Snead Island Boat Works

I had my cutlass bearings and rudder seals replace at Snead Island boat works. The young mechanic did a very good job for the service needed. I have no problem with the work done. The first day he worked on my boat the mechanic spent about 3 hours dropping my rudders and I took them to a independent welder to have some of the shafts fixed from wear. I brought the rudders back and while I had the rudders out, the mechanic started working on replacing the cutlass bearings. I brought the rudders back and it took the mechanic about 3-4 hours to reinstall the rudders with the help of another mechanic for about an hour to just help lift the rudders up into the sleeves because they were heavy. Total hours between the cutlass bearings and Rudders was about 13 hours. I was at the marina each day. One of the days the mechanic was taken off my boat early in the morning to work on another yacht all day that was taking on water. They billed me for 10+ hours more than the time that was taken to fix my boat. I received an "estimate" for the work and when received I told Sue this will not take that long to perfom the work needed. I had owned 3 marina's over the past 20 years and I know what is involved in replacing the cutlass bearings and rudder seals. Sue is was worst case scenario and I would only be charged for the hours that they worked on my yacht. I had a talk with owner and he said I don't see time taken to order parts, but I had rudder seals already purchased so this was not any time taken. They then said this is what the mechanic provided to us on his time cards. I told him I know that is not the case, lets take a look at his time cards for my job and bring him into the shop to discuss this. I am trying to give them an opportunity to make it right. The owner and Sue said they do not share time cards with customers. Again the young mechanic did a great job on the work but I was taken advantage by Snead Island for 10 extra hours or more and their yard rate is $150 per hour. I own a family business and transparency and trustworthiness is key to keep your clients happy. Do a good job on your work, Do not lie, do not cheat people and you will get more business than you can imagine. I definitely felt lied to and cheated. When you over charge a client for about 10-12 hours over a 3 day process and one of the days the mechanic is not working on your boat it sends a message you are not ethical. When they were not willing to show me time cards from the mechanic that tells me they do not want to expose lying and cheating which they are doing to pad the bill for an extra $1500. Bad business in my opinion. I even gave them an opportunity to make it right. Tried to speak to owner. I had the hours mechanic worked on the boat as I was there each day. Shameful for a company who has been in business so long. My boat was brought there to survey for a sale and I was held hostage in having to overpay for services that were not rendered. I had to get the boat back out of the marina so I had to pay the fees even though they were not fair. Shameful......Good way to ruin a family business in my opinion. Their father or grandfather probably built this business and I am sure would not have swindled someone like this owner is doing. I have NEVER LEFT A BAD REVIEW FOR ANY COMPANY EVER. When I am cheated, that pokes the bear. I know how important reviews are to a company. After this incident I just needed expose this so people know.

Good boat yard, simple but clean marina and facilities.

They are not perfect, no one is. They may not be the cheapest boat yard in the area, but they make other boat yards in the area look like amateur hour. I would recommend Snead Island Boat Works to a friend if they were looking for quality work at a fair price, albeit not the cheapest.