Rich Henry step forward

[lionfish-eater]

Rich you have been silent except for your first few posts. What do you have to say after reading these posts? We would like to stop speculating and get back to happier times. You can clear this whole thing up.Perhaps you are just planning to let this whole thing blow over and you can reopen under a new name and since so few divers will ever know about it then we just don't matter. Your silence speaks volumes.

I suppose you can just say your lawyer told you to remain silent and keep your foot out of your mouth. A lot of scubaboarders have been faithful customers of yours. We would like to just know the truth. Or at least your version of it.

 

[Doc]

Your silence speaks volumes.

I believe that Rich Henry signed his posts, as do I.

Who exactly are you?

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Does Rich have the same lawyer as keithdiver had, if so this is gonna be a thread to keep tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

Rich don't run and hide tell us everything going on starting NOW!



Happy Diving

 

[lionfish-eater]

RoatanMan

I am just a diver who likes Roatan. I have no involvement in this issue. I got involved in this thread because I also received the same e-mail as the others, but I was a customer of rich's so I didnt think much of it until I read this thread and realized there was more to the story. I also started posting because I had some first hand experience with richs behavior, which I thought was much less than professional as did all the other guests who witnessed the events. I planned to return to FI and would have potentially been one of the people who got jerked around. All I want is to know what happened and why they were not offered a refund or have their reservation honored as the one guest did in the post above. Rich was quick to post a sorry excuse and some BS, but has said nothing since. I am interested in protecting the trips of all divers who book trips. Rich was a travel agent not an employee. If any travel agent doesn't send in payment for reservations they collected for than the resort or airline or anyone else will tell you to go back to them and find out what happened. I have showed up at resorts and been told they didnt have my reservation, but after a quick call to orbitz or expedia everything was taken care of. Not the case here. Reread the other thread from the begining knowing what has since been said, you may have a different opinion of how things originally read. Even cajun diva's posts seem to be scripted more to defend rich than to shed light on the situation. I'm not sure if this answers your question. If you require further assistance please feel free to inquire. I hope you also want to find out what happened here and not just sweep this under the rug because it is bad for tourism to talk about negative issues. By the way on another issue do you know if they ever found out who killed the yachter off the mainland this past winter.

Doc Truthseeker III

 

[VooDooGasMan]

professor plume


Sorry for HI JACKS, I'm sorry for the problems that have happen to you and others, and well, it usually takes a long time for it to get straightened out in these kind of things.



Happy Diving

 

[lsorenson]

I always love the way some love to stoke the flames saying they are trying to protect me in the process... HeII, don't even know me...!

I have no dog in this fight but I have yet to hear a single person with ANY credibility saying Rich ripped them off... I read the 14 or such pages night before last as I also have a interest in Roatan... however my interest is strictly diving... The only reason I read through mostly nonsense is out of respect to CajunDiva on page 2... I have a lot of respect for her and she has shown nothing but grace and a positive attitude... I hope this turns out to be a wonderful vacation and get together for her husband's 70th...!

I trust CD will follow up with a full and complete trip report and I am looking forward to reading it as well... But fair warning, it will be awfully tough trying to sway me from CCV!

Leaving Bonaire in the morning but Roatan will be in the next 8 months...

lee

 

[lionfish-eater]

lee I wasn't trying to protect you, but my friends who are not SB members, but who do travel to roatan and other destinations. They are the trusting type who would have showed up and paid twice and tried to figure it out when they got home. I am not trying to fan the flames or escalate arguments, I just want to know what the F@#$ happened.

David

 

[miketrance84]

lee I wasn't trying to protect you, but my friends who are not SB members, but who do travel to roatan and other destinations. They are the trusting type who would have showed up and paid twice and tried to figure it out when they got home. I am not trying to fan the flames or escalate arguments, I just want to know what the F@#$ happened.

David

First off, Rich doesn't owe you anything. You aren't even involved with this situation. I am, and as far as i'm concerned, Rich has fully lived up to his obligation to insure I have a great trip. I WAS offered a refund but declined and decided to move resorts instead. It isn't your business to know what happened. Knowing that Rich has taken care of the guests, and that there isn't a single person on here that was effected saying anything negative about Rich.

Stop spending all of your time starting arguements and let it go. If you don't want to book with Rich's company, DON'T. I'm sure with the way he conducts business, he has plenty of customers. No one owes you anything. I'm not sure who elected you the emperor of the Roatan travel industry, but your schtick is getting old.

 

[lionfish-eater]

mike
Although I am not involved in this event, I did receive an e-mail from rich as I was a customer of his in the past. I booked my first stay at FI through rich based on the reccomendations of other posters on the forum like CDiva's. I was forming my opinions of resort I have never been to based on the comments of SB posters. I was happy with FI and everything there was pretty much llike what others had stated in their posts. I built up a trust for the members here and their opinions. Another time I was reading the posts in the Lesser Antillies section and based on what I read I took a trip to St Eustatius to dive with golden rock. Again another great trip that I never would have taken had it not been for my faith in SB and its members. The point of this is that I as well as many other readers use the info to make decisions that cost thousands of dollars and consume weeks of our lives. It's about trust and respect for others.

I began posting after others had raised suspicions about the veracity of rich's email and posts and the actions he took to "move their reservation". It is very likely that the truth is somewhere in between as this is usually the case.

I have not elected myself the minister of tourism of Roatan. That job goes to RTBdiver and Roatanman.

If you go back into old posts on this forum you will see that rich was a frequent poster with updates about improvements and basic marketing stuff for FI. Many readers were very excited about the improvements and upgrades. Rich had built up a trust level over the past year. Members like Betty in Toronto are an example of how people trust this forum and how posts here influence their decisions. I don't expect everything posted here to be the gospel truth, but I trust opinions here more than from PADI's Sport Diver or any other industry advertising.

This forum was how I found out about the issue associated with the e-mail from rich. When I first got the email I didnt open it because I thought it was just a marketing offer or a newsleter. After I saw the first few posts here I went and read it. Again I didn't think much of it because I had no current reservations and figured it was a short term problem with wire transfers or the like. As more info was posted I realized that something else was going on. If it were not for this forum, no one would have even known about the problem. Also as I reread richs email it was obvious that he was trying to cover his butt and present his version of the events first. The response by FI mgmt give credibility to the idea that there are clearly two different views of the events.

I have no expectation that the truth will be aired on this forum. As you can clearly read, each time rich or FI posted here their words were scrutinized and dissected by every amateur detective/lawyer member. I had no expectations that rich would respond to this post. He is probably in Roatan now, enjoying his new relationship with HM resorts. I agree that none of this will affect his business as so few people read SB and even less read the bay islands section.

Mike you stated that rich offered you a refund or to relocate your group. Did he offer to send the payment to FI so you could have the trip you planned?

Mike, it is great that your trip was saved. I hope you have a great time and that the weather cooperates. I hope all your dives are long and safe.

David

 

[DandyDon]

Showing up at a resort only to learn that you did not have a prepaid reservation illustrates insufficient followthru to me. I have arrived at such places with only the agent's booking info before, but after reading the news about how often things go wrong, similar to this fiasco, I don't now. Whatever I book - air, hotel, other - I confirm at the provider's site online or by email with the provider, then take a copy of that. I've only seen one report here of a traveler who was notified of nonpayment after arrival at FIBR and they still took care of him. The rest were notified in advance so there was time to resolve.