September 2022 by Stacey B.
Do not join this Freedom Boat or any FBC anywhere without first requesting to see the "Rules and Regulations Agreement" which is a one-sided totally unbalanced contract. This club does have excellent dock mates and great boats, but you as the member will have zero ability to get any complaint situation corrected if you ever believe you are due monies from FBC or suffer a major problem. For me, I was newly joined out of Vero Beach. I saw safety ladders on the dock slips before I joined and used them every week for 4 weeks until one day after boating 3 hours, the safety ladders were GONE! I needed to use dock slip ladders each time. Without the safety ladders I could not get out of the boat. I was scared, tired and unable to climb out. 2 people had to lift me out. I was badly bruised, disordered and needed to crawl on the dock to a pole in order to stand up. When I learned "no new safety ladders" were being installed, I cancelled my membership - active 31 days only. Paid $599.00 for a boat policy, but I never got a copy of the actual policy, no definition of what was actually covered and the second month pre-billing of fees was $10.00 higher than the first month. Requested a prorated refund of my entry fee, plus the boat policy monies and the pre-bill and was denied. The company did cancel further all monthly fees which was good, but I sued in small claims for my other monies paid because the amount of money I wanted prorated when viewed by the hours I actually boated - came to approx $500.00 per hour. That was far too much for me since I was not at fault for why I could no longer boat. So a lot of money gone. My claim in small claims though was ultimately dismissed. This rules agreement is why. I never received, saw or was even copied this rules and regulations agreement used to toss my case, but I did sign in my membership info primary location agreement to comply with the rules and regulation agreement, which I believed was only to be about the company's 'standard operating procedures' on how to boat, when to reserve, who could be with you on the boat, etc. BEWARE! BEWARE! There is a dark side to all the fun with Freedom Boat Club.If you love to boat then before joining any FBC demand to see this rules and regulations agreement first! If your good with the legal & financial risks then at least you have made a conscious decision. I have posted the most important sections of this one-sided contract to fully understand; which FBC structures in such a deliberate way so that they never ever lose when sued. *Make sure you understand what "as is" means when receiving a boat from FBC. This is a consumer beware and talk to a lawyer kind of "fee membership" before signing and joining. It is not like a country club membership at all if your unhappy. Ignore the marketing hype and the sales pitch. Boating is a safe sport only up to a point and this contract is calculated to place a heavy burden onto you - and off the club. All they really are doing is providing you a boat to use and thats pretty much It. Of course it's ALWAY so great, happy and fun when there are no sudden surprises. This FBC franchise in all their locations can make any change that they want and if it negatively affects you and your happy boating experiences YOU CAN DO NOTHING. If you sue, your forced into arbitration, with no judge hearing the case... or your side. This rules and regulations agreement is vicious in the sense you will lose no matter what 99.9999% of the time. Make sure you get it, read it and I mean (every single line) and then have a lawyer read it BEFORE you join.Maybe for you the benefits of joining to use their boats will outweigh the risks... if you ever have major issues, injury or worse. Be safe. Be smart!
