West Marine Reviews

This company is heading for bankruptcy even if they don't realize it yet. Every time I go into a store, the inventory is completely disorganized and the place is empty. I browse their website for deals, but whenever I order, something goes wrong about half the time. Either the listing was wrong and what showed up wasn't what I actually needed, or they cancel the order and say it's out of stock. Want to call them about it? Good luck. They got rid of their phone number. When a company cuts costs so much that you can't even phone them, it's pretty clear what's coming.

I worked there for years getting paid poorly while dealing with constant stress, only to get laid off with absolutely no notice.

Don't buy electrical wire here. I ordered marine-grade wire in bulk and what arrived was absolutely unacceptable. Everything came loosely coiled and just thrown into a cardboard box with no spools, protection, or any attempt at organization. It was one giant tangled mess that I can't even use without risking damage or kinks throughout. The photos I have show how badly this was handled and how overstuffed the box was. To make matters worse, they decided on their own to cut one of my 30-foot wires into two pieces - a 3-foot section that came first, then a 27-foot section that showed up the next day as a completely separate shipment. Nobody gave me any warning or explanation about this. I needed that wire as one continuous piece. This is not professional marine supply handling at all. Real suppliers keep wire on spools or in neat coils specifically to prevent these kinds of problems. I did get a refund for the cut wire after contacting customer service, but when I got the rest and saw the disaster, I reached out multiple times through chat, phone, and email about a return or replacement with properly packaged continuous wire or a credit. Complete silence ever since.

The service at FLIBS was fantastic.

I ordered a Gelcoat Repair Kit on September 25, 2025 with same-day delivery promised to Port Charlotte, FL for $75.21. West Marine guaranteed I'd get it the same day, but it still hasn't shown up. I'm really frustrated and let down because I specifically counted on that fast delivery promise. I need an immediate status update on what happened with my order and why the same-day delivery wasn't honored. The order should have been here already. If you can't deliver what you promised, I should at least get the shipping charge refunded plus something for the inconvenience. West Marine needs to step up, admit the mistake, and fix this right away.

Watch out for returns with this company. The managers are dishonest and will find ways to take advantage of you and screw things up in their favor.

Absolutely terrible experience. I wish I could rate them lower but one star is the minimum. My husband and I went to the Sarasota location wanting to spend $1400 on two fishing rods and two reels. There were only two employees working and no other customers in the store, but when we asked for help, they said they were too busy with just two staff members. We turned around and left. Instead we went to Richards Sporting Goods thirty minutes away and they actually wanted our business. John there at their university location helped us find everything we needed. If you want good service and respect as a customer, spend your money there instead.

The manager and some staff at this store are awful. They clearly don't know anything about boats but they'll talk down to customers who are actual professional boat operators with decades of experience. The Hawaii location especially is a disaster. The manager there is completely disrespectful and doesn't want to help anyone who maintains boats professionally. In Hawaii with our rough waters, things break constantly. When we try to return items under warranty, she makes it impossible and just wants us out of there. They used to take returns on certain pump products and now they don't. Why would we keep shopping there if they won't stand behind their warranty? This store and company are completely useless. We're telling everyone we know to find other options if they exist.

This is the most dishonest business I've worked with, combined with absolutely horrible customer service. I tried multiple times to cancel my order because the item was no longer in stock before shipping. After I tried canceling several times, West Marine changed the status from in progress to shipped just to stop me from canceling. The delivery was supposed to be July 2nd. They created the FedEx label on July 3rd, charged my card, but as of July 8th, FedEx hasn't even picked it up yet. There's no tracking information available. My guess is the item still isn't in stock, which is why FedEx never picked it up in the first place. This is terrible service and looks like straight-up misleading statements. All they had to do was cancel when I first asked on July 1st since it wasn't available. During my last attempt to get help and have someone call me back, the customer service rep Mike just left the chat without finishing the conversation.

The website only works properly in Google Chrome, not Explorer. Live Chat doesn't function. Their customer service phone line just rings with nobody picking up. The website can't give you the technical info to figure out which replacement part you actually need, even if it's one of their own products. I'm really disappointed at how badly their service has declined. The store employees are frustrated too with how broken the website is. After 25 years as a loyal customer, I'm done shopping there.