Twice before I have used Bonaire Partners to make my travel arrangements and have never had any problems.
BUT, last week I contacted them to arrange another trip. I wire transferred a deposit which my bank has verified that it was successfully completed.
Bonaire Partners refuses to confirm receipt of the funds and also refuses to confirm my accommodations. Last Friday, I received an email that said the accountant was out of the office and they could not confirm receipt, they would contact me Monday.
Since Monday (it is now Wednesday) I have received nothing and Bonaire Partners has not responded to any of my emails. Bonaire Partners is apparently stealing my money.
I intend to pay Bonaire Partners a visit when I get to Bonaire as well as the Tourist Center and Police (if I can even find where the Police are).
I am so, so shocked about all this. How unbelieveable and what is the purpose? Surely not to steal a deposit. I can assure you I will never do business with these crooks again.

I'd relax a bit... they are on island time after all and you just made the reservations last week. Nothing happens fast where Bonaire is concerned ! My guess is that they are telling the truth, the accountant is away and will get back with you. I don't think they are stealing your money, they are a very reputable business on the island. Good luck and keep us informed !

Wow, I understand your frustration, but, as Kelly said....
At least they did inform you that the acc. was away, and that they couldn't, not wouldn't, confirm dep. Probably office policies.

You do have proof of deposit, so..

Perhaps you could contact your place directly, if so, they may be able to put your mind at rest.

Check your emotions, and forgo calling them thieves, defamation with potential loss if income could be very costly indeed. Just my own humble opinion.

Vince..Between you & me I seriously doubt any established business which operates on Bonaire would so boldly try to steal your money.

My advice is to RELAX or better yet, pick up the phone & call them instead of posting an unsubstantiated allegation on BT.

Vince, relax and take a deep breath. I don't think I've ever received confirmation "quickly" for anything on Bonaire. One week is one day on Bonaire. Their email may be down, the accountant may not be back yet, etc. Bonaire Partners has a very good reputation. Remember, it's island time.

So...ommmmmm....I'm sure it will all be OK. Notifying police that you have not received confirm after one week would probably not be worth their time, and certainly "not stealing your money..."

WOW Vince, sounds like you really need a vacation. I know how these things can become frustrating but it sounds a bit like you are over-reacting. Your accusations are inflamed given the time frame and the fact that you have used them before without any problems. I hope you get the answer you want quickly and that what everyone has stated turns out to be true. I feel it's unfair to the business at this point to state what you have and would think it would be quite kind of you to let us know here when the issue has been resolved and maybe even withdraw your comments about them. Once again, just my 2 cents but these kinds of things can do a lot of damage on a small island.

I've been thinking, and I think V's reaction is in part spurred on by the need to have everything done and answered in minutes. Instant gratification. Internet, Blackberry, texting, it's also much easier to over react when not dealing directly with human voices. The worst thing is, now when we over react and say things, they're posted on the internet, forever.

I remember when it took weeks of phone calls to plan a dive vacation! This last 1 we booked for Jan took less than 12 hrs......boom, done.

Oh, I also remember when we had real tickets, aaahhhhh, the smell, and tearing sounds of carbon copies!

vince, i must echo the sentiments of the others on here. take a deep breath....and another. ok? feel better yet? even if you do,take another few deep breaths. then remember that you are dealing with a fairly small company on a small island. you've dealt with them before without problems. this too shall pass. things will work out ok. when they do i hope you post an apology to bonaire partners. you have, after all, accused them of theft of your deposit and called them crooks.

having lived on bonaire part time for over six years now i know that things don't happen overnight. in many businesses if one person leaves the island for a while a lot of stuff gets backed up.

is your vacation coming up next week? sounds like you need one. i'll bet it's not next week though and your deposit will be acknowledged in due (bonaire) time.

Each of my last two experiences with Bonaire Partners was a breeze. They Always responded to my emails and promptly notified me that the transfer was confirmed.
On THIS Occasion, not only have they NOT confirmed receipt of the money BUT they have failed to respond to my emails. It has been more than a week since the transfer was made. Island time or any other time, that is more than sufficient time for a transfer to be confirmed.
I do not know why but they have not confirmed the reservations nor the money transfer.
NONE of my allegations are Unsubstantiated. NONE. I know what unsubstantiated allegations are, I was a Criminal Defense Lawyer for 20 years. I have proof that the transfer was made, my bank confirmed the successful transfer (which took less than an hour) and Bonaire Partners has not replied to any of my emails since last week.
Over-reacting? Maybe but it seems illogical to not at least acknowledge my request for status.
This is not my first dealings in making arrangements, I travel 3 times a year to various places and have been to Bonaire twice using Bonaire Partners. This is by far the most unprofessional experience.
Live in a state of denial if you wish, I merely posted to warn of what is, at the least, poor customer service and very unprofessional conduct.
I will let you know if I get anything in the next few days. If not, I feel I must contact someone else to make my arrangements.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my post and offer a response.

overreacting? not "maybe" but probably. you have already said that your previous two experiences were good. so why would a company that you have been satisfied with suddenly become crooks? as many of us have stated, there is most likely a very good explanation...they've already said that their accountant had been gone. things will happen on bonaire time...not US or european time...it just happens. it's not like you don't have proof from your bank that the transfer had been made. relax.

Vince can we so bold to ask just when your reservation is for

Vince..Since you are a criminal defense lawyer, in all honesty I'd view your posting as libelous if I were a principal at Bonaire Partners. Calling them "crooks" on a public board is simply uncalled for. If you are a criminal defense lawyer then frankly you should know better!

As a lawyer, it seems even more odd that you would jump to the position, and post, forever, they are thieves, before a conclusion comes to term.
If you have an issue with the charge to your card, take it up with the bank, oh, well, here in Canada, if you dispute a charge, the bank assumes the cost, investigates, and goes after the vendor, themselves, usually pulling their license to use their card if indeed you were misrepresented.
Personally, I think that your allegations ARE unsubstantiated, you did call them thieves. Your claims of poor service and unprofessional conduct ("very"), doesn't constitute criminal intent.

Your bank does have record of the transaction, so how can they be trying to scam you?

This is getting very nasty, as Bonaire supporters, we all try to support business there, you obviously love Bonaire, give the "guys" a chance to rectify this.

I just sent a note to BP let's see what happens

We just returned from Bonaire, renting a vacation home through Bonaire Partners for the first time. I would like to reiterate, yes, transactions are slower then in the states. However, in no way were they anything but professional. In fact, they never received a certified final deposit check that was sent to them. We went past the deadline. Their response was, "No Problem, things happen. " We did not lose our reservation. We immediately gave Bonaire Partners a credit card for the remaining balance. (This was over a month past the final payment due date). Bonaire Partners was very understanding, wishing that for you as well.

AGAIN Vince PLEASE tell us when your vacation is.. is it next week?? two weeks?? two months??? two years?? You don't have state dates.. just close..

Freddie, I contacted them earlier today, just to let them know

Good that makes at least three of us that contacted them.... I bet the internet is down

Im in bonaire. The net is/has been working fine all day all week long.

Well, as I stated, if the owner is unaware....how can "he" defend?

Internet down or not, there's alot of potential damage to their biz here.

In the original post. V stated "they couldnt" verify the dep.........NOT wouldn't. Then proceeded to call them thieves.

Points in the details folks.

Will thank you posting.. However just because you have internet service does not mean that other places on Bonaire have it as well.. or there could be computer problems at BP.. lets just all wait and see if they chime in or not before anyone makes judgements.. Again remember Island Time figures into the puzzle here.....Patience is a virtue

I find these beware posts alarming as a travel professional. These posts have such potential to ruin a reputation. There are two sides to every story. Take it to the tourist board and the police if necessary. Honestly...

Well, I emailed Bonaire Partners this morning, and they said they were going to look into it. So, they have received at least three or four emails today in regard to this.

Vince, maybe you could have posted a shout out for help rather than potentially ruining the reputation of a long time Bonaire company? Often folks will send a shout out for help in these situation prior to taking things to the extreme.

Ah, a call directly to Bonaire Partners no doubt would have solved the issue, Vince. Sorry, but that is what first came to mind after reading your post. Think maybe you jumped to conclusions a tad bit early B-4 finding out directly. Do let us know the outcome.

First, let me say tonight I received an email from BP acknowledging receipt of the transfer.
No confirmation of my reservations but at least they admit to having received my deposit.
I wonder if I had not publicly complained, would I still be waiting for a reply to my emails?
THANK YOU to all who wrote to BP asking them to resolve this.
SECOND, this morning I wrote to alert BP that if I did not receive either confirmation of the transfer or a reply to my email, I would see no alternative but to post my experience on the internet. I did not say specifically what site but I did not sandbag them. I BEGGED them for confirmation or at least information for the past week. I received nothing. The email this morning warning I would post my experience was the only recourse I could think of. It obviously did not spur them into action. Letters from the persons above apparently got them moving.
And this email alert this morning was AFTER I wrote Monday and Tuesday asking for either confirmation or a status report -- taking into consideration that on Friday the agent wrote that "first thing" Monday morning I would receive word but received nothing and NONE of my emails have been replied to.

Before this I was confident in using BP and would have recommended them. Now, I am anything but confident and have to think long and hard before I would recommend them.

The dates I am "trying" to book are in Jan 2010.

Vince, I am sorry you look at life with the "glass being half full". Thanks for letting us know what happened and I am sure you will have a wonderful vacation despite all your negativity. Try a little more positive mojo, it is a lot easier on the brain than negative.

I would just like to echo the words of Sean Paton when similar words were being used some time ago.

'The laws of libel apply on the Internet as they do elsewhere'.

I don't condone BP's lack of customer service but to publicly accuse a business of being thieves and crooks is foolish and uncalled for.

Vince..All I can say is your posting(s) really do not shine a positive light on your stated profession as a criminal defense lawyer. Notwithstanding, I do hope that you have an enjoyable trip to the island that we all love so much on this board.

The best place to lodge a complaint is with BONHATA if the property is a member. They do police their own.

I have received an email from BP.. without disclosing the whole letter.. there are definitely some inconsistencies that have not been divulged by the OP.
My suggestion to you Vince is to use a travel agent and let them deal with any problems that might arise.. I use Ann Phelan for my Bonaire vacation..
I have a trip coming up in the future and everything is in place because of her. I also realize that Island time is a fact of life on Bonaire.. If I were going in Jan. I would not begin to stress until Dec 1. and I certainly would not post on this board anything that might make contact with the resort manager or house manager difficult when I arrived... JMHO

ya get more flies with honey than with vinegar...I'm just sayin'...

Vince, have a nice vacation.

FREDDIE - IF any inconsistencies were presented by BP then they were either mistaken or flat out lying...PERIOD.
The Defense to LIBEL is truth and EVERYTHING I have written is 100% truthful.
I wrote an email with the SUBJECT LINE reading - PLEASE PRESENT THIS TO THE MANAGER and asked for confirmation or status and of course, that email was not responded to.
BEFORE I posted here, I sent an email to BP and advised them that if they did not send confirmation or status I would feel compelled to post my experience on the internet. OF COURSE, that was not responded to UNTIL AFTER I POSTED.
BP will likely not give my money back. However, I have lost confidence in them and do not feel safe in accepting whatever accommodations they have arranged --- IF ANY, because I have NOT received any confirmation regarding reservations as of yet.
I am going to contact another company to make my trip arrangements. They can keep my money, if they treat others as I have been treated, they are going to need it.
Lastly, I did not post how the agent DID NOT answer the questions I asked in my emails regarding the selection of a property, I DID NOT post how the agent DID NOT give me the banking information for the transfer when I twice asked for it because the information on the bottom of the invoice was not legible. I advised her TWICE the information was not legible and still she did not provide the banking information. Finally, my bank and I deciphered the address as best we could. This was my PRIMARY reason for wanting confirmation, I was not sure the transfer went to the right bank. It is also why I had my bank verify the transfer was successful -- well that plus BP did not reply to my requests.
The whole experience has been bad. The agent was nothing short of terrible.
And if BP can write something to the contrary or offer a different story then they are full of baloney. PERIOD.
As a matter of fact, I am quite angry that BP has the audacity to misrepresent facts. Why dont they try and present an explanation to me?
The ONLY reason I got confirmation that the transfer was received was because I posted here and several of you wrote to BP to advise that someone was talking badly about them.
Yes, I am surprised. The first two times I dealt with them I had no problems. But, this does NOT detract from the Fact that this instance was nothing less than horrible customer service. A good business does not ignore emails from a customer. A good business acknowledges payment once it is received. A good business offers explanation to the customer, not to some third party who does not know the facts and has a bias that the company is correct and the customer is somehow wrong, over-reacting, looking at the glass as half full, not patient enough to think that no response to any emails is reasonable and not answering questions when presented about what service is to be offered is normal. Why dont you put yourself in my shoes? Send some business some money and then have that business stop communicating with you, what would you think?
Maybe I could have waited a few more days before getting upset but when a company gets my money - in advance - refuses to acknowledge receipt of it, ignores my emails requesting either acknowledgment or status, then I get frustrated with the whole mess and would rather walk away to deal with someone else who can be more professional.
RESPONDED WITH INCONSISTENCIES???? That makes my very upset. NOTHING can be truthfully presented that is inconsistent to what I presented. NOTHING.
This is my last post on the matter. You can can put on your rose colored glasses and you all can shout I am over-reacting. I do not care. I know what happened, I have ALL of the facts and to date, I have not received any explanation, confirmation of my reservations or any time frame when such would be given.
This has definitely robbed me of some of anticipatory excitement about my trip.
You all see BP as nothing but wonderful and I am somehow an over-reacting clown. I am glad I posted because it got action from BP. But, you people all live in a state of denial.
I believe BP is a good company --- basically. But, I KNOW that in this instance they were and are VERY WRONG. Inconsistencies?? What a joke. Any inconsistency would have to be riddled with misrepresentations ,,, period.
Any chance that I would consider using them again has been removed by the "inconsistencies" letter. I would expect a business to try and present themselves in a good light but I sure would like to see the baloney they are trying to dish out here. Again, anything contrary to what I wrote is pure hogwash, PERIOD.

Holy Bejeepers.... Vince, buddy, you aren't going to have to worry about your trip at all, you're going to stroke out before it's even time to leave ! I need a Xanax just reading that !

It sounds like you didn't get your answers quickly enough, but it hardly seems like a crisis situation that warrants your postings. Reading them, I am envisioning your head popping off and landing across the room... this cannot be healthy for you.

that was his last post????? darn..it's a good day for lawn chairs and margaritas.

I tend to agree with Vince, its a matter of good business practice just to acknowledge correspondence not to ignore. A simple "I need to confirm with my accountant on receipt of funds, however you are tentatively booked at ..... resort,apartment etc." would have sufficed. This would apply to BP or anyone else that I would book my travel arrangements through. Without responses it can mean disaster, for me looking for a timely response does not mean that I don't understand "island time" nor does it make me an uptight, rude impatient American - It makes me human to want to know how my money was tentatively spent regardless if arrangements are made for 1 week or 6 months in the future. There are plenty of agents out there looking to get my travel money, I expect what I give my clients service or response but at least a full response.

too bad Vince hadn't posted previously about his "Each of my last two experiences with Bonaire Partners was a breeze".
Too bad Vince never found the time in the past to visit BT with his good experiences!
Personally..I feel the business he has attacked should never do business with HIM again..LOL
BUT, because Bonaire is so laid back..they will probably have a better attitude than me (and him) and just blow this off.

I am appalled that a person would be so cruel with a business they have used twice before and had good experiences with..

Kelly
that's quite the visual!

Kelly, well said...and nice visual.

This thread is closed.

Holy milk laden cows teets, Batman!

So, in Jan, our trip, I can expect to see a headless diver? way cool!