He should have at least reimbursed you for the lost time and offered to give you some free extra time on any future trip to make up for the inconvenience to you. I'm glad you didn't use names in your post as your post suggests you haven't talked to him and asked him if he thinks it is reasonable to compensate you with a partial refund for the lost time. Adding you are unlikely to ever make use of his original offer that day. No point in slamming someone before at least giving them a chance first. You don't even know what the emergency was...he could have had a kid hit by a car...the list is endless and I wouldn't wait around for niceties with that scebario, if that was the case.
First time using a charter-strange behaviors
- Thread starter Cabezon1
- Start date
Sorry about your lost Wolf. I totally understand and you will be one of the first ones I will call if we ever decide to go back out on the water again. It really wasn't the money nor not limiting out on fish that got me miffed. I mean 200 bucks split between 4 guys is really not much money. It really is about the disappointment of how it ended and the sense of being ripped off that ruined the day. BTW-we paid the full amount prior to setting foot on the boat because I trust people unless they give me reasons not to. Something to think about in the future.
Last Friday.
He told me after he dropped us off at the dock that he has to drive his kid to the hospital. But that was only after I asked him about the balance of the trip. I mean I am a father myself so once that came out of his mouth, it would have been inappropriate to discuss/argue about money at that point. But what was really strange is he actually offered to fillet the 2 halibuts in the cooler and when I told him not necessary, he took the fish out, laid them on the ground and took some pictures. I mean if your kid needs to go the hospital, would you really be doing this?
Anyway, the reason I posted the original question here is to get a sense of what the guideline is with other charter guides on the forum when you have to cut short a trip. Based on all the members response, my faith has been restored. I mean there is always two sides to the story and unless this guide has a chance to defend himself here, it would be inappropriate to reveal the person's name and be accused of character assassination/ruining someone's livelihood. That all folks.
Pippen
Well-Known Member
I'm confused as well. You paid $200 for a charter that caught 2 Halibut and you're complaining?
fishin solo
Crew Member
I would think its a $500 5 hour charter which is $100 per hour and cut short by 2 hours leaves $200 remaining ?
Peahead
Well-Known Member
Perhaps Cabezon1 means any refund for the 2 hrs would have been $200 ($50/person so hence saying "not that much money")
As far as refund goes if it were me guiding I would have provided another charter free later or if that wasn't possible, absolutely some sort of a discount for the charter that had to be cut short. These emergencies do happen but still the guide should provide a fair outcome to make the customer happy.
EDIT - I see Fish'n solo and I are 'on the same page'
As far as refund goes if it were me guiding I would have provided another charter free later or if that wasn't possible, absolutely some sort of a discount for the charter that had to be cut short. These emergencies do happen but still the guide should provide a fair outcome to make the customer happy.
EDIT - I see Fish'n solo and I are 'on the same page'
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Pippen
Well-Known Member
That makes more sense.....I was just curious if the "charter operator" in question may have been one of those ones offering deep discounts on Craiglist but don't have all their certifications etc.
$200 worth of charter time left on the table does seem to make more sense.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
You realize you probably cooked the chances of getting money back now that its on the forum. Everyone knows each other on here. I would have just called directly. And yes I would say you should get another trip. It should have been offered.
Aces
Well-Known Member
Everybody pre pays on my charters or no booking.
Definitely in this day and age, business operators need to be on their game. Because when people can give reviews in real time it can make or break your business. I have no idea about this situation, but I've been on the bad end of crummy business practices lately, i.e. My Marina situation. I toiled over the idea of posting a bad review because I'd never done it before, but I just couldn't relax knowing that he would get away Scott free. Turns out he had been using the same trick with a number of people.
Hopefully people giving bad reviews don't do it lightly and know the full situation.
You didn't name any names, but it would be good to hear if there is a result in this when you talk to the guide.
Hopefully people giving bad reviews don't do it lightly and know the full situation.
You didn't name any names, but it would be good to hear if there is a result in this when you talk to the guide.
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In my opinion if a person does shady or questionable business things then it should be online so people do not make the same mistakes that you have made. Most of the time you can review the person you are paying for. The online reviews speak for themselves most of the time.
If this guide is a member here, it would great to hear his side of the story......
If this guide is a member here, it would great to hear his side of the story......
I doubt the person is on this forum. If he is, and based on the details be known only to that person, I would like a rebuttal/explanation from him anyways. . As far as getting my money back, I don't think that will happen anyway. For me to book another charter with him just for the unused time promised, that would be like throwing good money after bad. That said, I might call him in the future and book a 5 hour charter, pay him 300$ and remind him that he still owes me 2 hours. If he is shady about it, then I might post his name. If he is a man of his word, then I will apologize publicly. Stay tune.
I'm going to share a story that show these things can go both ways. I had a first time caller book a 4 hour morning trip for Oct 17th. He called from a local number and lived in the Victoria area. He gave me his name, tel and a credit card number. When I get a credit card number that is a booking....why would I have it otherwise? I take this number so that if someone books a date 6 months out I know I won't remember the conversation but having that credit card number tells me that date or time is booked and anyone else inquiring about that date is out of luck. I've gotten in the habit of telling people no charges are applied until the trip is done. I rarely get burned so its a small risk...last time would be more than 10 years ago. Most of the time I will give local people the starting time and directions to the boat and tell them I will call them the night before the charter to discuss weather and make sure everything is a good to go.
So the night before comes and when I finish dinner i give him a call and get voicemail on his cell. I leave a message that I want to change the starting time from 7am to 8am based on what happened the during today's fishing. I call again later and get voicemail again so hang up. I'm assuming he is out and getting in late...so now I have to stick to 7am as agreed to in the first call. So I drive to Sooke and have the boat ready to go by 6:30 and sit and wait. By 7;05 no sign of them so I call his number. He picks up and says ohhhh yehh, well the two of us couldn't get a fishing license because the system was down so we thought we couldn't go. I told him I have emergency paper copies for just that occasion. I told him I was on the boat and was waiting for him. He says well why would you do that when I didn't return your call? I said because every year I have a few people who don't call me back until the morning to say they are just a few minutes form the marina...they didn't call because they were out for dinner and it went late...or they missed a ferry and got in late....in either case they thought I would be in bed so didn't call. I have a credit card number and have to show up...better that then I assume your not coming and sleep in to leave you standing at an empty boat early in the morning. I said you obviously got my voicemail why didn't you have the courtesy to call me? Gave me some song and dance about being out of camp for only 7 days, family, friends, no time to busy. THAT burned my butt. To busy to call....yeh right. So at that point I said I'm sorry but I will be running your card for the charter. He laughs and says go ahead and see where that gets you. The conversation ended...he then calls back a few minutes later and says maybe we have both cooled down a bit....I said not really...what is pissing me off was you saying you were to busy to call. He apolagizes and admits he should have. I told him that I'm reasonable and if you had I would have told you about the paper licenses I carry and if at that point you said well I didn't know and made other plans...I would have said no problem, not really your fault and hopefully we can do it another time. So he says well how about you put $100 on my car to cover your gas and time this morning and I won't dispute the charges. I knew that was the best resolution under the circumstances so it ended there. Later that night I ran his card for $100...DECLINED. And I left a voicemail for him to call...no response. Tells you why FishinTofino collects up front!!!
So the night before comes and when I finish dinner i give him a call and get voicemail on his cell. I leave a message that I want to change the starting time from 7am to 8am based on what happened the during today's fishing. I call again later and get voicemail again so hang up. I'm assuming he is out and getting in late...so now I have to stick to 7am as agreed to in the first call. So I drive to Sooke and have the boat ready to go by 6:30 and sit and wait. By 7;05 no sign of them so I call his number. He picks up and says ohhhh yehh, well the two of us couldn't get a fishing license because the system was down so we thought we couldn't go. I told him I have emergency paper copies for just that occasion. I told him I was on the boat and was waiting for him. He says well why would you do that when I didn't return your call? I said because every year I have a few people who don't call me back until the morning to say they are just a few minutes form the marina...they didn't call because they were out for dinner and it went late...or they missed a ferry and got in late....in either case they thought I would be in bed so didn't call. I have a credit card number and have to show up...better that then I assume your not coming and sleep in to leave you standing at an empty boat early in the morning. I said you obviously got my voicemail why didn't you have the courtesy to call me? Gave me some song and dance about being out of camp for only 7 days, family, friends, no time to busy. THAT burned my butt. To busy to call....yeh right. So at that point I said I'm sorry but I will be running your card for the charter. He laughs and says go ahead and see where that gets you. The conversation ended...he then calls back a few minutes later and says maybe we have both cooled down a bit....I said not really...what is pissing me off was you saying you were to busy to call. He apolagizes and admits he should have. I told him that I'm reasonable and if you had I would have told you about the paper licenses I carry and if at that point you said well I didn't know and made other plans...I would have said no problem, not really your fault and hopefully we can do it another time. So he says well how about you put $100 on my car to cover your gas and time this morning and I won't dispute the charges. I knew that was the best resolution under the circumstances so it ended there. Later that night I ran his card for $100...DECLINED. And I left a voicemail for him to call...no response. Tells you why FishinTofino collects up front!!!
fishin solo
Crew Member
I'm curious.... why not take a credit card deposit of half the amount when the trip is booked ? ive never booked or been on a charter locally so just curious
I used to but if the trip is cancelled because of weather it means doing a refund...and like I said first time for a no show in 10 plus years. The only time I take a deposit is for multi day, out of town trips (Nootka) or multiple boat trips where I have to book another guide to help me with a larger party.
Never in 14 years have I done that, as guide. if the guest wants to go in, they pay, if the guide wants to go in, the trip price is adjusted or free.
