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View Full Version : Don't use Aquasafari Charters!!!



gus
05-13-2008, 08:11 PM
We took my buddy out "deep sea fishing" for his bachelors party on 5/2. I had heard reports of how rough the seas were going to be for several days before. I called the captain and asked if if we should reschedule. We would not have been able to have the bachelors party but we could have at least saved our money. The catain told me that he would make sure that we caught fish and give the guy a good trip. We showed up at Aquasafari Charters in Galveston at 6 AM with reports of 6'-8' seas. I again asked the captain what he thought about the trip. He said that we were good to go. So we paid him $2510. We went to the end of the jetties and fished for 4 hours and caught 1 gafftop. By that time we had seen enough and told the captain that we all had boats and could fish the jetties anytime and would rather come back another day to finish our trip. The captain then decided that he would move out to deeper waters. We ended up going out to the first rig in federal waters and never caught anything else. I understand that it is called fishing and not catching but we gave the guy every opportunity to go another day and he assured us that we would have a good trip. Not to mention the fact that he never even attempted to apologize for the pitiful trip that he gave us for $2500. I have been on many off shore trips but if this had been the first I would certainly have never gone again.

gator
05-13-2008, 09:28 PM
well i think a few emails from the fourms could change his mind or his bussiness for sure

Gentleben
05-13-2008, 10:48 PM
I, for one appreciate good information like taht not that i would ever book a fsihing trip but i tis good fro otehr people to know !!
Thanks for teh infromation ,

Scotta
05-13-2008, 10:53 PM
I use to take a lot of guided fishing trips and have had only one bad experience. You should of just booked a trip with jackie and ben done with it. I'm truly sorry to hear that. 1 gaftop! thats absolutely ridiculous.

kingwoodcatfisherman
05-13-2008, 11:18 PM
Gus, sorry to hear about your bad experience. As my Dad would say that was one expensive gafftop catfish ($2,510) !!!!!!!! That's alot of money ! You could have bought my bass boat from me and still had money left over !

RAYSOR
05-14-2008, 06:16 AM
Gus, sorry to hear about your bad experience, I think with the cost of fuel now there might be a few more bad ones to show up, don't give up still plenty of good ones out there,

john
05-14-2008, 07:20 AM
Thanks for the info.Sorry to hear you got taken..

Ole Bill
05-14-2008, 07:25 AM
sorry ta hear about yer experiances but i think if he was such a great guide he would have offered you another day ... sounds like he is living on a shoe string business going out on a day with six to eight foot seas. thats not just good thats dangerous.

dwaynez
05-14-2008, 07:26 AM
I have been on a few trips like that and luckily I got with some good guys. I would make sure you let the guy know how disappointed you were, send him an email or something and if he is a standup guy he will do something for you.

gus
05-14-2008, 08:18 AM
I talked to the guy that day and he didn't as much say I am sorry it was a bad day. I have sent him an e-mail and expressed my feelings and he didn't even have the courtesy to reply.

Scotta
05-14-2008, 11:54 AM
Post his e-mail ands I will let him know that he will not get any business from me and I will be passing the word. I'll end it nicely: "By the way, better luck on your next trip."

gus
05-14-2008, 12:33 PM
Here is his e-mail address; [email protected]

I don't usually complain too much but it just really got under my skin that this guy didn't care enough to apologize to my buddy whose bachelor party it was. If he had talked to him I probably would have been satisfied. So now if he has a couple of weekends when he isn't booked I'll have to be happy with that. Thanks for your help.

Scotta
05-14-2008, 12:47 PM
Im sending him an e-mail now.

gator
05-14-2008, 03:22 PM
sent it now

kingwoodcatfisherman
05-14-2008, 06:21 PM
That was nice of you guys to email him. Maybe the least he could do is buy him lunch on the Kemah boardwalk and let him fish off the dock while they are waiting for their food to come to the table. :) :)

Ole Bill
05-14-2008, 08:38 PM
its done and i sent copies to some of the members to verify

minner skinner
05-14-2008, 09:07 PM
not as an excuse but most offshore boats have been hit really hard. snapper regs and fuel cost have put several outta business and more are soon to follow. he probly doesnt expect a return customer cause he wont be in business much longer anyway.
i had the same thing happen to me and we also fished the jetties. i spent a lot less money though. dont fish with the squid thats provided. toss a castnet and keep baitfish on ice.
sorry about the bad trip.

RECONER
05-14-2008, 09:13 PM
That SUCKS!!!!!!

Layton
05-14-2008, 09:58 PM
We took my buddy out "deep sea fishing" for his bachelors party on 5/2. I had heard reports of how rough the seas were going to be for several days before. I called the captain and asked if if we should reschedule. We would not have been able to have the bachelors party but we could have at least saved our money. The catain told me that he would make sure that we caught fish and give the guy a good trip. We showed up at Aquasafari Charters in Galveston at 6 AM with reports of 6'-8' seas. I again asked the captain what he thought about the trip. He said that we were good to go. So we paid him $2510. We went to the end of the jetties and fished for 4 hours and caught 1 gafftop. By that time we had seen enough and told the captain that we all had boats and could fish the jetties anytime and would rather come back another day to finish our trip. The captain then decided that he would move out to deeper waters. We ended up going out to the first rig in federal waters and never caught anything else. I understand that it is called fishing and not catching but we gave the guy every opportunity to go another day and he assured us that we would have a good trip. Not to mention the fact that he never even attempted to apologize for the pitiful trip that he gave us for $2500. I have been on many off shore trips but if this had been the first I would certainly have never gone again.
Ok first off Its too bad you did not go with your gut feeling. You stated that you ask 3 different times.So something was telling you dont do it. And with high sea's another minus. Plus you gave him the money before you got on the boat which tells me yall wanted to go. You could have turned around you knew it wasent gonna be good. I too have paid to go fish and not so much as got a bite but thats just the way it is. Better luck next time.

gator
05-15-2008, 07:31 AM
Ok first off Its too bad you did not go with your gut feeling. You stated that you ask 3 different times.So something was telling you dont do it. And with high sea's another minus. Plus you gave him the money before you got on the boat which tells me yall wanted to go. You could have turned around you knew it wasent gonna be good. I too have paid to go fish and not so much as got a bite but thats just the way it is. Better luck next time.
well layton hes the captain and he decides weither the boat goes or stays he needed the money at any cost if he wanted to do a honest job he would have tried and when it turned out the way it did he should have said how about paying for gas only or here 1/2 price trip, lets reschudle something. i agree he want be in business long with this kind of service.
i understand charter business is suffering with gas but all of us or suffering and when you get someone with $2500 dollars to spend you need to get a return customer. by the way did you tip to clean the one fish? bbbaahhh no answer needed

BassingtxLady
05-15-2008, 08:35 AM
I agree with Layton.

Several months ago, my wife and I fished Fairfield with jackieblue. We had a fantastic time but didn't catch many fish.

Even before we quit fishing, Jackieblue apologized for the lack of his normal success. He asked us to come back and try it again at no cost.

To me, this was a gesture out of this world. We had really enjoyed ourself, so after we got home, we decided to not accept the offer of a free trip. We never told Jackieblue about our decision.

This the kind of situation Layton was talking about.

Ole Bill
05-15-2008, 08:35 AM
i agree with that gator but i definatly wouldnt have tiped fer cleanning the fish cause he wouldnt have gotten the money and i wouldnt have went and 2500 dollars for a 8 hour day of fishing is rediculous and outrageous. high as gas is i would call that gigin the ole pocket book

gator
05-15-2008, 09:14 AM
I agree with Layton.

Several months ago, my wife and I fished Fairfield with jackieblue. We had a fantastic time but didn't catch many fish.

Even before we quit fishing, Jackieblue apologized for the lack of his normal success. He asked us to come back and try it again at no cost.

To me, this was a gesture out of this world. We had really enjoyed ourself, so after we got home, we decided to not accept the offer of a free trip. We never told Jackieblue about our decision.

This the kind of situation Layton was talking about.





Jackieblue apologized for the lack of his normal success. He asked us to come back and try it again at no cost.

see thats the difference he acknoledge that it wasnt quit par he went above and above board by the offer of a free trip. but if the lake is having 4 foot waves and he knows its is gonna be difficult beside unsafe to get to the fishing area much less finding biting fish.. i believe he would have reschudle trip from the begining. when i pay for a off shore trip i expect to go off shore not to the end of the jetties because of the weather. thats like paying for a crappie trip and having to go jugging.

Big Grouper
05-15-2008, 09:40 AM
He probably had no trips booked for a while, didn't have the money to pay his bills,...... The fact that he didn't even offer a re-book on a better day means that he won't be around much longer. Always remember a drowning man doesn't behave reasonably! This guy must be drowning in debt and your booking was a temporary life ring.

Thanks for letting us all know to watch out for this guy. Don't judge the others by his actions though.

Gentleben
05-15-2008, 09:46 AM
This should be a hard lesson learned , research and pick a better guy.
JK is one of thsoe outstanding morlal individuals , and he can catch fsih check out scotts trip, but thats fishing!!
Thanks fe all the comments and hist o nthis thread:help:

kingwoodcatfisherman
05-15-2008, 10:14 AM
He probably had no trips booked for a while, didn't have the money to pay his bills,...... The fact that he didn't even offer a re-book on a better day means that he won't be around much longer. Always remember a drowning man doesn't behave reasonably! This guy must be drowning in debt and your booking was a temporary life ring.

Thanks for letting us all know to watch out for this guy. Don't judge the others by his actions though.


I sympathize for both parties involved here. There are the customer's expectations of what they should receive for a $2500 fishing trip and there are the difficulties, challenges, and stress that comes with operating a business and meeting your customer's expectations.

To me, it appears that this guide operates his charter service as a business and not as a passion. He relies on boat shows or advertisements to bring him a steady flow of new customers each time for his services. Unlike some guides, he doesn't depend on or is ignorant as to the success or detriment of word of mouth marketing, advertisement, and the importance of repeat business for long-term success. I have to agree, although he maybe here for the short term, it sounds like he won't be in business for the long term. So next time , try to stick to the guide that operates the job as a passion and not as a business !

Ole Bill
05-15-2008, 01:02 PM
well said ben and well said KWCf when it comes to fishin treat it like a passion and be like jackie is you will get rich that way and i aint talkin money im talkin something greater than that its called friendships.

Melissaa52
05-15-2008, 01:49 PM
Blah, blah, blah! I quit fishing..... NOT!

I sympathize with you, Gus. I am about to go offshore fishing and I'll be darned if my fishing trip will go bad. Actually, I've been on this fishing boat (Galveston Party Boats) a couple of times before and it has NEVER given me a bad experience. Next time, go with Galveston Party Boats. They are much better and you'll always catch fish offshore.

I sent Capt. Paul Stanton an email too. That rat bbbbb$%#!!!

I think I'm gonna call the Sheriffs (in this case, the Coast Guard) about the Aqua Safari Charters and tell them that the boat is marijuana filled :chop: … (inside joke if anyone knows it)….. bwaaaaahhahaha

gus
05-15-2008, 07:12 PM
That is the funniest thing I have heard all week Melissa. That is better than a refund.

Melissaa52
05-15-2008, 07:21 PM
That is the funniest thing I have heard all week Melissa. That is better than a refund.
Glad I can entertain you, Gus! The least I can do since you couldn't get your refund. :applause:

Ole Bill
05-15-2008, 09:18 PM
melissa i can always expect something funny from you too

texasgg
05-15-2008, 09:46 PM
I sent him a note also...that $2500.00 dollar trip might be the most expensive trip HE ever took anyone on.... lost buisness can be pretty expensive...keep sending him notes and let him realize how fast BAD business spreads among friends...

Melissaa52
05-16-2008, 01:02 AM
Yeah!!! Let's all send that moron (oh, can i say moron on here?) an email and let him know how we feel. That really upset me. He could at least take them on the next scheduled trip or when he has "room" in his boat on any fishing trip. Give them a raincheck or something. :grrr: :grrr: :grrr:

I feel like I'm more angry than Gus is... :grrr:

I'm counting down til my big day... At least mine didn't cost me a dime... he he he Yeah, yeah, I bet you guys think I did something to get this free trip. Yeah, I did do something. I worked hard at work to get rewarded for a fishing trip like this. WAAAAAHOOOOO! Oh, I meant, yahoooo!

When I go to Galveston on Saturday morning and I see that charter out there, I might just ...... nevermind ... bwaaahaha Okay, okay, I'll behave now.

I'm still counting down... 29 hours to go...

RAYSOR
05-16-2008, 06:33 AM
Great post Melissa, thanks for the laugh.

Layton
05-16-2008, 08:06 AM
We took my buddy out "deep sea fishing" for his bachelors party on 5/2. I had heard reports of how rough the seas were going to be for several days before. I called the captain and asked if if we should reschedule. We would not have been able to have the bachelors party but we could have at least saved our money. The catain told me that he would make sure that we caught fish and give the guy a good trip. We showed up at Aquasafari Charters in Galveston at 6 AM with reports of 6'-8' seas. I again asked the captain what he thought about the trip. He said that we were good to go. So we paid him $2510. We went to the end of the jetties and fished for 4 hours and caught 1 gafftop. By that time we had seen enough and told the captain that we all had boats and could fish the jetties anytime and would rather come back another day to finish our trip. The captain then decided that he would move out to deeper waters. We ended up going out to the first rig in federal waters and never caught anything else. I understand that it is called fishing and not catching but we gave the guy every opportunity to go another day and he assured us that we would have a good trip. Not to mention the fact that he never even attempted to apologize for the pitiful trip that he gave us for $2500. I have been on many off shore trips but if this had been the first I would certainly have never gone again.
Gus how many guys in your group went on this trip ?

Gentleben
05-16-2008, 10:55 AM
Be kind and unwind but be careful about "footinmouth disease" , there si no cure ,I know happens to me all de time ... hard to digest leather :secret:

gator gar
05-16-2008, 11:11 AM
He is lucky he wasn't with me and my buddies and 2500 dollars of my hard earned money in his pocket. We "might" have began to miss him about an hour after he fell over board, because you know I would have been whininig wanting to come back to my truck, about half way through the trip.

The only thing he would have left in his pocket would be that Hard head or Gaff Top or what ever it was you caught at the jetties.

When it comes to my money and my family, that's where I make the transformation from Dr.Jeckyl, to Mr. Hyde.

When I got back to the dock, I'd be asking everyone where the boat owner was. He said he was going to meet us back at the dock after renting us the boat for the day. Oh well, we'll just leave it where it was and write him a note, telling him how rough it was out there and we decided to come in early.

Signed..........Gator and Ol Bill:applause:

gus
05-16-2008, 11:13 AM
Layton, There were 13 of us. We paid $210 each because we paid for the bachelors trip.

Ole Bill
05-16-2008, 01:07 PM
hey gator gar thats cool but we know who wrote that piece of literature bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh

Melissaa52
05-16-2008, 01:41 PM
He is lucky he wasn't with me and my buddies and 2500 dollars of my hard earned money in his pocket. We "might" have began to miss him about an hour after he fell over board, because you know I would have been whininig wanting to come back to my truck, about half way through the trip.

The only thing he would have left in his pocket would be that Hard head or Gaff Top or what ever it was you caught at the jetties.

When it comes to my money and my family, that's where I make the transformation from Dr.Jeckyl, to Mr. Hyde.

When I got back to the dock, I'd be asking everyone where the boat owner was. He said he was going to meet us back at the dock after renting us the boat for the day. Oh well, we'll just leave it where it was and write him a note, telling him how rough it was out there and we decided to come in early.

Signed..........Gator and Ol Bill:applause:

Too funny!!!

dwaynez
05-16-2008, 11:56 PM
I have had both good and bad experiences,

I have used the Galveston Party Boat before as well and had a good trip

gator
05-17-2008, 08:17 AM
has anyone recieved a reply he just might not care or business is no more

gus
05-17-2008, 01:47 PM
Gator I have sent him a couple of e-mails with no reply. I think he just doesn't care. Oh well I won't be using him again. Thanks for all of you guys support.

gator
05-17-2008, 06:27 PM
yeah hes recieved a few im sure just wondering

Melissaa52
05-20-2008, 10:32 AM
Most definitely!

Funny thing is when Medulla and I went on that offshore trip, we saw one of their boats out there. When I saw one of their boats, I wanted to call the coast guard badly.... he he he