ComplaintsforMaritime Documentation Center
Current Alerts For This Business
On May 14, 2019, Maritime Documentation Center responded to BBB stating the following:
“Maritime Documentation Center (MDC) is an online, third -party document processing service that specializes in Coast Guard Documentation services. MDC makes no attempt to represent ourselves as a governmental entity. In fact, the following disclaimer appears on every navigable page of the website.
© 2019 Maritime Documentation Center. All Rights Reserved. Maritime Documentation Center is NOT the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Vessel Documentation Center; we are a third-party private agency that handles USCG Documentation processing to NVDC.”
In regard to the cancellation and refunds, Maritime Documentation Center stated that the cancellation policy “stipulated by the website clearly states, all application and processing fees submitted remain non-refundable even in the event of a cancellation. Each customer’s application and/or service request may vary, so it would be impossible to ascertain the reason why a pattern is perceived concerning consumers who complain their Certificates weren’t issued. What is clear, however, is our firm’s terms of cancellation, and the nonrefundable nature of the funds submitted. Each customer’s application was/is subject to these Terms and Conditions, even in the event the customer requests operations to be cancelled before the Certificate could be issued.”
BBB confirmed via information on the United States Coast Guard’s website that the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC), located in Falling Waters, West Virginia, is the only entity authorized to issue Certificates of Documentation (CODs), Form CG-1270. For more information, please visit the official Coast Guard website at: http://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/.
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Complaint Details
Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. See details.
Initial Complaint
08/10/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
We ordered a 1-year renewal documentation from this company back in January 2023 for a cost of $375. They contact us to state we had to do a 5-year reinstatement for a cost of $750.00, however, only credited back $300.00 from the first application for a processing fee. After acknowledging - I cancelled the 5-year reinstatement immediately. They did not cancel and continued to process our application. Thinking it was cancelled, we ordered the reinstatement documentation from the "legit" USCG at a cost of $84.00. Maritime Documentation Center charged us on our Amex c/c the $75.00 for the first application and $750.00 for the reinstatement. I disputed these charges with Amex for the past 8 months and keep getting told that they have no cancellation or refund policy. I asked Amex to come up with a settlement to only charge us the processing fee of $75 for the first document and $75.00 for the reinstatement documents that they could not process, and they are refusing to this because of their "no cancellation policy". Maritime Documentation Center is nothing but a crooked company and have no business etiquette. So as of now, we are at out $75.00 for the first document they did not process as well as $750.00 for the 5-year documents they did not process or send to us as well.Business response
08/18/2023
Good day,
Please see the response to complaint #******** attached to this email.
Thank you.
Customer response
08/18/2023
Complaint: 20450989
I am rejecting this response because:We paid for a 5 year reinstatement documentation in the amount of $750.00 plus a $75.00 processing fee for a 1 year documentation that they cancelled. They are unable to supply us with any documentation because we already renewed with the "Legit" ************* Coast Guard. Once again, if they cannot supply us with any documentations, regardless of their "non-cancellation policy, why are we responsible for paying them. They are stating that we already are registered for 1-year with the ***** and Maritime cannot supply us with any documents at all because of this, so....we should be reimbursed100%. AGAIN - REGARDLESS OF THEIR NON-CANCELLATION POLICY. THEY CANNOT SUPPLY US WITH ANY DOCUMENTS. I also asked AMEX credit card company to asked for a compromise and just charge us the $75.00 processing fee which they already charged for the 1-year documents that was non-refundable, why can they not do the same for the 5-year documents that they cannot supply. Lastly - they claim they processed our documents in February and they were sent to us, they could not provide proof of delivery - I followed up with them in May and that is when they came back with the information on not being able to supply us with the documents and they wiped their hands of it all.
Sincerely,
***********************Business response
08/28/2023
Good Day,
Please see attached response to the rejection complaint.
Thank you
Customer response
08/29/2023
Complaint: 20450989
I am rejecting this response because: First, when the application was processed - their policy was not posted as clear as it is now on their website. So, I am holding my response stating - regardles of their cancellation policy, no documents were received or mailed out. I don't understand how a company can keep $75.00 from the first forms I filled out for a 1 year certificate that they said I had to change to a Reinstatement Certificate and not refund the whole of amount. They kept a processing fee of $75.00 from that payment. Then charge $750.00 for reinstatement and not be able to process the application or supply documentation due to an application already on file with the USGC. A "legit" company would make good and offer a refund and charge a processing fee. According to BBB files and other website where customer's can leave reviews, this is how ******************** "plays the game". Martime is very unfair with no business etiquette. So for them to send over a form that I filled out and then it gets rejected and keep $750.00 is a crime. Not offering customers some sort of refund (that according to reviews they have kept a lot of payments and found loop holes and not processed applications) is a theft.
Sincerely,
***********************Initial Complaint
01/31/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I paid Maritme Documentation Center to register my boat with the Coast Guard in May 2020. The Coast Guard rejected my renewal because of a lien on the boat that had been paid off. They needed to see proof of payment from the bank that the loan was paid in full. I attempted many times to reach someone at Maritime Documentation Center via phone and email to get assistance so that we could provide the proper documentation to the Coast Guard. Despite several emails and chat sessions on their website, nobody could provide clear direction on how to proceed and what I need to do to provide proof that the bank was paid in full. I had to contact the Coast Guard myself, learn the process, provide them proof of payment and then I renewed the boat registration myself, without Maritime Documentation Center since they refused to provide direction and were unwilling to take a phone call. I demanded a refund and did not get one since ******* did nothing to renew my boat. I disputed the charge to Maritime Documentation Center with my credit card company and Maritime did not respond to the credit card billing dispute. I was refunded via my credit card in full. In January 2023, I received a notice from Maritime Documentation Center that a lien was being placed on my boat for non payment and the disputed charge from 2020. Maritime did not perform the service I paid them for and they are owed nothing. They need to clear my balance due since they did not actually perform the service and renew my boat registration.Business response
02/07/2023
Good Day,
Please see that attached response to the complaint #******** received on January 31, 2023.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
01/20/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
In a thumbnail summary, I found myself using, unintentionally, an imposter organization instead of the actual National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC), a couple years ago. The service failed me, my documentation expired, attempts to renew through the service also failed, and only after the inability to connect in any way with them did I learn the enterprise was a third party. I found the Coast Guard to be easily reachable and renewed my lapsed documentation with relative ease. I then canceled the credit card transaction with maritimedocumentation.us, which included a $500 fine. I have now received an email from ******* *****, the only operative at "maritimedocumentation.us", basically an extortion letter. Unless I pay him nearly $700, he plans a lien on my boat, my account sent over to a collection agency, and reduce my credit rating.As for the details, I had moved residence and searching online found maritimedocumentation.us, an official looking URL and certainly a Coast Guard appearing site, at the top of the search. The site was deliberately designed to look like the Coast Guard, The change of address was never communicated to the actual **** National Vessel Documentation Center. My 2020 documentation expired because the **** sent notice to my obsolete address. I naively submitted renewal through "maritime", paid a $500 fine I believe in September 2021, but never heard back. I attempted many times to communicate with the service to no avail and finally found that it was an imposter site, not the actual Coast Guard. I reinstated with the **** National Vessel Documentation Center with relative ease and no fine involved. I had my bank cancel the credit transactions with maritimedocumentation.us. Just now, January 2023, "maritime", ******* *****, has sent me his intention to extort his fees and fine, threatening a lien, a collection agency, and my credit rating. This fraudster needs to be stopped and his service closed down.Business response
01/27/2023
Good Day,
Please see the attached response to the complaint received for #********.
Thank you.
Customer response
01/27/2023
Complaint: 18868088
I am rejecting this response because:My response to **************, Maritime Documentation Center (MDC) is quite simple. My application for a Change of Address submitted on June 7, 2020 which he clearly acknowledges in his reply, was either never submitted or not acted upon, in either case for which he is responsible. His neglect resulted in the loss of my documentation and necessitated the Reinstatement of **** Documentation on September 18, 2021 with his service.
His characterization of Maritime Documentation Center (MDC)as a third-party document processing service that specializes in Coast Guard Documentation services, along with his fine print legalese is disingenuous. His original webpages in 2020 and 2021, and even his current URL definitely made the representation of a governmental entity, no matter the changes he may have currently employed in 2023. The fact is, the actual Coast Guard site is easy and responsive and his service completely unnecessary even if he were actually performing the services he claimed, which to repeat, he did not.
Furthermore, the fine he levied on me, $500 for the delay and reinstatement which he himself caused, was for no purpose other than bold personal gain. Thinking at the time that I was dealing with the actual **** National Vessel Documentation Center, I did think the fine was stiff and punitive, but again, I thought I was dealing with a governmental agency and authorized it, as one would a traffic ticket.
I cannot understate the absence, at that time, of any indication other than perhaps fine print cleverly concealed in his agreement, that visitors to his site at the time were on the site of a fee for service company. He now wants nearly $700 for processing, something that took me all of about 10 minutes on the **** NVDC site. Again, I will add, his service was totally unresponsive to inquiries about the status of my reinstatement at a time while I was pressured for a current documentation certificate, which is how I ultimately came to find the ruse. Perhaps as he said MDC actually prepared and submitted a Reinstatement for the vessel, but if so it would have been a duplicate; it was my own combination of phone call and online communication with the Coast Guard which gained me my recertification.
He refers to a change of address submitted September 2021, long after I had moved and requested the change as soon as I had done so. I cannot feel much empathy for his position that his charge is not recoverable as he performed no service, his only time spent on my case, in my estimation, being this dispute. I would also note the number of complaints with the BBB found on the BBB site of nearly identical nature.
Sincerely,
*******************Initial Complaint
10/18/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
This complaint is to request that the BBB assists my husband ****** and I to receive a refund from Maritime Documentation Center.On 12/02/2021, an online payment of $375 was made to Maritime Documentation Center for a 5-year certification renewal. Within the last two months, I have received several notifications from the U.S. Coast Guard to make a payment to renew the 1-year certification. Most recently, a Final Notice was received, and I contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. It turns out that Maritime Documentation Center is a third-party company that took the fee intended for the U.S. Coast Guard and only paid the required 1-year fee!I have tried to contact Maritime Documentation Center several times and left messages, but have not heard back. Their only contact number that I am aware of is ************, and the prompts do not provide an option to speak to a live person.This has "FRAUD" written all over it and Maritime Documentation Center should be forced to close before they continue to impersonate the U.S. Coast Guard and steal other people's money.Your assistance to get a refund from Maritime Documentation Center is greatly appreciated.Kind regards,****** & *************************Business response
10/24/2022
Good day,
Please see the attached response in regard to complaint #********.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
09/14/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
First, Maritime Documentation Center misrepresented themselves to be the US Coast Guard. I signed with them them to get my boat redocumented. The cost was 4x what the Coast Guard would have been charged which is neither here not there. The issue is they took my money, never made the submission to the Coast Guard Documentation center, never made payment to the Coast Guard Documentation Center and my boat went undocumented for a year. Their failure to led to me not being able to sell my boat in a timely manner and cost me real money.Business response
09/29/2022
Good Day,
Please see the attached response to the complaint received for #*********.
Thank you
Customer response
09/30/2022
Complaint: 18026022
I am rejecting this response because: forgetting about how they misrepresented their services for a moment the facts are that they did not successfully file my application when they initially claimed , the knew that they paid no fees and until I investigated the situation and threatened them they had no intention of processing the application. The disclosure statement and the fact that they claim their is no time frame for the services allows them systematically bilk unsuspecting people with they ultimate out of then doing the filing when they get caught. They have set up a scheme with multiple web sites all doing the same. Their intention is to appear that they are the US Coast Guard, charge fees that are 5x what they would be otherwise and have trained their reps lie cheat and steel and then have all of the canned responses like the one received to justify their heinous behavior. If you take a look at the number of complaints like mine on the web its obvious what they are doing and how many people have been duped. Something should be done to stop an entity that operated this way. The US Coast Guard Hates them and immediately tells you report them to the *** when you speak with them directly.
Sincerely,
*************************Initial Complaint
06/28/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Delivery Issues
- Status:
- Answered
On May 2, 2022, I went online to update my address for a coast guard documented vessel. I selected maritimedocumentation.**. This site is represented as the official coast guard vessel documentation website. I updated the new address information ($38) and requested copies of the *** ($75) and the Abstract of Title ($75). I expected both documents to be physically (paper) sent to me showing the address update. No, on May 13, 2022 they they emailed me images of the old documents with the old address which are useless. On June 29, I called them to inquire the status. They indicated the service was completed. I disagree. BEWARE: This webpage is a scam, preying on people looking for the official US Coast Guard Documentation. website. Go directly to the US Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Center atBusiness response
06/29/2022
Good Morning,
Please see the attached response in regards to the complaint #********.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
06/22/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I haven't renewed vessel documentation for a while and was directed to this website quite rapidly. I did not study the presentation of their webpages closely enough and assumed they were the coast guard vessel documentation office.I have also been feeling slightly disoriented since experiencing a mild case of covid-19 in early May 2022.I saw that the renewal price was $75 which seemed reasonable so i provided them my credit card info and the charge quickly appeared as an outstanding expense but it stated that $75 was for "no additional years". It appears they charged me $75 for absolutely nothing!Business response
06/29/2022
Good Morning,
Please see the attached response in regards to the complaint received #********.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
06/22/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Unfortunately, I was advised about this overpriced scam after initiating payment. I did not get what I paid for, or anything at all other than the loss of money. This business never provides what I agreed to and therefore a refund was requested. They simply brushed me off and kept $850. This company did not attempt to offer any resolution. I am still out $850.Business response
06/29/2022
Good Morning,
Please see the attached response to the complaint received for #********.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
05/05/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
We have a documented boat. Our 2022 documentation was due. We unfortunately used maritimedocumentation.us. They required our social security numbers. They were quick to respond to emails until we noticed they had charged us $450 - twice! After emailing *********************** at ******************************************* about the error, there was no response from her. We have notified our bank. Is this a legit business? Will we receive our vessel documentation?Business response
05/13/2022
Please see the attach response to the complaint received for #********.
Thank you
Initial Complaint
05/04/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
The transaction occurred on Saturday April 9th, 2022. I was on the US Coast Guard web site seeking to reinstate my Certificate of Documentation for my boat. Unknown to me, at some point during the process the Maritime Documentation web site inserted itself. The Maritime Documentation web site uses copies of the US Coast Guard forms making their web site appear all the more like it is the US Coast Guard. I processed all the documentation and paid $750. Suspicious of the amount I went back and found that the Coast Guard only charges $135 for this service. Additionally, I learned from the BBB website that there is a Red Alert against Maritime Documentation and 38+ similar complaints. At this point I tried to cancel the transaction. As Maritime Documentation don't answer their phones I immediately contacted my ******************* and disputed the transaction. Maritime Documentation threatened that they would damage my credit rating and stated that as I had disputed the transaction they would no longer communicate with me. Maritime Documentation has not incurred any damages as a result of me attempting to cancel their purported services, they are not authorized to issue the Certificate of Documentation (only the Coast Guard can do this), it was a week end so they could not work on it as the Coast Guard is shut, the only thing they are trading on their legalistic terms, refusal to cancel even when they have performed no service and incurred zero cost. They are a business based on conning people out of very significant amounts of money. I would like Maritime Documentation to agree to refund the money back to the *******************.Business response
05/05/2022
Please see the attached Response to the Complaint #********.
Thank you
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Customer Complaints Summary
16 total complaints in the last 3 years.
0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.