Ever have a bad experience with a charter company?

[JasonB]

Greetings SF
I have fished off charter boats for years and never had a bad experience until now. I thought I’d tell everyone about it and hopefully hear from anyone who was had a similar experience and learn what you did about it.
So there I was:
I’m on 14 days of R&R with my family in Phuket Thailand. Several months ago I had booked this expats 42’ Post for an overnight trip to chase Sails at Ko Rok island. His particular company wasn’t my first choice but I chose his boat because I was bringing my family and the company’s web site advertised that the boat had a TV, DVD player and air conditioning. Once on the boat we found that it was air conditioned but the other amenities were somewhere other than the boat. No problem. We head out and the skipper has the boat running at 8 knots in an open harbor where wake isn’t an issue (longer to the fishing grounds but no problem). A little while later, while still in the harbor he tells the mate to put out the lines to catch some little tuna for bait later on. About an hour later we are out of the harbor and the water is getting rough, real dirty from (same as in the harbor) and 3 meter rolling swells.
I check on my family sitting in the salon and they aren’t doing well but my wife says to carry on they will be fine. They are sea sick to the third degree. I check on them a few minutes later and they were blowing chunks by that time. I finally decide that they aren’t going to last and I tell the skipper lets turn around (we are only 30 minutes from where we started if he’d just give the boat some gas). The captain suggests we drop them off at a hotel on Ko Racha Yai an island which we were passing and my wife encourages this. Once we get to where the floating peer for the hotel was he had his crew ask some of the boats in the area if they would take my wife and kids to the peer, it was too shallow to pull up to it. No one was interested and when a boat that belongs to the hotel came by they wouldn’t help also. I looked at the rickety peer with people squatting when they waves hit so they don’t fall and decide I don’t want my family on it. Now at this point, let me tell you, I happen to speak Thai and have a wealth of experience in Thailand and Southeast Asia. The locals didn’t like this guy so much that they wouldn’t help, not even for a couple hundred baht ( which is quite plenty for what was required)—which his mate offered. At this point I said to the Captain, lets just take them back to Phuket and I’ll put them in a hotel and head back out. I even said I was fine with fishing somewhere closer.
Ok, we head back at the same speed with no lines in the water. As we are pulling up to the peer at around 12:00 noon, I tell the Captain I’ll get them into a hotel and be right back. The Captain tells me he doesn’t want to go back out and that he will owe me a day and a night some other time. I think to my self, I paid the guy the additional rate per day for the overnight trip and it was me that wanted to take my family back so the wasted day is on me. No problem, my family’s comfort is more important than the money I lost on this wasted day. I tell the Captain I want my day and night of fishing the next day, he doesn’t want to but agrees.
Next morning we are off at 6:00 in the morning and I see the same routine. Lines out in the harbor and he heads straight to the island we were at yesterday. We get to the lee side and he begins making passes over the same quarter mile stretch about 500 yards away from the island. We have a jet on each out rigger, two bird teasers with daisy chains on the flat lines and a ceader plug fished on a down rigger. Three hours later, same thing. At about eleven he makes his pass a little farther out and we get three rainbow runners then off to more of the same. At noon we stop for lunch, and had one of the rainbow runners, it was pretty good. Finished eating and back to trolling the same ¼ mile stretch. We saw some Sails fining but it’s a well known fact that the Sails the Andaman Sea eat artificial bait by accident, I know this, I have been fishing for them in Thailand for some time. We hadn’t caught any tuna for bait and he didn’t have any frozen. So we just continued with the same stretch we’ve been at all day. At about 4:00 in the afternoon we finally get a skipjack and a half hour later out go the teasers with the tuna belly and sides after I insisted. At this point the Captain deviates from his normal stretch and goes straight at his turn around point. I think, it’s about time and have my eyes glued to the water. After a while I notice that we are going back in. “Pull the lines in” the Captain says in Thai. I just focused on my breathing; we aren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow morning.
While on the boat I listened to the Captain slam all of the other charter companies in one way or another, a couple of which I had beer with the night before we first went out, I said nothing. I looked at his fish finder that marked nothing on the same ¼ mile stretch, said nothing. I said nothing about him setting his lines in dirty water where it was unlikely that we will make bait, also I said nothing about him not having any frozen tuna we could have used when the Sails were feeding on the surface at noon. Truth is, as I got off the dock, I wanted to hit the guy, it’s in line with what I do for a living. I just got ripped off but I politely told the guy thanks and see you later. He was quiet and headed off quickly. What should I have done? It was clear the day before that we were going out for a day and a night, it was clear that morning when we left but it wasn’t to clear around 5:00 in the afternoon when we were back at the pier. I figure the first day was on me, it was my decision to go back early. The second day however was a different story.
I have nothing but good things to say about every other charter company I’ve fished with, even the ones I’ve been skunked on but it is apparent that this business is in the business of making a quick buck and is a little too conservation mined in the consumption of petro. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to give every one the whole story and ask what you would have done if it happened to you? Also, I didn't mention the company's name but there is a hint in the beginning.

JasonB

[turborattler]

Wow sorry to here you had such bad luck dont guess there was much more you could have done Just have to chalk this one up as leason learned. If you would have slug the guy you would have spent a night or month in aforeign jail. Better luck next time.

[JasonB]

Wow sorry to here you had such bad luck dont guess there was much more you could have done Just have to chalk this one up as leason learned. If you would have slug the guy you would have spent a night or month in aforeign jail. Better luck next time.

A lesson learned it was. I wouldn't have hit the guy but I enjoyed the fantasy. There are tourist police in Thailand that may help in this case but it doesn't mean you will get your money back when you purchased a service. Thailand is a great place and there are good charter companies that give you what you pay for. I learned who doesn't.

JasonB

[Squidnation]

Jason - always pay with a cc if you can. With enough documentation you could probably reverse the charges.

[Baywolf]

Jason - always pay with a cc if you can. With enough documentation you could probably reverse the charges.

Bill said it all. If it was me and I could understand the language, Lets just say we would have been even.

[Reeltitanium]

Thanks for your service! And sucks you got ripped off I'd be sure to pass the word about the bad service!

[fmoore]

If I were you, his name would be on 30 different sites by now, and I wouldn't be giving him compliments But I must compliment you, it takes much bigger stones to say/do nothing and suck it up than to get pissed and slug the guy in the face. I would have had the smaller stones Sorry to hear about a ruined trip for you and the family, but hope all goes better next time



Oh, BTW would the boat happen to be "Careless" 42' Post out of Phuket, Thailand

[Andaman Andy]

Jason,

Sorry this happened to you, I guess the guys explained how things can happen down here with some people whilst you were having a beer and a few more stories to boot!

Can I ask you to be a little more specific about the charter company you used as both the guys you were having a beer with also have Air, TV etc on their boats and I can personally guarantee this would not have happened with them and have good reputations so it is not fair for them to catch any crap from this one.

The fishing here can be very localized and for some strange reason the sails do seem to group in one area close to the islands it is also very much an afternoon or early morning bite.

I went out last week on an overnighter to the Racha islands and caught one for two on sails (after 4.30pm) and four for five on Wahoo (before 9am) during the night we had 1 nice cobia, 1 nice African Pompano, 2 Giant trevally, 4 snapper, 1 long nose, 1 coral trout, load of Cuda & 2 Shark.

If any other people on SFC are heading over here please feel free to PM me first so hopefully this will not happen again.

As in all places there are "The Good the bad and the ugly" and no one can guarantee fish but there are some genuinely nice people down here that can give good service.

P.S. sorry I missed you down the bar but I was getting over a bug.

[JasonB]

Jason,

Sorry this happened to you, I guess the guys explained how things can happen down here with some people whilst you were having a beer and a few more stories to boot!

Can I ask you to be a little more specific about the charter company you used as both the guys you were having a beer with also have Air, TV etc on their boats and I can personally guarantee this would not have happened with them and have good reputations so it is not fair for them to catch any crap from this one.

The fishing here can be very localized and for some strange reason the sails do seem to group in one area close to the islands it is also very much an afternoon or early morning bite.

I went out last week on an overnighter to the Racha islands and caught one for two on sails (after 4.30pm) and four for five on Wahoo (before 9am) during the night we had 1 nice cobia, 1 nice African Pompano, 2 Giant trevally, 4 snapper, 1 long nose, 1 coral trout, load of Cuda & 2 Shark.

If any other people on SFC are heading over here please feel free to PM me first so hopefully this will not happen again.

As in all places there are "The Good the bad and the ugly" and no one can guarantee fish but there are some genuinely nice people down here that can give good service.

P.S. sorry I missed you down the bar but I was getting over a bug.

Greetings Andy,
You are quite right about the one bad apple so I say it. The boats name is M/V Geko and the company has two sites, Blue Water Sport Fishing and another one called Sport Fishing Kao Lak.

In`spite of what happened on the Geko, I did plan to go out the next week with Uwe on his boat the Andaman Hooker but the weather said otherwise. I would of booked him from the start if I knew about his new boat. And after having some beer and excanging fish stories with another of the local charter captains I would of been happy to fish his boat also.

Nice to hear about your catch. Its experiences like that that make fishing the local islands such a fun experience, not to mention waking up with the sunrise next to some of the islands when on an overnight trip.

[Andaman Andy]

Jason,

Glad it hasn't put you off, hope to see you next time for a few cold ones.... you know the place.