I was recently entertaining out of town guests and wanted to take them SUPing. A few months prior I had bought a Living Social deal for a half day board rental and thought this would be a good opportunity to cash it in. I called to make next day reservations for myself and guests as Paddle Board Bliss does not accept drop-ins and was told there were only two-hour time slots available. Since my friends were only in town for a short time, I was willing to forgo the additional hour I had already purchased and book rentals for the following day. I prepaid in full for my guests' rentals per PBB's policy and was looking forward to our morning session.
We were scheduled to meet with a PBB rep on the beach at 9am to pick up our boards but were running a few minutes behind schedule. When I called PBB to give them a heads up the woman I spoke with told me that the instructor who was to issue our boards would wait until 9:15. If we arrived later than that we would ""lose our money."" Evidently there was a tour going out at 9:00 and the guide leading it was also in charge of getting us our boards. I certainly do not like to be responsible for holding anyone up, but things which are out of our control can sometimes put us behind.
I turned onto Cliff Dr. to park at exactly 9:15 and called back to say that we had arrived and would be on the beach in two minutes. The woman on the phone said that the instructor was already in the water and that we would not be able to use the boards. I asked if we could come back later in the day and was told no. Considering that the rental was already paid for in full, I assumed PBB would issue a credit so that I could rent another time, they refused this request as well.
PBB argued that by holding boards for us they loose money by having to turn people away, and therefore could not issue a refund or credit. However, I can't imagine there were that many people clamoring for 9am board rentals after I had booked them late in the afternoon the previous day - especially when there are five or so other places to rent from in Laguna alone.
If it would have been a small deposit lost I would understand, but to have paid for something in full and lose out completely is unfortunate. Paddle Board Bliss' policy is not the smartest business practice to encourage repeat customers, particularly in the industry they are in. I was surprised and disappointed with their rigidity and rudeness considering, as another reviewer points out, the laid back nature of paddle boarding. Save yourself a headache (and some money) and go to SUP Co. on PCH and Oak St. The folks over there are much friendlier, easy going and truly appreciate the benefits of a good SUP session.
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