Couple charged $560 after jet ski flips over; netizens suspect rigging

Places like Hawaii, Phuket, Goa and more have become a vacationer’s paradise for their pristine beaches and cool vibe. Apart from soaking in the sun, watersports, especially jet skiing have become almost a must-do for travelers. However, jet ski scams are on the rise as well. In a viral story, a couple who rented a jet ski ended up paying over $560 in damages. TikTok creator Opey Love (@opeylove) shared a video showing what went down there.

Flipping a jet ski may cost vacationers

In the viral video, which now has over 2.8 million views, Opey appears to be sitting on a boat after the incident. In the overlay text, Opey wrote they could only manage to be on the jet ski for a total of 10 seconds before flipping it. On top of it, the rental company charged them $560 for damages.

 While she was laughing in the video, she expressed her frustration in the caption. “All jokes aside I’m really pissed,” she wrote in the caption. She further wrote that it wasn’t clear to her that how flipping a jet ski for less than 30 seconds cost them $560 in damages.

She further explained that the people who rented the jet ski to them knew the couple had no experience in driving jet skis and still they did not provide any guidance or assistance to them. Even in the video, Opey flips the camera to her boyfriend asking “What just happened?”. To this, her boyfriend replied that he capsized the jet ski but had no idea how.

While the couple were clueless, viewers were largely suspicious of a scam playing out. “When I was in Colombia, our travel agent advised us to not ride jet skis in certain areas because they rigged the jet skis to flip over so they could charge people extra. Wondering if that’s what they did,” wrote user @mrs1ceo.

Meanwhile, several others suggest that flipping a jet ski is rather common and causes no damage. “We have flipped over my dad's jet ski and nothing happened and it took us like 5 minutes to flip it back over, so sorry this happened to y’all,” added another user @cantugenesis.

Some viewers said that in certain scenarios, the jet ski can be damaged. “Depends on how they flipped it back upright. If you flip it the wrong direction it will flood the jet ski,” explained user @ahmadamintiktok.

Does flipping a jet ski cause damage?

Turns out, the wise viewers are right. Flipping a jet ski may cause damage if water floods into the crankcase and the engine, as per actionwatersportz.com. However, a blog on the website explained that it isn’t that difficult to fix the damage, so it may not cost $500.

But there are numerous blogs and vlogs of jet ski scams happening across the world. According to a blog from Thavorn Beach Village Resort, scammers in Phuket, Thailand, provide already damaged jet skis to tourists and then extort money from them. Forums suggest this type of scam is prevalent across the world. Thus, it could be that Opey was indeed a victim of a scam.

For more updates, vlogs, health and wellness content, and more, follow Opey Love (@opeylove) on TikTok.