NOT Tony Backhurst

[BJ]

Originally Posted by DannyB

But surely by selling them they are sanctioning them?

Danny

Who do you work for and have you ever been let down by a supplier?

[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by BJ

In the interests of fair play, I feel duty bound to point out that Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel is a holiday operator that sells the products of the likes of Tornado Marine fleet and Sea Serpent fleet; neither does Tony pilot the plane that takes you from the UK to Egypt. As the seller of the holiday package TBST is the place to complain to if you are not delivered the product you are paid for but TBST staff do not crew or operate the boats.

I have done a number of trips with Tony Backhurst and been very pleased ... he has not won the Diver Magazine award so many years in a row by chance....just not this year.

Blue O'Two are clearly in the ascendancy.

To clarify a point though, John, aren't the guides TB employees?

Mal

[BJ]

You would have to ask TB that for an accurate reply but since Malin Svedberg was employed by Tornado Marine (owner Ayman Mussa) as chief guide to manage the other guides when she was last there, I would guess they were all employed in Egypt by the boat operator. Of course I could be wrong. Similarly for example, TB is the operator/agent for Camel Divers but everyone there is employed by Hesham Gabr. I don't think it is possible to run a business in Egypt without at least an Egyptian partner. Some years ago TB swapped to the Tornado Fleet from the Ghazala boats.
There are plenty of good boats among the more than 100 licensed operating liveaboards in the area. I would recommend the Blue Planet Fleet, the Blue O Two Fleet, the Emperor Fleet, the Sea Serpent Fleet, and the Tornado Fleet, among others I forgot to mention and not necessarily in that order.

[Sparky]

AFAIK all the guides are employed by Tornado fleet and not TB.

I have done 3 trips and a fourth happening in April with TB and have never had any problems.

[Ahmed Adly]

Originally Posted by BJ

I don't think it is possible to run a business in Egypt without at least an Egyptian partner.

Thank God that law has been changed. I just closed a deal for some Russian friends who bought a live aboard. They have to own an Egyptian company, the company can own and run the boat. They need no Egyptian partner.

In TB's case, as you said, they are simply an agent and they choose the best boats/operators available.

I would dare to say that if there was an operation so slick and so neat that NOTHING EVER went wrong, it would be the most boring place to be in the world. That is one reason I prefer the single boat operations as the owner is almost always involved.

There are a few problems with fleet owners worth mentioning:
1. Almost all of them do not know how to dive
2. They are almost NEVER on the boats.
3. Most are very new in business and in fact this is a first business for almost every one of them.
4. Due to the above deficiencies, they become frustrated when faced with most problems (engine failures, guide problems etc.)
5. due to the above problems it becomes impossible for the owner to reach a state of ubiquity.

I can see more and more really nice boats arriving with fresh operators keen to make names for themselves.

[DannyB]

Originally Posted by BJ

Who do you work for and have you ever been let down by a supplier?

I work for an IT Solutions provider and yes we have been let down by suppliers, but have also taken flack from the customers for this and not said,"It wasn't us" We also don't use some suppliers as we don't feel their level of service is good enough.

ATEOTD The customer has a contract with us, not our suppliers.

Danny

[BJ]

...and when you are old enough to have children of your own, you'll know what REAL criticism is!

[DannyB]

Originally Posted by BJ

...and when you are old enough to have children of your own, you'll know what REAL criticism is!

Confused as to what you mean by this?

[nikkithomas]

Well, after Lottie selling this to me as a good idea I've joined up! I'm the aforementioned buddy, survivor of the last fiasco and looking forward to the next!

Just to clarify BJ, when you say the person to complain to is TBST - I did. I wrote at least five letters, to which I received one email reply to the first letter making the initial complaint, then no further communication. I emailed TB personally, I telephoned the office to be told he wasn't available, I eventually sent a letter by registered post requesting contact and feedback about the out come of his investigation. I got a telephone call, saying they didn't really know what had gone on (we find out now, they most certainly did!) and he would write to us with a voucher to discount us a few hundred quid off our next liveaboard. Needless to say I've never heard from them again...

I think Lottie makes a good point that the focus of this thread is to get us some good ideas for the next adventure, not ruminate about the last, so perhaps any more points could be added to the other thread?

Anyway, good ideas anyone???

[meathead_dave]

I experienced a problem on Whirlwind (or was it Hurricane?) whereby we had to spend the last night in Travco Marina as the local hotels were fully booked. The boat became full of fumes and it was pretty horrendous. To Malins and Steves (the dive guides) credit they did what they could do and went way beyond being helpful - bearing in mind they are not employed by TB but by Tornado Marine Fleet and therefore had no obligation to help us. HOWEVER it was not their fault it was just one of those thiongs can can go wrong. I contacted TB upon return and they could not have been any more helpful and sent us all money off vouchers for our next trip. I for one will now prefer to use TB for the Red Sea. It just shows that different people can have problems with differing outcomes. Both crews on Hurricane and Whirlwind have been faultless. End of the day you pay your money takes your choice!