Fishing Outfit Rant

[Ringer]

Why would you try to harm their biz when you caused the problem? No matter about the kids or whatever reason the guides were booked and they did refund the room and say if the guides could book the days then they would refund. Anyone who ever fished or hunted Alaska, Oregon, Washington or anywhere else knows the basic rules of deposits and refunds. If the fishing and guides are good I bet your "friends" are just saying they will never use the place to make you feel better. You are wrong on this one IMO.

[IA Born]

You had to pay in full when you booked the trip? that's kinda different. I would think if there's no exchange of goods or services they can't charge you

 

No, I didn't have to pay in full or even put a deposit down, which surprised me. That's the first time I've had a trip like this booked where there wasn't even any kind of payment made.

 

 

I see both sides. AS a business owner with very strict policies(by law I am required to do certain things), I can understand their position. The questions you did not answer was a) did they have a written policy did you agree to it c) did you violate it. (actually we already know "c")

 

I also have to ask, if it was for a reason other than your kids, would you have expected a refund? Granted, that is hypothetical but to their point, a cancelled booking is a cancelled booking. Trust me, I have heard EVERY excuse in the book and all from the movie made from the book. I have heard it ALL. At some point as a business owner you just have to draw the line in the sand and say no to EVERYONE.

 

In your defense, I think their "reasoning" for not working with you is poor. If they stuck to their policy of "no refunds period" and didn't bring up "feeding their kids", I would actually have more respect for them.

 

I understand your hurt feelings, but I do think it unfair to hold it against them. You may not like them and not do business with them, but I don't think they did anything "wrong".

 

On the flip side, wouldn't it have been nice for them to say yes and for you to be singing their praises....

 

Out of curiosity, why didn't you just pick up the kids and take them fishing?

 

I asked for honest input and I got it and I appreciate this response. I knew the policy going in and, yes, I had to cancel. And, as I said, I completely understand why they have their policy in place. Every trip I've ever booked has had similar policies, but most I've dealt with have clauses for extenuating circumstances. If it were not for my kids being involved, I wouldn't be upset. I've had to cancel overnight trips before, but those were from poor planning on my part and because I booked my hotel through Expedia, etc., I've had to eat the cost of two nights' of hotel stay. I didn't argue those situations because it was me who dropped the ball. Taking the kids with us would have cost another ~$900 to book guides/boats for the two days of fishing, which we didn't have budgeted.

 

I truly do appreciate your input and I'll chalk this one up to lessons learned and move on.

[el diablo]

Why would you try to harm their biz when you caused the problem? No matter about the kids or whatever reason the guides were booked and they did refund the room and say if the guides could book the days then they would refund. Anyone who ever fished or hunted Alaska, Oregon, Washington or anywhere else knows the basic rules of deposits and refunds. If the fishing and guides are good I bet your "friends" are just saying they will never use the place to make you feel better. You are wrong on this one IMO.

Exactly what I was thinking. They refunded the room and offered to refund guide fee if they booked. They met you in the middle.

[knothead]

Tough situation all the way around. You did what was most important and took care of our family. I believe everyone would have made the phone call to the fishing outfit to see if they could refund due to the circumstances. You tried, didn't work out and now time to move on. Paying for something you never received is a hard pill to swallow.

 

A situation like this reminds me of why I supported G&F and there tag surrender program where you could reclaim your bonus points. Stuff like this happens all the time and in the past people were just out of luck. Now there is a way to recoup your points with point guard. Life happens and it is nice to know in some cases there are ways to lesson the sting of an unfortunate situation.

 

 

Glad to hear your family is safe and sound.

[SunDevil]

+1 on the trip insurance. it costs about 6%.

 

someone close to me gave me some VERY VALUABLE insight several years ago. it was and is tough to swallow but I try to always remember it.

 

"It is only money"

 

Think about it

[Phil Beavers]

+1 on the trip insurance. it costs about 6%.

 

someone close to me gave me some VERY VALUABLE insight several years ago. it was and is tough to swallow but I try to always remember it.

 

"It is only money"

 

Think about it

+1 to this... As the kids today say take the " L " and just move on. Sucks but things could have been much worse.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Well maybe I see it a little differently. I am a small business owner in a small town, but I would be very flexible and try and work things out the best we can. I try and make my customers as happy as possible. I don't necessarily think they did anything wrong but could have been more compassionate and a little more flexible IMO

 

Maybe that is why I am still a SMALL business owner.

[trphyhntr]

I've heard of restocking fees and what not but how can they charge you if no good or services were exchanged. Did you sign a contract to agree to pay

[wish2hunt]

Well maybe I see it a little differently. I am a small business owner in a small town, but I would be very flexible and try and work things out the best we can. I try and make my customers as happy as possible. I don't necessarily think they did anything wrong but could have been more compassionate and a little more flexible IMO

 

Maybe that is why I am still a SMALL business owner.

I agree with what you said about trying to work with people. It's people like you that I like doing business with.

[JohnSWA]

Take this as a lesson learned and be thankful that your kids are well and safe!

[IA Born]

Again, I asked for honest input and I'm getting it and I truly appreciate it. We did what we felt was best to look out for the best interest of our family the same as they were looking out for their business' best interest and I have zero regrets. Your replies (except for Lee needing to imply me being stupid) are greatly appreciated and have given me plenty to consider, have had some great points, and now its time to move forward. I'm thankful every day that our kids are safe and no longer in harm's way. I've booked fishing trips in Alaska, Florida, California, and Mexico and most places had clauses in their policies for extenuating circumstances. I guess I still hold out hope that there is enough humanity and compassion left in this world that extreme situations are considered fully, especially when I didn't really cause the problem; there were circumstances beyond my control.

 

 

Well maybe I see it a little differently. I am a small business owner in a small town, but I would be very flexible and try and work things out the best we can. I try and make my customers as happy as possible. I don't necessarily think they did anything wrong but could have been more compassionate and a little more flexible IMO

 

Maybe that is why I am still a SMALL business owner.

 

That's part of what set me off. We tried to work things out and reschedule, but they didn't like our time frame, even though we were willing to commit. Had they been more flexible and not made the comment about their guides' kids needing to be fed, I could have swallowed that pill a little easier. I appreciate your insight as much as anyone's. And, like wish2hunt said, I enjoy doing business with people like you. I grew up in a small town doing business by word and handshakes, and working things out when the stuff hit the fan.

 

I've heard of restocking fees and what not but how can they charge you if no good or services were exchanged. Did you sign a contract to agree to pay

 

I've paid restocking fees, return fees, nonrefundable deposits (usually $100-$150), and hotel costs because of my ineptitude/poor planning at the moment. For this one, there was no contract to sign. I made a phone call, made arrangements, and the manager said they'd charge us when we got there; no deposit, no contract (I asked). Oh well. Like others have said, its time to chalk it up to experience and live/learn. I'll probably be looking into trip insurance for future endeavors.

 

Thanks again for all of the input and insight and I'm moving forward planning my next trip and hoping that my credit card gets hit tomorrow for a sheep tag for me and a deer tag for my daughter.

[el diablo]

No contract is a different story. I say if there was no contract you have a fighting chance at getting the CC co to back you up. You did not receive the service you paid for. That was the only thing that mattered when I had a moving co break my brand new $2000 TV. The CC co said I received the service paid for but had to take up the TV with the moving co.

[cramerhunts]

It's definitely one of those situations that is hard to swallow all the way around. I understand their side just as much as yours but that does not make it any easier. There have been some great posts to this thread and I appreciate you putting it out there.

 

I had a similar situation earlier this summer with quite a bit of money involved. My younger daughter was scheduled to travel to London with her school. I had paid the trip in full. Two days prior to take off the terror attacks happened and the trip was canceled. I of course was happy that the school had the student's safety as top priority however I was definitely not happy about losing $1,500 immediately and not being refunded the other $2,500 which they offered to me as a travel voucher valid for one year if booked through the school. I patiently explained that my daughter was entering her freshman year and would not be attending that school any longer so the voucher did me no good. It didn't matter, they said that they had already gone beyond their policy.

 

Losing that amount of money was/is very hard to accept but I keep reminding myself that if she would of went on the trip and something happened no amount of money would or could make up for it.

 

Not exactly the same as your situation but it was the tour company's policies that I agreed to when I signed her up and even though I believe they could of been more compassionate about it I still agreed to it going in.

 

Long story short, I feel for you buddy and it sucks but I don't necessarily think the company is in the wrong with what they offered.

[DesertBull]

Maybe they will let you do the same dates - 2018?

 

If you donate the trip to one of the outdoor organizations you can at least right off the cost. Not exactly a refund but helps a little.

[IA Born]

It's definitely one of those situations that is hard to swallow all the way around. I understand their side just as much as yours but that does not make it any easier. There have been some great posts to this thread and I appreciate you putting it out there.

 

I had a similar situation earlier this summer with quite a bit of money involved. My younger daughter was scheduled to travel to London with her school. I had paid the trip in full. Two days prior to take off the terror attacks happened and the trip was canceled. I of course was happy that the school had the student's safety as top priority however I was definitely not happy about losing $1,500 immediately and not being refunded the other $2,500 which they offered to me as a travel voucher valid for one year if booked through the school. I patiently explained that my daughter was entering her freshman year and would not be attending that school any longer so the voucher did me no good. It didn't matter, they said that they had already gone beyond their policy.

 

Losing that amount of money was/is very hard to accept but I keep reminding myself that if she would of went on the trip and something happened no amount of money would or could make up for it.

 

Not exactly the same as your situation but it was the tour company's policies that I agreed to when I signed her up and even though I believe they could of been more compassionate about it I still agreed to it going in.

 

Long story short, I feel for you buddy and it sucks but I don't necessarily think the company is in the wrong with what they offered.

 

Thanks, Phil. I'm sorry you had to go through something similar. I hope you know how much respect I have for you and value your insight, more so than most. Our ordeal was scary enough as a parent. I can't imagine what was going through your head as a dad to a precious daughter. Its a tough pill to swallow, but I'm thankful that the kids are safe. In the end, I may lose and I'm perfectly fine with that. To not try is against my nature. This whole thread has been cathartic enough for me and your post helped put my mind at ease. Forward. One of these days, we'll shake hands in person and (hopefully) get a chuckle out of our experiences.

 

 

Maybe they will let you do the same dates - 2018?

 

If you donate the trip to one of the outdoor organizations you can at least right off the cost. Not exactly a refund but helps a little.

 

I tried to book (commit money) to our first free weekend in October, but they said that was too far out. We've already started putting a plan in place with another outfit (better reviews, even) and I need to start practicing my double haul again.