Scandia Marine Services

I was surprised to see the bad reviews of Scandia Marind Services. Maybe only the complainers write reviews.

Lately my experience with Scandia has been good. One Memorial Day weekend Eric rescued our vacation by coming to our boat to fix a water problem. The same thing happened on the 4'th of July weekend.

Eric's wife has always been pleasant and helpful to me. I guess the asatisfied customers don't write reviews

Last season (2017) I took my boat to Scandia Marine at Whitehall Yacht Yard for a hull pressure wash (as I was in between bottom painting years). Understanding that it was the week before Memorial Day weekend I not only called ahead but personally stopped by the Scandia office and spoke to a heavy set woman who claimed to be the owner and manager of the outfit.

She assured me that it would not be a problem to pressure wash my hull as long as it was a quick in and out job which was exactly what I wanted. I live on Whitehall Creek in the neighborhood so bringing the boat in when they were ready for it was no problem.

My pressure wash went fine and upon completion of the job the marine tech did a quick inspection from stem to stern when the hull was clean. He noticed that my set screw to hold my prop in place was missing and that he had to run up to the parts office and get another one. When he did so, the heavy set woman who runs Scandia came out of her office in an absolute rage claiming that there would be no repairs the week before memorial day.

I knew that my prop would not come off in forward, only reverse potentially so I thought if I have to, i'll drive over to Jabins an see if they could put a set screw in the shaft while in the lift sling but the woman who runs Scandia Marine instructed the crew around my boat to "block it off to the side out of the way - that boat is not to go back in the water."

I said now wait a minute, your yard tech told me it would take him 10 minutes to get that screw and set it - you are not impounding my boat for an entire holiday weekend over this and charging me for yard storage by the day until next week - that is completely unnecessary! She stated that she told me all that would be done was a pressure wash and once they discovered this problem the boat was deemed unsafe to relaunch and she would not put the set screw in that day and would not relaunch the boat prior to the weekend.

At this point I told her that I would put the set screw in and I would do it withing the time frame that they needed to relaunch the boat. She told me that I was not permitted to put the set screw in myself and that her tech did not have time to do it (even though he told me he did).

WELL NOW WE HAD QUITE THE MEXICAN STANDOFF!

At this point I had had it with this *** and told her in no uncertain terms that if she did not relaunch my boat as promised and contracted that I was going to call the Anne Arundel County Police and the Maryland State Troopers to file a criminal complaint of felony theft of my vessel in refusing to relaunch and false imprisonment as I was stranded at the Marina with my ride home being confiscated by the Scandia owner against my will.

Apparently, the real threat of a criminal complaint against this woman finally made her come to her senses and she wheeled around to the service tech who had been trying to help me and tersely ordered him to install the set screw, relaunch the boat and to "get this guy the *** out of here".

BUT TO MY AMAZEMENT, SHE WASN'T DONE! She proceeded to lecture me and *** at me in a raised voice so the entire yard could here what an ungrateful SOB I was demanding extra services to which I told her the discovery of the missing set screw and literally a couple of minutes to replace it was not unreasonable, it was a standard thing in hull pressure washing.

I now affectionately refer to this woman as "MISS PIGGY" based on her obnoxious, no outrageous behavior, the big mouth and yes, an astounding physical body double for the kermits Miss Piggy.

TAKE YOUR BOAT ANYWHERE TO BE SERVICED OTHER THAN SCANDIA MARINE. MISS PIGGY IS AN UNETHICAL CROOK WHO TRIES TO STICK YOU WITH UNNECESSARY FEES AND SERVICE. MISS PIGGY IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTED MARINE OUTFIT IN THE ENTIRE ANNAPOLIS AREA.

Hopefully, at some point, the owner of Whitehall Yacht Yard, John White, will realize what a loser Scandia is and ultimately, a poor reflection on his otherwise very good Yacht Yard. He needs to find a replacement tenant ASAP.

All of my neighbors in the Whitehall Manor neighborhood (adjacent to the Yacht yard) as well as those of us on Whitehall Cove and Whitehall Creek whom have tried Scandia all have negative experience. I am back at Jabins now enjoying quality care and excellent customer service and hope one day to come back to Whitehall Marina for service for convenience but as long as Scandia is there, DO NOT GET YOUR VESSEL SERVICED AT WHITEHALL MARINA VIA SCANDIA MARINE.

Her staff was totally embarrassed by her behavior and apologized to me up and down on the qt when she went back up to her office. They know they're working for a total *** Felt sorry for them.

Scandia was contacted to assist me with problems I was having with a bow thruster. They charged me over $900 and didn't fix it.

When I came to move the boat nothing worked. They said the batteries tested fine but they batteries were dead when I got there. The stern thruster worked before they messed with things now it does not work. They came to the new marina I was at and promised to fix things in no longer then a two week wait.

They won't return my calls, emails or anything a complete rip off stay away at all cost.

All I wanted is for them to fix the boat what ever it cost but no they either don't know how to fix the boat or don't want to work that hard to do it. I don't know but what a disappointment after waiting for almost two months with nothing to show for it but a high bill and a none running boat.

They seem to not care very much about their reputation as they just keep having one pissed off customer after another without any concern.

Summary: $15,000 in damage to the boat, denial of responsibility, and a defense built on blatant lies. In the fall of 2015, I inquired about having my Valiant 40 hauled and stored for the winter, and asked if I could bring in outside vendors to do work on the boat.

The answer was, "...yes, if they sign in and show evidence of insurance...". Several weeks later, when my boat was ready to be hauled, I told the yard manager the name of the shrink wrap vendor I had chosen and was told that the yard only permitted outside vendors to do work that the yard couldn't do with their own staff. Bait and switch, but no big deal. So I requested their shrink wrap service and told the manager that I wanted the shrink wrap to extend only to the toerail because the boat's hull was painted.

He said, "no problem", and walked around the yard with me and pointed out several other boats that were shrink-wrapped in that manner, illustrating that they could perform the work as requested. He scheduled the haulout for a week later, and I left for home (250 miles away). Three months later I drove down to check on the boat and discovered that the shrink wrap had been installed all the way past the waterline, covering the painted hull. I immediately complained and the manager said he would have his staff cut back the shrink wrap and re-attach it to the toerail.

I returned home, called back a week later, and was assurred that the fix would be applied. When I returned in early spring, the shrink wrap had not been touched. I cut it back and discovered, predictably, that the paint had been blistered over about half of the hull topsides. I showed the yard owner the damage and he said he would contact the third-party shrink wrap service who he had contracted to do the work.

(Right, it wasn't the yard employees after all!) After a couple months of the yard owner's failure to do anything at all to resolve the issue, I filed a claim with my insurance company, Panteanius (which was very professional and responsive). Surveyors representing the multiple parties inspected the damage and the consensus was that the shrink wrap had caused the blistered paint. However, neither the yard nor their vendor would admit responsibility. Most importantly in my mind, the yard owner claimed in writing that I had been been present to see the work done, approved of it, and paid for it based on that approval -- all of which was a complete fabrication.

I left Maryland with the boat in the water and didn't see it again until months later, and I didn't pay for the work until early winter when I was sent an invoice for the work having been done as ordered. To have the damage repaired cost me many days of effort, most of a season of boat use, and the deductible amount of my insurance policy.

Every person and every business makes mistakes, so the real mark of good character is how those mistakes are addressed and corrected. The character of Scandia's owners is well evidenced by their response to the damage to my boat.

In early July I contacted Scandia Marine for a quote to have my new boat bottom painted. I spoke to Marty, one of the owners, who quoted me $19.50 per foot for painting and $13.50 per foot for hauling and blocking. The boat is 21 feet.

On July 21 I delivered the boat by water. It was hauled and blocked. On July 26, 2016 I received a written estimate for the work - $2281.24. I had clearly told Marty the boat was never kept in the water and had never been painted. I was told by Rob that the $19.50/ft quote was for repainting only and not for first time painting. After a week and a half with no satisfactory explanation for the discrepancy in price I took the boat after paying $283.50 for the hauling and blocking fee.

I have received other quotes from local marinas which are significantly less than Scandia.

I am clearly disappointed with my treatment at Scandia. Integrity is most important in business.

I find them lacking and would not recommend them to anyone.

Attached: quote received after the boat was hauled and blocked:

Scandia Marine did everything possible right by this customer (Allan Taylor of Smyrna, DE) and he still thinks we screwed him over. Mr. Taylor is using social media and the internet anywhere he can to extort us and our business. As a small business owner we have to decide when to ignore bullies like this and when to stand up and fight back. So we are fighting back and here are facts about this person’s claims….

Mr. Taylor brought us boat from another marine service company back in the late fall of 2014. Seems he also had problems with many of marine services companies. His engine was disassembled in 3-4 boxes. We put his engine back together and made it operational. This was completed over the off season and finalized in March 2015. He was charged $3200 for parts and labor that were all itemized on his invoice. He paid for this within two weeks. When warm weather broke, we installed anodes to his engine and launched his boat for a sea trail. This was in May 2015. At that time we found the original over heating problem he was having. Over several months during the summer of trial and error, along with research, by two marine trained mechanics with over 60 years combined experience, we determined that the problem was related to the pop it valves. We recommended their replacement to Mr. Taylor. He declined to continue to put additional money into the boat and would make arrangements to come pick up his boat. Yes, we declined allowing one of Mr. Taylor’s potential transport companies to come here to pick up his boat, because that gentleman owed us money.

At the time of pick up, Mr. Taylor was given a whole bunch of concessions, mostly related to labor due because of the length of time it took us to finally determine what was causing his original problem over the summer of 2015. But still when picking up his boat, he disputed having to pay for engine anodes that we had changed on his boat back in the spring. He claimed they were never replaced because they were worn. I took his claim seriously and researched the matter. I spoke with our head mechanic who remembers changing the anodes a few days before his launch in May. I pulled invoices from one of our marine suppliers and found an invoice for his anodes with his name in the PO line. Mr. Taylor’s specific anodes are not a stock item and had to be special ordered. At that time, we determined that the anodes did their job that summer and worn down as they should have from May to Sept. I declined to *** the charge for the anodes installation and cost of the anodes. But I did offer to send him another set of anodes at no charge. Mr. Taylor accepted that offer, paid his final bill of $246 and departed. I ordered the anodes that day and mailed them to him. I have confirmation that he received them.

One month later in Oct 2015, I receive a bank notice that Mr. Taylor is disputing his credit card charges of $246 for the bill he agreed to pay. We opted to let the credit card dispute go and not drag out additional months. This is however not an admission that we did anything wrong. It is just not worth our time to go round and round with this unreasonable person anymore, time that could be spent helping our good customers. Mr. Taylor has spent only $4,128.15 with our company and not the tens of thousands he is claiming, another lie. Mr. Taylor has received just over $1,800 in concessions for work performed on his boat.

Now more than two (2) months later, Mr. Taylor has taken to the internet and social media ripping us for absolutely no good reason. This is new way people can say anything with no accountability as they hide behind ID names. But apparently this guy has done this exact same thing 2 other marine service companies in the area. Yes, I took down our Facebook page temporarily to consider a response and consult our attorney. We are a small business and do not have the resources of PR firms and attorneys. It is back up now with this response. Mr. Taylor has also decided to attack the marina where our business is for no apparent reason other than to also blackmail them. They have had no interaction with him and don’t even know who he is. His response to the highly reputable marina owner was to try to blackmail them to take action against us. Apparently not understanding how business and contracts work. But this shows just how irrational and unstable this person is. Apparently he plans to extort anyone on the internet and social media to get what he wants no matter if it is wrong or right. Mr. Taylor seems to have nothing better to do but make up lies and is unable to move on with the rest of his life. Social media has good and bad qualities as we all know. But in this case, it is the only way Mr. Taylor can spew lies and rip companies with inaccuracies. Mr. Taylor if you feel you have a legitimate claim, please make it…in the judicial system. I am prepared and ready to defend our good name and reputation. BUT WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED OR EXTORTED. In the end, we hope Mr. Taylor finds peace and can more on with his life.

If you are considering using our services and would like more information about this situation, please let us know. Please stop by, talk to us and meet us. I am happy to provide a dozen customer references of both sailboat and powerboat owners.

Whitehall Marina has not had a service department since 2006. The review for marine services (in 2015) is misdirected as we do not provide marine services.

I do not know this frustrated boat owner, his boat, or the details which led to the submission of this review. I do know that he has never been a customer of Whitehall Marina. Whitehall Marina remains an excellent protected deep water marina. Please do not allow this misguided review to prevent you from considering Whitehall Marina as the home for your boat.

Sadly, when we contacted PissedConsumer.com to have this review removed from the Whitehall Marina heading, they chose not to correct the situation. John White, Whitehall Marina

Scandia has always been upfront and honest with us. They have bailed us out of a lot problems ... We will continue using this company. Erik and Marty go out of their way to help.. On more than one occasion they have had a mechanic on our boat the same day or the next. EX:

Fixed our dinghy outboard on the spot ...same day

Designed and made a dinghy block and tackle system

Fixed our hot water heater plumbing ..Erik did this himself

Winterized our boat and made modifications that made the whole process easy for the future.

Glenn & Julie

Elling 45

• Scandia Marine is a Marine Services Company owned & operated by Erik and Martha Lostrom out of Whitehall Marina in Annapolis, MD

o Since Scandia took over marine services at Whitehall Marina, 07/01/2014, I have hired them for at least 3 separate services. For those three services, by Scandia’s own record, I paid them within 30 days, 21 days, and 2 weeks of invoice.

o Scandia’s invoices state that they “Are Due Upon Receipt”. Thus according to Martha Lostrom, I therefore paid Scandia “late” x 30 days, 21 days, and 2 weeks on each or her invoices, as by her accounting, I was “late” as soon as she hit the send button on the invoices that she emailed to me.

o Additionally, Scandia’s invoices are “due upon receipt” regardless of whether or not the work for which they were contracted was diagnosed and completed correctly. Scandia’s most serious lapse in this respect was the most recent job that Scandia attempted on my boat which was to diagnose and repair a “very substantial flood in my boat's bilge" that I had experienced on my most recent outing, which I advised Scandia that I had aborted due to safety concerns related to the flooding.

o With Scandia’s mechanic on board, the source of the flooding was not obvious with the boat in the slip. Therefore I took Scandia’s mechanic on a brief cruise so that he could study the problem while I manned the helm. Scandia’s resulting diagnosis was that my bilge was flooding due to compromised stuffing in my boat’s rudder post. Scandia charged circa $300 for diagnosis and replacement of the RP stuffing which I paid (“late” - within 2 weeks of invoice).

o Trusting that Scandia’s “repair” of my flooding bilge (for which I had already fully paid) was diagnosed accurately, and repaired correctly, I left the slip with a number of young kids on board.

Within the first hour of the trip, I experienced at least an equal amount of bilge flooding as was the case prior to Scandia’s so called “repair”. Annoyed by the faulty diagnosis of the flooding problem (not to mention Martha’s rude, belligerant business manner), I again aborted the trip due to quite obvious and serious safety concerns for the boat and for the kids.

o On the next business day after that (2nd) aborted trip, I insisted that Martha’s husband Erik come on board such that I could "re-explain" the problem to him in yet another attempt to get my bilge flooding problem diagnosed and repaired correctly by Scandia... Within 5 minutes of boarding the boat, Erik shined his flashlight on an unsecured “open” thru-hull (AS IN *** IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT!!) in the starboard aft lazaret compartment. Once identified, this was a very simple fix which I completed myself with a few minutes of my time.

o While I concur that replacing the stuffing in the rudder post was a useful thing to do, due to its age, that’s not the problem that I hired Scandia to fix. To my amazement (and perhaps the reader’s), even today, Scandia remains indignant, and will not admit that they made a mistake by identifying the rudder post stuffing as the primary source of the substantial bilge flooding instead of identifying THE HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT, WITHIN INCHES OF THE RUDDER POST as the correct primary source of the flooding.

o Instead of apologizing for Scandia’s own quite dangerous mistake, Martha Lostrom chose to exert her energies repeatedly berating me as a “delinquent, slow pay” customer (again we are talking 3 invoices paid - according to Martha - within 30 days, 21 days, and 2 weeks of invoice - $’S PAID FOR EGREGIOUSLY INCORRECT, UNSAFE, and INCOMPLETE WORK).

o In fairness, admittedly, after tolerating Matha’s belligerent, rude business manner (from July 2014 through May 2015), combined with her pathetic attempt to cover up for Scandia’s, at best incomplete, and arguably incompetent. diagnosis and repair of my boat's quite serious safety problem, that left both my boat and my kids in quite real danger, AND not even coming close to acknowledging that or apologizing for that ---- When she called me a delinquent, slow pay for her last time in May 2015, yes, I went “nuclear” on her and said quite a few “unprofessional” things to her in return, all of which in my opinion. she very richly deserved...

o This post is a much more professional explanation of why I will NEVER, EVER do business with Scandia Marine again. Based on my personal experience with Scandia Marine co-owner, Martha Lostrom’s consistent, rude, abusive, unapologetic, unprofessional business manner, if you would prefer NOT to be treated this way as a Scandia customer, I stronly encourage you to look elsewhere for your professional marine services too!!!

There are two sides to every story...I heard the story of this customer from this company. It seems the customer tired to fleece this company to pay for something that fell apart due to dry rot and not damage they caused.

The customer had not taken care of their boat and seemed to be looking for someone else to pay for problems...When the company said no - they vowed to "bad mouth" them in anyway possible. The owners of the company refused to be black mailed by bad customers...they finished the job they were hired for and ask them to leave.

So here they are again...I have used this company for years, they are good, knowlegable people. I would recommend them.

Please don't use this company. They damaged my boat cover while it was in their posession for other work and after Erik, one of the owners offered to pay to have it fixed recognizing that it did not have a 3 foot long rip in it when I dropped it off, his wife and co-owner called and screamed that they would not pay a dime to fix it.

This was after I had already waited over two months and paid $2,900 for the unsatisfactory work they were hired to complete.It was the most unprofessional and upsetting experience I have ever had. I run a small plumbing company and know that this is not how company's should treat their customers.