Woman Claims Family Was Denied Jet Ski Rentals for Not Speaking English

A woman on TikTok is going viral for sharing her story about what was supposed to be a fun family outing in Destin, Florida.

The woman, who goes by Yuli on TikTok, warned others about a jet ski rental company she and her family used.

“If your first language is not English, do not come here if you want to rent jet skis,” she said, including a photo of Destin’s Xtreme H2O rental service.

“Me and my family are Venezuelans, and we moved to the United States about five years [ago],” she explained. “We live in Texas, but we are now in Destin because we wanted a vacation.”

The TikTok user said it was her and her family’s “third time” in the city. She described that she was vacationing with her mother, father, grandfather and a family friend. So far, so good.

However, the woman says things took a turn for the worst once they arrived at the jet ski rental company for a fun day in the sun.

“We got there today early, an hour earlier… to fill out all the paperwork,” she recalled. “I was the one talking because I’m the one who translates everything, I’m the older sister, I do all of that.”

Although her family had rented jet skis in Destin from another company with no issue two years prior, she says she had a “frustrating and humiliating” experience this time around.

The woman said she offered to translate for her family, but some were denied jet ski rentals

TikTok user Yuli said one of the rental attendants told her to bring up the other drivers in her group.

She replied to the attendant, “Hey, they do not speak English. I’m just going to stay here to translate everything to make sure everything is cool.”

However, the company worker allegedly pushed back and told her, “If they do not speak English, they’re not going to be able to rent the jet skis.” What?

The woman said they had already paid $110 each to rent the jet skis and the employee told them they couldn’t get their money back.

“I’m going to have to cancel your appointment, and you guys are not going to get your money back,” the employee allegedly told them. “Because you have to cancel it 24 hours prior.”

Of course, this stunned the family. Even more so because the TikTok user says she looked through the company’s “policies” and “restrictions” and didn’t find anything about having to speak English to ride a jet ski. Still, that information remains unconfirmed.

“I was telling her, ‘I can literally translate for them; this is not their first time riding a jet ski,'” the woman recalled.

She explained to the employee, “I’m just going to tell them basic stuff that they need to know, because they don’t even need to take the driver test, because they are older people.”

However, the woman says the employee still denied the family members: “She was like, ‘No, if they don’t speak English, they cannot drive.'”

That being said, the TikToker said the worker was still “being sweet and understanding the whole time.” Her issue is just with the “company policies.”

The TikTok user said her grandpa was not allowed to ride because he couldn’t speak English

Later, the woman got an idea. She told the worker, “What if they just come here, you explain to them, and you see if they understand or not?”

They did that, and once her family said “yes” and “okay” to the explanation, they employee said, “Okay, they understand.”

At that point, she and her mom left on a jet ski, while her dad also left on his.

In tears, the woman said she was not allowed to stay behind to translate for her grandpa and the family friend. She says she was told: “If you stay here to translate, they’re going to see that they don’t know English, and they’re going to cancel [your] appointment.”

“So we literally had the whole time to try not to speak Spanish,” she explained. “To make sure that they didn’t know I was translating for them.”

Unfortunately, she said her grandpa and the family friend were denied their rides.

“They couldn’t understand how to turn it on, and how to go backwards,” she said. “When we came back to look for them, they’re not there.”

The woman says workers then told her, “Oh yeah, we had to let them go because they don’t know English and they can’t ride the jet ski.”

The company said they take guests’ safety “very seriously”

Maya Schilder of Xtreme H2O shared a statement with mitú about the company’s side of the story.

“It is against the law for anyone but licensed livery instructors to give safety instructions, which is why we could not just rely on her to translate.”

“We cannot delegate our responsibility for safety to guests’ friends or family members,” the company asserted, which may explain why the TikTok user could not translate for her family.

“In the event of an emergency, our licensed staff must speak directly and immediately to the customer while they are operating the machinery,” they said. “And know that the guest will understand their instructions.”

However, this begs the question as to why the company does not have a translator, or a procedure in place for non-English speaking clients. The company told mitú, “We do not have Spanish-speaking staff at the moment, but we are always looking for qualified candidates.”

One TikTok user commented on the company’s response video on TikTok, “Why not make videos in different languages (ASL, Spanish, etc) with licensed [people] and give a small test after?”

Another questioned, “So what does your company do if you have a deaf guest, even if they have an interpreter?” Yet another wrote: “As a business you should’ve considered having a booklet or a video in Spanish explaining how to ride jet skis.”

Still, the company asserted that their license has “the authority to deny” service for guests’ safety.

“If our licensed staff do not believe that a guest has understood their instructions,” the company explained, “They have the authority to deny that person the privilege of renting one of our vessels.”

“Jet skis are inherently dangerous things, and we take the safety of our guests and the boating public very seriously,” they told us.

The company also denied any discrimination, saying they refunded the family’s money

On their TikTok, the company also pushed back on discrimination claims: “Ms. Garcia’s family did not encounter racism or discrimination.”

The company also told mitú, “We welcome everyone. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, language, national origin, or any other personal trait,” claiming they have “received thousands of phone calls threatening harm, including six death threats.”

Meanwhile, the woman took to TikTok again days after the incident to share her latest updates.

She explained, “I want to thank all the people who sent us so many positive comments and just supported us through this whole process.”

The woman agreed the company had refunded them, and that they already had the money in their accounts.

She also warned people against accidentally leaving negative comments and reviews on other companies’ pages. “Please at least make sure it is the right place. I don’t want you leaving comments about the situation on places that aren’t even the right one.”

She also responded to some commenters questioning why her family would travel to Florida, possibly pointing to the state’s immigration policies.

“We did hear the news about Florida, but as immigrants, our status was fine,” she explained. “So, our whole thing was already paid, so we thought we would be fine.”