Fantasy Island

[BDSC]

Dear all who are interested in the truth!

Since the middle of December 2010, Fantasy Island resort has seen a huge amount of investment from it's current owner. From new beds, TV's, aircon units and mini bars in the rooms to 3 new dive boats and new docks at the diveshop. The resort grounds have also seen a lot of improvement and things a now looking very nice again. Everything has had a new coat of paint and all the little things that needed doing have been done. The place looks great!
Fantasy island also spent a considerable amount of money on a stand at the DEMA show to introduce themselves back into the market place with Time2dive (Rich Henry's company) as the main agent. What a bad idea this was as 'apparently' Richard used this show to get contacts with other resorts, which was one of the reasons his contract with Fantasy was terminated.
AND lets get this quite clear now. The contract was terminated by Fantasy and not by Time2dive and it was for the main reason that 'apparently' Time2dive was not forwarding any monies for bookings, so customers were arriving at Fantasy and being asked to pay for their room and board. Obviously Rich has portrayed things differently but that's the way Rich is.
Now I'm trying to not get too personal but having met Rich on 3 occasions and hearing reports about his business practices directly from customers, apparently he is a 'Director' at fantasy, I would not believe anything he says.
Things here at Fantasy are great! The resort has an owner who really wants to make a difference and is clearly doing so. Lets just hope we choose our agents a little bit more carefully in the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you come and see us.
Regards
A very hopeful employee!

Thanks for the post! What you have said makes sense.

 

[miketrance84]

Dear all who are interested in the truth!

Since the middle of December 2010, Fantasy Island resort has seen a huge amount of investment from it's current owner. From new beds, TV's, aircon units and mini bars in the rooms to 3 new dive boats and new docks at the diveshop. The resort grounds have also seen a lot of improvement and things a now looking very nice again. Everything has had a new coat of paint and all the little things that needed doing have been done. The place looks great!
Fantasy island also spent a considerable amount of money on a stand at the DEMA show to introduce themselves back into the market place with Time2dive (Rich Henry's company) as the main agent. What a bad idea this was as 'apparently' Richard used this show to get contacts with other resorts, which was one of the reasons his contract with Fantasy was terminated.
AND lets get this quite clear now. The contract was terminated by Fantasy and not by Time2dive and it was for the main reason that 'apparently' Time2dive was not forwarding any monies for bookings, so customers were arriving at Fantasy and being asked to pay for their room and board. Obviously Rich has portrayed things differently but that's the way Rich is.
Now I'm trying to not get too personal but having met Rich on 3 occasions and hearing reports about his business practices directly from customers, apparently he is a 'Director' at fantasy, I would not believe anything he says.
Things here at Fantasy are great! The resort has an owner who really wants to make a difference and is clearly doing so. Lets just hope we choose our agents a little bit more carefully in the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you come and see us.
Regards
A very hopeful employee!

I'm kind of interested in who you are... Are you the representative for the resort or is PBenetiz? It's confusing from a customer perspective. If you are not the official representative for FI, you might be best served by staying out of this.

As you said in your post, "hopefully we choose our agents more carefully" this means you admit he was hired on your behalf and indeed had a contract with you. Let me educate you on what that means. Anything he does or doesn't do, is the RESORT'S responsibility. Even if what you say is true, you were responsible for not letting the situation get out of hand. Instead you just threw it in the lap of every customer who booked through him.

I know a fair deal about contracts, seeing how I own a business that deals specifically with the public. I do commercial and residental plumbing and, if one of my agents (employees) damages a property or steals money, I am responsible for it. If my employee burns someone's house down, I don't say sorry buddy I guess you need a new house. It is my liability and my duty to rectify the situation.

You know how I avoid situations like these? I keep track of what the agents of my company are doing. You at FI FAILED to do this, then when a problem arose, dumped it into the customer's lap. At best, this is extremely lousy customer service bordering on ineptitude. Blame whoever you want, it is ultimately an issue you are responsible for.

If Rich was as bad as you say, (problems since DEC) why was he still taking bookings with you? Either he's telling the truth or you are, it's still YOUR problem. Under no circumstances should it be mine. Instead of focusing on the problems between you and whomever, you should be posting solutions. I think you should take responsibility and honor the bookings your AUTHORIZED AGENT made.

Also, there is another thread someone posted of a FI vacation they came back from and said they didn't have a shower head, and the resort was completely without water for hours every day. If this is "great" I would hate to see your defination of bad.

 

[CODMAN]

Please remember that this is not the US we are talking about. It's Honduras (actually, isn't FI owned by a european company?), even though they were doing business with a US company. The things aren't necessarily the same as if they were in the US and statements like "You are responsible", etc. etc. etc. are not necessarily the case (unless you specialise in international law, and know this for a fact). Legal issues are different from one country to the next.

This said, I still agree that it's not good customer service to put the load on the customer... Not good for a reputation... Even if the financial burden would probably be great from respecting the bookings.

Not trying to add gas on the fire, but I would definetly like to know for sure "Where the money is ". That would tell a lot...

I'm kind of interested in who you are... Are you the representative for the resort or is PBenetiz? It's confusing from a customer perspective. If you are not the official representative for FI, you might be best served by staying out of this.

As you said in your post, "hopefully we choose our agents more carefully" this means you admit he was hired on your behalf and indeed had a contract with you. Let me educate you on what that means. Anything he does or doesn't do, is the RESORT'S responsibility. Even if what you say is true, you were responsible for not letting the situation get out of hand. Instead you just threw it in the lap of every customer who booked through him.

I know a fair deal about contracts, seeing how I own a business that deals specifically with the public. I do commercial and residental plumbing and, if one of my agents (employees) damages a property or steals money, I am responsible for it. If my employee burns someone's house down, I don't say sorry buddy I guess you need a new house. It is my liability and my duty to rectify the situation.

You know how I avoid situations like these? I keep track of what the agents of my company are doing. You at FI FAILED to do this, then when a problem arose, dumped it into the customer's lap. At best, this is extremely lousy customer service bordering on ineptitude. Blame whoever you want, it is ultimately an issue you are responsible for.

If Rich was as bad as you say, (problems since DEC) why was he still taking bookings with you? Either he's telling the truth or you are, it's still YOUR problem. Under no circumstances should it be mine. Instead of focusing on the problems between you and whomever, you should be posting solutions. I think you should take responsibility and honor the bookings your AUTHORIZED AGENT made.

Also, there is another thread someone posted of a FI vacation they came back from and said they didn't have a shower head, and the resort was completely without water for hours every day. If this is "great" I would hate to see your defination of bad.

 

[flareside]

I'm kind of interested in who you are... Are you the representative for the resort or is PBenetiz? It's confusing from a customer perspective. If you are not the official representative for FI, you might be best served by staying out of this.

As you said in your post, "hopefully we choose our agents more carefully" this means you admit he was hired on your behalf and indeed had a contract with you. Let me educate you on what that means. Anything he does or doesn't do, is the RESORT'S responsibility. Even if what you say is true, you were responsible for not letting the situation get out of hand. Instead you just threw it in the lap of every customer who booked through him.

I know a fair deal about contracts, seeing how I own a business that deals specifically with the public. I do commercial and residental plumbing and, if one of my agents (employees) damages a property or steals money, I am responsible for it. If my employee burns someone's house down, I don't say sorry buddy I guess you need a new house. It is my liability and my duty to rectify the situation.

You know how I avoid situations like these? I keep track of what the agents of my company are doing. You at FI FAILED to do this, then when a problem arose, dumped it into the customer's lap. At best, this is extremely lousy customer service bordering on ineptitude. Blame whoever you want, it is ultimately an issue you are responsible for.

If Rich was as bad as you say, (problems since DEC) why was he still taking bookings with you? Either he's telling the truth or you are, it's still YOUR problem. Under no circumstances should it be mine. Instead of focusing on the problems between you and whomever, you should be posting solutions. I think you should take responsibility and honor the bookings your AUTHORIZED AGENT made.

Mike:

There is one little problem with your argument. The booking agent is an entirely separate company, not an employee. No more of an employee than your local travel agent is an employee of the airlines they represent. And while travel agents have contractual agreements with airlines, if you bought an airline ticket from a travel agent and they did not pass along the payment to the airline, would you honestly expect that the airline would honor your reservation? It is the exact same situation here.

 

[miketrance84]

Please remember that this is not the US we are talking about. It's Honduras (actually, isn't FI owned by a european company?), even though they were doing business with a US company. The things aren't necessarily the same as if they were in the US and statements like "You are responsible", etc. etc. etc. are not necessarily the case (unless you specialise in international law, and know this for a fact). Legal issues are different from one country to the next.

This said, I still agree that it's not good customer service to put the load on the customer... Not good for a reputation... Even if the financial burden would probably be great from respecting the bookings.

Not trying to add gas on the fire, but I would definetly like to know for sure "Where the money is ". That would tell a lot...

Even if they aren't legally responsible, I'm sure you can agree they are responsible from a ethical standpoint. Sorry if my posts come off angry, it's just because I cannot fathom why a business wouldn't be responsible for their agents, legally or not. I guess it's disclaimer time. I am not a Lawyer, nor do I claim to be. My previous post about responsibility is how I practice business and based on American laws i'm familiar with. It should not be taken as legal advice, mearly an opinion from a customer who has been fleeced by a resort.

 

[miketrance84]

Mike:

There is one little problem with your argument. The booking agent is an entirely separate company, not an employee. No more of an employee than your local travel agent is an employee of the airlines they represent. And while travel agents have contractual agreements with airlines, if you bought an airline ticket from a travel agent and they did not pass along the payment to the airline, would you honestly expect that the airline would honor your reservation? It is the exact same situation here.

I suppose it depends on what the contract says. If they did indeed have a contractual obligation I would think the airline might honor it and sue the company. I don't know much about the travel industry, I will admit, but this is how it's done in construction. Do travel agents indeed have contracts with airlines?

All I can speak of is my personal experiance. In construction, you're hired to do a job usually through a general contractor. If one of the sub contractors screws up or cannot deliver on their agreement, the General is the one ultimately responsible to the customer. They are seperate companies too, but the General still takes the responsibility. So the General contractor watches their subcontractors carefully to avoid their liability.

If what FI says is true, which who knows, it is still their fault for not terminating Rich's contract when they first found the problem. As they didn't do this, either they are lying about what really went on or, they are inept and shouldn't have agents at all. Legally or not, if you hire someone, you need to make sure they are competant.

You cannot honestly tell me the sheer number of guests effected had just booked within the last few weeks. When payments stopped being sent, the relationship should have been terminated and, the amount of money owed wouldn't have been very great. Then you absorb these costs in an effort to avoid bad publicity and screw customers. CajunDiva's group was scheduled to leave a week before this happened, FI should have done something about this LONG before it reached that point. I'm sure payment was required sooner than a week before guest arrival. It doesn't bode well for their story that payment was indeed withheld.

Since this didn't happen it makes Rich's story more plausable. Along with the last FI trip report stating the resort didn't have water, and was missing shower heads, and someones phone was STOLEN out of their room, seems to point to FI being short of cash and doing what they can to raise extra money.

 

[Rodraid]

I would think the airline might honor it and sue the company.

Try and get on an airplane without paying. I think you are living in a "Fantasy Land" if you think you will board. Pay the entire airfare and then when you arrive at the airport refuse to pay the check baggage fee and board with expectations of your bag making it. I will give you a hint your bags will not make it. I would make a bet contracts signed on Hondurian paper are not the same as contract's signed on American paper.

I have been following this thread closely because I plan going to Roatan next month but have not booked my stay but expected to stay at Fantasy Island. I have stayed there twice before and by no means is the place a 4 star resort, heck I might give it 2 stars as far as the hotel goes but the diving is 6 star and I realize this is a "dive resort" so I know what to expect.

Back to issue with this thread.

I received an email from Rich's company informing me of the issues with Fantasy Island and I have not booked anything with him. My two previous stays went through Bay Adventures but maybe they then book through his company but I find it very unprofessional to send out blanket emails to everyone who has stayed at FI with his spin on what happened. I find it pretty odd his company has been so quick to sign up with a new resort and just so happened he is moving his previous FI bookings to the new resort and it is ALL FI fault because they will not honor the reservations. I also find it hard to believe his company sent the money to FI and FI would just give it back to him so he can rebook all of the reservations with the resort he has a new "contract" with.

We will never know exactly what happened here but to believe one side of this story and blame FI just doesn't smell right. If I were one of the affected people I am sure I would be extremely mad but if you really think about it you might be placing your blame in the wrong direction.

Instead of saying you will never stay at FI again it might be appropriate to say you will never book your reservation with is company. What if, he took your money and instead of paying it to the resort you initially wanted to stay he sent it to the one he now has a better contract with?? He comes out like a hero because HE saved your vacation when he just changed it without your approval.

Obviously everything in this thread is speculation so this is mine.


Rod

 

[flareside]

Along with the last FI trip report stating the resort didn't have water, and was missing shower heads, and someones phone was STOLEN out of their room, seems to point to FI being short of cash and doing what they can to raise extra money.

I don't know where they get their water but a reliable water supply is totally dependent on a reliable power supply which I hear is still "a work in progress" in Roatan. As far as the thefts, people will steal anything. But with the current rack rate of $150/ppdo at full occupancy that's an operating budget of roughly $1 million per month. So even at 1/4 occupancy, the idea that management is fencing stolen cell phones to make up for any significant operating shortfalls, simple math will tell you it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket toward solving the problem. The thefts are either staff or other guests (either of which is still ultimately an issue that FI needs to resolve)

 

[miketrance84]

I don't know where they get their water but a reliable water supply is totally dependent on a reliable power supply which I hear is still "a work in progress" in Roatan. As far as the thefts, people will steal anything. But with the current rack rate of $150/ppdo at full occupancy that's an operating budget of roughly $1 million per month. So even at 1/4 occupancy, the idea that management is fencing stolen cell phones to make up for any significant operating shortfalls, simple math will tell you it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket toward solving the problem. The thefts are either staff or other guests (either of which is still ultimately an issue that FI needs to resolve)

I also doubt management was responsible for the stolen phone, but it was most likely someone from the staff. Unless the guest left his door open, the room should lock upon closing the door so another guest stealing it would prove unlikely.

 

[CuracaoJ]

I don't have a dog in this fight in the least, but I have run resorts here in Curacao, and have worked with many booking agencies. Just FYI...

The averaging booking for a vacation (at least here in Curacao) is 73 days in advance. Every booking agency I worked with (Including Pegasus and the all the other top 5 in the world) had a MINIMUM reimbursement rate of 30 days, many were quarterly, and some would not pay you until the guests actually arrived, stayed, paid, and then waited another 30 days to avoid charge backs and customer complaints.

My point is this -- If what FI says is true (as represented by unknown person(s) with very few posts) it is entirely possible that a booking agency made numerious bookings and collected fees in advance without passing payment to the resort, and the resort wouldn't even begin to know it was an issue for a few weeks. Then, as these things start, a gentle reminder for payment, another phone call or two, a letter etc... it could easily be 4-6 months before the resort knew that they were being really taken to the carpet by an agent.

Now, as to Mike's point I agree that the resort should not put the customers in the middle, but if the booking agency was responsible for a large portion of the sales, you could, as a resort owner, be looking at bankrupcy vs. good customer service, and that is a whole different situation than one or two bookings.

My 2 pennies, and worth half as much.

Safe diving,
Jeff