Recreatiecentrum de Kluft

Our canooing experience turned from a fun event into a complete nightmare with a terrified 5 year old and frustration from both us parents. This company irresponsibly rented a canoe to us on a rather windy day even though we asked if the weather is suitable for this kind of adventure. They confirmed, took our payment, gave us the boat, and we went ahead. The first hour and a half we were doing quite all right since we had the wind in our backs. When we tried to get back 2 hours later, we couldn't move the canoe forward, kept crashing into the sides of the canals, and made very little progress moving forward. The wind was picking up, and after more than an hour trying to get back by ourselves, we realized this is pointless and called the company to explain the situation and hopefully be picked up by a motor boat as we were completely and utterly stuck with the wind blowing against us. The company picked up, put us on a long hold, we hung up eventually and called again. After a lot of back and forth, we got connected to the owner, who told us to try harder and just try to get back by ourselves, and accused us for clearly having lost the way even though we carefully followed the path and its signs. We tried again, and even though we are 2 quite capable people, we couldn't get much ahead. We turned back, got to a safer space, and called the police. They tried to figure out what to do, but eventually said they have no access to the spot we were in, and to call back the company and try to convince them to come pick us up. We called again, they refused, but eventually agreed that they could come only after closing time, which would be at least another 3,5 hour wait until they would get to us. Our 5 year old was scared, hungry, and cold. We were completely exhausted at that point. We hadn't seen a single boat for a long time, and finally noticed somebody coming our way. We waved at them and yelled for help, and 4 very nice ladies picked us up with a motor boat, and delivered us back to approximately the same spot we left, which took about hour and a half in total. We tied the canoe to the deck, and went to a nearby place called "Kanoschool Herbie Bird " to ask for some directions. The lady working there called Moniek was shocked to hear that De Kluft had rented canoos for us with this kind of weather, and that they also refused to come help us. She said only very experienced people can do it with this weather. We ended up leaving the canoe there and walking back to De Kluft to give back the safety vest. The receptionist seemed scared and apologetic, but the owner on the phone was utterly rude and irresponsible. This is his business and he did not care whatsoever about the safety or emergency situations for which he should be responsible for. If something happens to you on the water, know you will be left to deal with it alone. Never wrote a bad review in my entire life, but this calls for action.