Cuan Law cancellation - be forewarned when you book

[PvtStash]

I'll be sure not to make Cuan Law one of them...

 

[bcaderunr]

[/QUOTE]

Here's an option you can consider. It's less luxurious but you'll have a great time. The Juliet is going to the BVI in Jan 09 I'd call them up and see if I can book a week with them. (If you really want to dive BVI)

Try not to allow this thing to ruin your future vacation/dive trip. Like some others who responded to this post, I seriously thought about booking a trip w/my dive club in 2009 w/Cuan Law.

Although we have numbers, after reading about your experience, I think we will look elsewhere.

Dive safe and happy diving................


[/QUOTE]

I'll second the Juliet as an option in that area. I'm signed up with FinAddicts for their 10-day trip. They've got 4 spots still left. It will be our 2nd time on Juliet -- first trip was in Bahamas. It doesn't get any better -- class operation.

juliet_jan_09

 

[scubafanatic]

...it's a shame...I hate to come down on a liveaboard or other dive op, the dive industry is under enough pressure from a sucky economy and deteriorating reef/ocean conditions already...however, dive vacations are supposed to be relaxing and it's supposed to be fun looking forward to them, and this boat's cancellation policies are just too unacceptable to me....when I book a vacation, and purchase non-refundable/expensive airfare...I expect a reliable business entity on the other end to hold up their end of the deal...and I refuse to deal with a 'flaky' dive op...it's not worth the worry/heartbreak/financial beating.

Karl

P.S. ...I'm booked on JULIET 05/09 (Puerto Rico/Mona Island)...will be my 2nd trip with them...and highly recommended !

 

[TennisGirl]

This is a bad situation for sure. Most charter boats book whole boats anyway to avoid these situations. That is the industry standard. There are so many charter boats in the BVI's that could fill in and give you a positive experience. I have chartered several times and have never had a bad experience.

 

[smokey braden]

tennisgirl,
welcome to this board.

 

[mrlipis]

I still think that they are lame! The response provided is a polite way to rationalize their greed. Perhaps they should change their motto to "We step on the little guy to make a boat load of money" or more to the point, "Book with us so we can buy time to book more people." The best way to show your appreciation to them is to book a liveaboard with another company who has better management. They do not deserve your money.

It's greedy to want to make a profit, or in this case to take a loss? None of these charter ops are making a boat load of money. Get real.

 

[Scared Silly]

I see both sides of this. I think MikeS said it quite well. However, if in deed promises were made to not cancel the boat until after DEMA then they should have at least kept their word on that. They could have still offered the boat to a shop but with 4 fewer spots and told the shop up front they already have 4 people and would sail with 8 (or whatever the numbers are). This would have done a couple of things 1) Kept their promise 2) allowed them to sell the boat 3) given a shop some incentive that there were already some spots taken so they would not have as much work (Though no profit for those spots).

At this point, I seriously doubt that a shop would try and sell a boat trip with only a couple of months before sailing. That ain't going to happen given the US economy. And with the uncertainly now around the world folks are going to need to be creative to stay a float (pun intended).

 

[mike_s]

Something interesting I find aobut this thread....

User Anne Muirhead responded on Cuan Law's behalf and this was Cuan Law's initial post representation on Scubaboard. They have not posted since. (since Sept 29th).

However, I've been checking to see how often they are reading this thread. Their last activity on the board was yesterday morning. (oct 6th, 8:04am CDT).

So they are still checking up on the posts on this thread so they can keep up with what is being said about them. That is definately understandable and expected. However I haven't seen them add to the discussion or haven't seen the original poster state that they have made any further effort to add more corrective action to the situation.

Sad, because this could have been a "win-win" for both parties if things worked out...., but it appears that it is still a loss for both sides.

 

[tmcnee]

Thanks for info. We are looking at either the 2/1 - 2/7 or 2/8 - 2/14 dates. I see the boat is empty the later dates so based on your experience we might be better off going earlier with only 4 spots left to fill!

We ran into a similar situation last October. The Tahiti Aggressor cancelled when they couldn't fill their second boat. We ended up going on the Nai'a, and what a great choice that turned out to be!!

 

[Nesher]

Within the past hour I read an article on another scuba news website that addressed this issue. The article opened with these sentences:

"When you go to a movie and only three other people show up, does the theater close? If you’re the only couple at a restaurant, do they refuse to serve you and shut the door? Obviously, no to both questions. So why can’t the same be expected from​

dive operators?"

I shutter to think I could become acclimated to a industry standard or practice that would so devalue me as a customer.

What's even worse would be my failure to see how totally unacceptable those practices and standards are.