Carib Dancer Cancellation

[peeweediver]

Marcia:

As usual, a wealth of knowledge and information passed from you to me. Thank you for the explanation of the industry we all use but not always understand. As soon as I hit post on this submission, I'm going to the DAN website and buying trip insurance for our Socorro Islands trip in February. Our travel agent saved us recently on our Maldives trip. The boat we were suppose to be on really screwed up 7 weeks before the trip and our dive travel agent was able to shift the entire group of 18 to a very similar boat, the Ocean Sapphire, and we had a wonderful trip. Based on your posts, you serve your customers very well and, as they say, a great dive travel agent is hard to find.

Rob

 

[drbill]

I am sorry for your unfortunate experience but am glad you posted here and that I read reports of others who did dive on the Carib Dancer. Based on those I decided NOT to use this dive boat.

 

[shmuggy]

I always pay with a credit card - I am sure the credit card company would, under these conditions, give me a full refund. Of course, if the passenger is cancelling they should pay the penalties outlined when they booked the trip and these are usually made very clear. I agree that the agent earned their commission but the liveaboard company should pay it. I have had good experiences with this fleet on other boats but I must say, this kind of behavior makes me think I do not want to do business with them again.

 

[redacted]

Could you please provide a breakdown of the money you paid, the agent's commission, how much Carib Dancer is willing to return and how much they are keeping?

 

[divengolf]

Dancer's decision not to issue full refunds is very short-sighted in this internet connected world. Word will spread quickly as we all know. Notwithstanding any legality, the fact that they failed to provide the product bargained for and then refused to provide any reasonable compensation, will follow them for years. Any business can write any terms and conditions in the small print, but the court of public opinion is the only one that counts these days except for a major catastrophe, like perhaps Wave Dancer.

The Aggressor/Dancer fleet has dropped several notches in my book. And I do a lot of liveaboards. But never again with these guys.

Very short-sighted.

Quero: Another great post.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

... I always recommend buying trip insurance.......

I realize this is a little off topic, but I had to cancel a trip for medical reasons last month. I did buy insurance through Allianz, they refused to pay up and are citing some obscure requirement for documentation I cannot obtain, I won't bore you with the details. I am planning on taking them to small claims court. Long story short, I don't have a lot of trust in the travel insurance industry. It may be a smart move overall, but there are some less the honest operators out there that will use any excuse to avoid payment and I managed to find one.

 

[dmoore19]

I can understand how me cancelling the trip would/could cause problems. However, if they are unable to provide the services contracted due to mechanical failure, I would think a full refund would be in order. Though I suppose one should read the contract to be sure.

 

[easy]

This instance will cost them far more than what they'll make from keeping your money (which I'm sure you can get back eventually).

For everyone who leaves a comment saying they won't do business with them after reading this, there are 100's who are making mental notes to avoid this charter. We probably won't have to avoid them for long. These types of threads will probably choke them out fairly quickly.

 

[Allison Finch]

As a person who has used Dancer boats in the past (when Peter Hughes had more control), I was aware that, at that time, the boats were owned individually and only operated "under the umbrella" of the Dancer organization. As such, what happened on one boat didn't tar and feather the other boats in the fleet.

However, when stupid decisions such as not refunding a trip when the OPERATOR was at fault come from the front office, I will let it alter my decision to use any of their boats. I spend a lot of time on liveaboards for at least a month at a time, and try to utilize a variety of organizations. I think I will no longer seek any trip aboard a Dancer/Aggressor boat, if this is how they treat their customers.

Shortsighted, VERY shortsighted.

 

[redacted]

.... I always recommend buying trip insurance....

I realize this is a little off topic, but I had to cancel a trip for medical reasons last month. I did buy insurance through Allianz, they refused to pay up and are citing some obscure requirement for documentation I cannot obtain, I won't bore you with the details. I am planning on taking them to small claims court. Long story short, I don't have a lot of trust in the travel insurance industry. It may be a smart move overall, but there are some less the honest operators out there that will use any excuse to avoid payment and I managed to find one.

One should normally consider insurance to cover losses that are not affordable. Liability, home, life, health, expensive possessions. If you can't afford a dive trip (including the loss of such a trip) then maybe you should not be taking it. Trip insurance may only make good sense if you know you are a higher risk than the rest of the insured pool. Yes, there may be some special, once in a lifetime trips that might be a separate case but this does not sound like one. In the long run, most divers will do better with self insurance. Of course, if you are simply risk adverse (why are you diving) then it may be necessary for the peace of mind rather than the loss coverage.

Based on the original post and the lack of response from the OP, I am beginning to suspect that the dive op is providing a full refund of the $$$ they received and offering a discount voucher for future use. I suspect the dive op is withholding nothing and may be taking an undeserved internet beating.