Deadbeat Payers

Hall Of Shame: Dead Beat Paying Party Boat Captains: This is what it has come down to...trying to embarrass people to pay their bills. These are not captains on hard times mind you...but those with nice boats or business advertising in other places (we don't care) and in the case of the Bottom Line they went and bought a BIGGER boat...so money is not an issue...their attitude is.

It has become epidemic in nature with some party and charter boat captains....they feel they don't have to pay for services rendered. Imagine you stepping on their boat and deciding not to pay for the trip?? Now have to resort to listing the Dead Beat Party Boat Captains that do not want to pay their bills. Several of these captains I have carried for a year, two or more at times letting them run tabs from $2 to $3k because the business had been hurting, bad weather, they had engine problems or the like. I have done my absolute best to promote these boats to the best of our ability and you folks know that as well. Well life is a two way street and it's time to pay the piper. I am starting this list to let you folks know who these dead beats are to help us inform the public. If they are deadbeats to me even in our position of having the "power of the pen," they more than likely could be stiffing your folks on time, bait, fishing time, or in general...their services.

Since we started this list...one captain paid in full within 72 hours and has been removed from this list! Everyone listed here is still a deadbeat!

Nick Montello applied for a fishing permit for a 6-pack boat in NC...using a phony address! He used the address of the person he screwed in FL as his current mailing address with hopes that the roommate of the person he screwed would intercept the mail. When confronted about using the address he said that it was some sort of a mistake. When the person whose address he used called the licensing dept in NC, they said the application was filled out recently with that address. He's hiding something. Also, a local marine parts store her eon Long Island was asking around to see if they knew where he was..we can only assume its about a debt. His boat hasn't moved at all this season.

Hall of Shame Entry #1: the Bottom Line Charter Boat in Freeport. Capt. Nick Montello is the captain an owner. This is a special case because Nick was a personal friend of mine, did the booths at the outdoor shows with me, attended my wedding, we went to New Year's and Christmas' at his home...I got him a couple of write up's in Newsday and he did several TV shows with us over the years! Out of the blue he stops taking phone calls, has his boat taken and towed away, goes AWOL and owes over $2,300 but buys another boat and continues to advertise everywhere else. Hall of Shame in a BIG way!

MORE NEWS FROM THE BOTTOM LINE DEADBEAT...FROM SOMEONE ELSE HE SCREWED OVER...READ ON

Hi Rich,
My name is Jamie Snediker and I am 34, worked a few of the head boats in Freeport since I was 17. Most recent was the Miss Freeport V and the Bottom Line. I met Nick when his regular mate couldn't work a tuna trip to the Canyon. That trip and many others went well. One night I worked a blue fish trip with him followed by a canyon trip on the Spray. Half delirious and half serious, I shared with him my dream to purchase a head boat and bring it to Freeport. Nick immediately started the search for a boat expressing his desire to "go halfsies" with me. Two trips to Texas and two trips to Port Canaveral I found my boat. A 1979 65' Gilikin. The owner took us out to dinner to sign the paperwork.

At $100,000 I didn't think Nick would have any problem coming up with his half. Well, as you can imagine where this is going, at the signing table he tells me he needs more time. I was able to beg, borrow and practically steal to get the rest of the funding in 5 hrs. No shame in Nick’s game.....

By the end of dinner, the owner mentioned the business he had in Key West. Being sick of NY and knowing I could never compete with Mike Danon, I took a huge risk. Flew to KW, fell in love and moved. Nick made promise after promise that he would come up with either his half of the boat or $25,000 to purchase the business in 6 months. Knowing after the first deal with him, that he was incapable of telling the truth and coming up with a red cent, I purchased the business also, without him.

Flash to October 2007. I found a house in KW to rent. Nick was to come up with 3000 for security and first months rent. We laid out 12000 to move in. His rent was 950 a month plus utilities. He arrived in late November with no money, a suitcase and continued to tell me the 25,000 was almost available.

I'm no fool, I knew he was broke, I know about the repo'd car and boat I just needed a captain down here and was having serious trouble being the new kid in town finding one. So I was using him more than he thought. Anyway, I also knew he never intended to stay in KW past March 31. He swore he was here forever, yet he bounced 3 rent checks and refused to pay utilities.

I fired him, held his pay for 2 weeks and threw him out of my house. Somehow he still feels I owe him money. Fortunately my dreams came true because of his line of bullshit, but none the less, he is a scum bag leech! I can provide you with hours of Nick stories if you care to hear them. I have two mates from Freeport visiting me now. One has given me a few ideas as to what happened to him over the yrs. I saw that you two used to be friends. Which pasted some of the mystery together for me.

B FAST CHARTERS of MA: Well folks, we have a new addition to our Deadbeat Payers list. It is Capt. Mike Bartlett of the B Fast Charter Boat in Green Harbor, MA. Here is how the story goes….Capt. Mike and B Fast had been a loyal supporter of TFL for a several years running and we allowed Mike the courtesy of posting reports and appearing on our radio shows numerous, numerous times. We also allowed Mike to spout off on this fisheries management knowledge for the MA and New England region and even gave him the open airwaves of TFL radio show at ALL the expos and boat shows we attended together…even going so far as to allow Mike to announce he was running for the NE Fisheries Board seat that was open (can’t remember which one).

Well anyway several years running I would arrange for Capt. Mike and B Fast to come to the NY Boat show and work out of TFL booth, also to speak and get paid as a featured seminar speaker at the NY Boat Show, pay his travel expenses and put him up in a hotel in NYC while he was here. Basically all he had to do was buy his own food and book many charters out of our booth which he graciously did. Any way I would even allow Mike to pay off the previous year’s balance of $1,800 the following year at the NY Boat Show when I saw him. He would run up large balances two years running but I never pressured Mike for money because one year his dad died and the next he lost a brother I think it was.

Well a year or two later I asked Mike several times to pay off his balance at the time of $920 during that calendar year so I could close my books. Now mind you Mike is a COLLEGE PROFESSOR making six figures and his wife is also very well paid at her job. he also runs charters on lobster boats in MA for the winter cod, also does fly fishIng charters himself all summer and fall and has a hunting guide service for upland bird hunting as well as buying a brand new second home in NH....HE HAS THE MONEY!!! He hemmed and hawed and never got it done for whatever reason so I did not invite Mike to speak at the January’s NY Boat Show. I did him favors and he could not return this one simple request?

Well you guessed it…because I would not bring him to NY to speak because he did not clear his balance …he just refused to pay his measly $920. It is now four years later and his balance is down to $420…that’s right a college professor making six figures can only pay TFL $100 per YEAR toward his balance in a callous show of his arrogance. TFL makes a living selling advertising to provide the services we do. If advertisers don’t pay….we can’t provide those services…period! So Mike Bartlett and B Fast Charters are being boycotted by The Fishing Line and hopefully all our readers and web visitors and is now being added to the Deadbeat Payers list as a Deadbeat Supreme after four years of us sending invoices. Welcome aboard Capt. Mike.

Hall of Shame Entry #3 is: Island Star formerly of Greenport with Capt. Dennis Vlsmas was the captain. Stopped paying two years ago, went out of business, ship is in hock in the yard still and never returned phone calls. Actually turned this over to his mother to handle...she never returns phone calls. UPDATE! No news on this front

Hall of Shame Entry #4 is: Oakdale Bait and Tackle/Hydro Therapy Charters with Mike Cirovolo owner/operator. Mike was a great guy and is the paraplegic we did that wonderful show with on his charter boat Hydro-Therapy with Peter Hawkins the marathon wheelchair. We sent these tapes to Oprah, got Mike and his boat written about in Newsday. We donated money to his quadriplegic charity and bought auction items at these events. In turn Mike stops paying, owes the Oakdale Yacht club and myself money, has opened South Shore tackle out his garage in his beautiful Oakdale home and never returns calls, invoices and wouldn't see me when I rang his door bell one day...and did nothing with the invoice I handed his assistant at the door when he refused to see me. UPDATE! No news from this one...although he still sells tackle out of his garage

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