ShipYourBoatNow shojld not be allowed in business
Thomas Long
Submitted this review about
Ship Your Boat Now
Review made Live: 6/5/2018 9:01:00 AM
This company is dishonest, disreputable and unreliable. Their poor performance and lack of response should be alerted to anyone considering them for a delivery.
On April 9, 2018, I signed a contract for $3,500 with this company to ship a boat I was purchasing from St. Petersburg, FL to New Orleans LA. The representative assured me that, although the contract stated that no timetable was guaranteed, they would be able to deliver my boat to New Orleans during the week of April 16.
That was a critical date, because after April 20, I would be working a very intense schedule and unable to receive the boat here in New Orleans. I made it very clear that the only reason I was hiring them was on the representative's assurance that the boat would be delivered the week of April 16. He said it would not be a problem, despite being a very busy time of the year.
But the first truck did not show up at the boatyard. The Ship Your Boat Today representative made all sorts of excuses and "guaranteed" (his own word) that the boat would arrive by April 20. The boat did not arrive in New Orleans until April 23, nearly two weeks late.
In the meantime, the boat had sat in the water in St. Petersburg ready for pick-up for an additional week, which caused growth on the bottom that had to be cleaned off at additional cost before it could be loaded to the truck that finally arrived.
When the vessel finally arrived in New Orleans, the local boat yard reported significant barnacle growth on the prop and the trim tabs, which had not been present on March 23, when the boat was hauled for survey. The New Orleans boat yard charged me for cleaning the barnacles off the prop and trim tabs, adding extra expense to the delivery.
Meanwhile, I called to contact the shipping representative on Thursday April 24 and Friday April 25 to advise him that I would be disputing their charge due to their delay, which caused me additional cost at both the Florida and Louisiana boat yards. The representative never called back to discuss the situation.
I also learned in the process that the actual truck dispatcher and truck driver charged a total of $2,200 for the delivery, which meant the broker was getting a $1,300 commission, amounting to 37%, far in excess of what is reasonable, especially considering the company's lack of honesty, responsiveness and performance.
I therefore disputed the $1,300 commission charge with my credit card in the hope the company would contact me to discuss a reasonable payment. The company only sent to to the credit card a copy of the original contract stating that they were not responsible for delivering on any date, despite what I had been told verbally. I suspect this is not the first time this company has had to respond to similar customer complaints.
The cost of an attorney on a multi-state dispute of $1,300 would be more than the amount in question. American Express has no choice but to add the $1,300 to my bill. I have called the company representative to discuss, but he has not called back, which is, as I know now, their common practice. This company could not be allowed to do business, and potential customers should be warned away from them.
