Dolphin Jet Boat Tours

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:There are several statements in this letterI completely agree and am not arguing about the fact that they are wild animals and it's not up to Dolphin Jet Boat Tours whether or not they appearI am not arguing about the fact that we did not get close to the whales eitherWe did not get a spectacular showWhen Robyn states that "several people had stated that they had a wonderful experience", she is referring to the couple of people who clapped when asked if they had a good time on the tourAccording to Robyn, this means that everyone was satisfiedThis is not the caseFirst off, we had no clue that the "official" report of the trip would be taken on our way back when the tour guide informally asked if everyone had a good timeThere were several customers including ourselves who were towards the back who did not clap or say "WOW what an amazing experience!" Why wasn't this taken into account? Because none of the disappointed customers including ourselves knew that the moment when the tour guide asked if we had a good time would be used as the "official" report of the tripI never mentioned "*** ***", that is a statementI never said we wanted to see the whales jump, that is a statementI am not a teenager, that is a statementThe first conversation between my mom and Robyn did not end on a positive notewe were all extremely disappointed, and I do not understand why she thinks "The conversation with the parent ended on a positive note..." After speaking with Robyn, we immediately went to speak with the person who sold us the four tickets (Monty from *** ***) and told him how upset and disappointed we wereWe NEVER told ANYONE at *** *** the things that Robyn statesThe whales had NOT "literally surfaced alongside the boat", that is a statementDuring the second phone call, she NEVER stated she would be happy to speak with my parentsShe was very aggressive and her voice was projected very loudlyI NEVER threatened Robyn about anything, and I do not know why she claims I threatened to post things about her on social mediaRobyn is the one who made the restaurant reference first over the phone, and now she is saying she "can't even imagine what that is about." Over the phone, she had told me that she goes to restaurants and leaves unsatisfied all the timeThis was her way of telling me to get over it, but I will not until the problem is resolvedHow does Robyn know that EVERYONE else on the boat was extremely happy with their experience? There were several people sitting next to us who did not clap or say anything about having a good experienceWhether or not they complained is up to them, but she cannot say that "everyone else on the boat was extremely happy" because she does not know thatAs I stated in my first letter, Dolphin Jet Boat Tours is doing advertisingThe description on their site stating "You can hear the air blasting through the blowholes as the massive creature rises from the water, mist floating through the air and dampening your face" is FALSEThe glorious pictures on their site and Facebook page are also advertising because the closest we saw to a whale was the edge of its finThis is NOT what the description states and NOT what the pictures depictAt this point, not only are they falsely advertising but also telling unsatisfied and upset customers that they simply do not care by disagreeing with what is said and claiming statements.
Sincerely,
Garen B***

[redacted] Please See Attached Documents [redacted]
 
 
Dear [redacted],Thank you for taking the time for this response to the complaint.  I just spoke with [redacted] at the office in DuPont, WA and she recommended that I address you directly. In the course of our conversation she cleared up a...

question I had regarding the lack of marketplace interaction between Dolphin Jet Boat Tours and the consumer; as we focus on the operations of  whale watching, we have very few direct sales – several companies purchase our tours at wholesale rates and sell them to the tourists on websites or at vendor kiosks near the cruise ships. This was the case here – even if I agreed that this family should have been refunded, I would have no way of doing so since they didn’t purchase the tour from us. I should first explain that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee if we are unable to find humpback whales. As the whales are wild animals, we offer no guarantees regarding any behavior the they may exhibit. The caller contacted me immediately after being dropped off to say that they didn’t see “any” whales, which I disagreed with since I had the trip report for his tour and had been on the dock to meet the returning boat, where  several people had stated that they had a wonderful experience. He amended that to saying that they saw whales but they were “like 100 feet away”, which I said was a problem because we’re not allowed to be that close and if the whales did indeed approach the boat to such proximity, then they got a spectactular show. Subsequent clarifying questions led to the understanding that he expected more of a “[redacted]” experience (“the whales didn’t even jump”), and that he was a teenager travelling with his parents – at that point I told him that I would need to speak with them. His mom she said that she understood that there would be no refund, that they were just disappointed to have only seen 9 whales. This was clearly a case of outsized expectations; 9 is a lot of whales to see on one trip! The conversation with the parent ended on a positive note and I figured the issue was over. I later got a call from the owner of [redacted], from whom they purchased the tour and to whom they returned to get a refund after speaking with me; he verified their trip experience with me and agreed that the terms of the tour had been fulfilled. I again figured the issue was over. In the meantime, I communicated with the captain and naturalist from their tour, just in case there was anything I wasn’t aware of. The whales had literally surfaced alongside the boat, and everyone on board seemed very happy.I received another call from the same kid about a week later and explained again that there would be no refund, he saw a lot of whales in what his and his mother’s own admission was in close proximity, and that I would be happy to speak to his parents if they had any other questions. He demanded my full name and threatened to post things about me, personally, on social media. At that point I ended the call. As far as his reference to me talking about being unsatisfied with restaurant food, I can’t even imagine what that is about. The notes on our manifest indicate that this was the only complaint received – everyone else on the boat was extremely happy with their experience. If it helps, I attached a picture of the captain’s log showing the type of trip they had – “SP” (on the right) means “special” trip. They clearly saw whales close up.Please let me know if I can provide any other notes.Thank you!With best wishes,Robyn S[redacted]11547 Glacier Highway[redacted]