Tip-A-Canoe Stores, Inc. — Local services in White Bluff

My wife and I booked a trip down the Harpeth with two friends for today. This morning we went to the gas station, bought a cooler, loaded up the food and drinks, picked up our friends and drove the 25 miles from Nashville. Upon our arrival we parked in a parking lot across the street since the drive into the canoe rental was blocked with orange cones. There was a sign stating that the entrance to Tip-A-Canoe was for loading only so we figured the parking lot across the street must be where we should park.

So we made the short walk across the road and up to the business. The door was unlocked so we opened the door to walk inside where the young man working today (07/18/14) greeted us. Only instead of a friendly greeting, the very first words out of his mouth were "How did you get in here?" I am still a little confused by this comment since the orange cones and kayak laying across the drive were not exactly a high-security system to be fooled. We said we were there to rent our canoes for the day and he said "The river is flooded" and then looked at us as if that was somehow common knowledge. My wife said that no one called us to let us know, which she would have appreciated since we had made reservations and our number was collected at that time. The response by this overly eager employee was not a "Sorry" or a "Here's what we can do to make it right for next time since you drove all the way out here" but he literally shrugged his shoulders. No words at all, just a shoulder shrug. No more words were spoken between us at all. The more I think about how he treated us, the more shocked I am. It was as if we walked into his living room rather than a business.

We will most definitely be going back to canoe the Harpeth in the future, especially since one of our guests drove in from 3.5 hours to enjoy the day with us. But we will choose one of the competitors next time, as it was obvious today that Tip-A-Canoe does not value the time or money of...

Let me preface this review with the fact that Tip-A-Canoe was VERY busy the day my group went. That being said, should that be an excuse for a poor review? Thats up to you, here is my opinion.

Showed up with a reservation for a group of 30. Complete and utter dissaray. I arranged with my group that everyone would pay me back and I would pay for everyone to expedite the check-in / pay process. By the time I got to the desk, all waivers were already signed, 1 guy paid, and BAM! We are done and ready to go. Then we took our receipt and the lady at the desk told us to take it to a man outside. So I set off looking for "a man outside". Then it happened. BOOM! A complete and utter MESS! There were groups all over the place (approximately 6-9 always) wondering who to talk too to get on one of their vans and get on the river, no one was in charge or could give me/others an answer (I talked to anyone and everyone in a Tip-A-Canoe shirt). There was no one "a man outside". No leadership, in charge person, or anything.

One employee told me "You just have to find a guy driving a van and grab him"??? So how exactly do I do that when there are 6-9 other people trying to "grab him"??

We ended up waiting an hour and half just to get on a van. THEN, they took us to the wrong drop off point and we (not knowing that they took us to the wrong drop off because WE DONT WORK THERE OR KNOW THE RIVER) put in where they told us was our drop off.

We were suppose to be on the 2 hour float and they put us in at the 3.5 hour float. Imagine the confusion 30 people had when we just kept on floating and wondering why we had not reached the take out.

I will NOT BE using Tip-A-Canoe again due to this lack of organization and un-professioinalism which led to a lot of my group saying the day basically got ruined to Tip-A-Canoe's horrible business service.

No, I do not want a gift certificate to use at Tip-A-Canoe either. I'm just going across the street to...

This is the first review I have ever written, good or bad. I have never dealt with such poor customer service in my life. I forgot a chair (with my name written 3-4 places on it) in the van after my canoe trip. I had gone to get our vehicle & got distracted gathering the group & didn't double check the van so that is my fault. BUT I have had the chair since I was 8 years old; it is very sentimental to me. I called the local access number first, the man was so rude & cold to me, I almost thought it was a joke. I then decided to try the 800 number thinking I would have a kinder, more helpful person answer. I thought for sure an establishment like this would have a "lost & found" & that my chair would be there, especially since my name was ALL over it. The man told me "anything that isn't of any USE TO THEM such as WALLETS, keys, chairs, etc. is immediately thrown in the dumpster" & "if I would like I could come out & dig through the dumpster." I live an hour away from Tip-A-Canoe & can't get away from work so I asked if they could at least call the location or give me the number to have an employee check, he said they don't have a phone line at the location so there was no way to reach them. If they can't reach anyone there how do they get their scheduling done? There must be some form of communication they have & they could've tried to help. We signed waivers where we listed our names/addresses, you would think something found as important as a wallet would get mailed to the address listed or held aside. To them it was "just a chair" but it was something from my childhood. Just because an establishment is too lazy to create a lost & found it doesn't mean people's belongings are trash. I feel it's important to respect things as if they were their own, hopefully this review will help them consider & make customers even more cautious of their belongings.

Instead of Tip-A-Canoe, I would recommend going across the street to...