RESERVATION/CANCELLATION POLICY

I am now requiring a deposit check($200-1/2 Day, $300-3/4 Day, $400-Full Day) to reserve trips to be sent to:
            
Beach Bum Fishing
1816 Seminole Street
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948

I am sorry to have to do this, but a few bad apples(HALL OF SHAME) have forced me into it.  You bad apples know who you are!  I am asking even those of you who have been on the boat before to send one.  If I do not have a deposit within a few days after scheduling, your name will get erased and that day opens back up.  Turn around time on mail around here is two to three days.  Please do not put me in an awkward position by asking whether or not you need to send one.  The same cancellation policy applies to the deposit checks as with the below credit card policy.  If we do not fish and I owe you a refund, I will promptly mail it to you.  If you book a trip and there is not enough time for a check to be sent, then we will go with the below credit card reservation policy.

A credit card(Visa or Mastercard) or Zelle will be required to reserve a fishing trip ONLY if there is not enough time between the scheduling and the actual trip for someone to send and me to receive a deposit check.  A customer obligates himself/herself to show up for a fishing trip by turning over his/her full name as it appears on their card, credit card number, and expiration date of the card.  If the fishing trip is cancelled due to weather NO charges will be assessed to the credit card.

If a customer must cancel a fishing trip, 7 Days notice for cancellation without penalty(no charge to credit card) is required.   A customer must cancel a scheduled fishing trip at least 7 Days in advance of the trip to avoid any charges.  If a customer cancels a scheduled fishing trip within the 7 Days of the trip, a charge of half the price of trip WILL be assessed to the credit card.

If customer does not show up for his/her scheduled fishing trip without any notice of cancellation, 100% of the price of the fishing trip WILL be assessed to the credit card.

WEATHER POLICY

If there is thunder and lightning, a scheduled trip will be cancelled with no penalty.  If there is steady driving rain or if the wind is blowing excessively(over 20 mph) the decision is left up to the customer.  I will fish in foul weather if you want to go.  If you choose not to fish in foul weather, a scheduled trip will be cancelled with no penalty.  If you decide to fish in foul weather and the boat leaves the dock, full payment WILL be required.  You MUST either show up at the dock the day of a scheduled trip or speak with me the night before when it comes to weather cancellations.  It is the customers responsibility to do this in order to avoid a penalty.
 
THE HALL OF SHAME(reserved for those who have booked trips & not to shown up)

1.  Clifton Hoffler, Maryland
2.  Lloyd Cumby, Richmond, Virginia
3.  Jessica Woods, Dublin, Ireland
4.  Chris Clemans, Syracuse, New York
The following is the e-mail that I received form Chris Clemans, of Syracuse, New York at 6:54 A.M. on Thursday morning April the 12th, 2007:
Hi Reese,Man, what a rough week for weather(boats fished ever day this week) on the banks. Unfortunately the women in my crowd are calling it quits and we are heading home. We will not be able to make the fishing trip on Friday unfortunately. Hopefully we can catch up with you next time around. Thanks, Christ(I guess Chris figured I carried a personal computer in the glove box aboard my boat.)
My reply:  Chris:  You are killing me.  Remember when we talked, I told you that I normally get a deposit($300) for half the amount of a full day trip($600) which you booked.  In reality, what you were asking for was two half day trips in which I would have normally required two $175 deposits for a total of $350.  I was at church and didn't have time to get you the deposit info.  You said don't worry, you wouldn't do that to me.  I could have booked tomorrow ten times over.  Easter week is the busiest week of the spring.  It is going to cost me a full days pay in which I could have booked two half days($350 each) and made $700.  I can not afford to pay the mortgage and support two kids doing business like this.  Let me know what you think.  Reese 
Chris's reply:  Hi Reese,Man, I am sorry about all this. It appears that my email did not get to you when I sent it(right.....). I was very aware of your 48 hour cancellation rules(I just changed it to 7 days thanks to Chris) and I sent that email out first thing Wednesday morning(right....). My cell phone did not work(right.....) in the house so that is why I didn't call. Sometimes all of this technology is more trouble that it is worth. Any chance you found a taker for Friday? Thanks, Chris 
How about the landline phone at the house Chris rented?  Did Chris stay in his house all week?  Was he never outside of his rental where maybe his cell phone might have worked?  Did anyone else at the rental he stayed at have a cell phone?  What about a pay phone?  We may never know, as Chris has yet to answer or return a phone call from me, even though the secretary at his office assured me that he always has his cell phone with him and always answers it or at least returns messages immediately....  What we do know, is that Chris sells kitchen cabinets and his company does take down payments(deposits) before installation is done.  This is why I get deposit checks.  Bad apples like Chris are the reason.  I am very sorry to have to do it, especially for those of you that have fished with me before.  Chris had fished with me before(never will again).  Chris, I would be happy to remove your name from THE HALL OF SHAME if you would kindly send the deposit check that you owe.  If you really wanted to man up, you could sent the whole amount.
5.  Ron Lavis, Charlottesville, Virginia
Ron booked a full day trip for Saturday December the 29th on Saturday 12/15.  Ron told me the deposit check would be in the mail on Monday.  I was away visiting family for Christmas and returned on 12/26.  Upon my return, I realized that we had not received a deposit check from Ron.  I phoned Ron Thursday morning the 27th.  I gave Ron the benefit of the doubt that maybe his check was sent and had been delayed in the Christmas mail rush.  Ron informed me on Thursday morning that he thought it was going to rain on Saturday(It did not) and that he did not plan on fishing on Satuday.  I did not realize that Ron was a weatherman.  I explained that it would have been nice for Ron to have used a little simple common courtesy and inform me of this so I could have rebooked the day.  Surprise, surprise, Ron at this point felt inconvenienced and hung up on me.  I am not interested in booking nor fishing with people like Ron that have a total lack of respect for others.  If you share the same character flaws of Ron, please do not waste my time or the that of any other fisherman around here.  Ron, I would be happy to remove your name from THE HALL OF SHAME if you would kindly send the deposit check that you owe.  If you really wanted to do the right thing, you could sent the whole amount.  
6.  Tom Timmerman, Charlottesville, Virginia
Tom booked a trip on Monday(9/19/11) evening for Thursday morning(9/22/11).  My wife booked the trip, blocked the morning off on the calendar and I blocked the morning off on the schedule section of the web site.  Tom left me a voice mail at 5:24 PM Wednesday evening(9/21/11) to cancel.  Tom based the cancellation on a questionable weather forecast(weather & fishing were great Thursday morning), the fact that I had booked a second trip(?We run two trips a day all the time?), and that "THE ENTHUSIASM LEVEL FOR FISHING HAS DROPPED" from the time he booked the trip!  I left a polite return voice mail urging a conversation about the cancellation.  This resulted in an extremely rude return voice mail.  Tom questioned the nerve that I must have for communicating our cancellation policy of keeping $175 for last minute cancellations.  Guess who the big loser was on this one.  We forgot to get a deposit from Tom.  Anyway, as said in the past.  This is my job, it is not a hobby.  I cannot afford to set aside a half day trip for someone that bases the actual probability of showing up and fulfilling their obligation, on "THE ENTHUSIASM LEVEL" of the party the night before the trip.  Are you kidding me?!?!  100% of my family's income depends on you showing up when you say you are.  There are no sick days, no 401K's, no vacation days in my business.  It is all on me right now.  My wife is currently working for forty hours a week for free(doing her teaching internship) through December.  There was also a thing called a Hurricane that rolled through town a few weeks ago.  We lost our docks along with a weeks worth of work.  Since the storm, I have thrown $1,512 on a credit card to fix the crank shaft on the Blue boat, $1,100 on the card to fix the transmission in my wife's van, $180 to temporarily fix(instead of the needed $700) the lower unit of the Yellow boat, and I just got news the same night of the cancellation that I need a $1,700 part to resurrect a dead ice machine.  Under these circumstances, I really do not have patience for people like Tom.  Any "ENTHUSIASM LEVEL FOR FISHING HAS DROPPED" people need not apply here.  Good luck Tom in the future booking fishing trips with your policy.

One thing that you can count on, if your name is in this spotlight, thousands will see it.  If you find your name on the above list and would like it removed, please send payment in full(for the trip you stiffed us on) to the above address and I will gladly remove it............  Fishing for most is a hobby.  Please remember that it is also my livelihood and how I support my family.  If you book a fishing trip, please plan on showing up.

  


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