BoatUS Florida Service Center

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• Chris Bates 1 · 5 years ago

  Tow Boat US did a great job towing my 44 foot sailboat inside the Inlet at the St Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, under pretty rough weather conditions. The wind was 15-20 knots. The seas were. 8-10 feet. They got hooked up to the boat and towed us inside to the City Dock. Unfortunately, in the process, the tow captain turned our boat with slack lines, causing them to pass under the bow and tear off my brand new Panoptix PS51-TH Forward Looking Sonar Transducer. The tow ropes broke it off right at the hull and turned it 270 degrees. We were using the sonar to come in the inlet. Then we got a "Transducer Failure" message and the sonar stopped working. I alerted Tow Boat Captain Henry and told him what most likely happened. I did not know at that time that the transducer was broken in half. This happened September 12, 2020. I called the local Tow Boat US place. The boss was reportedly "out of the office" but would call me back the next week. I got no call back. I contacted Tow Boat Captain Henry, who says that he called and reminded the home office to call me regarding the matter. Replacement cost is $1,299-1,499 plus tax and shipping. No one called me. Then I called corporate. The agent I spoke with immediately found my information from the Tow on September 12th and said that I would have to contact the local business operator, or franchisee, or however they have it organized. I did so, again. No one called me back. On October 1, 2020, I had not gotten any call back, so I called Corporate office again. This time, the agent said there was "no record" of my tow on September 12. I said, ok, but the last time I called, your associate found the record of the tow and information immediately, so what changed? Then the agent found the tow record. I related the facts of the matter, and this time, I got directed to The Tow Boat Operations Customer Service Manager, a Mr Maduros. I left a voicemail, and Mr Maduros called me back promptly. Mr Maduros informed me again that Corporate has no interest or liability in the actual function of towing and that any claims must be handled through the local franchisee. Mr Maduros did say that he would contact the local Tow Boat operator for me and ask them to contact me. Now it is October 6. No one from corporate has contacted me further. The local Tow Operator has. Pt called me back, and the Tow Boat Captain has not contacted me further. Now my boat is stuck with no sonar, in shallow waters - she draws 7 feet. I am stuck with buying a new transducer to replace the one that was broken by the tow boat operator. My advice, before you let a Tow Boat Operator touch your vessel, get there insurance information, get a signed agreement and carefully read the whole clause. These Tow Boat outfits do great work, they charged probably $6,000 for the tow they did for me, but they have demonstrated no care or concern for fixing anything they brake. Honestly, I would not call them again, and when I renew my tow insurance, I suppose I will give SeaTow a try. How is Geico still affiliated with Boat US, given these repeated problems, lack of transparency, and lack of communication? Update November 2020: The towing outfit says I would have to sue them in order to get any sort of relief. The towing operations customer service manager for BoatUS is impotent. They have this set up deliberately for this purpose: They operate, because they know that no one can reasonably sue or collect any damages. I say again, before you let a tow boat hook up to your vessel, consider very carefully, the full impact of your decision. In this case, the owner of the Towing business, Scott, took weeks before he returned my call about the damage. He spoke as if he knew nothing of the job. He was in St Louis, MO. He said that I would have to sue him, and that "better have failed". I also own and run a small business. I have commercial insurance. When we do a job and cause damage, we fix the damage. This is our promise to our customers, so that they know they can trust us. BoatUS cannot be trusted.