Marina Del Rey Boat Rentals TOTAL SCAM! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR DEPOSIT! Marina Del Rey California

I was born and raised in LA and there was a reason we always avoided Marina Del Rey Boat Rentals. The locals all know that this place is a tourist trap, and the business owner (Mark) doesn't care about repeat business. Their MO is pretty simple and clear. They will try very hard to find a reason to keep your deposit, knowing that most people are from out of town and will never try to fight it or follow up. 

Recently, I had a few friends visiting from out of town and they really wanted to go out on the water. They were here for a short time, so rather than go all the way down to Orange County, which is what I usually do, I took them to Marina Del Rey Boat Rentals. I had a queezy feeling the whole time we were on the water, because I knew that as soon as we got back to dock that these unscrupulous owners would try to pull a fast one. Not surprisingly, as soon as we docked the boat, the owner (Mark) runs up and claims that there was damage to the boat, and that he was keeping the deposit. I told him I knew what his scam was and that we weren't falling for it. He said, "okay, if you try to dispute this, then I'm going to charge $3,000 to your card!" One of the girls in our group was recording the whole thing and we have the video evidence to prove it.

Needless to say, they stole our $500 deposit, and when we were watching the various cell phone videos and pictures from the trip, we noticed that the alleged damage we caused to the boat existed on the boat before we even got on the boat. 

So, my advice here is pretty simple, don't go to these people, because their aim is to rip innocent people off! That's their reputation in LA, and locals never go here for good reason. If you find yourself in a position where you must absolutely be on a boat, and need to go here, a simple word of caution. Make sure to take video of the entire boat before you or anyone in your party steps foot on the boat. Most of his boats are damaged and he will try to make you pay for existing damage by stealing your deposit.