liveaboard.com Can I trust them?

[tridacna]

Hi again Alberto,

I have spoken with our Customer Support Manager and she looked into why your review hasn't been published. She confirmed your mention of the boat owner's wife and the length of the review (it was too long) meant it didn't match the policy, and so wasn't published.

If you'd like to rewrite your review in line with the review policy then we'll be more than happy to publish it.

In terms of publishing negative reviews - I have mentioned before that we do publish negative reviews, so long as they're in line with the policy i.e. not abusive etc.

As a result of the recent comments on this thread mentioning the reviews appear overly positive, we're actually now in the process of checking our guidelines and the review process, so we can see what changes may need to be made.

You'll see in the thread I've asked for input regarding what improvements we could make to the review process - which I have already been passed on to the relevant team. If you have any information you'd like to see included or have some suggestions, then do let me know.

Many thanks,

Kathryn

Kathryn,

You obviously do NOT publish any negative reviews.

Not sure how you guys manage to defy a normal distribution curve - but you succeed admirably. I would not trust a single review on your site. They're all "exceptional" or "superb". Seriously? Furthermore your "review guidelines" are draconian. Overall, the rotting smell of fake reviews is quite overwhelming.

I would not consider using nor recommending your services.

 

[kelemvor]

There seems to be some real reviews of livaboard.com on trustpilot.com
Interestingly, at least one reviewer on this site complains that livaboard.com refused to publish their negative review on the livaboard.com site.

LiveAboard.com is rated "Average" with 2.8 / 5 on Trustpilot

Mar 15, 2019
Very dubious company
We have booked a cruise on a liveaboard in the Bahamas via LiveAboard.com. Unfortunately, the trip did not match the descriptions on the website in any way. Instead of a luxurious cruise we landed on a boat with big hygiene deficiencies and safety problems. After our vacation we reported the issues to LiveAboard.com and submitted a review. The review was never published even after several follow-ups and we only received an answer from LiveAboard.com after several mails and several weeks of waiting. While other travelers who booked via PADI received a 100% refund, LiveAboard.com offered us a 10% voucher for our next trip with LiveAboard.com.

Apr 5, 2019

Live Aboard, an unorganized and unreliable company
We booked an UnCruise trip through Live Aboard - a big mistake as we could have booked directly with the cruise operator. When we booked we gave information about our arrival at the pick up destination. The airline changed the time and we informed Live Aboard. However a couple of days prior to the cruise we had an email from Live Aboard which showed the arrival time. I emailed Live Aboard and received a reply acknowledging the email, but the schedule was not changed. I sent another email with the same result, the same incorrect schedule was shown - but a different person had responded. I tried a third time - still no change, and of course a totally different person answered the email. We took the flight, which arrived on time, but nobody was there to meet us, so we took a taxi at our expense to the rendezvous hotel. It seems that UnCruise had sent a pick up vehicle to the airport at the original time, but of course we were not there to be picked up.The UnCruise people were great, and refunded us our taxi fare, and the cruise itself was outstanding. However because of our experience with Live Aboard, we will never use their services again, and of course we will never recommend them.

May 10, 2019

Had an amazing trip
Had an amazing trip, and service from LiveAboard.com was excellent. It was precise and quick, their team was always available on the phone when needed.
I had a lovely trip to Norway in 2019, and it was a very fair deal for the service we received.
I will book with LiveAboard.com any time again!

May 16, 2019

Horrendous
Horrendous - do not book with this company!!

My wife and I booked a trip to Egypt through liveaboard.com. The communication was sparse and unreliable the entire time leading up to the departure. It was always from a different person. We asked repeatedly for the pickup information and were told that the "operator" didn't provide that. Then my wife had a terrible time getting past the border because liveaboard didnt have their rep inside. I struggle to blame them for the rules of the Egyptian Government, especially considering I did lengthy research on our own and was certain the visa on arrival would be enough (for Kazakhstani Citizens it is not). Had they been a professional company they could have given us a heads up, or as we insisted given us the right contact information. Once we arrived our operator was confused and had been trying to get in touch with us for weeks, but because Liveaboard was so bad at communicating they dropped the ball on that end too.

Long story short, these guys are a nightmare to deal with, use their site to find the operator you want and contact them directly.

 

[tridacna]

^^^^
There's an irony: They can (and do) control reviews of the LOBs but not of themselves. Tripadvisor has a similar number of negative reviews about them.

 

[LiveaboardCom]

Hello Liveaboard,

I am by no means trying to be rude or anything like that but I am pretty sure you are lying. You are telling me that no one has ever left a review with under 7 stars? Really? I know you are bound to have negative reviews, its the way life works. People also have a tendency to leave negative reviews more than positive ones. I was also on the Orion and it was a terrible boat, yet there are only 2 reviews, and both positive? Highly unlikely. I also want to point out that people that have bad experiences are likely to post longer reviews explaining the reasons (I would never leave a negative review without an explanation). You could also maybe accept the star rating given and not post the entire review. Basically, it is impossible that no liveaboard ever received a rating below 6 stars on your site.

I have been asking around and this is the case throughout. Furthermore, if you have a character limit shouldn't you tell people? Otherwise you are being deceptive. Additionally you do not state a maximum number of characters in your review policy, so apparently it is on a case by case basis. All of this highlights how this is deceptive.

Hi Alberto,

I know you are not trying to be rude - you're frustrated and I genuinely appreciate that. I'm a diver just like you are and understand the importance of honest reviews.

I will pass on the concerns in your latest reply to the review team (as I have the previous ones) and I'll ask for their input. They are in the best position to reply fully as they have all the information to hand about word limits, star system etc.

As much as I can confirm to you I'm not lying, which is true, I can see you'd like more of an explanation - which I can't provide to that level of detail.

Bear with me and I will find out more.

Many thanks,

Kathryn

 

[Alberto Ruiz-Larrea]

Hello,

Yes, I really need to publish my review on SB. I do feel bad giving such negative feedback since in the past every dive operator I have dealt with has been overall pretty great. But these guys were unsafe. Which is why I am quite frustrated with Liveaboard for not posting the negative reviews. I would have never allowed for them to change my boat had there been some realistic reviews, which would have for sure commented on the lack of safety, care and professionalism from that boat.

All of that being said, Kathryn you say you say that you cant provide that level of detail regarding why you do not post negative reviews? You also mention that you are not lying about posting negative reviews, which would mean that out of the 1000s of reviews no one has ever given any of your boats below a 7/10? You are aware that this basically impossible, right.

It is like I stated, aside from the review issue, in many other ways my experience with Liveaboard was good. But this blatant lying and hiding information is very unfortunate.

 

[Jay]

Liveaboard's review policy states "If, for any reason, we deem your review not to provide any added value for other divers", and negative reviews are obviously not "added value"!!!!!!!!

My above comment would also be banned because probably be banned because "Reviews need to be in the correct case (no upper case only) and with correct interpunction (not 5000 exclamation points)" !!!!! ... well, yeah, that's a point!

On a serious note, I don't think this entirely makes sense (below). A brief review with specifics helps operators rectify (if needed) and informs readers. Their suggested text would leave both operators and readers clueless about what aspect of the transfer was disappointing ...

 

[LiveaboardCom]

Liveaboard's review policy states "If, for any reason, we deem your review not to provide any added value for other divers", and negative reviews are obviously not "added value"!!!!!!!!

My above comment would also be banned because probably be banned because "Reviews need to be in the correct case (no upper case only) and with correct interpunction (not 5000 exclamation points)" !!!!! ... well, yeah, that's a point!

On a serious note, I don't think this entirely makes sense (below). A brief review with specifics helps operators rectify (if needed) and informs readers. Their suggested text would leave both operators and readers clueless about what aspect of the transfer was disappointing ...


View attachment 549876

Thank you for that feedback Jay. I've passed on the point you made about the review policy to the team handling the reviews.

I'll be in touch as and when I can provide some feedback.

Kathryn

 

[tridacna]

Thank you for that feedback Jay. I've passed on the point you made about the review policy to the team handling the reviews.

I'll be in touch as and when I can provide some feedback.

Kathryn

Kathryn,

Old refrain. Apparently your own team seems to be ignoring you. You can only say it a limited number of times before we “get the idea”.

 

[Jay]

Thank you for that feedback Jay. I've passed on the point you made about the review policy to the team handling the reviews.

I'll be in touch as and when I can provide some feedback.

Kathryn

Thank you.

 

[Alberto Ruiz-Larrea]

Hello Kathryn,

I thank you for telling me you are going to look into it. I also want to point out that you offered that I re-write my review of my trip on board the Orion. Unluckily, I cannot write it since it says I have already submitted it. Since you offered that I write it again but following all of Liveaboard.com policies, I expected that you would let me do this.

Basically, it looks like another lie, since you offered that I re-write the review a couple of weeks ago, but you are not letting me do so. This is exactly why I recommend that people should be be weary of Liveaboard.com and question their honesty.

I do thank you for replying to questions and trying your best with us Kathryn and I await your responses.