FWIW, I almost fell for the same trick a couple years ago. I filled out the on-line form, but when I got to the price I figured there was no way the fee went up that much. So I left the form and found the authentic government vessel registration site. I called the government office in West Virginia and reported the scam, but apparently they do not intend to do anything about it.
From: PETER OCAMPO via CnC-List Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 1:33 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: PETER OCAMPO Subject: Re: Stus-List Deceitful USCG Documentation Renewal Company Randy I'll make you feel. Being a new boat owner I googled us coast guard documentation saw the web site and filled out the forms for transfer of ownership and they took me for 450 but I would never had known I had over paid had if not been for your post. So next time I'll use the real uscg website. So thanks for saving me money in the future Peter Goonie island C&c 40 Sent from my iPhone On Feb 4, 2017, at 11:29 AM, RANDY via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Yes I found the USCG NVDC to be very straightforward and helpful when I exchanged Grenadine's CoD from her previous owner to me one year ago. The USCG officers with whom I spoke on the phone were professional and informative, and the website and forms and procedures were easy to understand and easy to use. My complaint here is that there a predatory third-party business trying to deceive vessel owners into thinking it is the USCG NVDC, and then bilking them for 3X the cost of what the USCG NVDC charges for the same service. It succeeded in doing that to me. Fool me once, shame on me. I'm not the first person to get screwed by this unscrupulous company and complain about it - see https://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/not-elsewhere-classified/us-marine-surveyors-inc-or-us-vessel-documenta-in-long-beach-ca-646887/reviews-and-complaints Cheers, Randy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "phorvati ." <phorv...@gmail.com> To: "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: "RANDY" <randy.staff...@comcast.net> Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2017 8:56:03 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List Deceitful USCG Documentation Renewal Company I purchased a tayana fd12 in september, ended up submitting several parts of the application, all per the instruction document. Few of them were release of primary mortgage bill of sale and exchange of COD. all via email and pdfs attached. I was a bit scepticall but the coast guard website was accurate on processing times. I got the new COD last week. it was under 100$. So it took a bit, my guess was due to request for release of PM. Coast Guard website works but u need to do your own due diligence, read requirements and fulfill them as required. On Feb 3, 2017 8:17 PM, "RANDY via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Listers - fair warning - I got deceived today into paying 3X what I needed to for USCG documentation renewal. I received a letter via USPS from an entity named "U.S. Vessel Documentation", domain name uscgdocumentation.us, titled "Vessel Renewal Courtesy Notice". As I'm sure the sender intended, I mistook the letter as being from the United States Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center, reminding me to renew my Certificate of Documentation. It's been on my mind that my CoD is expiring soon, and I've been expecting a reminder. So I went to uscgdocumentation.us, filled out the renewal form, and submitted it. I was surprised to see the price was $75 - I'd remembered the renewal cost being ~$25 - but I thought "well, the Coast Guard must have raised their prices", and submitted the form anyway, with my credit card information. Somehow sometime after doing that, I noticed fine print at the very bottom of uscgdocumentation.us web pages, where you wouldn't even normally scroll or look, saying "U.S. Vessel Documentation is NOT the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Vessel Documentation Center; we are a third party agency that handles USCG Documentation processing to NVDC." So then I went to the real USCG NVDC website, https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/default.asp, where I applied for an exchange of the CoD last year when I bought Grenadine (since she was previously USCG-documented), and confirmed their renewal fee is only $26 and you can file for renewal online right there. At that point I realized I'd been had, and immediately requested cancellation of my renewal order from that company, in writing, and in voice mail, and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the USGC NVDC about "U.S. Vessel Documentation", and contacted my credit card company to block the charge from this merchant. I'm now in the process of posting about this experience on sailing-related forums I've visited. If you own a USCG-documented vessel, *DO NOT* do business through the deceitful company uscgdocumentation.us, unless you don't mind paying 3X the cost of something you could do directly though https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/default.asp. These "U.S. Vessel Documentation" people are predatory. I've posted the letter I received, and an email exchange I had with this company, at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-NqAxQ6JxFTeU1HcDZKTWdiQzA. Cheers, Randy Stafford S/V Grenadine C&C 30-1 #7 Ken Caryl, CO _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
_______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
