Island Marketing Tour Company

[PACURN]

I just wanted to give you all a heads up with this company.

I booked a tour with them for my upcoming cruise (14 months away) and paid a NON REFUNDABLE deposit. I used my bank debit card to make the deposit. I just looked at my statement and there are 2 extra charges, one for foreign transaction fee (this I can understand) and one for paypal. I did not use paypal.

I just thought it was a little strange. This company is very difficult to get in touch with. An email just responds with a automated response. No coorporate number that I can find. And I believe that they are one of the only ones who will not refund deposits due to cancellation. I can understand if it is close to the tour date. The little extra charges that appear on my bank statement is curious.

I don't know, maybe I'm out of line here. but I wanted to put it out there to others who may be wanting to use this company. Watch out for the added charges.

Ok I'm getting on my flame proof suit cuz I know the fire is coming. :rolleyes:

[m steve]

We're going there later this month and on the credit card bill there was a $24 charge for foreign exchange for our online purchase. Since they land at several US airports I find this a strange charge.

[PACURN]

Interesting, maybe it's some Cayman thing :confused:

[bookbabe]

Interesting, maybe it's some Cayman thing :confused:

 

That's weird...we use our credit cards in Cayman all the time, and other than the exchange (dollar conversion) we've never had any extra charges for anything...

[nybumpkin]

We've used Island Marketing in both Grand Cayman and St. Martin and had no extra fees added. They will refund if your ship cancels the port altogether - we had that happen in 2005 when we missed Grand Cayman - but we did have to ask for the refund; it wasn't automatic. No refunds for other reasons for cancellation. I agree that the automated e-mails can be a bit off-putting (the first time we booked I wondered whether the tour operator would actually show), but both times that we actually went on the booked tours they went off without a hitch - and they were very good tours.

 

PACURN, which tour did you book? We booked the "Eco Outrage" stingray/snorkel 3-hour tour with John Michael when we sailed last year. The way it worked was that the deposit was Island Marketing's booking fee and the balance that we paid in person (we used travelers checks) was what John Michael got to keep. A number of the smaller tour operators use Island Marketing as their booking agent because they don't have the time or staff to book the tours themselves.

[PACURN]

We've used Island Marketing in both Grand Cayman and St. Martin and had no extra fees added. They will refund if your ship cancels the port altogether - we had that happen in 2005 when we missed Grand Cayman - but we did have to ask for the refund; it wasn't automatic. No refunds for other reasons for cancellation. I agree that the automated e-mails can be a bit off-putting (the first time we booked I wondered whether the tour operator would actually show), but both times that we actually went on the booked tours they went off without a hitch - and they were very good tours.

 

PACURN, which tour did you book? We booked the "Eco Outrage" stingray/snorkel 3-hour tour with John Michael when we sailed last year. The way it worked was that the deposit was Island Marketing's booking fee and the balance that we paid in person (we used travelers checks) was what John Michael got to keep. A number of the smaller tour operators use Island Marketing as their booking agent because they don't have the time or staff to book the tours themselves.

Thanks for the response.

I booked the dune buggy tour in Grand Cayman. I paid 20.00 pp for 11 of us, which was drawn from my bank account. There was a 6 dollar foreign transaction fee and a 6.00 paypal fee. I emailed my bank about it and will call tomorrow during the day to dispute it. I guess Island Marketing is a "clearing house" so to speak for all the little companies around. If we cancel the tour because we just didn't want to go any more, we will still be charged the fee for the tour I believe. ( I could be wrong there). My bank card is on record with them. The deposit is definantly non refundable. If the ship doesn't dock due to weather we can write (email is not acceptable according to the policy that was in the policys and procedures aggreement) to the company (Island Marketing) and request a refund for the costs. As far as I can see there is no phone number to contact anyone. It seems a little disconcerting. I guess I should have done my homework a little better. In the past I have never had to deal with people who were so difficult to get in touch with. I have always had direct contact (via email or a phone number) with the tour operator.

It all makes me a little leary.

[PACURN]

Update.

After spending some frustrating time on the phone I discovered that paypal charge did not come from this company (they assured me they don't use paypal, and they were right). It just happened to show up right after I booked this tour. I assumed-- and you know what that gets you.

Anyway I just wanted to share that. I do still have a foreing transaction fee to find out about.

[drew sailbum]

Until quite recently foreign transaction fees were unheard of for charges in Cayman. In Cayman the merchant converts the charge to US dollars and charges the card accordingly. In fact merchants cannot place the charge in CI dollars unless it is a debit card for a bank in Cayman.

 

However... several major credit card issuers (Bank of America, Citi, and several more) recently sent notice that any transaction conducted outside of the United States will be subject to a foreign trasnaction fee - REGARDLESS of whether the transaction is posted in US dollars. This may be the source of your fee. Check the fine print on any recent statements for changes to your cardholder agreement.