Dive OPs who enforce 24 hour cancelation policy but can cancel last minute??

[northernone]

Sounds like she gave you an honest answer. I have been put onto another boat several times in the Keys

I as well.

Showed up dockside, discovered I was the only customer. They already had arrangement with another vessel and I didn't miss the dive nor did they run the charter with just one passenger.

Workable solution I think.
Cameron

 

[ibj40]

First ever trip to the Keys. In fact it was only the second or third dive post cert. Had flown down from NC. Had booked with dive op at Pennekamp because I had heard of Pennekamp and knew nothing about Keys. One other single guy from Chicago showed up. That was it, boat required four to go. Corporate policy. Other guy and I had agreed that if nobody else showed up we would each buy a ghost. The two of us and our two ghosts had two awesome dives out at French reef. Calm seas. Great viz. Lots of fish life.

If service was good, I personally think that ghosts should tip also.

This exact situation presented itself when my wife and I were booked for a Bat Island dive trip in Costa Rica. Our two "ghosts" missed a pregnant female Bull Shark, two adolescents, and two juveniles, circling close enough to get some great pictures.

Well worth the investment, and considering what we had already spent to get there, the additional expense was a rounding error in the total cost of our vacation.

 

[TMHeimer]

I as well.

Showed up dockside, discovered I was the only customer. They already had arrangement with another vessel and I didn't miss the dive nor did they run the charter with just one passenger.

Workable solution I think.
Cameron

Yes, good solution--IF there is another vessel going out that day (or month on the FL panhandle in winter).

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

I can see some of the connections but I do not think that the restaraunt comparison is completely correct. If the boat goes they burn gas. Which is a major expense. The restaurant burns electricity.

Another difference is that marine engine overhauls are based on usage (Wookie can correct me if I am wrong) but that is not true for stoves.

A restaurant, when open, need to have a fair amount of commodities, many of them fresh like meat and fish and so on, some you maybe can use tomorrow, some you cannot use tomorrow. They maybe have a oven that need to be warmed up hours in advance.

If no, or few, customers that day, they still have the cost for both staff and fresh meat and fish.


Yes, you cannot compare the cost of running a stove with the cost of running a marine engine, but you can compare the principle of doing business.

 

[kelemvor]

Hi new here, going to skip the intro thread because they're all the same, to the effect of "Hi I am new to the board and look forward to participating in conversations and meeting new people and enjoying this great hobby with other people" and get right to the point.

I've had some recent bad experiences with several dive Ops- I won't name them because as an intro thread my motivations would certainly be questioned if I start bashing some dive Ops right off the bat.

This is a general question to the community.

What do you think of Dive Ops who have the policy that if you do not cancel within a 24 hour window of the scheduled dive, you will be charged full price for the dive, however that same dive Op reserves the right to cancel on the diver right up until the evening before a morning dive- simply because there aren't a minimum number of divers?

How many of you have had this experience, especially during an expensive vacation where your diving is suddenly canceled for no reason other than "sorry we don't make any money (or we lose money) if we go out with less than 4 divers" and you either have to scramble last minute to find a Dive Op who is even open in the evenings or start calling at the crack of dawn hoping to find a place on a boat?

If I was a dive Op, I'd either a) always run the boat even if I was going to lose money- just like the airlines do. Can you imagine United Airlines calling you the night before your flight and saying "sorry not enough passengers, you gotta make other plans" or b) try my best to get them on someone else's boat and if not available, run them out to the dive site anyway or c) at the very least not hold divers to a 24 hour cancelation window AND tell them you might cancel if there aren't enough divers.

Here's how I handle it- when I call a Dive Op initially I ask them about their cancellation window policy AND if they will cancel on me if not enough divers.

If they are "one of those" Dive Ops I call other places until I find one that will run with only 1 or 2 divers.

If that is not possible I book dives with several dive Ops and cancel on all of them at the last possible moment except for the one that is booked up (as per their website schedule or I call last minute).

The whole policy is bad for the Dive Ops and bad for the divers.

Just curious how you guys handle it. I've got an upcoming dive trip in the Florida Keys and all the Dive Ops seem to work that way and I've got scheduled dives with about 6 shops and I'm going to cancel on 5 of them the day before- and it's THEIR fault they'll be running with less divers because of their messed up policies.

I dive SE Florida "a lot." More than some, less than others that don't have to do a 4-hour drive.
Every time I've booked a less than filled boat ride, the op has been up front with me about the situation. Something along the lines of "we need x divers in order to go out". Usually, that results in me digging up x buddies to bring along. In any event, I think it's the correct way to handle things - they should be up front about the situation. If they are, and the trip gets canceled at the last minute then I think they held up their end. If it really was a surprise to you, then shame on that operator. Only one time have I had an operator cancel.. well sort of cancel. The dive boat I was to go on had some kind of mechanical malfunction the night before I was to go out. Luckily, the owner had been on top of the situation and got me a spot on a competitors boat.

If they really did surprise cancel on you, then remember it and don't ever book with that operator again.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Weather permitting, our favorite dive operator will go out irregardless of the number of divers that show up. They do this to maintain their reputation and in respect of their employees who need to make ends meet. On one dive charter my wife and I were the only paying customers on a boat rated for 17 divers. Some of the crew took advantage of the fact to do a fun dive themselves.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Weather permitting, our favorite dive operator will go out irregardless of the number of divers that show up. They do this to maintain their reputation and in respect of their employees who need to make ends meet. On one dive charter my wife and I were the only paying customers on a boat rated for 17 divers. Some of the crew took advantage of the fact to do a fun dive themselves.

What dive op in NZ is this? Another reason to love NZ more than I do already!

 

[Bert van den Berg]

What dive op in NZ is this? Another reason to love NZ more than I do already!

Dive Tutukaka (www.diving.co.nz). I am not sure, but some of the other operators may have similar policies. I just don't have any personal experience with what they would do since this is a rare occasion and I almost always use Dive Tutukaka when not diving off my own boat.

 

[Steve_C]

Weather permitting, our favorite dive operator will go out irregardless of the number of divers that show up. They do this to maintain their reputation and in respect of their employees who need to make ends meet. On one dive charter my wife and I were the only paying customers on a boat rated for 17 divers. Some of the crew took advantage of the fact to do a fun dive themselves.

On a boat I dive frequently the crew is paid in tips. (Captain takes no tips) So going out with one diver is not helping them make ends meet. It is keeping them from working in the shop, or teaching a class, all of which will pay more.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

On a boat I dive frequently the crew is paid in tips. (Captain takes no tips) So going out with one diver is not helping them make ends meet. It is keeping them from working in the shop, or teaching a class, all of which will pay more.

That would be a problem where the crew earn good money from tips. There is no tipping in New Zealand. In the USA the minimum wage is US$7.25 per hour. In New Zealand the minimum wage is NZ$15.75 per hour (approximately US$11.50 per hour).