ComplaintsforBlack Gold Fossil Charters LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On August 17, we rented a charter to go scuba diving. The owner was over an hour late, made us sit at the dock for another hour for no reason. And then decided to talk about himself for an hour, not letting us get in the water as we paid for.He agreed to get us to an area where we would find what we were looking for, but because we waited so long visibility was nonexistent as he stated it would be because we waited so long. The next day he took friends out on the boat to go scuba diving, two areas he knew so they would be successful.

  Business response

  08/22/2024

  Customer that actually booked this trip is named ***********************. The customer who filed this did not pay for this trip. Plain and simple this is a 3 tank dive hunting for fossilized shark teeth. The customer who submitted the complaint was the only person on the boat this day who did not find a megalodon shark tooth. I only take 4 divers per day and cost for the dives is $200 per diver. I had 3 other customers on the boat that were successful hunting and I have already talked to them and they verified that it would be ok for them to be contacted to support me and my business. This is a **** and there is no guarantee to peoples success. This customer **** who filed the complaint was unsuccessful but everyone else was. He paid me $200 for a 3 tank dive and that is exactly what he got. Services were rendered. I notified all customers that I was going to be 45 minutes late to the dock and everyone notified me that there were no issues. Also the time at the dock while setting up everyones gear to go diving is part of every trip. We are limited by the county to be loading and unloading at the dock for no more than 20 minutes. Also the customer was not happy having to listen to the safety speech that I am required to give before they can dive. Also I go over the various fossils they can find and techniques to improve their success before diving. This guy was a first time hunter and failed to find any fossils. Everyone else on the boat did and his friend even tipped me $60 for his trip the same day. This guy showed up to the dock in his underware and I had another customer with his 12 year old son and they did not appreciate it. I asked **** when he was going to put some pants on and he was not ammused but it was totally inappropriate to be dressed like that infront of a child. The other customer with his son is named ********************* and he gave permission for you to contact him to verify all services were rendered and this guy is out of his mind. His phone number is ************

  I also contacted ***** friend who booked the trip ********************* and he had not idea this was going on. He had no issues but stated that **** was not happy that he did not find anything. That is his own fault for not being a good hunter. I do not guarantee that customers will find a megalodon shark tooth but I always put customers on all of my best spots. I dive with them and I always find them. This guy is trying to not only get a refund for services that were clearly rendered but also asking for more than he even paid. This is absolutely ridiculous. If any further information is needed please feel free to contact me. Thank you

  Customer response

  08/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 22170870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  For starters, All the people that were on the boat drove from very far away, so we are all there when he texted us to say he was going to be late. What else are we supposed to do? once he got there, admitted that he slept in. Very unprofessional and disrespectful as an owner of a business. as for the Safety speech that was five minutes of each 45 Minute delay. As for the underwear comment, apparently this person does not know what bike shorts are, which last time I checked are not illegal to wear, especially in front of children. There were no comments, questions or request about the bike shorts. Had that been a female he would not have been bothered or said anything. Since I do not work for this person, he is violating my civil rights by bringing this up.

  as for my friend who found a small tooth, He was also not happy with any of what happened and stated it to me several times. So this captain is making things up. When we spoke to the other divers, they had stated theyve been on a few charters and have yet to find megalodon teeth. My issue was not that I did not find megalodon teeth, as no one on our charter did. Its that he went to known locations the next day and the whole group was beyond successful. Which tells me he did not pick a proper location.
  

  When we boarded the boat, the owner stated that as the day went by, visibility was going to be worse. Had he not taken three hours of our morning, The visibility wouldve been better to be able to find teeth. As for the refund request, I did pay $200 and so did my friend. My request was for both of us. If hes not going to pay both then I want my refund.
  

  I have been on thousands of charters and know exactly how things are supposed to be done, And as a customer feel as if I was treated unprofessional and did not get what was agreed. 
  

  Its obvious in the response back how angry and abusive this charter captain really is, which speaks to how he runs his business and why we chose not to say anything. The potential of major retaliation was a huge factor as to why nothing was said.

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business response

  08/24/2024

  I have attached a document sent to my company from one of the other customers that was on the boat the same day as **** for additional support. 

  Lets just start with What did **** pay for. He paid for a 3 tank dive trip to **** for Megalodon shark teeth in ************** with Black Gold Fossil Charters. I provided tanks and weights as promised, I set up each divers gear as promised before the trip and after each dive. We completed 3 dives at 3 different locations as promised. Every customer on the boat found Megalodon shark teeth except for ****. This proves that each site we dove had the potential to be successful. No **** is a guarantee but I always try to put people on the best locations on a daily basis. I can not **** for them and success is never and will never be guaranteed. He thinks just because we did better the next day that I can magically know exactly where they are after the whole bottom of the gulf of mexico got rocked by a hurricane. I always put customers on ********************** rich grounds and they control their own success underwater. **** and his friend were new fossil hunters and this is something that requires a lot of skill and definately some luck too. Success rates vary from day to day as any reasonable person would understand. 

  I know that I postponed the meeting time by 45 minutes however that changes nothing about the outcome of the day. We successfully completed 3 dives at 3 different spots and that is what was paid for. I will admit that him and his ***** not wanting to listen to anything I had to say and attitude in the morning just set a bad vibe for the whole day. I would not have him back under any circumstances. I stay fully booked year round and have never had to deal with anything like this. 

  I do not owe this person anything except for a apology for setting back the meeting time at the dock from 8am to 845am. 

  My advise to **** is if you want a guarantee when it comes to hunting for shark teeth he would be better off buying one from a store or online and not **** for them. Do not blame others for your own failures. 

  Customer response

  08/26/2024

   
  Complaint: 22170870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  im not sure where this business owner is under the impression that this was our first time or that we were New to shark tooth hunting. Because we have been several times before and I honestly dont remember him being next to me while we were diving. Regarding everyone finding Megalodon teeth, I find it interesting that theres no pictures posted from what supposedly the others found on the boat that day? If they had such a great ****, why are there no Time stamped pictures on the boat like the next day? 

  Also, how can it be stated in the first response that I was the only one that had an issue I dont see anything like that from the person I was diving with? In fact, the other person that I was diving with told the boat owner in a text that he was being kind of ******, that there were some pretty rude unprofessional comments made throughout the day? So it wasnt just me. I would also like to know where the captain received his psychology degree from? He indeed was the one that came on with an attitude, we were just quiet as we did not know what to expect.

  it was also verified, that my friend did not give a $60 tip as stated by the captain.

  We were the paying clients Who were set up for failure from the beginning. It is my suggestion to this business owner that he take his stolen money and use it towards professional etiquette classes, and how to treat customers respectfully. 
  

  upon reading other social media posts, there were more than just the two of us who pointed out how unprofessional this rude scam artist can be. 
  

  The boat owner is delusional if he thinks that we or anybody we know would actually want to charter anything from him. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩