Flagship Towing

Absolutely the worst experience with any company I have had in 44 years. We aren’t just talking about oops, they screwed up a little, but willful disregard for life and property that will require attorneys to resolve, plus about $ 3,000 out of pocket plus the loss of everything on my boat.
On Saturday, May 23, 2015, we ran aground in Galveston Bay and needed to use our tow policy. They told us they were coming out and told the insurance company they’d be there in «1.45−2 hrs». I saved the texts so quotes are exact) Three hours passed while my son and I were stuck in Galveston bay. The Coast guard started to grow concerned because the forecast wasn’t good. They won’t touch your boat if you have a tow policy. They grew even more concerned and called the tow company who told them that they weren’t coming out to get us. 3 prime hours were wasted.
At this point, they pretty much left us at the mercy of the bay and a horrible weather report. I contacted the Coast Guard via radio and they said they would pull us off the boat to make sure we were safe. So now Flagship Towing has transferred their responsibility to the taxpayer to meet their obligations. Nice! The coast guard flew us off our boat via helicopter and so you would think when you’ve screwed your customer that bad, that they’d be your highest priority the VERY NEXT DAY. Nope. Nor the next, nor the next, nor the next after that. In fact, it is now the 31^st of May and my boat is still in Galveston bay, presenting a hazard to every boater and the Coast Guard is getting angry about it. I keep hearing «tomorrow» and «first thing in the morning» from the two brothers, and there is inevitably some mechanical or other great excuse. There always is.
The really bad thing is we have communicated by text during the whole ordeal, and their texts are contradictory as to what they’ve done. So I really don’t know what to think is the truth.
The boat’s bilge pump works off of battery power, and I’ve let them know that the best you can expect is a few days, so by now the boat has filled with water, ruined the interior, ruined the electronics, ruined the systems, ruined my son’s and my personal property, and left my boat exposed to pilfering and theft. Indeed Flagship Towing has robbed us of our pastime, and the activity that bonded us.
Neither Chris nor the other brother will offer to make it right. They do not intend to do anything about it except collect their check from my insurance company and laugh all the way to the bank. As far as they’re concerned it was easy money and my boat was just another casualty of their careless indifference for the lives and property of the customer. Please save yourself some heartbreak. They operate out of both Leander and The Kemah area (Galveston bay) and possibly other locations. Use another company. There are many other firms to do business with that are responsible than to let these guys wreck your family’s.
As of now I am gathering the logs from the coast guard to see if I can seek legal action against them. Sad when you have to get attorneys to make somebody do the job they had a contract to do and said they would do. They can’t make this right. They don’t want to make it right.
If you are near Freeport, use Tempest Towing. If your insurance company (in my case, Progressive) sticks you with Flagship, ask for another company and refuse to leave your boat in the hands of these Had I said no, they’d have had a boat out in 30 minutes and I would still have a boat. Instead, I have to hire another boat company who will do what I thought Flagship Towing would do.
Update: it is now June 12, and my boat is still out in the bay. I had to pay another tow company ($ 832) to take me out to it and found that it had been stripped of all value almost as if it ran aground in Mogadishu. The lifelines, the motor, and everything of any value was stolen. Even better, I saw that my anchor line was still tied to the bow cleat just as I left it and on top of the anchor line was the jib sheet (rope for front sail) just as my son left it, so it appears that Flagship never attempted to pull it at all. At this point the boat is a total loss, but this isn’t the end of the story. I will continue to update as the saga continues.