James Goddard:
This has already been covered by Christi. Please read the entire thread before attempting to hijaak it by accusing us of censorship. The topic of this thread is Iberostar and dive ops, let's try to stay on topic...
Christi,
I understand yours and other shops decsition to boycott the Iberostar. I'm curious though if you really think that will wind up hurting or helping them? Very few divers travel, properly informed. Most pick a hotel, then a dive op, not the other way around. Does this move not just drive potential customers to use the in-house operation?
Have you considered accepting divers from IB but informing them that they will have to pay the hotel for you to pick them up? I.E. make them pay the hotel directly and then the hotel will get the flack directly from their customers?
James
Hi James,
That was my initial approach. However, the hotel is asking us for completely inappropriate documentation that I simply will not provide.They will not simply take payment at the time of service, they are billing the dive shops and will not permit access without the documentation they are requesting. They claim that the documentation request comes from upper management and is for the safety of their guests. My exceptions to this are:
1. In order for me to maintain park permits, all of this safety documentation is already required. You simply cannot operate within the marine park without permits.
2. My tax returns have absolutely no relevance to the safety of their guests and they have no business or right asking for them.
3. They have changed their story several times as to why they are charging the fee. They blame it on the dive shop, the dive shop blames it on them, and now they claim that the local governmnt is requiring them to charge this fee for rebuilding the damage done to the pier after Ivan. Yes, for safety reasons they had to repair the pier, so did other hotels, yet they are the ONLY hotel on the island that charges for pick-ups for THEIR guests. The guests are already paying for the amenities at the hotel, and the pier should be no exception. When speaking to the PR manager of the hotel about this situation, I said fine, we'll just pull up to the beach on the side and pick up our divers. She said, "No, you cannot do that because it is within the marine park." Yes, so is every other beach along the western and southern coast and there are absolutly no regulations that prevent us from doing this. So you see, they are clearly attempting to manipulate the situation.
As far as informing people of the situation. Since I work by reservation only, I tell them up front when they contact me. If they are already booked at the hotel, I will offer to pick them up at the beach or at another location at their expense. I had a couple that had been booked with me for many, many montsh and was already booked at the Iberostar in January, so I made an exception and we just dealt with the problems. However, they were the last people I have/will pick up at Iberostar.
There are still shops that pick up there and have either cooperated or simply don't care and pull up to the pier regardless of what the guard says, but I would rather not have any problems and send a subtle message by boycotting service to the hotel.
