We spoke to island concierge several weeks ago and wanted them to know about a company they promote called hydro thunder key west aka old town tours.
The owner of hydro thunder john evans is a local drunk and druggie. Hes also a serious criminal committing grand theft and arson along with scamming customers out of hundreds of dollars..
Island concierge owners know this man is a crook but because of nice cash kickbacks they get for booking him they continue to put their customers in danger.
Here are a few letters from this companys victims..
Dear Dennis
My name is Kevin I own and operate Amelia River Cruises & Charters in Fernandina Beach, Florida.in the fall of 2006 my wife and I drove to Key West to look at a few commercial tour boats that were for sale. We looked at a 45' 49 passenger U.S. Coast Guard Inspected vessel that was chained to the dock at the Ocean Key House Resort. The asking price was $110,000 the broker informed me that there were outstanding dock fees and that is why the vessel had been chained to the dock. I expressed an interest and told the broker that I would make an offer in a week or so. Two days latter the broker called to inform me that the vessel was to be auction off the very next morning at the Ocean Key House Resort and that the hotel had taken possession of the vessel for the delinquent dock fees and the starting bid would be $61,000. The next morning I called the Resort and spoke with the manager Mr. Steve Boswell I asked him if in fact the vessel was to be auctioned off that morning his response was yes and then he handed the phone to his attorney Allen Eckstein. I asked Mr. Eckstein if the Resort now owned the vessel and if there were any other outstanding leans on the vessel. Mr. Eckstein told me that the Resort did now own the vessel and that there were no other outstanding leans. I them called the broker to ask if he could attend the auction on my behalf, I authorized him to bid up to $71,000 plus a 10% broker fee for him. At 10:15 that morning I received a call form the broker that the boat was mine for $71,000. I received a bill of sale from attorney Eckstein and took possession of the vessel. After a month in dry dock and with about $20,000 in repairs my wife and I were sailing our new tour boat from Marathon Key north to Amelia Island Florida. We stopped in Miami that first night and I received a phone call From Mr. Robert Krutko, Robert explained to me that I did not own the vessel and that it had been stolen from him. I then called Attorney Eckstein he assured me that the vessel was in fact mine and the everything had been done lawfully, My next call was to a Maritime Attorney in Miami I explained my situation to him,
his first question to me was did the Resort arrest the vessel and was there a U.S. Marshal at the auction my answer was no. The Attorney then told me that I in fact could not own the vessel and that the transaction in his opinion was not done poperly.By this time we were on our way to Ft. Lauderdale and I had made arraignments to stop at First Performance Marina for some engine repair. Just as we were pulling in to the marina we were boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard and then the Broward County Sheriffs Department they looked at my bill of sale they both told me that the bill of sale was not worth the paper it was written on. I then made arraignments with the marina to leave the boat there and we returned to north Florida that was the last time I saw the boat and I was out $91,000. I then hired an attorney in Jacksonville and after about a month of haggling the resort did return my purchase price of $71,000 and the broker did return his 10% fee.
I am out at lest $20,000 and the hole ordeal has been a nightmare. I am convinced that the Ocean Key House Resort, Mr. Steve Boswell, Attorney Allen Eckstein and Mr. John Evens the young man that hot-wired and then removed the vessel from Cudjoe Bay and returned it back to the resort all participated in the Grand theft of this vessel. I am also convinced that had the Monroe County Sheriff's Department the F.W. C and the States Attorney's office in Key West had done there jobs I would not have had to endure this nightmare. Mr. Krutko and I do not have the financial were with all to go after this type of injustice and I am very disappointed in the way this has been handled by those governmental organization that are sworn to up hold the laws in this state.
Sincerely
Kevin M.
Jet Skiing, Key West beware!!?
Old Town Tours
Kaney1979
NottinghamNov 26
3/3 found this review helpful
I have just arrived home from a great trip to Key West, FL, but feel obliged to tell you all, at all costs avoid the jet skiing which can be found at 0 Duval Street, (Old Town Tours).
The jet skiing was fun and fast, however be warned that you may be conned in to paying for damages that you have not caused. My party of four were accused of having a collision that DEFINITELY DID NOT OCCUR. We obviously refuted the claim, however the staff were rude and ignorant, basically accusing us of lying, although they have no proof of a collision and who may have been involved. They charged $200 to a credit card of one of my party, and not even the credit card of the person riding the specific ski they found fault with. This was after telling us, one of us should 'FESS UP'. We only found out who rode that ski when later looking at photos and camera footage. There was also no communication in relation to how much would be charged. We had to challenge them for that information.
The fault, apparently, was a very small patch of flakey paint above the thick rubber bumper at a rear corner. NO SCUFF MARKS, NO DENTS AND NO CRACKS, and NO damage to any other ski. The damage could not have been caused by a collision, it was nothing more than wear and tear. This was exacerbated by the staff who began picking at it and who also rode the skis very fast themselves around the small docking area in order to dock them once we had handed them over.
There are plenty of other jet skiing locations, I suggest you try one of them.
Do you want to support a company like this? Do you want to support a concierge service who doesnt give a damn about thier own customers safety?
We do not recommend using island concierge service...
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