TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Yay for Oil Nut but bad charter issue

The trip that wasn’t but would have been the trip dreams and family memories are made of. Hoping to celebrate our 25 year anniversary and our son graduating high school to going off to college to play his favorite sport, we booked a house and charted a boat. With a sports schedule often dictating our lives we don’t often find our selves with a long window for travel. This summer we found we would have two weeks. We booked an amazing house at Oil Nut Bay and chartered a boat for the rest of the time. And then quarantine hit. The BVIs shut down. We wait, we hope, we crossed our fingers.
Then it became apparent the trip would not happen. Kudos to Oil Nut for giving us a full refund, that’s how you gain a loyal following. They knew we wanted to come but couldn’t with the lockdown. Now enters the crappy part of the story. Lady Fiona was the boat booked through Boats at Sea. The owner held us captive until one week before the charter to cancel finally saying he would refund our full deposit. Boats at Sea helped until they didn’t. They were paid their full commission when we booked and paid the deposit. When then refund came it was minus the exact amount of Boats at Seas’ commission after we were told and signed a cancellation contract for a FULL refund. The boat owner is supposed to pay the commission yet now we have seemingly paid it. Is Lady Fiona’s owner the crook or Boats at Sea? Either way, word to the wise: don’t book with Boats at Sea and don’t charter Lady Fiona.

Really sorry that happened to you. It's been tough on everyone. We put our all into rebuilding our house after Irma, and now we can't use it! They won't even give us a date when we can.

If you were entitled to a full refund, that's what you should get. It sounds like the boat owner refunded the money they had, and the broker needs to do the same. A lot of industry people are under capitalized.

If you paid with Amex, call them. They refunded us the entire amount a cruise company refused to pay us.

Just dispute the charge with ANY credit card company. They will easily refund your money if you dispute the charge.

The vendor has the right to appeal the dispute...and in my case Amex sided with the vendor...so have at least 1 more trip to take assuming the charter company is still in business.

I don't see why you have a beef with the boat. It sounds like he sent back the money he was holding but your broker didn't. Is the dispute because it just wasn't as quick as you wanted? What was the original cancelation policy you signed? Who actually sent back the money; broker or boat owner? I could see how the broker feels they did part of their job with the booking and deserves to be paid part of their fee but it would have been right for them to at least offer it as a credit.

Good point, Jason. Totally agree that the broker did their job and should have been compensated accordingly.

No one is saying the broker should be stiffed. The client is questioning just who is/was contractually obligated to pay the broker's commission.

Good question. I kind of assumed that broker's work on behalf of the charter client since they help them select the boat best for their needs. I'm not all that familiar with broker arrangements. Who does the charter client pay; the broker or the boat owner?

It’s pretty simple the broker failed in his job and should give the client his deposit back.

Maybe I don't understand the broker's role. I thought they primarily matched clients with boats. Do they play a role after the contract is signed?

The buyer contracted the broker, the broker failed to fulfill it regardless of the cause unless otherwise stated

100% Agree... The Deposit should be fully refunded.