Aggressor changed boats for my upcoming trip

[Rick Brant]

It must be hard for people to find out info about them. Personally I will never consider them in any location after reading all the stories here.

 

[Carlos Diver]

To be honest I am still amazed that Aggressor's are still in business given all the bad experiences that people have had over the years - and their poor responses to them. I don't understand why people keep using them. Back in the mid-90's they were a great operation but things have changed.

I think it just comes down to that most people do not know of the issues surrounding their fleet.

A small percentage of divers actually use this board. Unless you have first-hand accounts, even a smaller percentage, a diver, especially an American one where a lot of their advertising is focused, is going to think of Aggressor as how they use to be.

Also, you still have people who are willing to apply the ``covid excuse'' on any problem or issue that pops up when discussing them. It takes actually being there, and having something go wrong, before they understand. Or even better for them, they get the trip they were promised and the issues don't pop up during their vacation.

While I have had issues in the past with them, I would still consider them in the Carribean for few reasons, but even that window is closing fast.

 

[Rusty Roo]

I don't think aggressor had planned to go back to the ocean rover. I went on the tombora in november 2022. The boat did require some work as the AC was terrible and the boat just generally was tired. However, the cruise director "pep" had loads of plans for the boat. he was going to change this change that etc. There are a lot of liveboards operating out of sorong, if you want this style of boat i'd take a look at the Indonesia Siren.

Interesting. I am booking Agressor for November as well and glad i read this post prior to booking. Aggressor is listing different departure dates for November compared to the Ocean Rover website. I wonder if the company is just waiting to see if the original boat will be released?

 

[kataqua]

Took a bit for this update as I was waiting for everything to be sorted out. I was initially told no discount as the price difference was due to a promo for new bookings only, while the room had been downgraded 'if you were happy with a queen bed before you will be happy', and if I wanted to make any changes it would be a 20% cancellation or change fee.

I sent an email to the VP of Reservations advising I would be reporting this to the Georgia Consumer Protection Division (Georgia Consumer Protection Laws & Consumer Complaints) - this is a state run office that requires companies to respond within a specific timeframe with facts regarding complaints. While it is within their terms and conditions to change boats, I believe it would be found to be unconscionable due to its one sided nature, as Aggressor does not give you the option to respond or rescind your deposit. From the sounds of it, they don't even tell all guests until it's too late. Within 2 hours I received a message from the 3rd party I booked through along the lines of 'we were able to negotiate a discount, would you like to drop your claim'. I did not and did not hear further, so I followed up. I received a response the same day of my follow up that a resolution had been made. I have now received a full refund.

I hope this helps someone else in a similar position. While I had lurked this board before, I did not know of any issues related to Aggressor or their customer service, likely due to all the marketing I've seen from their end and many positive reviews I've read of their other trips.

 

[Doc]

I did not and did not hear further, so I followed up. I received a response the same day of my follow up that a resolution had been made. I have now received a full refund.

translation: they re-sold your cabin.

 

[kataqua]

translation: they re-sold your cabin.

It has been a few months and I see Aggressor now has 40% off this trip with many rooms available. My initial booking was 3 rooms (6 guests).

I hoped the information would be helpful to encourage others who may be having a difficult time with Aggressor customer service to pursue a legal approach. The Consumer Complaints Division is state run, runs a formal investigation where a company operating within that state must respond with facts within a set amount of time. I don't believe any company would want that type of scrutiny if they can avoid it, especially if it were to bring to light that one was not acting in a fair way.