AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Hotels, etc...Full payment 45 days out no refund

I wonder who that was hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????

Captjeff...I'm sure you know....just don't want to start any bad press for the new owners!

CJ, for the most part you are correct but if everyone followed your advice, I would go bankrupt. I do not operate a big hotel, however, only a little cottage. I do not take credit cards and I do not pay commissions to travel agents. I simply couldn't afford to do so without raising my rates drastically. And I feel the island is expensive enough as is. I'm sure my occupancy suffers a bit from it, but oh well. But I do operate my business under the addage "the customer is always right" and believe my first priority is to make sure they go away with a good experience, not just with my property but with Ambergris Caye and Belize as a whole.

So I guess my point is, not all of us are on the take.

It should also be noted that some credit card companies will not do charge backs on foreign charges. I know this has happened before. AND, when using a travel agent, use one that specializes in Belize. some agents will sell you trips without ever having set foot in the country themselves.

JZB I can understand that you own a small cottage so you do not need to take credit cards why would you ??if you owned a big hotel you would have to ,as well as you would need to deal with travel agents ,the big places need to deal with agents to fill there space and the ones who do not are full and need no help or are just plan stupid!!! As far as my comment on using a good travel agent who knows there stuff ? there are some good ones on this board who have traveled to belize a lot or live in belize..I think they know hot from not. I think the first thing a client should ask is have you been there .If they say no never been to belize or seen the place they just recomended they should hang up and find one who does...I do not sell belize !!!I own a very large company that does 100 million in travel sales mostly lots of cruises so I have some idea of the real world !!! I love the island and could sell lots of sanpedro but for personal reasons I chose to not get involed!!!!!!!!!.It is good you say the customer is always right A good way to do business ..

a bit off subject, but...Both Barb K & Katie Valk are good choices for agents who know their Bz stuff.

the place we rent from doesn't charge a cent until we check out, but then we also just grin and bear no or brown water, especially in times like this when the cisterns are empty...

Not to say this of Barb or Katie, but when using an agent, one must still be vigilant and do a little of their own due diligence.

We have a dive tour operator up here that booked people into the Tropica for years. Every time I came home, I told them, you MUST stop putting people in there and I'd give them a list of places they could suggest instead. Regardless, that none of the agents had been to San Pedro in years, and regardless, my advice, they continued booking people into Tropica, until their customers started to phone them from Belize and be switching themselves to other hotels once in San Pedro.

Keep in mind that travel agents get a commission and that while they should be selling to the best of their ability, they will always keep in mind the best commission they can get too.

Now now - not all travel agents will put a client somewhere just to get the best commission. Yes, some do, especially if they have never seen the different properties so cannot make a first hand judgement. Some places on the island pay 30% commission and I hardly sell them, some pay no or low commission and I sell them a lot (with a small service charge lately on the no comm. places). A GOOD travel agent will try to match the right client with the right property so the client is happy and satisfied, which leads to repeat business and referrals. That's what it's all about (and personal satisfaction when you get the great feed back and undying gratutide ;-)

Tropica was good when it first started. Stayed there myself. When they added on and on it went downhill rapidly. But they always had very good prices especially on dive packages. Some clients want the best deal no matter what you try to tell them about the quality of the accommodations. Plus they were very prompt and easy to work with unlike many Belize properties. Did a lot of advertising and really courted the travel agent business. That's why agents sold them, not because of commisssions which were mid range standard.

Don't stay at Coral Beach Hotel, Nothing works, no a/c that works, TV does not work, no hot showers, lots of Cock Roaches and they don't charge extra for the roaches...

Sorry Barb, didn't mean to imply all agents are like that, in fact, I specifically excluded you. Further, the agent that I was talking about has taken care of me on some great SE Asia dive vacations, so I'm cool with them. It was just that one thing.

Also, just returned from France, where we used the same agent as last year for Spain. Our agent's advice and preparation were again, impeccable. He has also told me many times, that he gets a lot of satisfaction from making people like me happy.

No prob. I just have to stand up for travel agents these days since we are a dying breed...