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
I'm sorry, but I don't buy the pius act. The title of this thread was clearly biased. You mention nothing in previous posts about the possiblity of this being at all FI's fault. Hence the title Will Rich Henry step forward. Most reasonable people would agree that although we don't know exactly what went on, there is more to the story than either side is telling.
I honestly don't know whos "fault" this all was nor do I care. I care that me emails to FI went unanswered, and when I called Rich I was offered either a refund, or an option to rebook with a different resort. He explained that the money for my trip was already sent, but he would return it to me at his cost. If I wanted to send it to FI, I was free to do so. He explained that he wasn't going to send any additional monies to FI. If you were in his shoes, and you already sent the money, would YOU send additional money to the resort that caused the situation in the first place?
Personally, I believe his emails were to notify guests of a potential problem so he can take care of it. This is backed up by the actions he took when I called. (transfering my reservation). I cannot attest to his email system or why people that wern't involved got emails. You seem to point directly to a deliberate attempt to smear FI on Rich's part where there are many other logical possiblities. Perhaps he had hundereds of guests, and instead of trying to find each one's email address, he just hit the reply to all on his list. Perhaps it was an oversight on his part.
For speculating, you sure seem to be speculating from a one sided viewpoint. Try to consider all options, not everything is a grand scheme to ruin someone's reputation. Perhaps he just wanted to make sure everyone recieved an email that was effected so they didn't show up on their trip and not have a room...
I'm assuming that everyone here is an adult and is capable of doing their own due dilligance with planning a vacation. No one here except the two parties knows exactly what transpired between the two resorts so discussing this is a waste of everyone's time. By now we all know the PR version from both sides, so enough is enough.
You mention that you have taken a trip with Rich in the past, I'm wondering what ax you have to grind with him? If you have an issue with your past booking, perhaps you should stick to that point. We all still have freedom of choice, if you feel that you were wronged by Rich and his company in some way, please feel free to never do business with him again. There are many resorts on the island of Roatan, and you should be able to find one that suits your needs.
