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How weird is it when people know the rules and yet make every possible excuse to break them!

This marine employee shares how he has to deal with annoying people everyday while at work.

Check out the full story.

Excuses from the docks

I work as the dockmaster for a privately-owned marina. This first post isn’t a specific tale, but rather, a quick overview of how docking works, followed by all the excuses people use to try to get out of paying. If there’s interest, I can post some actual tales.

City bylaw states that all docking must be paid; refusal to pay constitutes trespassing and offending boats may be towed at the owner’s expense. Boats pay for docking based on the length of the boat.

This is where the job gets tricky…

There’s a fee for a short stay, and a higher fee for overnight. The fee is for docking only – all services (power, water, washrooms, showers) are provided free of charge and operated not by the marina, but by the city parks department.

The docking wall itself is considered marina property, leased from the city. Everything else is city park.

Marina members who pay a seasonal rate at the main marina can stay on the wall for free, as long as they let the office know how long they’ll be staying (so the marina can rent out the vacant docks).

So here are some of the excuses I’ve heard:

He knows it is nothing new…

• The power at this location isn’t working / the showers are closed / I don’t have convenient access to a water hookup. I’m not paying / I should get a discount.

Sorry, but the fee is for docking only. Other services are offered free of charge as a courtesy. It’s a very busy area and there are plenty of people who will be happy to pay the full rate regardless of the status of the services. You’ll either have to pay or leave.

• The weather is too rough / my engine is damaged. I’m stuck, I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to, I shouldn’t have to pay.

I’m sorry, that’s a shame. But space is at a premium. There are plenty of safe, calm, sheltered areas for you to anchor for free, and the area is sheltered enough that there is no danger in moving the boat a short distance. If you want to stay on the wall, you have to pay the docking fee.

• I have no cash.

No problem, we have a portable debit/credit card machine.

• I forgot my wallet.

Sorry, it’s city bylaw that all docking must be paid. If you can’t or won’t pay, I’ll have to ask you to leave.

The excuses go on and on…

• I have a deal with the manager.

Then why didn’t he tell me about you or your deal when I spoke with him this morning?

• I get the seniors/group/disability discount.

There are no such discounts. Everyone pays the same rate.

• But I’m not tied to the wall, I’m tied to this other boat because there was no space left on the wall.

Sorry, that’s known as rafting, and bylaw and regulations state you pay the same rate for rafting. You’re free to move anywhere you like at no additional charge if space opens up, but if we provide a discount for rafting, people will do it even when there is open space.

• I work for the city, I don’t have to pay.

That’s nice, but you still have to pay. This is a private business.

That’s INSANE!

• I’m friends with the mayor. He told me it was free. I’ll talk to him and have you fired!

If it’s even true that you know the mayor in the first place, you can try if you like, but the mayor has exactly zero say in the hiring practices of a private business.

• How do I even know you really work here?

Well, I’m wearing a shirt with a marina staff logo and carrying a clipboard with marina paperwork. If that’s not enough, you can look up the phone number for the marina office and you can call and ask them for a physical description of their dockmaster.

• What if I refuse to pay? I bet you can’t even do anything. You can’t touch me or my boat.

I can call the police and file a trespassing report using the name and registration number clearly displayed on your boat, with this photo I just took with my phone to prove you were here. And I can have your boat towed and stored at your expense until you pay your docking fees.

He’s heard the worst ones!

• I have a dock at Other Nearby Marina.

…good for you? So… OH, you heard marina members get to stay for free. Sorry, wrong marina. Separate businesses, no relation.

• I have a dock at your marina.

Great, so I’ll just call the office and let them know you’re over here. What’s your dock number? …what do you mean don’t call the office? If you’re with the marina I have to let them know you’re over here. Oh you’re not actually with the marina? Pay up.

• I just arrived this morning at 7am, you can’t charge me for last night!

Well.

• Your fire pit is full of ashes and hot embers. There’s an empty 24 of beer and an empty bottle of vodka. You have a tent and four camp chairs and a barbeque set up. There’s a garbage bag full of dinner plates and food leftovers.

That’s INSANE!

It’s currently 8:30am. You set up a campsite, drank 24 beers and a bottle of vodka, barbequed a chicken and steak dinner, had a fire, and roasted marshmallows… in an hour and a half starting at 7am?

• My boat is 25 feet long.

The cleats (tie points for ropes) are twelve feet apart from each other, and your boat takes up three cleat gaps. Also these gray paint lines on the ground here are placed five feet apart from each other specifically for the purpose of estimating boat length and your boat takes up seven-and-a-half paint spaces. Also the model number clearly printed in bold lettering on the side of the boat says it’s 37 feet long. I’m going to charge you for a 37-foot-long boat.

• But you’re closed this late in the season, how can you charge me?

As the dockmaster, currently on-site and on the clock, I can assure you that we are, in fact, open this late in the season.

• It’s raining!

WTH do you want me to do about it?!

YIKES! Why are people so weird?

Let’s find out how folks on Reddit reacted to this one.

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who was denied a raise for “not being dedicated enough,” but then went on to discover what was really going on behind the scenes.

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Some people really need to fix somethings…