestimated how quickly we would arrive at the dock even though they acknowledged the recent rain and the swift water. Once they realized people were missing the dock, they sent out one man in a kayak to help. He came by and shamed us for missing the dock and told us to hold on to the trees while trying to swim back. After telling the people farther down river than us, he came back with them and was trying to paddle up stream with 7 of us behind him holding on a rope. Luckily we were able to flag down a man and his dog in their boat and he took us back to the dock (which is a rickety, abandoned looking pice of trash.) I was separated from one of my children. None of the staff cared. One female employee that was more concerned about me folding my life jacket than talking to me told me she confirmed my daughter had not been taken back to the starting point so she must still be in the water, which wasn't possible since I was ahead of her. This indicated my daughter may be "under" the water. The police and fire department were there since so many of us were stranded and Palmetto Outdoors said they couldn't help us. They started to look for my daughter but luckily, another mom found her, got her out of the river (along with her own kids) and had her call me! When we were still stuck in the river, I called PalmertonOutdoors and spoke to a nice little brat who said they have no boats and no one is coming to help. She said swim back up the river, hold onto the trees to take a break, and then keep swimming. We were a mile past the dock and in swift current. We made it about 25 feet in 30 minutes. We never would've been able to swim back. The staff all blamed each other saying it's the owners fault or the kayakers fault. Despite who's fault it is, there was a massive oversight that put around 40 people in danger. They need to come up with a contingency plan. Even a simple sign on the dock would've caught...

I originally booked a day in April, and it was a booking at 1 pm. After travelling over an hour to go, we get there and the guy told us it was too cold to go on the river that day and that we could come back at another time. No call, no warning, no heads up, no nothing! Fast Forward to our trip today...there was a little rain in the forecast but not until later in the evening so going at 1 should have been fine. The guide told us a little bit, but not enough for first time goers. After travelling downstream for about 2 hours it started pouring. We drifted over to the side of the bank to get out of the rain. It started thundering and lightening and my girlfriend got struck once then we both got struck together! The entire time they were instructing us, they told us to stay to the right of the river. We got out on the right side and called up there to get someone to come out and get us. They told us the only way they could get us would be for us to get back in the water and paddle all the way over to the left side. We tried to get back in, and my girlfriend got struck again. We called back up there to try to get some help and when they finally reached us they told us to get back into the water. The entire time on the phone the guy back at the shack had an attitude and seemed like he didn't want to help. After getting over to the left side, someone came and got us to walk us out of the trail. He ended up walking super fast, and left us on the trail all by ourselves. We eventually caught up with him and he took us through the jungle to get back to the platform to catch the shuttle! I would not reccomend unless you are a seasoned tuber and truly know what...

WARNING!!!!!!! WOULD NEVER RETURN!!!! The staff left everything up to the customer and I mean everything! They instructed our group to check out the area where we would finish the ride on our own. No one assisted or was there to give advice on how to exit the rapids safely. Then, after the bus ride to the launch site, we were provided life vests which had not been properly cleaned and smelled of BO or worse. After this we were required to walk with our floats for 10-15 minutes to the place where we launched. They did not insure we were tied together for safety, only telling us not to use our lifejackets for linking rafts because it damages them. During the raft ride there were multiple obstacles which were not removed nor was the trash. The water smelled of sewage and our group got stuck behind a huge tree in the water where all kinds of yellow foam and debris were settled. It was awful. To end the trip, our rafts drifted toward the middle of the bridge rather than the right side and we got stranded in the middle of the lake. We literally had to walk in the rapids to safety on slippery and jagged rocks. Several of us fell. There was no one from Palmetto Outdoors to assist us. Fortunately there was a lifeguard who had already completed the run and they came out and helped us to get to shore. Now the last step was climbing a huge concrete step with float in tow. No guides or handrails. Worst business I've ever seen. They don't care about the customers once they've signed the waiver. Would never...