about those papers you need...

Here's a question. Is a five-year USCG documentation for $375 better than a $130 five-year documentation?

So, in yesterday's mail there was an envelope containing a notice that my USCG documentation will expire soonish and that I should renew it. As it happens the notice was not from the USCG.

The actual sender of the notice was someone calling themselves the National Documentation Portal and went to a lot of trouble to make their notice look like it was from the USCG. So much so in fact, that you really have to look closely to see it's not from the Coasties.

The idea is that you'll assume that they are the USCG and you'll renew your documentation with them. The problem is that when you go to their site (which sorta/kinda looks a lot like it's the USCG) you find that there's a big difference in cost.

The cost for you to renew your documentation with the actual USCG is $26 a year which adds up to $130 for a five year renewal.

With me so far?

Now if you were to go the the National Documentation Portal and renew with them, the cost is $375 and that's some serious fuckery.

So, what exactly do you get for that extra $245? 

All they do is file your information which they had you fill out and pay the fee with your money and pocket the rest. The labor/hassle on your part is the same whether you use the USCG site or theirs. 

Sadly, be warned that there are a lot of folks running this sort of grift and, while it's legal, the USCG should really do something about it.

In the meantime, the cost per year for USCG Documentation renewals is $26 a year and if you're paying more you're being scammed.