This is the time of year when Alaska fishermen make sure they have their paperwork in order so they’re ready to hit the water. But recently, some of those boat owners were targeted by a third-party service that charges much higher rates for Coast Guard certification.
“I want to go fishing, I want to be done with all this paperwork,” said Haines commercial fisherman Norm Hughes.
Earlier this month, he received a letter in the mail telling him to renew his Coast Guard documentation. It directed him to a website: uscgdocumentation.us. Hughes went to the website right away and paid $150 for a two-year renewal.
“You know, it’s serious business,” Hughes said. “If you don’t file your Coast Guard papers, they can end your voyage right there.”
But a few days later, he received emails from fishermen’s associations with a warning: this company telling you to renew your registration is not the Coast Guard.
“And I’m like oh is that what I did?” Hughes recalls. “And went and looked and oh yeah, that’s what I did.”
“This company is making themselves look very closely to be an official letter from the Coast Guard when they’re not,” said Steve Ramp, with the Coast Guard detachment in Sitka.
Ramp says the company, called U.S. Vessel Documentation, is sending letters to boat owners across the country.
The Coast Guard charges $26 for a one-year renewal. The vessel documentation company charges about three times that amount: $75. Ramp says even though it’s misleading, it’s not technically a scam.
“They’re not doing anything illegal,” Ramp said. “They’re offering a service to the owners of documented vessels and they are performing that service.”
Zachary Johnson works for US Vessel Documentation.
“US Vessel Documentation is not the Coast Guard and is not trying to be the Coast Guard,” Johnson said. “And it’s regrettable to hear that people find that to be the case.”
Johnson gave multiple examples of how the company shows it is a private service. One is a disclaimer on the website. The disclaimer is located at the bottom of the webpage in small type. Johnson says it’s also specified in the terms of service customers have to agree to when purchasing their registration renewal.
“We don’t have the same logos or anything,” Johnson said. “We have a completely unique and trademarked logo. We aren’t on a government URL or anything like that.”
It’s not just Alaska fishermen and the Coast Guard here that have raised alarms about the US Vessel Documentation website.
“We are actively trying to get the company to change their policies to make it more transparent,” said Charles Fort, director of consumer protection at the Boat Owners Association of the United States.
The association represents recreational boaters across the country. Fort says dozens of the association’s members have reported using the service, thinking it was the Coast Guard.
“These third party companies are permitted to do this obviously,” Fort said. “The issue we have is they tend to look like they are US Coast Guard official website and letters.”
But Johnson, with US Vessel Documentation, maintains that it is not deceptive. He did not have details about why the company charges three times the amount of the Coast Guard to renew documentation. He also did not have information on hand about the number of complaints they’ve received.
If US Vessel Documentation does keep track of complaints, one of them would be from Haines fisherman Hughes. He sent an email asking for his money back.
“I sent them a nasty-gram,” Hughes said. “I said ‘I hope you die soon.’”
Then, just to be safe, he renewed his paperwork on the actual Coast Guard website. He says the documentation is too important to entrust with a third party.
There are many unscrupulous operators. It unfortunate that the elderly often fall for these scams.
April 6, 2017
NEWS from BoatUS
Boat Owners Association of The United States
880 S. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304
BoatUS Press Room at http://www.BoatUS.com/PressRoom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com
Official-Looking Vessel Documentation Renewal Notices Can Lead to Confusion and Higher Costs
ALEXANDRIA, VA, April 6, 2017 – Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) Consumer Protection Department is advising boaters with vessels having a US Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation to be wary of any letter arriving by US mail offering renewal. An increasing number of BoatUS members have complained that these letters direct them to websites that may be mistaken for the actual US Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Center located in Falling Waters, West Virginia, and appear to show a significant increase in the annual fee to renew US Coast Guard (USCG) documentation.
BoatUS advises that while the USCG does send official annual renewal notices by US mail, other notices being received by members are not from the USCG but rather third-party companies whose name or return addresses may appear similar to that of the official USCG Vessel Documentation Center. Members of the half-million boat owners group report the letters look like “real” USCG communications. Some examples members have forwarded to BoatUS do not have any disclaimers noting that they are not official USCG correspondence.
While third-party companies may legitimately provide services to assist with vessel documentation renewals, the USCG’s own renewal process is simple for most vessels and the price, $26, is often much lower than what third-party services may charge. To renew, go to the USCG National Documentation Center website at http://www.uscg.mil/nvdc and click on “instructions and forms.”
To be documented, a vessel must measure at least 5 net tons and, with the exception of certain oil-spill response vessels, owned by a US citizen. Boats about 27 feet in length or longer generally meet the weight requirement.
If boat owners wish to file a consumer complaint about this or any other boating-related advertisement or company, BoatUS welcomes boaters to visit http://my.boatus.com/consumer/dispute.asp and click on “send us a complaint” button.
BoatUS also advises boaters who may have received mail that they believe is misleading or deceptive may contact the US Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 or through its website https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
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About Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS):
Celebrating 50 years, BoatUS is the nation’s largest organization of recreational boaters with more than a half-million members. We are the boat owners’ voice on Capitol Hill and fight for their rights. We help ensure a roadside trailer breakdown doesn’t end a boating or fishing trip before it begins. On the water, TowBoatUS brings boaters safely back to the launch ramp or dock when their boat won’t, 24/7. The BoatUS Marine Insurance Program gives boat owners the specialized coverage and superior service they need. We help keep boaters safe and our waters clean with assistance from the nonprofit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water. Visit BoatUS.com.
Crazy that it is so easy for them to get all of our information so they can solicit us for their $50 per year for doing nothing we can’t do ourselves directly with the Coast Guard. So glad I heard this warning now.
Thanks for the heads up. We received one too, but did not go to the website before we read this article.