Ask for refund and rescheduling due to COVID 19 but refused?

[chinawokee]

Hi, I am really new to this forum and now I am having a relatively unpleasant conversation with a dive abroad company.

I booked a 7 day labor day trip to Hawaii this February and the policy was no refund~~~~ It was fine with me at that time... then the covid 19 started and things become crazy...

Though the trip starts in July, I don't feel the situation would be fine by that time... I am worried Hawaii state might reopen tourism even with 20K+ daily new cases nationwide. I don't feel safe about living with a group of people in such a confined environment...

I have contacted the dive abroad company about rescheduling and refund. I understand they need cash and this is the toughest time for them. I told them I am OK with a voucher for the year 2021 2022 2023... but they insist to wait till July... i.e., they are eager to take customers on board as long as they can pass the minimal state requirement... or just wait for divers like me to feel uneasy and take the cash without providing any service...

If anyone in the same or similar situation, please contact me... We can discuss that and see what we can do...

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

There are a couple of streams discussing this already, should hopefully be a resource for you:

On a personal level, I think you are being reasonable asking for a deferral And I think all boats should offer that for cancelled trips, but only if the trip is actually cancelled. ‘Minimum government requirements’ are still the ‘government requirements’.

I appreciate that people may not feel like they want to still go on the trip if it is sailing and they can get there , but they should take the hit in that situation...not the operator. My flights to Ecuador for mid July trip were just cancelled and the trip hasn’t been cancelled yet, but I appreciate that isn’t their issue....I’m still thinking it will be cancelled, but I also may have to spring for 30 hour $2k flights if the trip does sail...

I’d hang on, you may well find that the trip is cancelled...

 

[living4experiences]

Have you made your final payment? If not, read your cancellation terms and what happens if they cancel the booking and if you get a refund or a reschedule to another date. If you've made your final payment and they have all your money, you're stuck unless and until they cancel it. If they cancel the trip and If you paid by credit card, you may dispute the charges because they're not providing the service you paid for and they don't offer a refund or credit towards a future booking. I speak from experience. I'm in a holding pattern right now waiting for a dispute resolution with my credit card company. One day after final payment was due for my live-aboard trip, they cancelled the trip and refuse to give me a refund, even though their cancellation terms offer a refund. They will only offer a credit for a future booking. The problem is: what if they go bankrupt in the meantime, which is a very really possibility these days? Also, it's a curious move on their part that they waited till they had all my money then cancelled the trip the next day.

I feel your anxiety, but right now all you can do is wait and see. If the trip is in July, hopefully, they will cancel soon. My live-aboard cancelled 60 days before the sail date but it was to the Philippines and they were shutting down pretty early.

 

[Dan]

I have a liveaboard trip to Guadalupe, Mexico in July. I'll wait for them to decide to go or not.

My liveaboard trip to French Polynesia in May has been rescheduled by them to October.

 

[chinawokee]

Have you made your final payment? If not, read your cancellation terms and what happens if they cancel the booking and if you get a refund or a reschedule to another date. If you've made your final payment and they have all your money, you're stuck unless and until they cancel it. If they cancel the trip and If you paid by credit card, you may dispute the charges because they're not providing the service you paid for and they don't offer a refund or credit towards a future booking. I speak from experience. I'm in a holding pattern right now waiting for a dispute resolution with my credit card company. One day after final payment was due for my live-aboard trip, they cancelled the trip and refuse to give me a refund, even though their cancellation terms offer a refund. They will only offer a credit for a future booking. The problem is: what if they go bankrupt in the meantime, which is a very really possibility these days? Also, it's a curious move on their part that they waited till they had all my money then cancelled the trip the next day.

I feel your anxiety, but right now all you can do is wait and see. If the trip is in July, hopefully, they will cancel soon. My live-aboard cancelled 60 days before the sail date but it was to the Philippines and they were shutting down pretty early.

Yes. I have made the final payment. I am OK with rescheduling (I work in a university so I have summer and winter break... a little bit more flexible than most people actually...) and I understand the situation is hard for them as they may still need to pay for some maintenance... I don't want to be mean to them, but they are driving me mad for their refusal to rescheduling...

I do feel what your company is doing is really sketchy... Should I say we should pray for them to go bankrupt soon so you the credit card or DAN can reimburse you?

 

[P-Dog]

Hi, I am really new to this forum and now I am having a relatively unpleasant conversation with a dive abroad company.

I booked a 7 day labor day trip to Hawaii this February and the policy was no refund~~~~ It was fine with me at that time... then the covid 19 started and things become crazy...

Though the trip starts in July, I don't feel the situation would be fine by that time... I am worried Hawaii state might reopen tourism even with 20K+ daily new cases nationwide. I don't feel safe about living with a group of people in such a confined environment...

I have contacted the dive abroad company about rescheduling and refund. I understand they need cash and this is the toughest time for them. I told them I am OK with a voucher for the year 2021 2022 2023... but they insist to wait till July... i.e., they are eager to take customers on board as long as they can pass the minimal state requirement... or just wait for divers like me to feel uneasy and take the cash without providing any service...

If anyone in the same or similar situation, please contact me... We can discuss that and see what we can do...

The boat you are talking about is currently docked.

I'll give you a rundown on what's happening here, since I live on the Big Island. We currently have no cases of Covid-19. Overall, on the island, we've had 81 positive test results. Of those positive tests all have quarantined at home and been cleared as recovered. Except one person. One person got sick and went into the hospital for two days. Then was released.

Hawaii is currently doing a 14 day quarantine on all incoming travelers. It's through the end of June at this point. That is even though temperature checks are being done at the airport. Our restaurants, small stores, and dive shops are all going out of business since we are an economy that is 100% dependent on tourism. The "minimal state requirements" for boats are currently so strict that I can't go out fishing with my neighbor on his boat and he is a second father to me. The authorities patrol the boat launches and the harbor. The boat you booked and the dive shops will NOT risk their hard earned/very expensive Hawaii commercial boating licenses to take a few people out or take cash without providing service.

The eventual plan is for all incoming passengers to be tested before they can even come to Hawaii, but there is no current time frame.

I think it is very safe for you to hold on. Remain patient. The quarantine requirements alone will likely lead to the cancellation of your trip.

 

[chinawokee]

To my knowledge, there is only one liveaboard in Hawaii. That's the Kona Aggressor. It's currently docked.

I'll give you a rundown on what's happening here, since I live on the Big Island. We currently have no cases of Covid-19. Overall, on the island, we've had 81 positive test results. Of those positive tests all have quarantined at home and been cleared as recovered. Except one person. One person got sick and went into the hospital for two days. Then was released.

Hawaii is currently doing a 14 day quarantine on all incoming travelers. It's through the end of June at this point. That is even though temperature checks are being done at the airport. Our restaurants, small stores, and dive shops are all going out of business since we are an economy that is 100% dependent on tourism. The "minimal state requirements" for boats are currently so strict that I can't go out fishing with my neighbor on his boat and he is a second father to me. The authorities patrol the boat launches and the harbor. The Aggressor and the dive shops will NOT risk their hard earned/very expensive Hawaii commercial boating licenses to take a few people out or take cash without providing service.

The eventual plan is for all incoming passengers to be tested before they can even come to Hawaii, but there is no current time frame.

I think it is very safe for you to hold on. Remain patient. The quarantine requirements alone will likely lead to the cancellation of your trip.

I chose not to mention the exact name of the company as I don't know what they will do eventually... As I said, I am open to rescheduling and I understand their difficulties... The problem is their refusal to negotiate...

 

[MiloR]

You mentioned in the OP that it was a "No refund" trip. You mention several other times that you want to reschedule. Was there a reschedule option when you booked or are you trying to invent one that didn't exist?

Not trying to be combative, just trying to get a handle on the entire situation. My view, at this point, is that there is no $$ refund required if they are able to sail and YOU choose not to go. If there was no reschedule option offered at booking and YOU choose to not to go if they are able to sail then again...no $$ refund and no obligation to reschedule no matter how much you want them to.

I say this because they have costs for the July trip, if it actually goes. You forcing a reschedule leaves them short $$ for the July trip. Just because you want to go later does not cover their costs in July.

 

[P-Dog]

I chose not to mention the exact name of the company as I don't know what they will do eventually... As I said, I am open to rescheduling and I understand their difficulties... The problem is their refusal to negotiate...

Sorry. I just went back and changed my post to remove the name of the company. If you delete the quoted portion of your post it will also delete the company name.

At this point, from what you have said, they have "negotiated". They have told you to hang tight and wait longer to see how things unfold. This is a fluid situation that changes daily.

From what you are saying you don't feel comfortable traveling. If the state opens up, the trip will probably run. That's when you will need to really start your negotiation with them to try and get a voucher for a later date. At this point it's all hypothetical. They can't give you a voucher for a cancelled trip for a trip that hasn't, yet, been cancelled.

As I already stated, Hawaii isn't looking like it's going to open to tourists any time soon, so your best bet is to wait and see what happens.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

In the meantime others may be inadvertently booking with this company...we are all adults here and we are capable of making an informed decision as opposed to jumping to conclusions. These sorts of issues do not mean that divers will blacklist boats, but may mean they ask more questions before booking

I never understand why ‘withholding the name of the operation’ is helpful to anyone.....Nor why people come to the board asking for help/advice but insist on omitting the information that would be helpful or advisable to others.

Please don’t take this as a personal attack, it’s not meant to be...

I just feel that irrespective of the resolution, you are in this situation and the withholding of information means others are less likely to be aware or question it with the operator in the future prior to booking....thus making it more likely some other poor soul will be on here asking for the same help before too long..

it sometimes feel like an ‘I got my resolution, so I’m not concerned if anyone has this issue in the future’....

however, I also concede that others will likely disagree with me on this point...