Diving with Nekton cancelled Help needed

[donhealy]

To all:

I was to be on the May 15th trip. I have to admit that when When I booked the trip I was a little nervous about the boat's condition but Nekton had always treated me well, I had always had good trips with them in the past and they somehow had always managed to get the boat in decent condition. Well, I rolled the dice once too often and it may have cost me a couple of grand.

Regardless, I'd like to let some time settle in and see what happens. We are all on the outside looking in and have no idea what the company is planning or how hard they are working to get the boat back in the water. Surely we don't know the true financial picture of the company or the resolve John Dixon may have.

There re only two things I know for sure. I have re-booked on the CEII for that same week and I expect to have a great time at an alternate set of dives even though the trip may have ended up costing me an extra $2K. Time is too short and diving too good to be consumed by Nekton's troubles. If they are still around in six months then I will cash in on the promised re-booking.

One other thing: good customer relations would have been to send us all a personalized letter outlining the problems, their plan to fix them, the time line and a REAL BIG formal apology for our inconvenience.

Don

 

[vladimir]

I certainly can feel compassion for the folks who lost 1000$$$ on this Nekton situation, but in all candor, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Anyone who has been following the trials and tribulations of Nekton over the past two years on SB should have recogonized that this outfit was teetering on the financial edge.

Yes. I followed the Nekton travails as a disinterested observer for probably that long. It was certainly obvious enough to even the most optimistic observer 8 months ago, when it seemed the full crew mustered here to complain about not getting paid, and when I sent this in a private message:

I am just an observer, so I don't really have a stake or much of an opinion on the Nekton issue, but I wouldn't send a deposit to a dive operator or any business that isn't making its payroll--that's just common sense.

Again, sorry for your loss, but remember BUYER BEWARE!!

Yes, always good advice, and yes, sorry to those who will be losing money on this fiasco.

It is kind of like saying something against Bonaire. Egads!

The Bonairists are a devout group, aren't they?

 

[DiveMaven]

Don, you have a great attitude and it's fantastic to know that you'll still be diving that week! I hope for your sake that John Dixon gets his act together and the Rorqual is back in service in June so you'll be able to at the very least get the trip you paid for.

I'm a big fan of Bonaire, and although I see the minuses of the island, for ME the pluses far outweigh them at this point, and I'm looking forward to my 2 weeks on the island diving this summer!!

I felt the same way about Nekton up until almost 3 years ago when a friend who worked for them clued me in on some information that tipped the scales to the negative side. After that I wouldn't have taken a free trip with them, let alone pay for one.

 

[diverdoug1]

Don, please post a trip report about the CEII. I have considered trying them, since Nekton does not seem like it will be a viable option in the future and will be looking for another bahamas liveaboard. I like Aquacat, but we do a number of trips every year, and the Aquacat always does the same itinerary. We do about 2 trips per year with them, but need some variety.

 

[DIVINGDAMSEL]

not bad if you can use the "free trip" later on.

However, if they go out of business in the next year or so... then you're kinda stuck with a worthless free trip and maybe a lost trip you paid for.




I was thinking the same thing about Port St Joe is a long way away for a boat that doesn't move fast.

However they've got three weeks as they canceled the week of the 8th and the week of the 15th. However, I wouldn't be suprised if they don't make it back in service by the week of the 22nd.

i just heard they canceled the 22nd today....

 

[mike_s]

well the Rorqual is still tied up at the end of the shipyard rails. against the side of the canal.


Doesn't look like it's moved any, or they have any work vehicles down there. Chances are they are waiting on parts from the manufacturer or something...


(chances are this pic will update on what ever time period they have set on the website).

 

[mike_s]

i just heard they canceled the 22nd today....

according to this post here.... yes...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cr...boats/333413-nekton-bad-news.html#post5228093

Hi all... FYI, Nekton called this morning and they have cancelled our trip for May 22 -29, 2010. There are 14 of us , this is rebooking trip from last year, and some of us rebooking trip from years ago. So, this our second cancellation. We have asked for refund and they flatlly told us "NO" .

WSBEN

 

[donhealy]

Doug,

Certainly will write a review. I like the 'Cat a lot but they persist on going to the same dive itinerary. Its not boring but a little variety would be nice. I can only dive the Blue Hole and visit the iguanas so many times.

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

One other thing: good customer relations would have been to send us all a personalized letter outlining the problems, their plan to fix them, the time line and a REAL BIG formal apology for our inconvenience.
Don

I completely agree with you about this but it's not surprising to me. I think you'll find the opposite with Explorer Ventures when you're on their Bahamas boat (CEXII), their office was great. After a crew member went missing on our Nekton Pilot trip, we didn't hear a word from Nekton for about 6 weeks or more. Eventually we received a letter and they did include a voucher for $400 off per person for a future trip (which we never took). I can't believe it took John Dixon that long to even acknowledge what had happened. Even more bizarre was when he left a voice mail on my phone out of the blue. He said he'd heard I was unhappy about something. I had no clue what he was talking about and had never had any prior contact with him. I didn't even bother to respond to him, it all seemed so unorganized.

Ironically Pam's post brings me back to that time because if I recall she used to work in their office and actually left Nekton right before our trip. There were a lot of people that were shocked that she had left, lots of rumors going around about the state of the company even at that time. Sounds like a lot of their valued employees starting jumping ship...

 

[DaveScuba]

well the Rorqual is still tied up at the end of the shipyard rails. against the side of the canal.


Doesn't look like it's moved any, or they have any work vehicles down there. Chances are they are waiting on parts from the manufacturer or something...


(chances are this pic will update on what ever time period they have set on the website).


at least in the night pic the lights appear to be on at the Rorqual, so maybe they'll have it up soon. The Pilot looks abandoned though.