catchem@beachbumfishing.com | (252)-449-0232 |
RESERVATION/CANCELLATION POLICY
I am now requiring a
deposit check($200-1/2
Day, $300-3/4 Day, $400-Full Day) to reserve
trips to be sent to:
Beach Bum Fishing
1816 Seminole Street
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948
I am sorry to have to do this, but a few bad apples(HALL OF SHAME) have forced me into it. You bad apples know who you are! I am asking even
those of you who have been on the boat before to send
one. If I do not have a deposit within a few days
after scheduling, your name will get erased and that day
opens back up. Turn around time on mail around
here is two to three days. Please do not put me in
an awkward position by asking whether or not you need to
send one. The
same cancellation policy applies to the deposit checks as with
the below credit card policy. If we do not fish and I
owe you a refund, I will promptly mail it to you. If you
book a trip and there is not enough time for a check to be
sent, then we will go with the below credit card reservation
policy.
A credit card(Visa or
Mastercard) or Zelle will be required to reserve a fishing
trip ONLY if there is not enough time between the
scheduling and the actual trip for someone to send and me to
receive a deposit check. A customer obligates
himself/herself to show up for a fishing trip by turning over
his/her full name as it appears on their card, credit card
number, and expiration date of the card. If the fishing
trip is cancelled due to weather NO charges will be assessed to
the credit card.
If a customer must cancel a fishing trip, 7 Days notice for cancellation without penalty(no charge to credit card) is required. A customer must cancel a scheduled fishing trip at least 7 Days in advance of the trip to avoid any charges. If a customer cancels a scheduled fishing trip within the 7 Days of the trip, a charge of half the price of trip WILL be assessed to the credit card.
If customer does not show up for his/her scheduled fishing trip without any notice of cancellation, 100% of the price of the fishing trip WILL be assessed to the credit card.
WEATHER POLICY
If there is thunder and lightning, a scheduled
trip will be cancelled with no penalty. If there is steady
driving rain or if the wind is blowing excessively(over 20 mph)
the decision is left up to the customer. I will fish in
foul weather if you want to go. If you choose not to fish
in foul weather, a scheduled trip will be cancelled with no
penalty. If you decide to fish in foul weather and the
boat leaves the dock, full payment WILL be required. You
MUST either show up at the dock the day of a scheduled trip or
speak with me the night before when it comes to weather
cancellations. It is the customers responsibility to do
this in order to avoid a penalty.
THE HALL OF SHAME(reserved for those who have
booked trips & not to shown up)
1. Clifton Hoffler,
Maryland
2. Lloyd Cumby,
Richmond, Virginia
3. Jessica Woods,
Dublin, Ireland
4. Chris
Clemans, Syracuse, New York
The
following is the e-mail that I received form Chris Clemans, of
Syracuse, New York at 6:54 A.M. on Thursday morning
April the 12th, 2007:
Hi
Reese,Man, what a rough week for weather(boats fished ever day this
week) on the banks. Unfortunately the women in my
crowd are calling it quits and we are heading home. We will
not be able to make the fishing trip on Friday unfortunately.
Hopefully we can catch up with you next time around. Thanks,
Christ(I
guess Chris figured I carried a personal computer in the
glove box aboard my boat.)
My reply:
Chris: You are killing
me. Remember when we talked, I told you that I normally
get a deposit($300) for half the amount of a full day trip($600)
which you booked. In reality, what you were
asking for was two half day trips in which I would have normally
required two $175 deposits for a total of $350. I was at
church and didn't have time to get you the deposit info.
You said don't worry, you wouldn't do that to me. I could
have booked tomorrow ten times over. Easter week is the
busiest week of the spring. It is going to cost me a full
days pay in which I could have booked two half days($350
each) and made $700. I can not afford to pay the
mortgage and support two kids doing business like this.
Let me know what you think. Reese
Chris's reply: Hi Reese,Man, I am
sorry about all this. It appears that my email did not get to
you when I sent it(right.....). I was very
aware of your 48 hour cancellation rules(I just changed it
to 7 days thanks to Chris) and I sent that
email out first thing Wednesday morning(right....). My cell phone
did not work(right.....) in the house so that is why I didn't
call. Sometimes all of this technology is more trouble that it
is worth. Any chance you found a taker for Friday? Thanks,
Chris
How about the landline phone at the house Chris rented?
Did Chris stay in his house all week? Was he never outside
of his rental where maybe his cell phone might have
worked? Did anyone else at the rental he stayed at have a
cell phone? What about a pay phone? We may never
know, as Chris has yet to answer or return a phone call
from me, even though the secretary at his office assured me that
he always has his cell phone with him and always answers it or at
least returns messages immediately.... What we do know, is
that Chris sells kitchen cabinets and his company does take down
payments(deposits) before installation is done. This is
why I get deposit checks. Bad apples like Chris are
the reason. I am
very sorry to have to do it, especially for those of you that
have fished with me before. Chris had fished with me
before(never will again). Chris, I would be happy to
remove your name from THE HALL OF SHAME if
you would kindly send the deposit check that you owe. If you
really wanted to man up, you could sent the whole amount.
5. Ron
Lavis, Charlottesville, Virginia
Ron booked
a full day trip for Saturday December the 29th on Saturday
12/15. Ron told me the deposit check would be in the mail
on Monday. I was away visiting family for Christmas and
returned on 12/26. Upon my return, I realized that we had
not received a deposit check from Ron. I phoned Ron
Thursday morning the 27th. I gave Ron the benefit of the
doubt that maybe his check was sent and had been delayed in the
Christmas mail rush. Ron informed me on Thursday morning
that he thought it was going to rain on Saturday(It did not) and
that he did not plan on fishing on Satuday. I did not
realize that Ron was a weatherman. I explained that it
would have been nice for Ron to have used a little simple common
courtesy and
inform me of this so I could have rebooked the day.
Surprise, surprise, Ron at this point felt inconvenienced and
hung up on me. I am not interested in booking nor fishing
with people like Ron that have a total lack of respect for
others. If you share the same character flaws of Ron,
please do not waste my time or the that of any other fisherman
around here. Ron, I would be happy to remove your name from THE HALL OF SHAME if
you would kindly send the deposit check that you owe. If you
really wanted to do the right thing, you could sent the whole
amount.
6. Tom Timmerman,
Charlottesville, Virginia
Tom booked a trip on
Monday(9/19/11) evening for Thursday morning(9/22/11). My
wife booked the trip, blocked the morning off on the calendar
and I blocked the morning off on the schedule section of the web
site. Tom left me a voice mail at 5:24 PM Wednesday
evening(9/21/11) to cancel. Tom based the cancellation on
a questionable weather forecast(weather & fishing were great
Thursday morning), the fact that I had booked a second trip(?We
run two trips a day all the time?), and that "THE ENTHUSIASM
LEVEL FOR FISHING HAS DROPPED" from the time he booked the
trip! I left a polite return voice mail urging a
conversation about the cancellation. This resulted in an
extremely rude return voice mail. Tom questioned the nerve
that I must have for communicating our cancellation policy of
keeping $175 for last minute cancellations. Guess who the
big loser was on this one. We forgot to get a deposit from
Tom. Anyway, as said in the past. This is my job, it
is not a hobby. I cannot afford to set aside a half day
trip for someone that bases the actual probability of showing up
and fulfilling their obligation, on "THE ENTHUSIASM LEVEL" of the party the night
before the trip. Are you kidding me?!?! 100% of my
family's income depends on you showing up when you say you
are. There are no sick days, no 401K's, no vacation days
in my business. It is all on me right now. My wife
is currently working for forty hours a week for free(doing her
teaching internship) through December. There was also a
thing called a Hurricane that rolled through town a few weeks
ago. We lost our docks along with a weeks worth of
work. Since the storm, I have thrown $1,512 on a credit
card to fix the crank shaft on the Blue boat, $1,100 on the card
to fix the transmission in my wife's van, $180 to temporarily
fix(instead of the needed $700) the lower unit of the Yellow
boat, and I just got news the same night of the cancellation
that I need a $1,700 part to resurrect a dead ice machine.
Under these circumstances, I really do not have patience for
people like Tom. Any "ENTHUSIASM LEVEL FOR FISHING HAS DROPPED" people need not apply
here. Good luck Tom in the future booking fishing trips
with your policy.
One thing that you can count on, if your name is in this spotlight, thousands will see it. If you find your name on the above list and would like it removed, please send payment in full(for the trip you stiffed us on) to the above address and I will gladly remove it............ Fishing for most is a hobby. Please remember that it is also my livelihood and how I support my family. If you book a fishing trip, please plan on showing up.
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