Grand Rapids Marine

We recently rented a boat from Grand Rapids Marina on two different days of our vacation and had a very disappointing experience. Our parents, who had purchased their boat from Grand Rapids Marina, were unable to join on our family vacation this year, so we decided that we would rent a boat to use on the lake. When we arrived to pick up the boat, it was not equipped with a standard adapter. The Marina did not make us aware of this ahead of time nor had an adapter that we could rent. Thus, in order to legally and safely transport the boat, we had to purchase an adapter. Once we purchased the adapter, we transported the boat to the public landing on Big Bass Lake. As soon as we turned on the boat it had issues. The engine was shaking violently, the trim motor was activating without the operators consent, and the engine would not reach full throttle. We called the marina to make them aware of the issue and the gentleman on the phone said, 'Oh, the last person who rented this boat hit a rock with it and we thought we had repaired the engine.' He told us that another employee from the marina would call us back briefly to instruct us on what to do. A few minutes later the other employee called us back and told us that our rented boat was not the one that hit the rock. The story started to change. We brought the boat back to the Marina. Having wasted an entire day of our vacation, Beth refunded our rental and promised us a 25% discount on our scheduled rental for Friday. On Friday while we were on the way to the Marina to pick up our second rental boat, Beth called me to inform me that she was unable to give us the 25% discount as promised. The marina was trying to say that the issues with the boat were operator error. They claimed that we had packed the engine full of weeds and mud. My husband and brother in law have been operating boats specifically on Big Bass Lake for over 20 years and have never had any issues. If you ask me, it is quite difficult to instantly pack an engine full of weeds and mud when you put the boat in a non-weedy area at a public landing with the engine completely out of the water. Nevertheless, our whole experience with the marina seemed very unprofessional. As an employee, you do not promise a customer a discount if you do not have the authority to offer the discount or do not plan on honoring your word. Due to mechanical issues with the boat and the unprofessionalism of the marina, we missed out on two days of our planned vacation. Our family has been vacationing in the Grand Rapids area for over four generations. We have over 50 relatives who spend several weeks in the Grand Rapids area each year. Due to our experience, our family will no longer be supporting this business.

Super helpful delightful employees!!!!

Great Experience...On time and as promised....Small problem from manufacturer was diagnosed and remedied by GRM ASAP!...would definitely recommend for an easy and satisfying transaction.

Very disappointed with the repairs to our boat. We are still having issues and have talked to the service desk several times. Really poor workmanship on finding what was wrong with the boat and then tried to make excuses why they didn't change the disintegrated air filter, um because we didn't tell you to do it really is not valid. We sent it there because the engine was cutting out so had no clue what the issue even might have been. They were to busy and really didn't even seem to try to fix it. They had it three weeks and only changed the spark plugs............ They were supposed to change the oil and do several other maintenance things that didn't get done (we were not charged for them but was on the order)......... Go elsewhere.