A complaint of theft and fraud was included in the Biggar RCMP's July 21 report.
"A faulty marine service appointment saw an individual from Saskatoon end up not too happy. The complaint came after the owner of a boat motor had sent his property to the location in question for repairs, later claiming fraud and theft as he returned to the area to collect with other information being given"
Fast forward one week, and an update was given in the detachment's July 28 report.
"A couple of people came to town this week to retrieve their boats from the local small engine, no repair shop," it read.
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Initially, the individual dealing with the situation made a post to the r/Saskatoon Reddit page describing what was going on.
"This guy received my deposit but won't deliver my boat. He lies again and again," stated the Redditor. "Is there a way I can get my boat back?"
In line with the police report, the one behind the original post updated Reddit with the fact that they got their boat, and money back. Before that, internet detectives got busy.
"Business name is Run Right Repair. My name is Trevor," read one of the texts. As the post gained attention, and people combed through the text thread, a quick look at the comments section showed a common name likely behind it.
"I'll have it finished this evening," read a text sent by Trevor on July 2. "Ready for pickup tomorrow afternoon," read a subsequent text on July 6, the same song and dance coming in texts dated July 9, July 15, and July 18 until the boat owner finally had enough.
"Return my boat and deposit. You ate your words so many times," said the boat owner, met with a reply of, "I'll have it ready for pick up by end of day."
It was not ready for pickup, as advice in the comments directed the person to make a police report and file the boat as stolen, while others advised to just go back to the boat yard and pick it up himself. The individual went ahead with both options to create what ended up a happy ending.
"I got my boat and money back! The boat was at the same location I dropped off," read a comment updating the situation back on July 25.
If anyone else has faced a similar situation they are encouraged to file a police report.