Hi All
RE: Mike Ball Dive Expeditions
We are locals and had a very expensive trip booked with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions. (Please note the business is not owned / run by Mike Ball anymore). They cancelled the trip and have refused to refund anyone for the upcoming trips. We are out of pocket $3,800+ !
They cited that all customer guarantees are now null & void because of Corona Virus. This is absurd !!! On contacting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, they also confirmed this is not correct.
We requested a straight refund. They cancelled the trip one week before it was due to leave and we got a flimsy email saying they were not offering any refunds. Now they will not answer their phone or emails.
They also cited that they were not obligated to offer refunds. Their terms and conditions of sale do NOT include Force Majeure. (btw Force Majeure from a contract law sense only covers natural disasters or weather developments, not pandemic / epidemic). They mention cancellations for bad weather on their sales receipts and that is it.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission states that all merchants must offer a refund or other agreeable remedy if the customer so wishes. Since we paid for this trip in full more than 2 months prior to the start date, they really have everyone by the proverbial ..... I can only imagine how much money they have kept (at least 2 months worth of full trip costs).
To make matters worse they sent a "generic" email to everyone saying they were shutting the business down for 6 months and would see how things went ..... with all our money in their pockets
Then we have just seen last night that they have let all their staff go ..... poor people! This was on facebook.
In Australia all businesses are receiving a stimulus package plus guaranteed business loans. They are also receiving $750 per week / per employee to ensure that everyone keeps their jobs.
Considering all this, the fact that they will not refund their customers is appalling.
A truly terrible experience and service! We cannot believe we have been treated like this, especially being locals!
So No, we would not recommend you dive with them.
** We are pursuing all avenues open to us to try to re-coup this money.