Fringehead
Registered
My husband and I were booked on a March 21-28 trip to St. Eustatius, organized by a nonprofit organization.
A few days before our scheduled departure from the US, Statia closed its borders to US-originating flights due to the pandemic. We had no beef with that - Statia is a very small island with limited medical facilities. The closure was also completely beyond our group's control.
The group had booked the trip with Scubaqua/The Old Gin House Hotel. We pre-paid for our rooms, diving and some dining (several thousand dollars' worth). We were able to get back most of our airline fees (only by disputing the credit charges; the airlines were not at all cooperative, even though THEY cancelled our flights); however, we'd paid the Scubaqua/Old Gin House fees by check. The nonprofit tried to negotitate with Scubaqua, but Scubaqua refused to refund a penny, and initially refused even rebooking the group.
On July 30, we received an email from the nonprofit, stating that Scubaqua/The Old Gin House absolutely will not refund any of our money, but they'll (grudgingly) rebook us - only for the week of July 3 -10, 2021. That's a very narrow window, and much too soon! My husband and I are over 65; we can't make international travel plans until there's an effective COVID vaccine available to the public (which may not happen any time soon, despite all the rosy predictions).
If I were reckless/brave/desperate enough to do international travel right now, I sure wouldn't book anything with Scubaqua/The Old Gin House.
A few days before our scheduled departure from the US, Statia closed its borders to US-originating flights due to the pandemic. We had no beef with that - Statia is a very small island with limited medical facilities. The closure was also completely beyond our group's control.
The group had booked the trip with Scubaqua/The Old Gin House Hotel. We pre-paid for our rooms, diving and some dining (several thousand dollars' worth). We were able to get back most of our airline fees (only by disputing the credit charges; the airlines were not at all cooperative, even though THEY cancelled our flights); however, we'd paid the Scubaqua/Old Gin House fees by check. The nonprofit tried to negotitate with Scubaqua, but Scubaqua refused to refund a penny, and initially refused even rebooking the group.
On July 30, we received an email from the nonprofit, stating that Scubaqua/The Old Gin House absolutely will not refund any of our money, but they'll (grudgingly) rebook us - only for the week of July 3 -10, 2021. That's a very narrow window, and much too soon! My husband and I are over 65; we can't make international travel plans until there's an effective COVID vaccine available to the public (which may not happen any time soon, despite all the rosy predictions).
If I were reckless/brave/desperate enough to do international travel right now, I sure wouldn't book anything with Scubaqua/The Old Gin House.