A friend I was stalking with at the weekend, was telling me about a driven boar shoot he went on at the end of last year.
It was arranged through one of the largest sporting agents that operates in the UK and Europe and he's been on 3 or 4 previous trips with them and had a fantastic time. Good bag, great people, superb location etc.....
This time around they were promised a good bag, and only managed to get a quarter of the animals promised. He assured me it was not because they were all hopeless shots, but that there weren't enough boar in the area. Whilst my friend managed to get his boar, a few of the guns didn't get the chance and are obviously bitter about paying 'top dollar' for a 'virtually guaranteed bag' and not getting their money's worth. The operator has offered a small refund 'exchangeable against their next trip' which is not available as cash.
I know there are no guarantees when it comes to stalking/hunting. I return home empty handed more often than not when stalking my area. But I would have thought this operator should dig deeper into their pockets and offer more than just a token jesture - they weren't one or two animals short of their target, more like 30. I'm sure in their small print it says there are no guarantees, so legally my friend probably doesn't have a leg to stand on, but this company's image is being eroded by every disgruntled client.
I've chosen not to mention the name of the company, because I've only heard one person's side of the story (and up until now they've been fantastic), but was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and what can be done to ensure that once an operator has our money, he has to deliver or refund at least part of it.
Cheers,
Rob
It was arranged through one of the largest sporting agents that operates in the UK and Europe and he's been on 3 or 4 previous trips with them and had a fantastic time. Good bag, great people, superb location etc.....
This time around they were promised a good bag, and only managed to get a quarter of the animals promised. He assured me it was not because they were all hopeless shots, but that there weren't enough boar in the area. Whilst my friend managed to get his boar, a few of the guns didn't get the chance and are obviously bitter about paying 'top dollar' for a 'virtually guaranteed bag' and not getting their money's worth. The operator has offered a small refund 'exchangeable against their next trip' which is not available as cash.
I know there are no guarantees when it comes to stalking/hunting. I return home empty handed more often than not when stalking my area. But I would have thought this operator should dig deeper into their pockets and offer more than just a token jesture - they weren't one or two animals short of their target, more like 30. I'm sure in their small print it says there are no guarantees, so legally my friend probably doesn't have a leg to stand on, but this company's image is being eroded by every disgruntled client.
I've chosen not to mention the name of the company, because I've only heard one person's side of the story (and up until now they've been fantastic), but was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and what can be done to ensure that once an operator has our money, he has to deliver or refund at least part of it.
Cheers,
Rob