Blue O Two holding a 50% off sale for Red Sea routes

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Blue O Two is who our Philippine trip was booked through. Cancelled in 2020 bc of Covid, Canceled 2021 bc of Covid.

Now they won't honor their 50% off sale and won't offer a refund when we were told it was NO RISK

BUYER BEWARE
 
That's unfortunate. I went with them back in 2019, on the Philippine Siren, and they were very accommodating - my luggage, which contained all my dive gear, got delayed, and they got it sent overland from Cebu City to Maya so that I got it on the second day of the trip. Also, when myself and another guest got ear problems halfway into the trip, they got us a ride to a hospital in Dumaguete where we got it sorted out. Covid hit a lot of tourism operators hard; refunds are few and difficult to come by anywhere.
 
I think they're dishonest... offering 50% discounts they'll never honor... they changed policy on us.

This is what I received in my email a few days ago from my agent:

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Siren/Master fleet has changed the way they deal with reschedules. Currently they are only offering guests a dollar credit to reschedule their trip on the boat. That means that you will have to pay the full price when you reschedule your 10 night trip aboard the Philippine Siren to 2022 or the future. "

They've lost my business forever even if its free
 
That's a fairly common practice in the travel industry, I believe. If, for example, you buy deeply discounted plane tickets (off-season or whatever) and then reschedule to a date that carries a higher fare, airline companies will charge you the difference. In this case, the rescheduling was caused by a third party (the Wuhan virus), but the core issue is quite similar.
 
Understood, but they should offer a full refund when they advertise no risk.

To me, no risk means no risk.

Its shady, its deceptive and dishonest

but you said they didn’t honor their 50% discount. That’s quite different than not offering a refund. Why did you expect a full refund? Was that stated in the “no risk” booking policy?

To me, no risk means you can always reschedule at a later date if you need to cancel due to covid or unforeseen circumstances. That’s no risk. You book your trip and you get your trip whenever that may be even if delayed. They seem to be allowing you to do exactly that. I would never expect a full refund. The response of theirs that you quoted makes no mention of a refund, only discusses rescheduling.

I would never take a boat in the Siren fleet simply due to their track record of fires and sinking vessels…but to me, they didn’t do anything wrong here.
 
The listed in their terms that:

We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than ninety (90) days before your departure date, except for reasons of Events Beyond our Control or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your holiday before this date if, e.g., the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached.

If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of:

  1. (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements; or
  2. cancelling your booking and having a refund of all monies paid; or
  3. if available and where we offer one, accepting an offer of an alternative holiday (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).
If I'm reading the above, I would've thought that the pandemic caused cancellation should entitle me to a full refund too.
 
The listed in their terms that:

We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than ninety (90) days before your departure date, except for reasons of Events Beyond our Control or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your holiday before this date if, e.g., the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached.

If we have to make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and if there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of:

  1. (for significant changes) accepting the changed arrangements; or
  2. cancelling your booking and having a refund of all monies paid; or
  3. if available and where we offer one, accepting an offer of an alternative holiday (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value).
If I'm reading the above, I would've thought that the pandemic caused cancellation should entitle me to a full refund too.

fair enough, same here. I agree.
 
What is stated on their site and what was told to me verbally are two different things.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom