Adam Lievesley

Review of Paradise Boat Rentals

Con artists & Thieves - DO NO USE THIS COMPANY

Con artists & Thieves - DO NO USE THIS COMPANY

Do not rent from this company. We paid in advance for a 7 day hire of a pontoon boat. When we arrived at the shop we were informed that the Pontoon boat had been returned damaged by the previous renters so they gave us an 'upgrade' to a battered, old speedboat. They took a manual $500 security deposit which they said would not be charged unless the boat was returned damaged.
They were supposed to swap the boats over in 2-3 days but we heard nothing until day 5 when they informed us that our boat was ready and they needed to come pick up the other boat. They collected the other boat but never bought back the pontoon boat. They later informed us that it was in for testing and would be with us shortly. A few hours later when the boat didn't arrive we rang again to find out where it was and the lady who answered told us it had been returned that day with damage - obviously a stock answer when they double book their craft.
They promised it would be delivered again the next day and again it never arrived. We told them not to bother bringing it as it was lunchtime on our final day of hire and that they would simply be bringing us the boat for us to return it that same afternoon.
Heres where the fun started. We went to get our refund for the 2 days and get back our $500 security swipe. They eventually (after a bit of negotiation) refunded our 2 days hire but told us they didnt have our paperwork to give us back our $500 swipe but to be assured they would rip up the voucher & it wouldn't be charged. I rang Julius (the German owner) and asked him to confirm this by e-mail to which he agreed - surprise surprise, the email never came.
I logged on to my credit card account and saw that they had charged the $500 to my card the day I took the boat on hire. I went back to the shop the next day & they had miraculously found the paperwork and handed me back the voucher for $500. When I said that it had already been charged to my account, they said that it had now been refunded. We returned to the UK the next day and to date, this money STILL has not been refunded.
These people are con artists who prey on the unsuspecting. Their boats are old and battered and I implore you to read reviews of other boat rental companies and choose a different one. They obviously put their own sham reviews on websites to dampen the effect of all the negative reviews they receive. If this review stops 1 person using this bunch of fraudsters then I will have done some good.