S K Watercraft Rentals

I wish I could use 0 stars! Shawn and this company are crooks and this is a SCAM! I wish I read these reviews before I rented! Just like everyone else I rented from them and returned my watercraft and received my «$ 500» security deposit back, only to be charged $ 792.00 10 days later! Received a bill in the mail after they ran my debit card??? How is this done?
I made a huge mistake and paid with my debit card (because there old school credit card machine could not run my credit card) and this money came out of my checking account. I called my bank to get charges stopped and reversed, but they told me that I signed the original copy of receipt (security deposit slip). So there was nothing they could do to help me!!!
I called the owner Shawn who promised me that he will work with me and send me so called pictures of the damages and work order (ps he does the work in his own shop) Of course I never received these photos or receipts. I threaten to take him to court and he go ahead I do this all the time.
I contacted a Portland attorney who sent him a letter to return the monies he stole from me and of course he never responded to the letter… knowing that the only way to get your money back in Oregon is to go to small claims court. Which you CANNNOT bring any legal representation. So I wasted money on attorney too…
I since moved from Portland the month after my lawyer sent a letter and it is not worth me going back to Oregon from East Coast. So he got another sucker in his SCAM. If you don’t believe all the rest of us on these reviews go check out his score on Oregon’s Better Business Bureau F.
Please do not be another sucker to this company and lose your money too.

We had a great experience with SK watercraft. Decided to do a last minute end of summer blow out on labor day weekend. I never thought we would actually find a boat to rent on labor day but I called and was able to reserve a Challenger 210. We were only interested in ½ day rental. They told us the times were usually 10 – 2 and 4 – 8 but if we called in the morning and the boat was available then we could have it from 12 – 4. I called on Monday morning and they said «No problem». We arrived and everyone was so nice. They gave us free temporary boating licenses and spent over ½ an hour going over the boat and all the features. I asked if they had any tubes to pull behind the boat and they threw in a large tube for 2 people & rope for no additional charge. They then drove the boat to the nearby marina and loaded it in the water for us. The boat was gorgeous and very clean. We fit 8 people very comfortably.
They warned us that the river is very low this year but gave us maps and showed us where to go and where to stay away from. They also gave us clear instructions about the motor and how to keep the tow rope from getting sucked in and cause damage. I have read some of the reviews about damage and deposits being taken but this was not the case for us. We were very careful and respected the boat as if it were our own. We had no problems and enjoyed a beautiful and fun filled day on the river with family and friends.
When we returned, we called ahead and the team was on the dock ready to greet us. They helped us unload and then took over docking & loading the boat. They made everything so easy. All fun and no work.
We will definitely use them again and are already planning our next summer adventures.

Let me be completely honest. EVERY NEGATIVE REVIEW YOU READ ABOUT SK WATERCRAFT RENTALS IS TRUE. Completely true. My husband and I were unfortunate to not have read these reviews before renting a jet ski on 5÷30÷15, for his birthday. Our experience that day with SK was great, we had no problems.
During our two hour rental, we hit an unmarked sandbar, which took us 20 minutes to dig the watercraft out. Once we did, the craft worked great for the remainder of the rental. When we got back to the dock, we were completely honest with the employee about what had happened. He noticed a scratch the size of a paper clip, and said their fiberglass guy would take a look-​it might even be too minor to charge us anything. As we were leaving, both the employee and manager Shawn said we would receive a call in the next couple days about any damages and what it would cost. Not only did we NOT receive a call, the $ 500 damage deposit was removed from our account a day later. We assumed our business with SK was concluded.
Here’s where it gets weird.
Over a MONTH after, on 7÷3÷15, I’m checking my bank account and notice a charge of $ 170 from none other than SK watercraft rentals! How is this possible? My husband used his debit card? How did we give authorization? Don’t you need a signature?
Apparently this is commonplace with SK. Wait a few weeks or months later, then without notice charge the customer again with NO reason or authorization. He’s definitely got a good scheme going– he’s been in business for almost 20 years and shows no signs of stopping. This is slimy and BAD business.
If you’re reading this and had just rented from SK in the last two weeks, I would DEFINITELY cancel whatever card you used and get a new number. Trust me.

Bachelorette party cut short due to ladder shanking.
Recently eight of my friends and I rented a boat for the day. We hit the river to celebrate my friends bachelorette party. Everything was going great, we were having a blast for the first couple hours.
We found a nice spot in the river to stop and jump off the boat for a swim. Eight of us jumped into the water leaving one person to man the boat. When it was time to get back on the boat we noticed the ladder was broken in half. It had been in the stowed position and we didn’t check it before we jumped in. And we didn’t think to check it before we left the dock. While treading water we tried to jimmy rig it so we could get back on the boat. We were a ways off shore and it would’ve been a bit of a swim.
I was the first one to attempt the latter. It was dangling by two strings riveted or bolted onto the two broken pieces. I don’t know if this was a fix that they had attempted or if they were extra security straps to keep the ladder from overextending. Either way, the ladder was broken in half with jagged edges.
Halfway up, one of the straps detached and I fell back into the water. I felt a sharp pain and realized as I felt around that one end of the ladder was stuck into my leg. I had been shanked by the ladder! Like seriously shanked! While treading water I managed to pull the ladder out of my leg which was still half attached to the boat by a tiny strap. Now we had no way to get back in. After about 20 minutes of fumbling around, climbing and pulling each other back on board we managed to get all eight of us on the boat. Meanwhile I was bleeding out all over the deck. Lucky for me we had to medical professionals on board who were able to wrap up my leg the best they could. They insisted I go into the emergency room for stitches right away so unfortunately that is where our trip ended.
The young man running the front desk was kind enough to refund my group $ 150 and called it a half day rental. That seamed appropriate considering we were only out for four hours and half of that time was spent trying to get back in the boat and back to the dock. I was already long gone on my way to the emergency room when they checked the boat back in and worked out that deal.
I’ve tried to get in touch with the owner of the business but have only been able to talk to the manager. I was told the owner doesn’t have a phone number I could reach Him at. I was told I could get in touch with him this Tuesday at the shop but when I called he apparently wasn’t there. The manager told me he discussed the situation with the owner and there is nothing they could do.
Well actually, there’s a lot they could do. For starters they could check their safety equipment on the boat before sending out a group. It’s important to have a functioning ladder seeing as how that’s the only way back onto the boat. Another thing they could do is acknowledged that there was an injury on one of their vessels and not try to give me the brush off. All of us signed a waver, however, this seams like faulty equipment to me. And lastly, it would have been really nice if they had offered my group a rain check for a free boat rental. That would literally cost them nothing and they would have kept us as customers. Because like I said, until the ladder shanking we were having a blast. We would have like to do this a couple times this summer. It’s just the customer service that killed the deal.
At the end of the day, I wound up in the emergency room with six stitches in my leg. I’ve missed two days of work. My training for an upcoming mountain track has been put on hold. But the saddest part is that I missed out on the majority of my best friends bachelorette party. A once in a lifetime celebration.

Our reservation had been lost but they ended up fixing it this morning! We are really pleased they did the right thing! Will update again at end of rental!

Rented ski boat on 6÷29÷15. Absolutely satisfied with entire experience! Boat was in excellent shape and condition, guys at the office were professional promt and helpfull. Was on the water and ready to go under 30 minutes. Return was without a hitch! Definitely coming back here and glad didnt listen to whiny Unilocalers before me;)

They do not even deserve that one star. But this past weekend we rented from them and returned with the most disgusting, horrifying experience. I can’t urge, whoever reads this enough, they are scammers. They accused us of their previous old dryed/​cracked bondo job which was «marked» on our rental agreement, and stole our deposit. THEY’RE COMPLETE CROOKS. We found it odd how they didn’t except Amex. They also added «good luck taking us to court, we do this all the time»

Rented one of the Challenger jet boats from them a couple weeks ago. I have no issues whatsoever. John I think it was, helped us. Very friendly and very fair as far as damage concerns, etc. It’s a risky business renting stuff like that to random people and I understood that. We didn’t have any issues at all. We also just mobbed around the river and went downtown, didn’t get out of the boat, try anything risky, watched the depth-​finder, all basic boating stuff. No damage, no issues, no funny business. Advice to a renter like myself would be watch the depth-​finder and be safe and cautious in waters you aren’t familiar with. Also don’t try to beach the jet boat or do anything ridiculous. We had fun and had no issues.

Stay away! These guys are crooks. I rented a waverunner from these crooks. Upon inspection of the watercraft I noticed the front bumper was very loose. I told him to mark it assuming if it fell off I wouldn’t be responsible. He quickly tried to tighten the screw with his finger and said it should be fine. I trusted the «professional». Of course upon arrival he said «looks like you lost your bumper» I said «yes remember when you marked it down as loose?»
After going up to the office assuming the owner wouldn’t charge me he told me that the bumper came off and they need to hold my deposit. I disagreed and told him I want to go down and look at the waverunner together. We went down and to no surprise this craft has previous damage under where the cover was. It had very poor repairs done. I pointed to the damage and said this was never repaired correctly no wonder the bumper was coming off. He kept saying «no you had an impact with something» I would have remembered if I had impact with anything since I was the only rider. This place is a scam! If anyone else had problems with these thief’s file complaints with the BBB and the attorney general. We need to stop business like this from scamming people.

We returned a second time to rent a speedboat. When we got to our destination, we wanted to anchor the boat so that we could relax (since we did rent it for half a day). BUT THERE WAS NO ANCHOR. We called and they said it was their mistake and that there should have been an anchor on the boat. We asked them to bring one to us, but they said it would be about at least 2.5 hours before they could. Why so long? They never brought it. We had to keep the boat on the entire time which was a hassle and waist of fuel. When we returned the boat, they insisted not having an anchor was not their mistake, when though they admitted to it on the phone. They did nothing for us to make up for our poor experience. We asked to speak to the owner, but they wouldn’t give us the owner’s name or contact information. Why? Because they were in the wrong and didn’t want to get in trouble. or maybe S K Watercraft has a poor owner who does not care about their customers. We were very unpleased. We won’t be returning.

I only put 1 star because I had to. I’m sorry but this is the worst customer service I have ever experienced, also extremely high prices for what you get. To most of the employees, i would recommend this, go get a job that doesn’t involve talking or interacting with other people.

Navigate away from this place. We came to SK watercrafts for a July 4^th boating adventure, and what we got were headaches and false charges! We rented the pontoon for a couple hours. We looked over the boat before taking it out but I was not given a copy of the check out sheet. We took the boat out, when we got back the young kid started saying there was damage to the boat and I would be contacted. I argued but did not get anywhere with the kid. So I waited and waited to be contacted, finally 2 months later no call or no letter I was charged $ 800 for charges. I called and talked with the owner Shawn, he then tried to charge me more. This place is a scam… boater beware… wish I would have read the reviews… here…and everywhere!

VERY BAD SEVICE!!!
My family rented a boat for my boyfriend’s birthday and when we arrived at their office to get the keys, no one was around. We ended up waiting almost an hour for someone to show up. When one of the employees finally did show up to our appointment, a man named Lesley, he blamed his tardiness on his boss and didn’t even apologize. Lesley was the rudest and crankiest employee I have EVER encountered in the customer service world, and that is saying a lot. He chastised my boyfriend’s mother on her driving (even through she did nothing wrong and he hit the side of the boat himself when he was parking it). He also had the nerve to tell us that if we got even a little bit of the birthday cake we brought on the boat, we would be charged a hefty cleaning fee. He even said that we ABSOLUTELY had to be back on time regardless that he was an hour late and cut into OUR time. The night ended with him making a very sexist remark to my boyfriend’s mother that made our entire party outraged. When I confronted him about this, he told me he has some type of seniority on me because I am in my twenties and he is in his forties. We will never use this company again and have told everyone we know to avoid it.

We rented a jet ski for 2 hours. The service was excellent, we had a blast and we’ll come back!

STAY AWAY, this place will try to scam you! So badly wish I’d read the reviews before renting here. I never write reviews, but feel so strongly that this one is super important, I can’t out of good conscience not say something and try to save someone else. I rented a pontoon here on August 19^th for a friend’s birthday. Our driver is a fishing boat driver in Alaska, he knows what he’s doing. The boat was fine the whole time we had it out, and we in absolutely no way did anything out of the ordinary that would have damaged the boat. But when we got back to the dock one of the employees jumped on to take over parking it and all of a sudden the rudder stuck. They said they’d have to send it in to a repair shop and might have to charge me for it. I told them I wanted to be informed of what the repair shop said first, and that it wasn’t our fault. I never heard any word from them, and then on August 30^th they charged my card $ 424.95. I am going to do everything in my power to dispute the charge, and if I could I’d make sure this place got shut down. Also, they have a score of F with the Better Business Bureau. Please don’t let yourself get suckered the way I did.

Had a blast taking one of their Brand New GTX models out for a 2 hr rental. The staff was very helpful and even provided a free upgrade. 2 hours was the perfect amount of time, as the «Low Fuel» light was coming on right when we turned it in.

just rented from here today (½ day, wave runner rental), and it was fantastic. new equipment, friendly staff. i will go back this year. thanks guys!!!
(and no, i do not work here)
Brian

We showed up, our small family, to rent jet skis. Half way through the paperwork we started talking about insurance. The guy mentioned that if anything was to happen to it, (even a small, tiny piece of wood to enter the machine), we would be looking at $ 2,000 to $ 12,000 out of pocket! So basically if we take it on the river we can almost guarantee to expect a minimum of a $ 2,000 charge. The guy behind the counter even said «I wouldn’t rent from here either», and he works there! There was no way to prove prior existing damages. They only take pictures on Mondays! We were going to have it for 2 hours. Not worth $ 160.00 plus $ 700.00 deposit plus a potential $ 12,000 bill only based on someone’s word.

Had read several negative reviews about this company so I was skeptical going in. In Portland from Southern California, wanted to cruise up the Columbia River and this seemed like the perfect location to start from. Called, made a reservation, Shawn was very professional and accommodating. Arrived to find a 22′ pontoon boat ready and waiting for us. Did some initial paperwork and we were on our way. Had an awesome afternoon, boat ran perfectly, returned to the dock 4 hours later. They did a quick inspection of the boat, check the fuel level and gave me a refund for unused gasoline. Easy, hassle free, professional. Not much else to say. Thanks Shawn!

I worked for SK watercraft a few years ago and was disgusted at how the owner, Shawn Karambelas, runs the place. He is the worst person I have met in my life — no exaggeration. He had me file papers to sue people for damage to decals on his rental watercraft and took every opportunity to rip off his customers. He HATES anyone that cares about the environment and he belittles his own employees daily. I was verbally abused on a regular basis and watched as customer after customer was charged for $ 600+ for extremely minor and common damage to rental vehicles. Once he has your credit card information, it’s over for you. He makes me sick. Stay away at all costs!!!