The Golden Rule v. Dive Deposits

[scubadada]

Hi @boulderjohn

I dive with 5 operators in Palm Beach County, FL, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, and Jupiter. All 5 have a cancellation policy in which you may lose your payment should you violate it. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

 

[boulderjohn]

Hi @boulderjohn

I dive with 5 operators in Palm Beach County, FL, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, and Jupiter. All 5 have a cancellation policy in which you may lose your payment should you violate it. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

Ah! So the policies common in Palm Beach County must represent the way everything is done in the rest of the world. Got it!

Note that I said that I have canceled dives because of sickness on several occasions, and I have never been charged. The dive operators I used don't ask for a credit card number when I sign up for the dive--I don't pay until I show up the day of the dive.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm sure dive op policies vary worldwide, even within regions of the US. Here's just one more data point as far as US dive ops, Olympus in Morehead City, NC:

Dive Trip Cancellation Policy: Booking a dive trip is similar to purchasing an airline ticket; we take full payment at the time of reservation. You have up to 30 days before the date of the dive trip to cancel and receive a voucher for a future dive trip or a full refund. Any cancellations made within 30 days of your dive trip date are not eligible for a refund or voucher. In the event that we cancel the dive trip on account of the weather or for any other reason, you will be offered the choice between a voucher or a full refund.

 

[rhwestfall]

Be prepared to lose the money, but you can ask...

A few years back, I paid for a dive (signed up the day before as a walk-on) in Tobermory. That night moving gear I threw out my back. I was in serious pain. I showed up in the morning and said "no go". It was way outside the stated cancellation policy, but they refunded me!

If I rode out and said "nope", that is on me.... been there, done that. I don't like the "future credit" if the operator cancels. Who says I'm ever making it back to a destination?

Yes, read the policies, and either accept them, or find another operator if you can't.

 

[scubadada]

Ah! So the policies common in Palm Beach County must represent the way everything is done in the rest of the world. Got it!

Note that I said that I have canceled dives because of sickness on several occasions, and I have never been charged. The dive operators I used don't ask for a credit card number when I sign up for the dive--I don't pay until I show up the day of the dive.

No, it just so happens that my diving in Palm Beach Co., where I have had a home for 14 years, is about the only diving I do where I make individual reservations with operators. Most of the rest of my diving is either liveaboard or part of a package, with prepaid diving (think Little Cayman Beach Resort or Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers on Grand Cayman). If you don't do dives on a liveaboard or as part of a package, no refunds or credits are applied.

If I remember correctly, you do your Florida diving south of me. The operators you use may have very different reservation policies. I cited my example largely because I found your 99% figure difficult to accept and gave a contrasting view.

 

[dbulmer]

In the UK there's a convention: If you book a dive, you pay unless told otherwise by the skipper - if the skipper cancels you get a refund. It's a simple convention which most UK divers follow and it works well most of the time.

 

[Wants2divemore]

My experience is with a whole lot of dive operations in a whole lot of places, and I have only run into a few with a no refund policy

I'm not trying to be confrontational, but my experience with dive ops and refunds is vastly different.

While I've not dove with all of them, I've looked into many different dive operators (mostly in the Caribbean, North Carolina, and Florida) in preparation for various trips over the past 2 years. I keep copious notes, so here's the breakdown:

Total number of operators: 41
Operators with full refund no matter when you cancel: 3
Operators with full refund if cancel >24h: 14
Operators with full refund if cancel >48h: 6
Operators with full refund if cancel >14d: 4
Operators with full refund if cancel >30d: 9
Operators with no refund: 5

I completely agree with the Golden Rule of Diving that any diver can call a dive for any reason.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm not trying to be confrontational, but my experience with dive ops and refunds is vastly different.

While I've not dove with all of them, I've looked into many different dive operators (mostly in the Caribbean, North Carolina, and Florida) in preparation for various trips over the past 2 years. I keep copious notes, so here's the breakdown:

Total number of operators: 41
Operators with full refund no matter when you cancel: 3
Operators with full refund if cancel >24h: 14
Operators with full refund if cancel >48h: 6
Operators with full refund if cancel >14d: 4
Operators with full refund if cancel >30d: 9
Operators with no refund: 5

I completely agree with the Golden Rule of Diving that any diver can call a dive for any reason.

This sounds like all the 41 dive ops you used asked for an advance payment (whether a deposit or payment in full). Is that correct?

I don't take copious notes, but from what I recall of my dive trips there have been relatively few that did not ask me to send them any money in advance.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I am now retired, but when I was instructing, if a student is too sick to dive, the class is rescheduled. That was true in both shops where I worked, and it was true when I was independent.

Was teaching your only source of income? I had the same policy, but I was teaching because I enjoyed it, not for the money. I made less than minimum wage teaching for shops.

The problem is that people are flaky and/or kaka happens. There has to be reservations. Can you imagine a system of first come, first served on a boat for X divers and you are the (X+1)th person to show up that day? You are not going to be happy about getting up early and miss the boat.

No refund policy is perfectly reasonable for 48 hours that allows a dive center to find replacements.

Considering the cost of travel, diving in general, losing up to $300 certainly sucks, but is small in the overall picture.

 

[Johnoly]

There is also one more wrinkle that is seen among WPB & FtL operators especially during the summer.

Alot of customers will double book charters for the same day & time to see which boat is going to a spot they like (ie wrecks vs reef vs deep). This is because the boat will change their original plan since more students vs spearos vs photogs jumped on 2 days before. So they jump to the other reservation.

This is also why in the last 3 years, 90% of boat reservations are now made ONLY 2 days in advance. The internet on line schedules have radically changed boat bookings.

I've never cancelled on a charter....cause all the captains talk and you get a bad reputation.