Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeRobertJr
Sorry and surprised to hear that. My experience with the MD School of Sailing was exceptional.
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Fair enough, and different people have different experiences for sure. But I stand by my warning on the Maryland School of Sailing. I don't think what I experienced was a fluke. I have a series of data points I collected throughout my experience from booking, logistics, to the course itself, to the aftermath. I've posted my full review below. I have posted this, more than a year after I took this course, allowing me time to process what happened and how I felt about it rather than
posting this in the heat of the moment after the issues. I noticed that some negative
reviews of the school that I saw previously have been scrubbed from the
internet. I don't know how that happens, but without question I saw more negative
reviews on that school that aren't up any longer. Other than my review on Yelp, every other review is 8 years old and 5 stars. Somehow they are removing the negative feedback. I have mine saved in a
google doc and I can (and will) recreate those reviews should they find a way to scrub mine from the
internet.
Full review:
Last year my wife and I signed up for an ASA 106 course which was a DelMarVa
circumnavigation. My wife had to cancel her participation due to a cancer diagnosis (she is now in full remission). Rita, the office manager, treated this as a serious inconvenience to her, rather than a situation to be empathetic about. In
email exchanges, she stated that I "pressured her" on the
phone to provide a partial refund, when in fact I NEVER SPOKE TO HER on the
phone, because she never answered. She also wasn't terribly responsive on
email, but she did eventually respond to things, sometimes weeks after we sent a message. I pushed back on her characterization that I pressured her. She did apologize and write "My apologies on the characterization and use of the word pressured. I do tend to take things personally and this season has been overwhelming." But this is just one indication of how poorly Rita treated us throughout the whole process. Let's just say customer services is NOT this school's strong suit. Rita is the daughter of the owner, Tom Tursi. I mention this only because if I ran the school, I would not tolerate this, but I can see why Tom would. Perhaps Rita is overwhelmed and they need office help. Or perhaps Rita isn't cut out for this kind of
work, but the customer
service element of the school is about as bad as it can get.
On to the cancellation of the course. While in the middle of a marina, the
engine shaft on the boat disengaged. This created a potentially dangerous situation, which was mitigated by the quick action of the crew/students. We ended up tying up to another vessel with fenders out while waiting for
repairs. The vessel was repaired, but we
lost a day stuck in a marina. Once underway again, we made it out into the Delaware Bay, where the same issue occurred. We needed to be towed in to a harbor in Delaware. I kept asking the
captain and other instructor "what is happening next? What is the plan?" They had no answers. This is simply poor leadership. I ended up leaving and deciding that I was done with the course regardless of what they wanted to do. My wife, who just had chemo, drove out to pick me and another student up in Delaware. The fact that I was willing to abandon a $3K course in the middle of it is telling of how I felt at the time.
I understand that things breaking at inopportune times is part of sailing. However, if I were the owner of the school, I would have driven out to where the boat was, addressed the students in person, apologized, provided refunds on the spot, and offered appropriate ground transportation to the students. Not doing so is just poor leadership. Providing strong leadership and decisive action in key scenarios is an important part of being a
captain. The fact that this was not done in this scenario makes me question the leadership of the school. The fact that the
engine shaft failed twice in three days also makes me question how they maintain their vessels and their choice of vessels in the first place.
Ultimately the refund was provided, but there was no apology or explanation. Overall, the experience was negative from start to finish, from booking, logistics, dealing with my wife's
health issues, the course itself, the boat problems, the aftermath, all of it. I suppose the instructors were knowledgeable and nice enough, but that was overshadowed by all of the other problems. The only redeeming quality is that at least they were honorable enough to provide a full refund to everyone except my wife, who could participate due to her cancer diagnosis.
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