ComplaintsforSailing Florida Charters & Sailing School, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On or about 4/26/21 we booked a Charter for 5/20/21. The agreement was for It's About Time vessel and Overnight night stay on the boat with check-in 3pm and a full day of sailing with Capt Rick. full fee was $715.30 We knew at the time of booking our 25% deposit is nonrefundable and it would be applied to a future booking and must be used within 12 months. Unfortunately, after consulting with our Capt on 5/19/21 the weather conditions were not going to be safe for our sailing. So we had to cancel, we left our pmt on the books to be applied to rescheduled trip. Unfortunately for us, Sailing Florida has since been sold to another business and the terms of our contract are not being honored. We are attempting to reschedule our trip, we were looking at various options for Oct. Each email from Jeff S has added more fees 1) increased our fees for the Capt and Ins 2) not honoring our Overnight stay agreement and 3) is now requiring a $1500 security deposit.

  Business response

  09/29/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2021/09/29) */ This response was taken verbally by the BBB We are handling this directly with the customer. Consumer Response /* (3000, 14, 2021/09/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Dear BBB, Due to inconsistencies in previous communications with the business representatives, we opt to communicate through the BBB complaint process. At 1:06 PM I received and email from the business, the representative only addressed "wanting to reach out to reschedule the charter". She failed to mention the BBB complaint or that the BBB had called them. The email appears to be the business attempt to "handle it directly with the customer" This email is not a response to the concerns of the complaint. I replied (with a cc to the BBB staff) that my preference was to communicate through the BBB complaint process. Please request the business address the concerns presented in the complaint and provide their response through the BBB process. Best Regards, ********* ********************** ***************************** Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2021/10/01) */ Please have the client forward the original contract received: "Desired Resolution: Refund; The contract states 25% deposit Nonrefundable not the Charter Fees, we are requesting a full refund due to the new owners changes in the terms of our; Agreement and not notifying us in advance of the changes. Our contract was in place prior to the new ownership I can provide copies of all emails ". We are happy to work with the client to reschedule her charter. Consumer Response /* (4200, 18, 2021/10/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Dear BBB, While we understand the business Sailing Florida was sold to Waypoints Yacht Charter and the new ownership took over the operations. Our existing contract was transferred to the new management to honor. We find it very discouraging that the business does not have a copy of the Contract/Agreement in their posession and find it necessary to request a copy. What has been so frustrating is the lack of transparency on the part of the business representative Jeff S. and now Chelsea P. We began communications with the business on 8/17/2021 to reschedule our charter which had been paid in Full and to find a suitable date in October. Please see the document provided which has the emails in chronological order for your review. Our first two communications Jeff S. gave no indication there would be any changes in our fees nor that the Overnight aspect would not be honored. email #3. Also please note, we were being directed to contact the paid for Captain to coordinate his schedule with the availability of the vessel and our schedule. We still do not comprehend that aspect, we are paying them the fee to book the captain, why are we chasing down which days the captain is available? I would understand if we were hiring the captain outside the charter as an independent contractor. The professional response would be "Your chosen vessel and captain are available on these dates..." These stipulations of increased fees and no overnight were not revealed until our third exchange. When I called to speak to Jeff S. by phone about this, he said he would be sending more information in writing. That's when we were informed that not only was the overnight not going to be honored but the fees increased. After reviewing the new invoice, I called and left a voicemail for Jeff S., that I felt there had been a miss calculation in the amount due- and requested a return phone call. Unfortunately, rather than call us to discuss the additional changes Jeff S. replied by email with, yet two more added stipulations of a $1500 Security Deposit and the reservation was not Cancelable. This simply is not acceptable as we are in Florida and weather conditions on the day of the charter will dictate whether we are able to sail or not. Each time we communicated with Jeff S. there was a change. We have lost all confidence in this business's integrity in managing our booking. We are requesting a full refund of $715.30. For the following reasons 1) Our original contract is not being honored- We would like to point out the contract does state the 25% deposit is nonrefundable and will be on credit for a future booking for 12 months. We agreed to this. However, we paid our charter in full prior to our May 19/20th date, when the charter had to be canceled on 5/19/21 for bad weather conditions- we opted with Jenn to leave the full balance on credit as we intended to reschedule- and to keep the accounting simple. 2) The new ownership failed to contact existing contracts they bought and inform us of the changes- ultimately, they should have given us the opportunity to move forward with them or forfeit our deposit and refund the balance 3) Jeff S. has provided NO new contract Terms and Conditions with the new Invoice- we are unable to confidently agree to the invoice without full knowledge of our rights, responsibilities, and expectations of their new agreement. 4) The inconsistencies in the communications with Jeff S as we attempted to reschedule our charter have left us with little confidence that business intends to honor their contract and that additional surprise fees and charges may be forthcoming. For these reasons we request the business provide full refund by reversing the charges back to our Credit Cards. Charter guests ****** ****** and **** ****** for Invoice #***** Consumer Response /* (3000, 40, 2021/12/08) */ I am following up to inquire as to the business commitment to provide a full refund. Unfortunately, the refund has not been received as yet. Would you please follow up with the business and request they provide an ETA on the refund. Thank you. Business Response /* (4000, 42, 2021/12/09) */ Accounting department has been informed to issue a refund check mailed to the address provided. The check will be mailed on Wednesday, December 15th in USPS from our office in Annapolis. Thank you. Consumer Response /* (3000, 40, 2021/12/08) */ I am following up to inquire as to the business commitment to provide a full refund. Unfortunately, the refund has not been received as yet. Would you please follow up with the business and request they provide an ETA on the refund. Thank you. Business Response /* (4000, 42, 2021/12/09) */ Accounting department has been informed to issue a refund check mailed to the address provided. The check will be mailed on Wednesday, December 15th in USPS from our office in Annapolis. Thank you. Consumer Response /* (3000, 49, 2022/01/06) */ The business stated a refund check would be mailed on 12/15/21. It is now 1/6/22 (17 mailing days) and no check has arrived to the provided mailing address. Please contact the business and request an Update as to when the refund will be provided. ****** ****** Business Response /* (4000, 51, 2022/01/07) */ The check will be cut and mailed today on January 7th, 2022 from our accounting department in Maryland. Thanks! Consumer Response /* (2000, 53, 2022/01/20) */ Good morning, I wanted to let you know the refund check finally arrived. Thank you for your assistance.

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