high Dive Boat Deposits

[Saracen]

We are a local Dive club based in S.Wales. We are currently looking to charter boats for next year and have found some skippers demanding a 50% deposit.
As we would like to charter several boats for the full weekend next season, as normal, but these deposits are now putting charters out of our reach.

Has anyone else found that costs have not only gone up for next year, but skippers are trying to take a 50% deposit as well !!

We, as a club, have decided that we cannot pay out £3000 -£4000 in deposits and shall therefore be boycoting these boats and I suggest other clubs folow suit.

We would appreciate the comments of other small clubs like ours.

[finbar.taylor]

I think that's about the norm.

Maybe not 6-9 months in advance but certainly with in 2 months as this allows the skipper to re advertise if the booking falls through.

If the skippers were not taking deposits then they would loose so many days out because the customer forgot or changed their mind that they would either go under or start upping the prices to cover for this lost income.

Fin

[Juz]

Personally I think 50% deposit is reasonable.

The bottom line is that most skipers have been let down by individuals and by groups meaning they have extra hassle to fill the spaces or even have to drop prices or lose the money altogether.

I think 50% deposit is a reasonable compromise.

Juz

[divegyrl]

We are a teeny tiny club (smallest in SE region) but we do organise trips a couple of times a year and open them up to the masses.....

Taking a 50% deposit means that the diver is actually committed to diving...... not to turn up, get p1ssed and then not dive the following day, bu99ering a space for someone who would love to dive............ & expecting the other divers on board to pick up his/her share of the boat costs

If you commit to a space, you pay for that space or get someone else to fill it...... too many people sign up as 'me too' then when something better comes along bu99er off and do that, meaning that someone who really wants to sign up can't and blocks spaces for people who really want to dive......

I know some skippers who have been sh@fted by clubs who booked a week, then fecked off and did something else, leaving the skipper high & dry; we have had posts on here with skippers who have been dropped just before a weekend so have a whole boat with spaces.........
I agree with 50% deposits, the skippers and organisers need a commitment from people who book/block their spaces........

I understand that something can come up, I have had to pull out of a weekend because of a family crisis, I paid my part of the charter & flew off to Ireland, last weekend my zip gave up so I couldn't dive the following day, I still paid for my space (& acted as kit biatch) because I signed up for the weekend. On the TGIF or Tuesday Club we always either fill our space, or pay for the dive.

Yes, it is tough to commit money for something in the future, but people will do it IF they really want to dive..... look at a the Galapagos thread, shed loads of money, but a committed & paid up group who want to dive......
We have a long weekend booked for 2007 and will be taking deposits in November (in fact someone has already put his money where his mouth is.....)

Sorry, I'm not boycotting skippers who are great & need a 'proper' deposit,

[Janos]

Have you tried explaining the situation to the skipper? You might find that they will let you roll the deposit over from one day to the next. Ie if you book three or four days of diving with them, the you only pay a deposit for the first day, and get it back after the fourth.

Janos

[ScubaSue]

'We' (that is Frankie and I) don't have a problem with paying a deposit - skippers need to know where their income is coming from. What really galls me is the 'divers' that won't commit, having shown interest to the point of hasseling us to find out what our intentions were for the year.

This year, we've lost three weekends because we couldn't get those that were interested to commit and provide a deposit.

Where deposits were paid by us, and we had to cancel, we always gave the skipper sufficient notice so they could re-sell the spaces - fortunately they were all good enough to refund the deposits.

Next year, I don't think I'll bother. I'm going to do my own thing. , why should I lose out because other people can't be arsed.

[Scubee]

The way we aork it, and yes, I think we are a fairly small club, in that we have about 50 or so regular divers.
We have been going for a while, and so we have a sort of regular schedule, but this year there will be a few new ones included. I expect to have to put up bigger deposit for those. Over the years, we have built up a bit of a reserve from membership fees, which, as they are all due about now, gives us a bit of a cushion to pay the deposits to skippers.

We get divers to put down a deposit of around £10 per diving day, within 2 weeks of saying they want to go, (more if the trip includes accomodation). They know the club rules, which state that the deposit they pay secures their space (i.e. I can't put another diver in it) and they are obligated to pay the remainder no later that 2 months before the date of the dive, or earlie if the skipper wants it before then. If they don't pay up, they lose their space, and their deposit. If they decide not to dive, then if i can fill the space with someone else, then I will (and I try damned hard!!) if not, they lose their money. That way, if (like this weekend) only 6 of the 12 are man (or girl) enough to dive in rubbish viz, the skipper still has the money he was expecting.

TBH, I think it is reasonable for skippers to want a deposit. How many times have I seen spaces advertised because a club pulls out? it isn't really fair on the skipper not to secure a booking somehow. Normally, if they have to cancel it through bad weather, then it will be refunded, although usually, I ask for it to be rolled onto the next weekend.

[Diving Dude]

l think 50% is way to much this far in advance. l'd say 10-20% now and then maybe a couple of months before make it up to 50%

l wonder, if all those who thought 50% was fair would pay a building contractor 50% six months before the contract started?

[Diving Dude]

Originally Posted by divegyrl

.....(in fact someone has already put his money where his mouth is.....)

That'd be me then

l think divers shoukld pay the organisers a hefty deposit, but the skippers should give the organisers a bit of leeway and time to collect a decent deposit, which is why l think, initially, a small deposit to the skipper should be enough.

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by divegyrl

We have a long weekend booked for 2007 and will be taking deposits in November (in fact someone has already put his money where his mouth is.....)

Good for you! We have a week booked in the Scilly's... So far, I have 3 deposits.

I always find the 'special' ones are much easier to get divers to commit to than the 'ordinary' ones.