Saco River Canoe & Kayak

I had the worst customer service experience I have ever had with this company, I strongly suggest going with any of the other fine companies in Saco that I had the pleasure to work with (and no I’m not affiliated with any of them)
I was doing an overnight trip and realized that the trip that they were sending me on was 5 hours of paddling over 2 days, upon asking if they had longer trips they recommended that I take the 20 mile trip or 10 hour trip. They marked my map with the takeout point and camping on the beginning of the lower half. I was instructed with 4 staff members standing there that it would be a $ 3 gas surcharge to take out at the lower point and it was completely up to me which takeout point we wanted to use. I continued to tell them we would in fact do the 20 mile trip and take out at the lower point.
Keep in mind I spent years as a kayak guide on a much more intense river then the Saco and I have paddled rivers all over the country through deserts, steep mountain creeks etc. I am VERY experienced and pay attention to my put in and take out points and have never had a problem ANYWHERE!
After a wonderful trip I called for a pickup, when the man arrived he started to berate me stating that I had really messed up and I should have payed attention and that they would never tell anyone they could use the takeout that I did?! This man ruined what was a great trip. I have never had a business talk to me like that in my life. Meanwhile I have a map that was marked with highlighter on the takeout that I used and camping just up above, why would they have marked that if I was never supposed to use that takeout?
They then proceeded to tell me that the pickup would be an additional $ 20 instead of the $ 3 I was told at the desk, I can afford 20 but was pissed about the discrepancy. I was also told nobody would ever tell me that either and I have no clue what I am talking about, even though mind you there were 4 employees standing there as I was told this. After I complained the $ 20 charge then turned into that it was because I was 15 minutes late to the pickup, they couldn’t even decide why I owed $ 20, it changed from minute to minute. They threatened to not give me a ride back, to which I replied that I would call the police, it was all and all a horrible experience.
Also when I asked if I could speak to the lady who had clearly stated everything that I was saying she obviously wasn’t available.
Save yourself from having a terrible company ruin what could be an amazing trip! Go anywhere else! I told them I would not post this review if they wanted to refund my $ 17 and they told me that they don’t care at all and they have been there for 40 years and will be there anyways. This company has no idea what the concept of customer service is or any idea about putting people out on rivers with coherent instructions! If the river was any more intense then the Saco it would literally be dangerous to go out with them.

Staff was very friendly and helpful. We rented one canoe and 2 kayaks. Did the 10 mile row. Could have lived with 7 miles. Shuttle was waiting for us at out pick up. Maybe we just got lucky but it was a nice surprise.

Wow! What an experience! The Saco River Rental shop was super helpful. I called a day before and the women who answered the phone, was so helpful. I was able to reserve a canoe at $ 25.00. This fee is non refundable. That was totally fine with us, we were definitely going :) We arrived around 10 am. We chose the 10 mile paddle. They dropped us off at the launch. The staff there helped us bring the canoe to the water. We ended our journey with the help of our map that was provided to us via the Canoe shop. We called the number listed on the map. They were there within 10 minutes. This was such a great experience, we will definitely come back and do it again. Thanks!

My wife and I have used Saco River Canoe & Kayak twice. Once in 2011 and once in 2005. We will come back the next time we want to go kayaking. Both times, we did the 4 hour trips with kayaks. We probably did stop for about 45 minutes in there to eat lunch and swim three times. In response to the previous review, I feel I should say that you do have to paddle a lot. The river moves extremely slowly (at least when we’ve done it,) and you need to put in constant effort, if you want to move. It’s not like you’re sprinting the entire time, but your arms will be sore at the end if you’re not used to doing this type of activity regularly. Which is fine — it’s all part of the experience!
The kayaks were sturdy and clean, and the staff was courteous and helpful. When we reached our pickup point, the company van happened to already be there, so we were immediately ferried back to the company HQ and our cars. There are other companies in the area, so you may want to check out their reviews. But I’ve only used this one, and it’s been just great.

Definitely will NOT be using this rental company next time I’m canoeing the Saco.
My friends and I were scheduling a one day trip along the Saco, knowing that we definitely would not be participating in the usual mayhem that takes place on the river with adults within our age range. From the start, we were going to schedule a 7 hour trip knowing we’d be there at 8 AM and had to be off the river before 5 PM for pick up. 9 hours seems like a reasonable time to finish a 7 hour trip. A few stops for potty breaks, one to eat a quick lunch but mostly paddling the river. This was our mindset, this was communicated clearly to the staff.
We got to the location at 8:10 AM and were immediately confronted and discouraged from completing the 7 hour trip. Instead several (3, I believe) staff members told us it was not possible, a bad idea. We AGAIN communicated our original plan with the non-​partying lifestyle. Staff told us we «would be paddling hard and nonstop for 7 hours».
We stupidly let them convince us to take the 5.5 hour trip which would have us finishing around 2:30−3 PM assuming we were on the river around 9 AM with us «paddling hard and nonstop.» We tried to rationalize it with ourselves that this way we could not paddle as much and maybe it would take a full 7 hours then. Fine, we changed our plans. And tacked on an additional $ 10 because this meant we’d have to be dropped off AND picked up (see their rate sheet).
We started off the trip not paddling at all, simply floating down the river and occassionally paddling while steering to get passed the ‘barges’ on the river. We made it to the halfway point in 3 hours, fine. By this time, we were getting bored with just floating and started paddling like we originally planned. We finished the rest of the course in 1.5 hrs. The 1.5 hours included a 10 minute potty break and a 30 min lunch break. So, staff, you were all wrong, it only took us 4.5 hours to do a 5.5 hour trip. (I have to interject here, we are definitely NOT expert canoers/​kayakers, we’ve all canoed before but not in many years.)
Because of the staff’s lack of customer service and coersive abilities, I gave this a 1 star. Go somewhere else, there are tons of canoe rental companies on the Saco. I learned some very important lessons here — never second guess my canoeing abilities, be firm in my opinions, and the customer is ALWAYS right.