I am writing to say BEWARE and WATCH IT when dealing with this houseboat rental company. Firstly, I would like to say that when we arrived at the Lacross Marina, where the Mississippi River Rentals houses their boats, we were kind of saddened by the state the entire marina was in. The washrooms are so scary I thought I was going to get murdered in them, and the staff at this marina are all but helpful. A group of my friends wanted to rent a houseboat for the beginning of the summer season of 2013, and we used the Houseboat Reservation website of Hucks Houseboats Rentals http://www.hucks.com/index.php. When we originally booked the reservation, the Hucks website did not say that it was no longer affiliated with Mississippi River Rentals. The changeover happened within days. FINE. But we should have at least received a boat or at least our money back. Neither of these options happened!!!! At first, a lady named Christine who was managing the building at the time of arrival was not giving us much information. She said the boat that we had rented was having engine trouble and needed the night to be repaired. When we came back the next day, the boat was still in disrepair, and they said that they could still get us a boat anyway. They drove us down to a shipyard where a houseboat was dry-docked and did not even have an engine in it. There was no way this boat could be water ready in 24 hours! There was a dead bird that had disintegrated in the hottub, dishes in the sink, and trashy looking beds. Hucks Houseboat Rentals could not give us the deposit back because of they had already liquidated it and the company seems to be bankrupt. I would call this a scam, but I really think it was a deal gone horribly wrong. I would never do business with either of these companies and I recommend to always have a contract and pay by credit card so that the credit card company can stand by you. I would be so happy to see my money again, but I hope these companies drown on their own boats. read more

Beware is right. The company is going under. We had a terrible experience. Only 1 of the 2 motors ran so we could not go through a lock. They promised to have a replacement motor but it did happen. The ac was broke and they kept promising to fix it but they never did. It was so hot at night, we did not sleep for 5 nights. They communicate on lies. If you did not send your full payment DO NOT. The company is dealing with legal problems from a boat that sank in May. http://lacrossetribune.com/news/police-investigating-houseboat-company/article_928fd846-e45a-11e2-b45b-001a4bcf887a.html read more

I'm simply amazed this scam is still operating. STILL... This company has made NO attempt to make right my destroyed vacation. BE AWARE!!!! July 3, 2013 - The first review appears to be a sign for this company's future. I have not been to La Crosse and now, not planning on going. When this company lost the guy "Huck" for rentals, things seem to be going down hill. Or.... shall I say... down river. It's sad... Best I can hope for at this point is to get my deposit back for planned rental but NO one will respond to calls and or emails. Voice mail boxes are full. You can bet they respond until they get your deposit. I am working on getting my deposit back but since no one will respond, it's hard to know what, when or IF anything will happen. If you have a reservation and your deposit is on a credit card. Get the bank involved soon. Since I'm trying to cancel early. Deposit return should not be an issue. I Will be back with update. Hopefully good news but I'm not holding my breath. UPDATE: July 11, 2013 - Voicemail is available but still... No response. To bad City of La Crosse is not involved. BBB is my next stop. UPDATE: July 27, 2013 - Still... No response from Mississippi River Rentals, LLC. BBB is looking into them but company will not even respond to them. See the Better Business B. web site for detailed complaints. RUN... Do not give these people money! I've given up on the hope of ever seeing that money again. Citibank Card will not refund the money because transaction was over 90 days old. Mississippi River Rental is living off stolen money and if you go to their website, they are constantly running "specials". I have talked with other people who had similar and even worse stories. I don't know how these people are still in business. Please do your homework before you let people like these take your hard earned money. I'm still amazed their web sites acts like it's business as usual. JUST DON'T TAKE THE RISK!!! My money is long gone but I hope I can save at least one other person. read more