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Has anyone ever ordered anything from these people (boatpix) they flew over me this fall and I was thinking of taking a look at the pics but you need to order them then return them they do not post on the internet. I was just wondering if I didn't like them what kind of a hassle it was to return to them? Kinda pricy but I really wnat a picture of my boat moving from above.
Ask them to email the pics to you with watermark so can see them without the hassle, they did for me this summer. I will say they are quite expensive and decided not to buy. Although I hadn't tried as of yet, I heard recently they will negotiate on price. Would make sense if they do, I mean you didn't ask or contract with them to take pics and I would think some profit is better than none.
Hi there, I am new to the powerboating thing, and have been reading this forum for a few months nowsince I just purchased my first boat - a 98 GradyWhite Escape 209. When I saw this thread, I just had to chime in. In short - DO NOT BUY FROM BOATPRICKS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. They are quite possibly the worst people I have ever done business with.
Let me start with saying that I am first and foremost a very active sailboat racer on the Long Island Sound and Newport RI, and most of the major regattas that I attend have the boatpricks helicopter hovering overhead, disturbing our wind and ruining our concentration, espically in the predominantly light winds of Long Island Sound. But that is not even half of the story. The costs for the pictures are absolutely outrageous, and 99% of the shots that they take are boring overhead shots. I personally think that pictures that are taken from the water are far more interesting. When I was in college, I learned the hard way how they run their business. I filled out an innocent looking form on their website, and before I was able to see the pictures I had to fill in my name and address. BIG MISTAKE. A few weeks later, I received a cardboard tube in the mail with 5 or 6 large pictures of the boat I was racing on, along with a bill for several hundred dollars. Obviously I did not want the pictures, so I put "return to sender" on the tube and put them back in the mail. A few months later, I received a letter from a collections agency, saying I owed boatpricks for the pictures that I returned. Long story short, it took me several months of calling and writing them to get them to stop the collections and clear up my credit.
I am not the only one that has been through this with them. If you do a search on sailinganarchy.com (which has forums dedicated to sailboat racing) there are several threads and people on there who have been through the same thing I have.
Anyway, I like this site, and look forward to discussing my new (to me) center console.
Like Lee G said--if they have something you REALLY want, do business with great care. They like to unload $1 k worth of pix on you and you better send them back ASAP or they are gonna try collecting from you and they play hard ball.
I have a boat pics picture hanging in my house and one in my office. They are sweet. A bit pricey, yes; but where else are you going to get aerials of your boat in action? Order, and if you like, you pay. If you don't you send back. Easy enough.
As for Lee G's experience, take that with a grain of salt. Anyone who gets upset because a helicopter "disturbs" his wind and ruins his concentration, has much deeper issues than we can address here. Sailboaters are a different breed, racing or otherwise. End 'o story.
I had too had my boat photgraphed this past summer. I went ahead and gave them my Credit Card information and they sent me 5 awesome shots. You have 10 days to make your choice and than send them back. Yes they are expensive, but to me well worth it. The cost was $250 for one 16 X 20. and quality was great.
Here's how it works from my experience. They sent HUGE prints of the pictures to me, with clear terms for acceptance/return. Instead of the huge prints, I went ahead and ordered three 8X10 pics for 250.00 total. Not cheap, but cheaper than 500.00 for the big ones. the 8X10s are now a size I can scan on a flatbed. The pics were cool, I had my nieces in the boat, so I sent pics to my brothers for Christmas.
Pay attention to the terms of service.
Return unwanted pics as per their instruction
Not a bad idea to call and talk to the sales rep to let them know the returns are coming - get a name even, and I'm sure you won't have a problem.
Just marking the tube "return to sender" probably won't do it. How can you prove it? It's just not smart. I'd send it back according to the terms on their website. I spent the extra 2 bucks to get a confirmed receipt that.
Just marking the tube "return to sender" probably won't do it. How can you prove it? It's just not smart. I'd send it back according to the terms on their website. I spent the extra 2 bucks to get a confirmed receipt that.
The incident I described above happened in 1999, so perhaps they have changed their policies, however the pictures that I received were completely unsolicited. I never asked them to send me pictures, all I did was fill out their web form, which is what they asked me to do if I wanted to see the pictures. When I received the pics in the mail, I never was asked to sign for them, so anyone could have gotten them. If I never asked them to send me the pictures, and they couldnt prove that I received them, then why should I have to pay for return postage. As a college student, I was broke so I just wrote "return to sender." Maybe I made the mistake of not reading the real fine print on their site before giving them my name and address, but I still maintain that boatpix has some of the worst business practices I have ever seen. It is a website - how many times do you fill out a name and address before veiwing pictures or using their services - happens on alot of sites. I have never been taken to collections over it though.
Whenever I am sailing and I see that copter overhead, I make sure to flip them the bird. If only RPG's were legal.
And to the dude above that said us sailors are a different breed - please explain. I have been fishing, boating and sailing all my life, and love all 3 - I just happen to spend alot more time on sailboats these days. Racing sailboats is a very serious pastime to me. When trying to round a mark with 20 other boats in 4 knot winds, or trying to focus on making your boat go fast downwind, the last thing you need is a helicopter flying less than 100 feet overhead making a racket. I guess you are one of those rude powerboaters that cut 20 feet in front of our bow pushing up a huge wake and ruining our race, when it would have taken no less time or effort to go behind us.
If you understand the terms (ie, return the pictures or you will be charged) and compare it to what it would cost you to hire a helicopter, it is a great deal. I was unhappy with the angle of my boat in one picture and they recropped it for me so it was upright. I thought the service was great.
I purchased a beautiful 16x20 shot from them a few months ago. The company is straight forward an honest in my opinion. They shot us one day running across the bay. I was familiar with their service from 2 other good friends that had good experiences purchasing from them. I went to their web site, read their rules, (easy enough for a 5 year old to understand) and started the process. A few weeks later a tube with 3 shots in it. I contemplated which one to chose for 3-4 days as they laid out on my dining room table. I choose one, put the other 2 with a check back into the same tube, sent it back to them with tracking for like a total of 8-9 bucks and that was it. No credit card charges or hassles in any way....I now have a beautiful aerial shot of my boat running across the bay........Sure it cost 250 bucks but try to get that shot someplace else cheaper!!! You are under no obligation to purchase anything if you don't like them.......You must sign for the pictures when Fed ex delivers them and then send them back with any carrier that supplies delivery confirmation..........This was really a no-brainier.......
I would use them again if I get a new boat and I would recommend them to anyone who knows how to follow directions..............
Here is a shot of my boat taken by boatpix. This is a shot of the print taken by a digital camera but we have one hanging in our family room. Great pics.
We previewed some shots they took a few years back. What disappointed me was that the shots were so close in that half of them had the anchor or motors cut off. Some worse than the one Mike just posted.
We returned them with a confirmation of receipt and never had any trouble with it.
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Bold Adventure - 2006 Glacier Bay 2670 Dare Signature Series in Carolina Blue w/Twin Yamaha F150's
Like Lee G said--if they have something you REALLY want, do business with great care. They like to unload $1 k worth of pix on you and you better send them back ASAP or they are gonna try collecting from you and they play hard ball.
That wasn't my experience.
after initial contact, you have to tell them to send you the pictures. Then you have 30 days to return them or pay the amount. I didn't like the one they blew up, so I returned it for another one they had taken. They aren't trying to extort money out of someone who accidentally takes 31 days to return them.
I do belive their business would work better if they were a little more high tech - post the pics with a blatant watermark, and let people order the ones they want, but apparently the guy doesn't want to bother with web commerce.
Boatpix took a photo of my boat about a year ago - I requested the pictures and even asked them to send 8x10s as I don't have a good place for anything bigger - but they said their policy was only to send the big ones. (16x20s I believe)
I felt bad returning them but nowhere BEFORE I got the image was it clear just how much it would cost - off the top of my head I believe it was more than $10 a boat foot? So yeah, for my 27' boat I was looking at upwards of $250 for a picture.
Just wasn't worth it to me. The pictures were pretty good - and had it been $75 or so for a print I would have done it. But as someone pointed out, a running shot from a buddy's boat is just as impressive.
I also didn't like the idea that they felt justified in charging me based on the length of the boat, or more to the point, based on how much they thought I had to spend.
The site and mailer was very clear about the ramifications of NOT sending them back signature required, carrier with tracking, etc. No surprises.
We previewed some shots they took a few years back. What disappointed me was that the shots were so close in that half of them had the anchor or motors cut off. Some worse than the one Mike just posted.
We returned them with a confirmation of receipt and never had any trouble with it.
My pics were similar, so I called and asked them to zoom out on one particular pic. Turned out good.
Quote:
Flot - 1/13/2008 8:44 PM
I also didn't like the idea that they felt justified in charging me based on the length of the boat, or more to the point, based on how much they thought I had to spend.
I thought one pic was $250 regardless of boat size, but I could be wrong...
I too was shell shocked when I got the tube and the bill...they sent 3 large photos, $250 for one $400 for two or $500 for all 3. My first response was anger that they sent me this and a bill before I even knew how much it was going to cost....I never imagined it was that much...after I got over that I came to realize that one of the pictures was SWEET.....boat on plane coming off a gentle 2 foot swell, spray flying, antenna bent back...water clean and blue...it just so happened that this was taken on my best day of fishing ever....over Memorial Day weekend when I was running back from R-14 with a locker full of Mahi and Kings...
I bought it and it's on my wall in the office...makes me happy every time I look at it...
?? on Boatpix 
I wouldn't touch that with a 10' ugly stick! 
