Guests of Sunscape, Secrets & Residencias Reef

[ronscuba]

So you’re saying to put cash in the pocket of the pier police? No, that’s not an option - if it were I would not have gone through that headache I did today - and if people are able to bribe him to take cash - it will be temporary because he will be fired if caught - who wants that on their conscience?

I made the suggestion to ease the transaction. $2 per person per day has no effect on me. Paying at the pier seems like the easiest and most hassle free.

If they are just starting to implement, maybe the procedure will change. Or maybe their strategy is to make the procedure intentionally difficult and annoying to drive things to their true motive. Divers use the house op.

 

[Christi]

I made the suggestion to ease the transaction. $2 per person per day has no effect on me. Paying at the pier seems like the easiest and most hassle free.

If they are just starting to implement, maybe the procedure will change. Or maybe their strategy is to make the procedure intentionally annoying to drive things to their true motive. Divers use the house op.

Yes it would be the easiest - but it's not an option - and I am only the messenger. I truly don't think it has anything at all to do with pushing people to use the in-house op. The in-house op pays a healthy concession fee so they get their money from them.

One of the owners at the Reef Residencias said it is for pier maintenance. The HOA owners of the condos were even willing to pay an assessment for this, but the hotel management is forcing this.

I understand that they need to maintain the pier and that costs money. However, my opinion is that their approach is not the best way to raise funds for this. Every resort in the world has a "resort fee" tacked on to the per night rate. This fee is for things exactly like this. They could add a $1 per guest/night "resort fee" to cover this without the guests feeling the impact or being inconvenienced. The pier is pat of the resort and an amenity guests should have access to - whether it is to walk out to star gaze at night, or the be picked up by their fishing, diving, snorkeling, cielo trip, sunset cruise, parasailing boat of their choice without having to wade out in the water or drive to the marina to avoid the inconvenience and being nickel and dimed. The hotel is pushing this off on water sports operators when all we are doing is servicing guests who choose to stay there. What I will be doing going forward is to discourage people from staying there. I know several operators have decided to stop servicing those properties. So guests will have to drive to the marina or another location to met their boats.

I am going to offer the service, but I will not absorb the cost.

 

[ronscuba]

If their motive is truly 100% to collect $ for pier maintenance, then it is in their interest to make the collection process simple. If it is overly complicated, that will cut into their $ because of the time and labor for them to collect.

I am booked for RR this coming March. Hopefully the procedure is easier and more streamlined by then.

 

[ReefHound]

If their motive is truly 100% to collect $ for pier maintenance, then it is in their interest to make the collection process simple. If it is overly complicated, that will cut into their $ because of the time and labor for them to collect.

Perhaps so but that presumes the resort ever sees the money. Paying cash at the dock without any supporting documentation creates an environment ripe for corruption. Not that this sort of thing ever happens in Mexico.

 

[Christi]

Perhaps so but that presumes the resort ever sees the money. Paying cash at the dock without any supporting documentation creates an environment ripe for corruption. Not that this sort of thing ever happens in Mexico.

Exactly - this is why I said above that paying cash at the pier is not an option - and I am sure it won't become an option - they tried that before. They need to have control over this revenue stream and they need to be able to account for where the money came from when it comes time to rebuild the pier in order for it to be a deductible expense for them - so they actually have a seperate account set up for this which is the account I had to deposit to to purchase the vouchers.

So from a business and tax accountability perspective, I get why they have to do it this way vs. having a guy collecting cash on the pier. But they could accomplish this same thing by adding it to the "resort fee" for all guests without inconveniencing them - because virtually all guests are going to use the pier for something at least once during their vacation.

 

[JFS]

Our customers have been paying for the pier ticket through the front desk at Sabor. $2 per day

 

[Christi]

Our customers have been paying for the pier ticket through the front desk at Sabor. $2 per day

I was told that was not an option yesterday

 

[mcohen1021]

Stupidest thing [process] I have ever heard. leave it to them to come up with a ludicrous process like this... What are they going to do if i was to get on the pier for pickup and refuse to pay? Have me arrested? Forcibly remove me? I'd like to see them try that.

 

[Christi]

Stupidest thing [process] I have ever heard. leave it to them to come up with a ludicrous process like this... What are they going to do if i was to get on the pier for pickup and refuse to pay? Have me arrested? Forcibly remove me? I'd like to see them try that.

Possibly - or they can cause problems for your dive shop

 

[deepsea21]

Stupidest thing [process] I have ever heard. leave it to them to come up with a ludicrous process like this... What are they going to do if i was to get on the pier for pickup and refuse to pay? Have me arrested? Forcibly remove me? I'd like to see them try that.

The best option is to simply steer clear of Cozumel AI’s in general that represent some of the biggest ripoffs in the Caribbean. Lousy or no beaches, lousy food, often noticeable deferred maintenance, with many carved out of a section of jungle miles from town. I’d feel like a prisoner in one of those places. I agree, best thing to do is instruct divers to wade out to the boat and then explain to them that the All Inclusive they are paying a fortune for doesn’t include the use of the dock unless they dive with the crappy in-house dive op.