Paying 2 times for 1 dive trip due to illness !?!?!

[oly5050user]

If the boat in question had a 24 hr cancellation policy and the OP cancelled at least 24 hrs before- then I think the DC charging the full amount (including hiring the boat) is highway robbery.

Like it or lump it- people get sick and plans have to change. If the instructor in question incurred costs to organise the first lake dive, then those costs should be born by the customer IMO, but if you read the OP again, they contacted the boat owner independently and was told of a 24hr cancellation policy... which they seem to have met.

What can really blow for the operator was if this second boat dive was needed to meet the costs. ie. the boat needed a minimum of 4pax to meet costs. One other diver signs up independently menaing there are 5 on the boat. 4 pax cancel leaving the one independent diver with the boat to himself. Maybe it was a situation like this- in that case, if I was the operator I would be calling around to see if the independent could be put on a competitor's boat and if not- sorry the dive got cancelled. Losing 4/5 of a charter is potentially a very very expensive proposition for a small DC. Is this what actually happened? Who knows?

seems to me that the LDS chartered the entire boat directly, not the OP.. So the 24 hr boat owner policy is really not applied here. Its now the lds boat and policy . Perhaps if the ENTIRE boat was canceled in a timely manner by the dive center that chartered it, but that would be unfair to the divers that planned to go out.The charter was likely for the entire boat, not a per head basis. The lds pays for the boat at a agreed upon rate, and the instructors time. If a customer is a no show the costs to the lds stay the same, but the returns are less. Not really fair to expect the lds to take the loss for three people, especially if the one ill person could stay home and the others go on their dive. I would not be surprised that if the one ill person stayed home and the others went that the lds would have worked something out for you. But to have lost payment on 3 would have been too much a loss to have.

 

[TSandM]

The original post isn't entirely clear to me. It sounds as though, when you contacted the boat, they said you were okay, but the dive shop is requiring you to pay anyway? In that case, the ONLY situation in which it is legitimate is the one oly5050 posits. Having arranged trips myself, I know that there are few things that feel worse than putting the money down for a bunch of spaces, only to have the people who told you they were going turn around and say, "Well, maybe next time." I nearly lost $10,000 doing that once, and I will never do it again.

In all fairness, there was only one person in your party who really COULDN'T dive. The rest of you made the decision not to out of convenience, not necessity. Redoing your dives will require time rescheduled for the instructional staff and for the boat. In our dive shop, if you miss the scheduled OW dives, you pay an additional $100 a day for the unscheduled makeup dives, and those are shore dives. If the shop was out the cost of the charter spots, I don't think it was out of line to ask you to pay them.

 

[beachit]

Thank you for everyone's suggestion and advise. We will of course finish the class seeing that the girls are so fired up about diving; however, there are several other dive shops in the area that would appreciate our business in the future.

 

[theduckguru]

It is stories like this that make me happy I bought my gear on line.

 

[t4e]

It is stories like this that make me happy I bought my gear on line.

strong line that must have been to hold you up all the gear

 

[scubadada]

Thank you for everyone's suggestion and advise. We will of course finish the class seeing that the girls are so fired up about diving; however, there are several other dive shops in the area that would appreciate our business in the future.

Sorry, seems likes some to all of the responsibility is yours. You will develop good relationships with a variety of operators that will serve you well into the future. Best of luck in your diving endeavors.

Good diving,

Craig

 

[trigfunctions]

Thank you for everyone's suggestion and advise. We will of course finish the class seeing that the girls are so fired up about diving; however, there are several other dive shops in the area that would appreciate our business in the future.

I think you should tell us the name of the shop so people can decide whether or not to use them in the future. These kind of places will keep treating people that way if they think it won't affect their business.

 

[mathauck0814]

I think you should tell us the name of the shop so people can decide whether or not to use them in the future. These kind of places will keep treating people that way if they think it won't affect their business.

By all means, give out the name of the operator. There's no malfeasance here. The boat was operating withing their rights as stated by their policies. I'd happily dive with them or any other boat operator who's been shown to have done nothing wrong.

 

[RonFrank]

I never understand why checkout dives are done on a boat, or why they are done with reservations. I have never had an issue getting on a boat without a reservation. The exception being SB trips! Show up at MM 100 any day of the week and you generally have your pick of boats. The main issue often is are the seas cooperative.

In Key Largo its rather easy to get on a boat. So I guess the whole pay for a boat thing in advance makes no sense to me seeing as these are students and #@$% happens with uncertified divers. What happens if they fail the day 1 cert dives or they screw up their ears on day 1 and can not dive on day 2?

I would think that the boat captain would work with the LDS, and everyone can play nice. If the boat can not work with the LDS I have to question using a boat for the cert. BHB is a good choice for OW certification sans a boat. I assume the instructors have other students or they can reschedule at their convenience if they have just the two.

When did this become such a cut throat industry? Why use a boat if it is such a hassle?

 

[oly5050user]

I never understand why checkout dives are done on a boat, or why they are done with reservations. I have never had an issue getting on a boat without a reservation. The exception being SB trips! Show up at MM 100 any day of the week and you generally have your pick of boats. The main issue often is are the seas cooperative.

In Key Largo its rather easy to get on a boat. So I guess the whole pay for a boat thing in advance makes no sense to me seeing as these are students and #@$% happens with uncertified divers. What happens if they fail the day 1 cert dives or they screw up their ears on day 1 and can not dive on day 2?

I would think that the boat captain would work with the LDS, and everyone can play nice. If the boat can not work with the LDS I have to question using a boat for the cert. BHB is a good choice for OW certification sans a boat. I assume the instructors have other students or they can reschedule at their convenience if they have just the two.

When did this become such a cut throat industry? Why use a boat if it is such a hassle?

Could be that the only way into the water is on a boat..Here in NY there is little chance on getting an acceptable beach location ..Either the tides have to taken into account, thereby causing scheduling issues. Or being that there is next to no public access to water being either beach is private property or the town/city does not allow it. Boat would be the only option if you wish to stay local within a given area.
So here in NY its either charter a boat that you drive 10-15 minutes to OR drive 2 hours each way to Dutch Springs and pay for the entry fees/ gas/tolls/overnight stay/meals involved, actually works out less expensive overall to charter a boat here... . Reservations for a boat ensures that there is space for students and location of choice is appropriate for the training dives. If a student screws up ears on day one and cannot make day 2 most LDS will take that into account reschedule that student into another group that will run in the future, which be next day or next month. If there is a time issue that the student must meet then it would not be unheard of and totally understandable for the LDS to schedule a dive for them on a private (cost more $$) basis ..Pricing for a ow course or training dives is usually done on a group basis to keep costs low. Doing classes on a private basis simply cost the LDS more to do and the costs should be absorbed by the student.