I made the mistake this year and signed up for not one but two years' renewal 
for $150 through this group so I'm essentially out $98.  It was my first year 
doing a renewal and was not dialed in to the fees.It was not until I received 
this thread that I realized I had been duped.
Whereas their site makes no overt effort to inform you they are NOT the 
official Coast Guard renewal site, I will say they did process and send my new 
certificate in record time (less than 2 weeks).  
Lessons learned...
Chuck Gilchrest 
S/V Half Magic
1983 LF 35
Padanaram MA
Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 5, 2017, at 9:05 AM, Matthew L. Wolford via CnC-List 
> <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote:
> 
> FWIW, I almost fell for the same trick a couple years ago.  I filled out the 
> on-line form, but when I got to the price I figured there was no way the fee 
> went up that much.  So I left the form and found the authentic government 
> vessel registration site.  I called the government office in West Virginia 
> and reported the scam, but apparently they do not intend to do anything about 
> it.
>  
> From: PETER OCAMPO via CnC-List
> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 1:33 PM
> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
> Cc: PETER OCAMPO
> Subject: Re: Stus-List Deceitful USCG Documentation Renewal Company
>  
> Randy
>  
> I'll make you feel. Being a new boat owner  I googled  us coast guard 
> documentation saw the web site and filled out the forms for transfer of 
> ownership and they took me for 450 but I would never had known I had over 
> paid had if not been for your post.
>  
> So next time I'll use the real uscg website.  So thanks for saving me money 
> in the future
>  
> Peter
>  
> Goonie island C&c 40
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Feb 4, 2017, at 11:29 AM, RANDY via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Yes I found the USCG NVDC to be very straightforward and helpful when I 
>> exchanged Grenadine's CoD from her previous owner to me one year ago.  The 
>> USCG officers with whom I spoke on the phone were professional and 
>> informative, and the website and forms and procedures were easy to 
>> understand and easy to use.
>>  
>> My complaint here is that there a predatory third-party business trying to 
>> deceive vessel owners into thinking it is the USCG NVDC, and then bilking 
>> them for 3X the cost of what the USCG NVDC charges for the same service.  It 
>> succeeded in doing that to me.  Fool me once, shame on me.  I'm not the 
>> first person to get screwed by this unscrupulous company and complain about 
>> it - see 
>> https://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/not-elsewhere-classified/us-marine-surveyors-inc-or-us-vessel-documenta-in-long-beach-ca-646887/reviews-and-complaints
>>  
>> Cheers,
>> Randy
>>  
>> From: "phorvati ." <phorv...@gmail.com>
>> To: "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>
>> Cc: "RANDY" <randy.staff...@comcast.net>
>> Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2017 8:56:03 AM
>> Subject: Re: Stus-List Deceitful USCG Documentation Renewal Company
>>  
>> I purchased a tayana fd12 in september, ended up submitting several parts of 
>> the application, all per the instruction document.  Few of them were release 
>> of primary mortgage bill of sale and exchange of COD.  all via email and 
>> pdfs attached.  I was a bit scepticall but the coast guard website was 
>> accurate on processing times.  I got the new COD last week.  it was  under 
>> 100$.  So it took a bit, my guess was due to request for release of PM.  
>> Coast Guard website works but u need to do your own due diligence, read 
>> requirements and fulfill them as required. 
>>  
>>> On Feb 3, 2017 8:17 PM, "RANDY via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote:
>>> Listers - fair warning - I got deceived today into paying 3X what I needed 
>>> to for USCG documentation renewal.  I received a letter via USPS from an 
>>> entity named "U.S. Vessel Documentation", domain name uscgdocumentation.us, 
>>> titled "Vessel Renewal Courtesy Notice".  As I'm sure the sender intended, 
>>> I mistook the letter as being from the United States Coast Guard National 
>>> Vessel Documentation Center, reminding me to renew my Certificate of 
>>> Documentation.  It's been on my mind that my CoD is expiring soon, and I've 
>>> been expecting a reminder.
>>>  
>>> So I went to uscgdocumentation.us, filled out the renewal form, and 
>>> submitted it.  I was surprised to see the price was $75 - I'd remembered 
>>> the renewal cost being ~$25 - but I thought "well, the Coast Guard must 
>>> have raised their prices", and submitted the form anyway, with my credit 
>>> card information.
>>>  
>>> Somehow sometime after doing that, I noticed fine print at the very bottom 
>>> of uscgdocumentation.us web pages, where you wouldn't even normally scroll 
>>> or look, saying "U.S. Vessel Documentation is NOT the U.S. Coast Guard or 
>>> the National Vessel Documentation Center; we are a third party agency that 
>>> handles USCG Documentation processing to NVDC."
>>>  
>>> So then I went to the real USCG NVDC website, 
>>> https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/default.asp, where I applied for an exchange of 
>>> the CoD last year when I bought Grenadine (since she was previously 
>>> USCG-documented), and confirmed their renewal fee is only $26 and you can 
>>> file for renewal online right there.
>>>  
>>> At that point I realized I'd been had, and immediately requested 
>>> cancellation of my renewal order from that company, in writing, and in 
>>> voice mail, and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the 
>>> USGC NVDC about "U.S. Vessel Documentation", and contacted my credit card 
>>> company to block the charge from this merchant.  I'm now in the process of 
>>> posting about this experience on sailing-related forums I've visited.
>>>  
>>> If you own a USCG-documented vessel, *DO NOT* do business through the 
>>> deceitful company uscgdocumentation.us, unless you don't mind paying 3X the 
>>> cost of something you could do directly though 
>>> https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/default.asp.  These "U.S. Vessel Documentation" 
>>> people are predatory.
>>>  
>>> I've posted the letter I received, and an email exchange I had with this 
>>> company, at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-NqAxQ6JxFTeU1HcDZKTWdiQzA.
>>>  
>>> Cheers,
>>> Randy Stafford
>>> S/V Grenadine
>>> C&C 30-1 #7
>>> Ken Caryl, CO
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
>>  
>> _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
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