ComplaintsforFishingBooker, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  08/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On August 18, 2023 I booked a 4 hour fishing charter with fishing booker. It was ******. I was driving 2.5 hours from a 6 hour flight to Clearwater Beach. The fishing trip was to start at 8am. I arrived before 8am. At 830 am I messaged the captain via the fishing booker app and also called and texted him because no one there. Also another company there tried calling. Eventually we got in touch with him and he laughed and said he was sleeping, but would come. At 1030am the trip started. Now, it was terribly hot. He sent his co captain and no apologies were offered. He also text me requesting a *** tip. During the trip 2 poles malfunctioned and no extra poles were available. Also, I had messaged prior about the fish I wanted to catch and that didn't happen. The description listed several fish and they were set up for grunt fish only which I did not want. We caught 3 baby fish in total. The boat had no top on it and with the late start the temps were in the 100s. We were late for our lunch reservation and had to pay. We also didn't get 4 hours for a service we paid for. We reached out directly to the fishing service and fishing booker with no resolution. I paid for a service I didn't get.

  Business response

  08/29/2023

  Hello, 
  
  Customer ****** booked a fishing trip with one of our charter operators in Clearwater [****** ****** ********] for August 18th. 
  
  As she explained in her complaint, her trip did not end up taking place as scheduled as the captain ran two and a half hours late. This departure time change also impacted the fishing activity given the temperature rise resulting in very little fish actually caught and an overall disappointing day out on the water which also impacted the plans they had planned after the trip. 
  
  She had submitted a review through our platform regarding her experience. Per any bad review that comes through our platform, our Support Team worked on reaching out to the captain to gather more information. I ended up taking over the escalation and once I was able to go through the full email thread between ****** and our Support Team, as well as ******** initial review which was posted on the captain's listing, I was able to conclude that her party did not receive the trip they booked in its entirety and that her complaint is valid. I issued her a full refund of the funds she paid online (this was a full payment, hence the full payment was refunded in the amount of US****). 
  
  I ended up reaching out to ****** and we spoke on the phone. I wanted to reach out to her to apologize personally advise her on what steps I've taken on our end and inform her about the refund. I also applied a US**** credit to ******** FishingBooker account which she may use toward her next booking until August 2024 and informed her about this as well. 
  
  I have attached the final email that I wrote to her, as promised over the phone, in which I provided her with the receipt of the refund transaction, as well as a link to the Help Center article on how she can use her credit toward her next booking.
  
  Unsatisfactory trip aside, I really hope we were able to find a suitable solution for ******, and look forward to helping her book a fishing trip in the future! 
  
  Best regards!
  
  ***** | Support Supervisor 

• Initial Complaint

  07/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booke d a hater for my sons birthday, after getting a confirmation that my. Trip was booked I attempted several times to contact the caption. We still made the two hour drive for our charter and no boat with a caption **** was even at the dock. I also tried to contact fishing bookers customer service several times and the phone hangs up on you, I attempted to email also and it bounced back as undeliverable. I want my money back!

  Business response

  08/02/2023

  Dear ********
  
  First and foremost, please accept my sincerest apologies for the inconvenience and frustration you experienced with your recent booking for your son's birthday fishing trip. I completely understand how disappointing it must have been to arrive at the dock and find no sign of your captain.
  
  I want to assure you that we take such matters very seriously and have already taken appropriate actions to address this issue. After receiving your cancelation, we have refunded you immediately and proceeded to deal with the captain according to our internal procedures.

  Since we're aware that this was a special occasion and that the captain didn't show up, we also want to offer *** on top of the refund to help compensate for gas, since you and your group probably had to travel to the dock. We've reached out to you via email for information to proceed with the additional refund.

  I understand that you tried reaching out to our customer service team, and I apologize for any difficulties you encountered while attempting to contact us. It appears that you tried contacting us via our no-reply email. To ensure direct communication and prompt assistance, you can reach us at [email protected] or click on "contact us" on the system response email you received. Rest assured that our team is always available to assist you with any concerns you may have.
  
  Again, I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience you faced. We value your feedback and will use this incident as a learning opportunity to improve our services further.
  
  If there's anything else we can do to make this right, or if you need any future assistance with booking fishing trips, please don't hesitate to contact us at the provided email address. We genuinely appreciate your understanding and look forward to serving you better in the future.
  
  Wishing you and your son many more happy fishing adventures!

• Initial Complaint

  06/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Paid for shark fishing of sure deposit was given. Captain called canceled the shark fishing due to weather try to sell me on a blessed fishing trip. If you cancel. Do to whether they're supposed to give you your deposit back. The captain is the one that told me the weather was too bad and too rough. On the morning of the trip the thunderstorms were everywhere so the trip had to be canceled.. They are keeping my deposit. It is illegal. This company is nothing but a scam who steals people's money. If you look at other complaints one time the boat broke and they kept at the posit. Do not trust this company I want my money back I am a disabled veteran what day. And I tried to manipulate me. According to the Americans disabilities act they should not be allowed to do this do not do business with this company..

  Customer response

  06/21/2023

  Cancel this review. After letting company know of this complaint they reached out immediately and made thing right. 

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  09/17/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My partner and I booked a charter in a foreign country through Fishingbooker. Unfortunately, my partner got COVID. She recovered, but unfortunately that country's testing policies required a COVID test upon entry and she had a very high chance of a false positive due to her illness. A false positive would require a 10 day quarantine in a foreign country, so we had to cancel the trip. Fishingbooker's website states that "trips that cannot take place due to illness or newly-imposed travel restrictions may be covered by our regular extenuating circumstances policy." Despite the fact that we cancelled our trip due to illness (ie someone getting COVID), FishingBooker refused to issue a refund.

  Business response

  12/08/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/09/23) */ We're very sorry that you weren't able to make it to the Azores for your fishing trip. Unfortunately, although we reviewed your case closely, we weren't able to refund your captain's deposit to you under our extenuating circumstances policy. This policy is designed to protect customers if their situation changes in between booking the trip and going fishing. Seeing as Portugal's COVID guidelines were last updated over a month before you booked your trip this August, and your partner had already recovered from the illness before you booked, your cancellation wasn't covered by the policy. As the trip was canceled at short notice (2 days before the trip date), this violated the captain's cancellation policy and the deposit was sent to the captain. When you reached out to us before, we saw how disappointing your situation must have been and wanted to help, so we credited your FishingBooker account with funds towards a future trip. Although we couldn't give you the captain's deposit, we really would like to help you go fishing in the future and hope you'll use this opportunity to make a saving on your next fishing trip! Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2021/10/12) */ Hi, This response is not satisfactory. The situation is simple: Fishingbooker has a policy and our situation is one that triggers the policy's coverage. Fishingbooker's website states that "trips that cannot take place due to illness or newly-imposed travel restrictions may be covered by our regular extenuating circumstances policy." Out trip could not take place due to an illness. If my girlfriend didn't get COVID, we'd have gone on the trip. But she did get COVID, so we could not. Fishingbooker's response is evasive. Their response discussed what "the policy is designed" for. Frankly, the design of the policy and Fishingbooker's intentions in making it are irrelevant. Fishingbooker publicly held out that they'd cover trips cancelled due to illness. I relied on that stated policy, not what they quietly held as their private intentions. Sorry for taking some time to reply. Best, ***** Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2021/10/19) */ We're sorry that the customer considered our previous response not to be satisfactory and are happy to provide more information below. The customer canceled his trip in the evening of September 6, less than two days before he was due to fish. He stated that the cancellation was because of travel restrictions, writing: "We cannot make it into the Azores because of their Covid travel restrictions - they require Americans to take a rapid test, but my girlfriend had Covid months ago so if she takes it she will likely show up positive and have to quarantine for 10 days." FishingBooker's Covid policy states that: "You may not be entitled to a refund due to not being able to travel if restrictions were in place at the time you made your booking." The Azores' current travel restrictions have been in place since July, and the trip was booked on August 27. View the COVID policy here: https://help.fishingbooker.com/XXXXXXXXXXXX-Our-Response-to-the-COVID-19-Pandemic The customer since changed their reason for cancellation in this complaint, stating that illness caused the cancellation. However, to qualify for an extenuating circumstances cancellation for illness, the illness must be current at the time the booking was due to take place. This is made clear in the extenuating circumstances policy, which states that FishingBooker will ask for medical documentation supporting the cancellation reason, and that this "must be dated after the reservation was supposed to take place." View the extenuating circumstances policy here: **************************************************************** In addition to this, the original claim that the customer's only option was a rapid test on arrival to the Azores is not correct. On September 4, they booked another fishing trip through FishingBooker in Travira, Portugal, which took place on September 7. When making this booking, they stated that they were currently (as of September 4) located in Lisbon and were planning to travel to Tavira from September 5 - September 8 or 9. Had they instead been planning to travel to the Azores for the 8th, when their original trip there was scheduled, they would have had enough time to take a full PCR test in an approved Portuguese lab beforehand. We applied *** in credit to the customer's account when they canceled, as a sign of good will and an attempt to reach a middle ground. Unfortunately, we were not and still are not able to refund the deposit in full, as this cancellation breached the captain's 30-day cancellation policy and is not covered by the extenuating circumstances policy as outlined on the website and in this response. We would like to encourage this customer to contact us if they have further questions about our policy and always recommend that customers talk to us about their situation before changing their travel plans if they're unsure as to whether they'll be covered or not.

*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. ↩