Nekton (Bad News)

[agwatts]

As a former crew member on the Pilot, this was in the wind for awhile. I left the Pilot in July of 2009 after 7 months, and at that time the poor Pilot was on it's last legs and in dire need of major repairs. The crew did an awesome job keeping her functional and big kudos to Bryce and Dustin for their hard work and ability to do the impossible.
I got a notice today, from facebook, about Nekton discontinuing services. I feel for the crews of both the Pilot and Rorqual in that they no longer have jobs. I hope they get their final compensation from the company and wish them luck in finding work.

Hang in there guys...Best wishes.

Greg:depressed:

 

[EVFleet]

I want to thank the Explorer group for offering the trip discount. We have a group of 8 that were devistated by this announcement. Once we read your posting we called & spoke with Wendy & then Mary & have 6 spots booked on the June 12th trip to Turks & Caicos.Both of these gals were very helpful & understanding. 4 of us are return divers with this boat & are very thankful that this has worked out this way.
Again, many thanks.

You're more than welcome! I'm glad we could help.

- Clay

 

[Pam_In_Paradise]

As a former crew member on the Pilot, this was in the wind for awhile. I left the Pilot in July of 2009 after 7 months, and at that time the poor Pilot was on it's last legs and in dire need of major repairs. The crew did an awesome job keeping her functional and big kudos to Bryce and Dustin for their hard work and ability to do the impossible.
I got a notice today, from facebook, about Nekton discontinuing services. I feel for the crews of both the Pilot and Rorqual in that they no longer have jobs. I hope they get their final compensation from the company and wish them luck in finding work.

Hang in there guys...Best wishes.

Greg:depressed:

People will never know what the crews and some of the office staff did to make sure people were able to take their trips. Kudos to all of you that faced the challenges and made it appear that all was well. I wish all of the crew and staff well as they seek new challenges (they should be well prepared for most anything out there

 

[diverdoug1]

I hope that other recreational diving operations can look upon Nekton's overdue failure as a cautionary tale. Even with a good boat design, and a fervently loyal customer base, you can not neglect the maintenance / crew / customers of your bussiness and expect to keep your bussiness. Comments from Nekton would have us belive that their failure was purely a direct result of decreased discretionary income of customers, and a poor economy. That is a large load of steaming horse-poop. Nekton should have weathered the economic downturn better than most other liveaboards, because it was at a lower pricepoint than most other liveaboards of similar size. Nekton failed by refusing to cut into the profit margin to properly maintain the ships, pay the crew, and take care of the guests. The owner milked every last dime out while driving the company into the ground (of course as was his right), and cheating many of his customers and employees along the way (not his right to do). How many people looked forward to a dive vacation for months, only to be told at the last minute they were out of luck? How many outstanding "free cruise" reparations are floating around out there, never to be redeemed? How many deposits were taken after it became apparent that the company was folding? How many tips were given to the crew via credit card, that will never be paid to the rightfull owner? (Boy, I am really glad that I tipped with cash when I went on the Rorqual last month!) I am sorry that a company that I loved to dive with was mismanaged to the point of failure, but I would be even more sorry if other dive operations started thinking that they could get away with shi--ng on their customers and employees like Nekton was doing.

 

[Brown Mermaid]

Amen DiverDoug1. Me and 5 others in my crew, 21 all together with the other people on our boat were promised not one but two free cruises. We were booked for July 10th. Now I have to go back and tell my 5 that we are SOL. This is the nightmare a travel agent doesn't want regardless if your clients have travel insurance or not.

 

[skydiver30960]

A big thank you to all the liveaboard operators who are stepping up to keep us in the water. It looks like we'll be getting some bottom time after all the week of June 5!

Again, thanks to all who answered the call!

Ike

 

[diverdoug1]

Amen DiverDoug1. Me and 5 others in my crew, 21 all together with the other people on our boat were promised not one but two free cruises. We were booked for July 10th. Now I have to go back and tell my 5 that we are SOL. This is the nightmare a travel agent doesn't want regardless if your clients have travel insurance or not.

Well that is 21 x 2 x $1895 = $79,590.00 Dixon screwed out of your group alone! Not to beat a dead horse, but he sure has some bad karma headed his way!

 

[kpickerell]

You're correct...I can claim that nightmare because I'm a travel agent. I was on the Aug. 22 trip last year and the May 15 trip this year (both cancelled). I was taking 4 client/friends. They're very understanding and they know I've gone to the mat with this, however, I am still more concerned about their losses than my own. My reparation to them is to rebook them on other trips and deduct my commission.

Your comments today summed it up Doug. Thanks for the input.

 

[Brown Mermaid]

Bad, juju, Doug, bad juju. I'm glad I won't be around to see it.

 

[Paul522]

Well that is 21 x 2 x $1895 = $79,590.00 Dixon screwed out of your group alone! Not to beat a dead horse, but he sure has some bad karma headed his way!

$20,845 here.

Would have been smart to pay the taxes.