Coralia confirmation?

[aogram]

Four days ago I sent wire transfer to Coralia Liveaboard to reserve a trip, but have not been able to get confirmation from Coralia that it has been received. Up until now, I have had very good response to email inquiries. I'm now fearing that a wire transfer was not wise and that I may have been scammed somehow. Has anyone else done a wire transfer to reserve spots?

 

[Cert1967]

Four days ago I sent wire transfer to Coralia Liveaboard to reserve a trip, but have not been able to get confirmation from Coralia that it has been received. Up until now, I have had very good response to email inquiries. I'm now fearing that a wire transfer was not wise and that I may have been scammed somehow. Has anyone else done a wire transfer to reserve spots?

Use a reputable agent like Greg Carter
@aquabluegreg

Great service- better price and no worries

Me? I wouldn’t be concerned, Coralia is legit

 

[cozcharlie]

Wires are the most common way of paying for scuba travel expenses in Indonesia in my experience. Sometimes they can take a few days to show up (especially if you are using intermediary banks in between ). As long as you are certain you are dealing with Coralia (you found them via website and not some random email offer or internet post ) I wouldn’t sweat it much. Might be their bookkeeper is on vacation or something. I have never dealt with them , but most liveaboards aren’t part of some large company that would have a team of finance people covering each others responsibilities.

 

[aogram]

Wires are the most common way of paying for scuba travel expenses in Indonesia in my experience. Sometimes they can take a few days to show up (especially if you are using intermediary banks in between ). As long as you are certain you are dealing with Coralia (you found them via website and not some random email offer or internet post ) I wouldn’t sweat it much. Might be their bookkeeper is on vacation or something. I have never dealt with them , but most liveaboards aren’t part of some large company that would have a team of finance people covering each others responsibilities.

Thanks; I received confirmation yesterday. It is good to know that wire transfers are the most common approach.

 

[clownfishsydney]

What do you mean by a "wire transfer"? I have no idea what this means, perhaps it is just what we call an international bank transfer.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Thanks; I received confirmation yesterday. It is good to know that wire transfers are the most common approach.

It always makes me nervous too.

 

[cetacean]

Four days ago I sent wire transfer to Coralia Liveaboard to reserve a trip, but have not been able to get confirmation from Coralia that it has been received. Up until now, I have had very good response to email inquiries. I'm now fearing that a wire transfer was not wise and that I may have been scammed somehow. Has anyone else done a wire transfer to reserve spots?

Glad the transfer worked out...

A best practice I continue to use every time I wire $$ overseas is I always send a first wire with a (much) smaller partial payment.

If a liveaboard wants $4k for a deposit, I will wire $1k (at most) to make sure the right account numbers, etc. are being used. I then follow up with full payment once the first payment is confirmed as received.

Yes, some operators want full payment (or a full deposit) all at once, but I've never had anyone actually say "no" to this approach. I've also used it exclusively for transfers to Africa, where there is a much greater chance of scams, etc. it seems.

 

[cozcharlie]

What do you mean by a "wire transfer"? I have no idea what this means, perhaps it is just what we call an international bank transfer.

Wire transfer is a fairly general term for electronically sending money from one person/entity to another. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an international transfer.

Usually these days “wire” does mean sending money via the banking system, but the term goes back to people sending money via Western Union telegraph 150 years ago and would still apply to that general type of money transfer . I don’t think people use the word wire for apps like Venmo though.

Wires don’t really have much in the way of fraud protection like credit cards, but Indonesian businesses seem to use wires way more than the States. If someone in the states asks for a wire for a normal one off consumer transaction, there is a reasonable chance it is a scam so that is why the OP got a little nervous. Obviously large scale transactions in the states may use wires (real estate and business to business) , but not as much for day to day travel purchases.

[Wire transfer - Wikipedia]

 

[clownfishsydney]

Wire transfer is a fairly general term for electronically sending money from one person/entity to another. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an international transfer.

Usually these days “wire” does mean sending money via the banking system, but the term goes back to people sending money via Western Union telegraph 150 years ago and would still apply to that general type of money transfer . I don’t think people use the word wire for apps like Venmo though.

Wires don’t really have much in the way of fraud protection like credit cards, but Indonesian businesses seem to use wires way more than the States. If someone in the states asks for a wire for a normal one off consumer transaction, there is a reasonable chance it is a scam so that is why the OP got a little nervous. Obviously large scale transactions in the states may use wires (real estate and business to business) , but not as much for day to day travel purchases.

[Wire transfer - Wikipedia]

Okay, so what the rest of the world calls electronic funds transfer or similar. This is how we do virtually all of our money transfers in Australia, very common. In fact, you can transfer money to someone by just using their mobile phone number or email address. Money is transferred within a second. International transfers are a bit harder and slower, but they work.

I have not written a cheque in over 15 years and only received a few in that period. Cheques will be phased out here in about a year I think.

 

[cetacean]

Wire transfer is a fairly general term for electronically sending money from one person/entity to another. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an international transfer.

Usually these days “wire” does mean sending money via the banking system, but the term goes back to people sending money via Western Union telegraph 150 years ago and would still apply to that general type of money transfer . I don’t think people use the word wire for apps like Venmo though.

Wires don’t really have much in the way of fraud protection like credit cards, but Indonesian businesses seem to use wires way more than the States. If someone in the states asks for a wire for a normal one off consumer transaction, there is a reasonable chance it is a scam so that is why the OP got a little nervous. Obviously large scale transactions in the states may use wires (real estate and business to business) , but not as much for day to day travel purchases.

[Wire transfer - Wikipedia]

I think you missed the primary reason that credit cards are hard to use to pay for services/reservations in Indonesia (and several other developing areas, like Africa).

As US credit card company is going to likely deny charges for reserving a liveaboard spot if originating in Indonesia. We've seen this happen frequently... wire transfers are easier for the receiving company in places like Indonesia, and they don't have to deal with transaction charges (which, like some companies, will just pass the cost on the the purchaser by charging a fee).