Short form:

Booked a fishing trip with a guide on the coast, $500 deposit sent.

Date comes for trip, his boat broke, needs to cancel and reschedule later.

We reschedule, but weather is bad. We miss good fishing season and winter is coming.

I call and try to get my deposit back, and he agrees and says he'll send it. This pattern continues until May.

I call the guy every few weeks and ask him to return my deposit. He says sorry and he'll send it. He never does.

What are my options here? What should I do?

5/29/2015 8:59:54 AM

I'm sure there are websites dedicated to reviewing or commenting on these guys that a lot of people probably read before making a call on who to charter with. I would let the guy know if you dont have the check in a week you are gonna start hitting all of these up with your story so others will know not to book with him. This type of business I would imagine relies heavily on word of mouth and referrals so if he cares at all he should take that reasonably seriously.

5/29/2015 9:23:21 AM

^ If that doesn't work, get attorney-friend to send him a letter for free...or a couple beers. Shouldn't take 10 minutes of your friend's time.

5/29/2015 10:12:11 AM

Either he's a really unorganized person who can't put together the time to write and mail a check over 10 months, or he's having cash flow problems. Given a broken boat and a professional career as a fishing guide, I would lean towards cash flow. If he's collecting deposits of that size, he might be required by law (not sure what state we're talking) to keep those in a trust account (which he obviously isn't doing, or he would have easily written a check). If that's the case, a threat to contact the Secretary of State would probably get him to cough up the money pretty quick. If his boat is running again, he should be pulling in plenty of cash this time of year, so you might have better results than in the winter.

5/29/2015 11:11:52 AM

Quote :

"Either he's a really unorganized person who can't put together the time to write and mail a check over 10 months, or he's having cash flow problems."

Or he just doesn't want to pay it back and is thinking slackerb will think it's not worth the hassle and just give up.

5/29/2015 11:58:50 AM

Quote :

"CASH FLOW PROBLEMS"

5/29/2015 1:48:53 PM

To him you are no longer a paying customer. If you decide to go fishing and someone he has not already stolen a deposit from wants to go the same day, the other guy gets to go, he knows he is not gonna get any more money from you, you are dead to him. You might get to go fishing in November, if you pay for the gas and he has nothing better to do.

You can however sue him in small claims court for $65. If you win that you will probably may get paid eventually, assuming he does not go bankrupt or anything.

5/30/2015 9:19:54 AM

Who is the charter captain so we can avoid him.

5/31/2015 10:22:26 AM

Brendan Burke of Wilmington Offshore Charters.

Still no money back from him.

6/9/2015 10:25:08 AM