St. Maarten Yachtcharter went wrong - recommendation?

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by ak5609

Didn't the bells ring by the name ? Kiriacoulis (or so) ? Sounds greek? Is greek.

How about picking a charter company based on their reputation rather than their name and where they are from?

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Seaadventurers

How about picking a charter company based on their reputation rather than their name and where they are from?

This is not easy either.. Many charter companies fall into the trap of opening bases in various part of the world to reduce their risk; if something doesn't go well in one country (for political, economical or whatever reason) , they hope to recover in another country. Nevertheless opening a base is not easy, you need to find right people, infrastructure, technical capabilities, etc.. As a matter of fact, Kiriacoulis can be very good in another base or another country.

I recently bought a boat from a well known charter company in Montenegro where they have recently opened a new bases. There were a couple of electrical work to be done and they couldn't find anybody to fix it. Finally they called an electrician who had never been on a boat (car electrician),one winch handle was missing and they couldn't get any for 3 days..They were just 2 or 3 people, to do all the job, how can you expect them to prepare 10 boats to the point on Saturday and help you if you are in trouble ?
The people is chartering a boat in eastern Greek islands and complaining that the boat wasn't clean. How can it be, there is no water at all in many of these islands in summer.. ..

I don't think sueing will work there; charter agreements are generally one sided, prepared by the lawyers of the company and customers usually sign it w/out even reading it.

Cheers

Yeloya

[MarkJ]

If in St Martin I would suggest Sunsail/Moorings.



Mark

[Seaadventurers]

The OP never has said how he paid for the charter. SEVERAL people have recommended calling his credit card company, if that is the way he paid.

[Polux]

Kiriacoulis has a very good reputation. Do you have tried to renegotiate with them a refund in terms of a big discount on the next charter with them?

I have done little chartering and I had not sailed with them but I had once a long talk with one of the top managers about the boats they use and their relative quality and the impression I got was a very good one, or at least that guy was a honest one and very nice guy.

[AndyBerry]

Originally Posted by Palarran

I don't get the "You get what you pay for" comment. He didn't say he chartered with Kiriacoulis because they were the cheapest company available. Also, I've had different experiences with the Greeks. I'd rate them much higher than average for boat repairs and being honest. They just are not in any hurry - that is true Greeks, which most likely had nothing to do with this charter. In this case, it's a Greek company being run by local Carib's.

For the OP - if you paid any amount by credit card, dispute it. If not - just let it go. It's not worth spending huge amounts of energy on as it's over and you are all safe and not injured. I kept Palarran next to the Sunsail base on St. Marten for two years and it's pretty typical for them to repair stuff to be lowest level acceptable.

Just chartered with Sunsail in BVI. They were excellent. 100's of yachts. Mine, 444 Leopard, was maintained to a very high standard. Would not hesitate to use them again until I read your remark. Could you share more of your experience with Sunsail? Who do you recommend?

[Mithril Bham]

As someone who spent five years in a management position with a charter company I feel your pain. Bareboat charter companies are difficult to run smoothly. We had problems but none that rival your story.

Find out who the owner of the company is and speak with him/her directly. Be nice and non-threatening. Start there and you might be surprised.

I would request all of your money back plus a free charter in the Med.

Go to the top. Greeks understand that. Everything is personal relationships.

I'm not holding my breath on this one.

If company is on the Dutch side they are very strict with this kind of thing.

The company I worked for would refund fully without doubt.

[vlathom]

This reminds me of a horrible experience I had with a Greek charter company out of Athens. Like the writer's boat, everything was wrong with our boat. Sails blew out, instruments didn't work, etc. When the jib blew out in 20 knots, the operator of the company said it was our fault because we pushed the boat in too much wind and, therefore, we had to pay for it. Since it was in the middle of the week and we were already out among the islands, we had no choice but to pay (cash) to have it repaired. We were with a group and they all had similar problems. No amount of complaining yielded any response. Essentially, we had no recourse. I will never go again with a company that doesn't have a top reputation.

[boatman61]

It means they'll bodge a job to get the boat to meet its rental schedule/sale.. no gaskets for the windlass..??
No worries fill it with mastic.. etc..
Kinda back street garage set-up.. grab em n patch em..

[meirriba]

First: much patience.
Send a formal (registered mail) with a claim for full refund + compensation to the headquarters of Kiriakoulis. Annex the signed list of malfunctions.
If you are ready to spend some good money after bad money already spent, send the above from a lawyer. It may make more impression.

As an aside story - about 15 years ago we have twice chartered boats from Kiriakoulis. Two bad experiences sent us over to Vernicos and then to Sunsail. More expensive but much better customer treatment.

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by Seaadventurers

The OP never has said how he paid for the charter. SEVERAL people have recommended calling his credit card company, if that is the way he paid.

Exactly what I wanted to post.

[Maka]

If they are that big a charter company, you might consider contacting Corp. Headquarters and see if they can / will help.

In the mean time post here more details on Who and Where you got screwed over.
Might as well start your civic duty to warn others now.

[category4jay]

I checked their website out and well..they appear to be legit. They certainly have some nice boats in their inventory. Keep us posted.

[category4jay]

Which boat did you charter?

[Seaadventurers]

OP does not seem to be following his own thread.