Portabote | The Revolutionary Folding Boat - Gilroy, California

James Dean

The"new"owner of Porta-Bote--Chet is a fresh breath of air, the kind woman who answered the phone was a pleasure to speak with and Chet the new and much Improved owner took the time out of his busy day to speak with me over the phone even though I purchased my Porta-Bote from the"previous"owners. I believe Chet and his business partners/team are going to turn the previous negative opinions around about this company,, hence my 5 star review.
Please give Chet and his team a chance. I am going to purchase the optional bow/dive ladder to show my support,, again Thank you Chet for being patient with me by answering all of my tedious questions.

Orange

Do not purchase a Suzuki motor from here, they are not a service center.

I purchased a brand new Suzuki motor here last year. From the moment i tried to idle the motor it had a red warning light on. When i called and asked about it the older guy told me to keep running differently than the owners manual and not too worry about the light.
My motor never idled correctly but i still went with his recommendation of 4 hours of idle and 4 hours of 1/4 turn.

My motor left me stranded in the ocean.

I called Suzuki directly and they informed me that port a bote is not a service center but just a warehouse seller.

I took the motor to fix at the service center/dealer in Sausalito. I was informed that the water pump was dead and it cost me $490 out of pocket despite me telling them off the port a bote directions and the warranty did not cover it.

Don't waste your time time and money here.

Learn from me and the other reviewers.

Renee Golder

My teenage son saved, and saved for a inflatable boat. We talked him into saving for a brand new outboard rather than a used one with potential problems. We live in Santa Cruz, but read good reviews about Porta-Bote in Mountain View and they were selling a 20HP Suzuki that looked just right. My brother-in-law who works in San Jose picked it up for us last Friday it cost 28 hundred dollars. The boat arrived on Wednesday from another company. My husband and my son took the boat out for the maiden voyage Wednesday afternoon. It was a total fail! They didn't make it out of the harbor. The boat kept sputtering and the engine died. My husband called Porta - Bote to see what to do the next day. He was told that they do not do any servicing on engines, they referred him two companies that do authorized repairs. He called the two companies one said they do not work with engines sold from Porta - Bote and the other did not have an opening until 2 months from now. Both shops were 2 hours from Santa Cruz. My husband called Suzuki he was told it had to be looked at by an authorized repair shop as to not void the warranty. Suzuki called the repair shops and got the other to agree to see the boar, (in 3 weeks).

There's a reason people shop at Costco or Nordstrom. It's customer service. It's the peace of mind that knowing the business stand behind what they're selling. If we wanted to buy a broken motor, we would have went to the flea market, or Craigslist. It's super disappointing to open a box and get a broken piece of equipment. It's even more disappointing when you call the company that sold it to you and they are rude, unhelpful, and don't stand behind their product.

I would never recommend Porta - Bote or Suzuki at this point. If you are shopping for an outboard motor, be sure to read a lot of reviews and find a good shop that also does service. I do not know how this company has any 5-star reviews. I would actually give zero if it were an option.

UPDATE: The owner called my husband and said he has never had this happen in 20 years. He is trying to help solve the problem. But, they did try to use it a 2nd time today and the motor was not functional and they had to be towed in. I hope that this will get resolved ASAP, and if so I will change my mind. I am still not sure why it can't be exchanged. If this really has not happened in 20 years, perhaps this motor is a lemon? Nevertheless, I am not a mechanic, nor is anyone in my family, that was why we had him buy brand new.

MORE UPDATE (20 days later): Although my husband did get a call from the owner after a week of trying to resolve the brand new broken motor. We have yet to have a working motor. It will be up to 3-4 weeks until we can possibly get it looked at Inland Marine 5 hours round trip from our house. What a bummer... I still wouldn't shop at Porta-Bote

Martin Ostrowski

First of all, the new version of the boat itself is good. Not great, but decent. The seat attachment pins and under-seat supports are just awful, but you get used to it. The boat itself feels pretty sturdy and sea-worthy.
The problems I have are first of all with the accessories. 1) the oar locks are simply dreadful, very flimsy and unusable for all but the lightest rowing basically, 2) the bimini top I really don't have words to express how terrible the design is. it will not stand up without additional bracing. 3) the back-rest seats occupy a ton of space, they are not porta-seats for sure. putting them together is an experience in frustration because the nuts must be held in a small slot under the seat 4) the bow cover is ill-fitting and something i might put together myself as a diy in a couple of hours 5) the fold-out helper is an unfinished piece of wood, not ideal for a marine environment. All in all, the whole product feels like someone lost interest half-way through and decided to move on.
The second problem I have is with the customer support (or lack thereof). I ordered the seats together with the boat and they did not arrive. I had to email and call to discover they were back ordered. It's more or less customary to mention that when an order is being placed I believe, especially since I ordered it on the phone. They could not tell me when I might see them, but "if they don't arrive in a couple of weeks, give us another call". How's that for customer support? I also voiced some of my concerns here to the owner afterwards but did not get any response, so don't expect to hear back from the company unless you're looking to buy something.
All in all, it's a shame that what is a good idea and potentially good product is in the hands of an apathetic company and owner. I was initially hugely enthusiastic about the product, and was willing to put up with all the problems. But you just reach a point where all the negatives just become overwhelming.
At the very least, I would be personally embarrassed to sell something like the bimini top for money.

Thomas Anderson

The boat although a little pricy for what you get seems to be OK. The issue is if there is a problem their customer support is terrible; I bought a Porta-Dolly with the boat and it did not fit my boat. The bottom line is they made a mistake and still maintain that they have not made a mistake in 25 years. If you purchase from them I hope for your sake that there are no issues. I unfortunately was not that lucky.

Texas Transportation Service

Terrible customer service done by Cindy that called herself as a supervisor. This person does not have a clue of how to treat customers. Do not buy from this place if you look to be treated with respect. I placed an order for a motor and they told us that we will receive in a week. Today when we called this person was screaming at us and hanged off the phone. it is a lie about the stock they have. Come on we are in United States. You are not the only fish in the sea. i will make my review every where. You should not be representing a company. If the owner/s the one who built it with their hand know there is a person like this messing with their money would not have her on that place. If is the owner that's bad business. You are your company will not have a cent form my family, my customers on top of that I will not stop making reviews
The owner should revise all the reviews about her on this website

Shane Engelman

I live in the area of the Mountain View location, so I decided to go in person so I could see a display model of the Porta Bote I was looking to buy. The man that helped me was very friendly, answering all questions I had. It was a skeleton crew, considering it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but I was given a discount for living so close and buying directly from them as opposed to a third-party retailer. I get the impression that Porta Bote is a lean operation, but their product is very unique and they deserve praise for maintaining this niche for as long as they have.

Judith Morgan

Kristina was great when asking questions about the boat; she answered every question! Thanks Kristina! The boat will be perfect for us!