Greece/Greek Chartering Beware: HELLENIC CHARTERS & NIREUS

segah · #1 06-05-2012

In short, we lost 90euro from the deposit for minor damages that we (and other passing yachtsmen) believe the owner is responsible for. We proposed that our broker from HELLENIC CHARTERS call up someone from port authorities/police to act as an objective judge, however the owner, who came to inspect the boat, in the end said that port authorities refused to come.

The damage was a torn (but not lost) stern cleat on the port side, which ripped away during a parking job. Nothing out of ordinary was done to it and no abnormal weather conditions were experienced. Upon a closer examination we've noticed something that we didn't upon the check-out: a sealant was applied to it once before.

The whole ordeal was highly uncomfortable. The guy/broker from HELLENIC CHARTERS kept saying that everything is out of his hands and that we have to deal with the owner--who came both at the beginning and at the end of the trip. However, the owner didn't speak a word of English and refused any attempt on our behalf to translate our words through someone else. So we were stuck. The only two options were to get a taxi and go to port authorities ourselves (which is quite far at Lavrio port) or get an expert for the same amount of money. So we left the money and went on with our business.

But beware. NIREUS might be cheap, but you get what you pay for. For every little scratch the owner will ask money. And the broker is useless - we had to do all the paperwork with the owner regardless, so I don't see why bother with the broker in the first place.

Yacht Name: NIREUS (a Bavaria 39c)
Charter Company: HELLENIC CHARTERS (Dimitris)

xymotic · #2 06-05-2012

Ripping a cleat out is no a "little scratch" and sorry but 90 Euros?!?! Maybe it was broken, maybe not but 90 to fix it is nothing. I don't think it'd be worth my time to write a rant like that for 100 dollars or so... Get over it, consider it a lesson to review rental cars and boats etc with a much keener eye than you did this one.

segah · #3 06-09-2012

by a little scratch I do not mean our ripped cleat. Actually we didn't leave any new scratches and subsequently we were not charged for them. But the way the boat was inspected by the owner, his repairman and the diver suggested to us that 1) the boat had seen a fair amount of damage done to it before (much of the inside is worn out, cabinet/doorways don't close, etc), 2) the owner wouldn't be too flexible with minor things.

xymotic, as far as 90 euros, perhaps you would like to reimburse me? What the hay, if it's very little money to you, why don't you wire me, say, 200?

Pardon me but I think it is up to me to decide whether 90 euros is worth something to me or not. It sure is a big part of my graduate school tuition.

Fact of the matter is, there were 2 cleats; one previously repaired (with visible sealant); one was not; The one that was repaired ripped during a typical parking job - when the other did not. These things are not supposed to rip even in abnormal conditions.

We even thought of fixing it ourselves before turning in the boat, but an old yachtsman told not to: "it's a solid piece - the owner is the one responsible."

But, OK, the owner has his truth. What pisses me off the most is that we had to deal with the owner directly in the first place. What did we pay the broker, HELLENIC CHARTERS, for? I was their customer and I wanted them to resolve the issue - they didn't.

xymotic · #4 06-09-2012

Ok, well tell em to fly a kite then. you don't need to direct your snark at me

Pay, don't pay, whatever. Getting mad at the internet over it seems a bit too far, but that's just my opinion ya know.

And the bottom line is that you are better prepared in the future when someone glosses over damages maybe you won't. Or maybe you will tilt against windmills, I dunno the choice is completely yours.

And Just so you know, I make $12 an hour. $100 is a fair bit of money but it is *NOTHING* in the grand scheme of things. Especially on a vacation, especially on a charter, especially in Europe.

Hellenic Charters · #5 06-13-2012

We do not understand how the owner who is one of the partners of Hellenic Charters could be responsible for any damages that were created during the charter period that Mr. Segah was responsible as the skipper on our Bavaria 39 S/Y Nireus.

Mr. Segah had all the time to inspect the boat due to that he spent the night on board due to his late arrival.

He was actually so thorough that he even insisted to pay the outstanding charter payment after he had visited Lavrion port authorities with our representative to check if the boat papers were in order and duly stamped.

The actual damages were two, the cleat and the one of the rope brakes plus we noticed after his departure that his guests had also damaged one of the deck air ducts.

The cleat had not been repaired but was replace when a previous client had the same damage, cleats on Bavaria’s are fastened by threaded screws when we replaced it we fastened it with through bolts and nuts plus used an aluminium plate so as to make it more secure.

The total cost of the damages was more than 90 euro but after I spoke to my partner we only charged the minimum which was only 90euro, Mr. Segah had also problem when we refunded his security deposit, he instead on receiving the same denomination of notes that he had given us and not what we had at the time of refund.

We also paid the deference for his transfer from the airport to Lavrion due to that the transfer service had quoted 90euro but the transfer cost for a night transfer was 120euro so we paid the 30euro deference, I suppose that this action is not regarded as a service from his agent (Hellenic Charters).

To finalise our response to Mr. Segah claims we would like to inform him that his details have been passed on to our Lawyers and his profound claims and slander of our company will be handled accordingly.

Dimitris Oikonomakos