Boat Rental on Lake Como, Italy

Today was one of those days that could have ended in disaster...however, once again, we were pretty lucky.

Just over a month ago, I rented the Gran Turismo 510 boat online from Como Lake Boats in Domaso, and paid the full amount for the rental. I printed off my confirmation, directions, and the details about the payment transaction and filed it in my accordian file for the big trip.

Imagine my surprise when we show up early and find out that yes, they got my reservation and yes they charged my credit card for it, but sorry, we don't have a boat for you. Are you free on Saturday? Uh no. Do you have a boater's license and will you pay more for the 620 boat? Uh no. I want the boat that I reserved and paid for.

At this point, I walked away. I was ready to choke the jerk. And to top it off, a family from the Netherlands was also in line. They booked online and had everything reserved for Monday, only to find out that there were no boats available until Wednesday. So...the Netherlands family got my boat. Pissed is an understatement.

My recommendation....run, run far away from Como Lake Boats.

We get in the car and Chuck could tell that we were going to need some sort of miracle to turn this day around (not to mention that on our way to Menaggio on a 1.5 lane road...what the heck...and in a tunnel we had to slam on the brakes...then put the car in reverse and back out of the tunnel...as we were face to face with a freakin' huge semi!!!).

So, we pulled into another boat rental place Rent a boat in Dongo. I stayed in the car, but listened to the conversation.

Staff: Do you have a reservation?

Chuck: Well, I had a reservation at Como Lake Boat. They reserved it, took my money, and then said, no boat. (Note: we did get our money back)

Staff: Ohhhh no.

Chuck: Any chance you have a boat available for today or tomorrow for 6 or 8 hours?

Staff: You're in luck. There's someone on the phone right now trying to cancel their reservation and the only way they won't be charged is if we rent the boat they reserved.

Chuck: Tell them, two Americans are here ready to help them out.

Fastforward about 15 minutes....

We're on the boat and heading south toward Laglio...in search of George Clooney.