Anonymous
map-marker Wallingford, Connecticut

Seaboard Marina Inc. Charged me for work i didnt request

We made a deal and I have already paid for the entire year slip at $1000.00 as agreed. When I dropped the boat off I parked it at the slip, left my trailer, and spoke with a man that works there about getting my boat waxed, he said for 300$ he would make it look perfect- as if it was brand new.

Two weeks later I went out on my boat with a few friends at low tide, our depth finder stopped working and we ended up in water that was far too low and thus we hit our propeller against a submerged wall of bricks that has been in the river since farming times, when cattle would graze there- I digress, the propeller was completely bent. The fire department was kind enough to tow us back to the marina as we were not far from it at the time of the incident. When we got back to the marina it was late and dark and there were several people from the marina there waiting for us, which we thought was just a nice gesture on their part, because we did pay to dock our boat there, after all. We were escorted off of the boat and the marina employees proceeded to load our boat onto a crane and lift it out of the water.

They then put oil resistant tubing around the base of the boat on the floor. The next day we were there checking on the boat when they craned it onto the trailer. I find the whole situation unnecessary in the first place as the boat posed no great or imminent danger to the harbor-or anything for that matter. We were not given an option as to whether we could have put the boat on the trailer and pulled it out, nor did we ask for it to be removed from the water at that time.

I had told the Fire Department that i would pull the boat out if i had to with my trailer and he stated "OK, i will let you know". Our intention was to have it docked and we would trailer it to our repair shop that we normally use, since it was a brand new propeller and had only cost us 150$ to replace at that shop we figured our mechanic could do it again at that minimal price. We were informed by the marina that they would take care of the propeller, because they could wax it at that time as well. This seemed more convenient to us.When we asked for a quote we were told it would be $700.00 with the waxing included, this sounded reasonable even though it was a little more than we expected, but we figured since they were so nice to help us out we would do them a favor by getting the work done there.

When the bill came it was an astronomical amount of $1700.00 including charges for the people working that night helping us. I do not feel this is fair considering we were not given an option to just put it on our trailer, even if they were going to do the work. . I have spoken to the department of environmental protection and they have advised me that I do not have to remove my boat from the water for any spillage of fuel, gas, oil, etc unless it is ordered by the harbormaster, who I do not believe was involved with this matter at all.

They had no reason to crane our boat out of the water. Also, if the work was going beyond the estimated amount we should have been contacted prior to the continuance of any work being done. They took it upon themselves to do this. I truly feel they saw an opportunity to make a lot of money and took it.

I have already spoken with the marina and they are unwilling to negotiate the bill at all. I am in fear that they will keep my boat as collateral if I do not pay this bill which is ridiculous to begin with.

. I also find it appalling that they marina owner said he is doing us a favor and he would have charged the insurance company much more and the insurance company would not be complaining like we are.

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