My story is a little long, but one everyone should read, if you don't want this to happen to you.
My husband purchased a boat in December of 2009, and it needed some repairs done to the engines. We took the boat to Aquamarina Twin Rivers in Crystal River, Florida. He was given a written estimate of 20hrs. per engine (we have 2 engines = 40 total labor hrs.) @ $85.00 an hr. = $3,400.00 plus the cost of 2 long block engines which were $4,790.00 for both. Which equals a grand total of $8,190.00.
We do not have a problem paying this amount, and realize it was a estimate, give or take a couple hundred dollars would be reasonable. My husband made many trips to the marina as the boat was being repaired to make sure everything was ok, and they were still running within the estimate and every time he went (which was not an easy task for him, because in the middle of all this he is fighting stage 3 kidney cancer) he was assured by their mechanic (which we found out later is not even a certified mechanic) that everything was fine. Thru the process of the boat repairs (per their request) we made a few payments to them for a total of $8,000.00, so we were looking at owing them just a few hundred more when they were finished............NOW imagine our surprise when my husband received a phone call just 3-weeks after having major surgery, ( he had to have his Kidney remove, because of cancer) from the Manager (Bob) at the marina on June 2, 2010 to tell us the boat was ready and the balance due was $21,246.79 for a grand total of $29,246.79.
I know what your thinking, this is incredible, how can a business give a written estimate of $8,200.00 then turn around and try to extort more than 3 times what the estimate was for. I got right on the phone and called their corporate office Aquamarina Partners, LLC in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and explained my problem to a man by the name of Gary Jefferson, and was told he would have their COO Steven Kinderman call me. Mr. Kinderman did call me back that day and assured me all the charges were legitimate and he would email me an itemized invoice, which he did.
Now, here's where the fight begins..........On the invoice they were charging us for 215.75 hrs of labor (not the 40 hrs quoted on their estimate), plus parts we didn't know anything about. I emailed Mr. Kinderman to try and have a reasonable discussion with him and he either flat out lies or is just plain nasty..........At this point they are holding are boat hostage unless we give them $21,246.79. I called many different state and governmental agencies to try and get help with this, I did file a complaint with the BBB and the Division of consumer services. (which I later had to drop in order to get our boat back.) Mr. Kinderman and I emailed back and forth for a week trying to come to some kind of compromise, and the only way we could get our boat back was to agree to the terms he set forth in an agreement he drew up. Which was totally unfair to us, but our hands were tied at this point.
We gave the Marina another $5,000.00 for a total of $13,000.00 to get our boat back, we moved the boat to another marina. My husband and our son went out in the boat for the first time since getting it back from Aquamarina Twin Rivers on Tuesday June 29th, they were going to take our 5 year old grandson with them, and thank God they didn't, because the boat has a gas, oil and water leak in one of the engines. ( which is extremely dangerous, and could catch fire very easily) My husband called Mr. Kinderman the next day to tell him what happened and he could care less, and now he has a lawyer threatening to sue us if we say anything bad about the company or the owner of the company Mr. Andrew Sturner.
So let me sum this up..........We paid $13,000.00 for repairs on a boat that is in worst shape now then before we brought it to Aquamarina Twin Rivers, the boat is leaking gas and oil, which could possibly cause a fire, and we are being threatened by their attorney if we don't keep our mouths shut.
Where's the justice!!!!!!!!!
http://www.ilovemymarina.com/
Tags: Aqua Marine Partners Andrew Sturner Steve Kinderman
