Big and Unnecessary Disappointments

Dear Undercurrent,

At the last minute, I booked an 11-night February 7 departure to Socorro aboard Solmar V and paid on January 20. I booked through a British dive travel agent but made my own arrangements regarding flights, land transfers, and accommodation en route.

I left the UK on February 4, transiting through a freezing Dallas, and arrived in Cabo San Lucas on February 5. After I checked into a hotel, I looked at the emails I had missed during my journey across the world.

I was shocked to read a brief message from Pacific Fleet (the operating company), including a brief letter from its CEO, advising that the departure of Solmar V had been canceled.

Ringing the office of Pacific Fleet to get further information, I was advised that it was necessary to lift the vessel from the water and that the lifting facilities at Cabo San Lucas were not working. The vessel had to go to La Paz. It would not be back in the water for 10 days.

What could I say? I had just traveled halfway around the world. I asked if I could visit the office to use its facilities to make alternative arrangements but was advised that all the staff had gone to La Paz.

My only option was to return to the UK, so I rearranged my return flights, canceled further hotel bookings, and contacted Regal Dive, the booking agent in the UK. They had already refunded the Solmar V costs, but I was left with the expense of my wasted flights.

The lack of both information and assistance in rearranging plans from Pacific Fleet was very disappointing and stood in stark contrast to the action of Regal Dive in the UK, which immediately booked me on to another boat nearer to home.

My disappointment was heightened when I found out that fellow international divers were also departing to Socorro on the Quino El Guardian and Socorro Aggressor later in February - both of which apparently went ahead without a hitch. Next time I'll give Pacific Fleet a miss.

- Shibli Yamin
(London, SW15)

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Dear Mr. Yamin,

We're sorry to hear of your horrible and entirely avoidable experience, but sadly you are not alone. Another pair of British travelers, Amy and Andrew Stevens (Leeds, UK), arrived for a trip on Solmar V one month later, departing on March 11.

"We were told there was a slight mechanical issue, and they were waiting for a part, but it would be fixed, and we'd be away in a few hours. It turns out one engine blew a crankshaft on a previous trip.

"We'd just finished dinner at 8.00 p.m. when the operations officer of Pacific Fleet arrived to say they'd had an engine failure and the trip would have to reschedule.

"They are still holding our money and refusing to refund it. We were offered no compensation nor anywhere to stay, while it cost us £2000 (about $2600) to get home to the UK a week early.

"The CEO of Pacific Fleet came on board the day we left and was utterly pathetic, saying she had no power to do anything and blaming Mexican mechanics. The worst part was they knew about this in advance yet let 21 people fly to Mexico from all over the world."

"You don't need to be a boat mechanic to know that's a major reconstruction or engine replacement, which will take more than a few days to sort. Nevertheless, unsuspecting passengers were allowed to fly in for a trip that would never happen."

Gareth Barnes (Mountain View, CA), another disappointed passenger, told Undercurrent, "The only thing they have offered us is a trip voucher for a future sailing. There has been no hint of returning our payments for the trip, which all the passengers on our trip are asking for. Given how they have handled the situation so far, there is no trust in the Pacific Fleet organization, so a voucher isn't going to correct the situation."

Undercurrent contacted Pacific Fleet, asking for details: In reply, Elodie Casteilla, Director of Reservations, confirmed that after seven months of not running thanks to the pandemic, the vessel did indeed suffer an engine breakdown.

"Passengers were rescheduled, they all received compensation either a trip on another embarkation, or to a later date, or they have been refunded through their agent."

Clearly, the passengers we heard from were not refunded, just offered a future trip. In fact, the CEO of Pacific Fleet, Michael Anne Boyer, wrote to disappointed customers, suggesting they would get a letter from Pacific Fleet to make a claim against their travel insurance.

In an email to Undercurrent, Boyer said, "It saddens me that there is always the negative that takes the highest precedence. There were two other Mexican liveaboards broken down at the same time."

What saddens us is that customers flew from all over the world, had to return home, all at their own expense, and then be offered nothing but a voucher for a future trip.

Of course, dive boats may suffer mechanical failures from time to time, and it seems this was enough of a significant breakdown that the operator knew it could affect future charters. The failure to warn potential passengers before they set off on their flights was a major failure of Solmar V's owners, compounded by a lack of interest in helping those who had nowhere to go but home.

At this stage, it's unclear how much any travel insurance policies would cover, and it's typical for dive boats not to refund money for such problems but instead offer future trips. Without insurance, the traveler frequently gets stuck with the airfare, but boats have made good. What is galling here is that it appears that many passengers could have been informed before departing, thereby avoiding losing thousands of dollars in airfare. British and European passengers would have some legal protection from their laws regarding reimbursement of money if they booked through a British or European agent but not if they booked elements of their travel independently via the Internet.

In a future issue, more about whether you should carry travel insurance for such trips.

In the meantime, what do you think about the Solmar V operator's handling of this? (Pacific Fleet also operates the liveaboard Vortex.) Were you one of the passengers affected? Or have you suffered a similar short-notice cancelation with a liveaboard in the past? We'd like to hear about it. Write to BenDDavison@undercurrent.org