Rhino Riders refuses to refund my money!!!

We were scheduled to port in St Maarten and due to hurricane Irma, our itinerary changed.

 

I had booked 4 Rhino Riders during our port stop....was really looking forward to it. I put down a deposit and later paid the balance as we don't like to carry large amounts of cash ashore.

 

When we received notification that we would not be porting in St Maarten, I sent an email to them requesting a refund. Within a few weeks our balance was refunded, but not our deposit money. I sent another email.....ok, so I've now sent them 3 emails requesting a refund of our deposit money. I've heard nothing from them.

 

Just now, I went on to TripAdvisor. There is a review from 2 days ago saying what a great time they had.....so apparently Rhio Rides is open for business.....just not in the business of refunding deposit money!!

 

I have disputed the charge on my credit card, but it is complicated by the fact that the deposit was made > 120 days ago. It's too bad that Rhino Rides can't do the "right" thing and simply refund my money. How hard can that be??

I'm surprised they are up and running with customers. It might help to know that reviewers don't have to review the day they do something... People can leave a review up to a year after the fact. So this review could be from weeks or months ago and they just finally got around to writing it up. How much was your deposit?

We were scheduled to port in St Maarten and due to hurricane Irma, our itinerary changed.

 

I had booked 4 Rhino Riders during our port stop....was really looking forward to it. I put down a deposit and later paid the balance as we don't like to carry large amounts of cash ashore.

 

When we received notification that we would not be porting in St Maarten, I sent an email to them requesting a refund. Within a few weeks our balance was refunded, but not our deposit money. I sent another email.....ok, so I've now sent them 3 emails requesting a refund of our deposit money. I've heard nothing from them.

 

Just now, I went on to TripAdvisor. There is a review from 2 days ago saying what a great time they had.....so apparently Rhio Rides is open for business.....just not in the business of refunding deposit money!!

 

I have disputed the charge on my credit card, but it is complicated by the fact that the deposit was made > 120 days ago. It's too bad that Rhino Rides can't do the "right" thing and simply refund my money. How hard can that be??

 

You can't go by when a review was submitted. There are no tourists so it seems very unlikely that Rhino Riders is up and running. It really seems unlikely when you think about it. There have been no ships in and no tourist planes. My educated guess is that this review is from a pre Irma excursion.

 

Read the small print. Perhaps the deposit is non-refundable if you cancel for any reason. I'm not saying that it's right but if I were you I would read the fine print before pursuing it any further.

On their website it clearly states that I can cancel with no penalty within 72 hours of the excursion and I am well outside that window.

 

All they have to do is communicate with me as to whether they will refund my money or not, I 'get' that things will take time to get back to 'normal', but saying nothing only fosters ill will.

 

I just find it odd that when I cancelled my excursion, they refunded the balance payment, but not the deposit. This would imply that they have access to email and internet.

On their website it clearly states that I can cancel with no penalty within 72 hours of the excursion and I am well outside that window.

 

All they have to do is communicate with me as to whether they will refund my money or not, I 'get' that things will take time to get back to 'normal', but saying nothing only fosters ill will.

 

I just find it odd that when I cancelled my excursion, they refunded the balance payment, but not the deposit. This would imply that they have access to email and internet.

 

When I went to their website it said that it was " parked for free by godaddy". I would keep checking their website and when it's up and running I would send another email.

In my opinion, if you were going to post this here and on Trip Advisor, a fairer title for this thread would have been "Rhino Riders Has Not Refunded My Deposit."

 

I have no idea and you have no idea what the situation is with the people who ran this operation, other than the fact that their website appears to be offline. They may have lost all of their business assets, have had zero revenue for almost a month, and been struggling at best. They may not have enough money readily available to repay all deposits.

 

Again, I do not know the situation with this particular business, but I know of other water sports businesses on the island that have lost literally all of their business assets and are trying to get their homes repaired and their personal lives in order.

 

I would encourage you to relax about this and be willing to exercise a lot of patience with them.

I would be delighted to "relax" and "exercise patience" if they would simply reply to my emails!

 

Their website is not the one that Karysa mentions.....but the one where I booked the excursion is up and operational and allows bookings.

 

I am more than willing to wait for a refund, but a little communication would go a LOOOOOONG way. They CAN email....did so to coordinate the balance refund.....but when I asked about the deposit.....crickets.

 

Other excursions - a deep sea fishing trip in St Thomas - sent me a refund within days....and I know for a fact that they lost EVERYTHING! I've asked for a refund on 3 separate occasions.....if they would simply reply and say "we will get you a refund but we have no money/power/anything", I'd be ok.....but silence is NOT an option. (ok, it IS an option, but not one that is conducive to good customer service)

I would be delighted to "relax" and "exercise patience" if they would simply reply to my emails!

 

Their website is not the one that Karysa mentions.....but the one where I booked the excursion is up and operational and allows bookings.

 

I am more than willing to wait for a refund, but a little communication would go a LOOOOOONG way. They CAN email....did so to coordinate the balance refund.....but when I asked about the deposit.....crickets.

 

Other excursions - a deep sea fishing trip in St Thomas - sent me a refund within days....and I know for a fact that they lost EVERYTHING! I've asked for a refund on 3 separate occasions.....if they would simply reply and say "we will get you a refund but we have no money/power/anything", I'd be ok.....but silence is NOT an option. (ok, it IS an option, but not one that is conducive to good customer service)

 

So you are dealing with Rhino Riders and it's not the Rhino Riders website?

 

I did see other websites that were excursion company's that offered the Rhino Rider excursion. Could you possibly be dealing with one of them?

 

It certainly seems weird that Rhino Riders would refund the rest of your money but keep your deposit and face the bad publicity that comes with that.

There is no internet on the island yet. How can they answer you? Give 'em some time. They are an upstanding organization.

There is no internet on the island yet. How can they answer you? Give 'em some time. They are an upstanding organization.

 

I have received phone calls, texts and emails from people on the Dutchside for weeks now. Some people have better service than others but saying that "There is no internet on the island yet." is simply untrue.

There is no internet on the island yet. How can they answer you? Give 'em some time. They are an upstanding organization.

 

Not true. I had sent an email to the tour operator we used last year sending thoughts and prayers and she replied.

My bad. I had limited contact will a friend who runs a jewelry shop on Front St. last week. He said he had virtually no internet and useless cell service.

Rhino Riders should consider themselves fortunate they can communicate.

Edited October 6, 2017 by satbeachbill

In my opinion, if you were going to post this here and on Trip Advisor, a fairer title for this thread would have been "Rhino Riders Has Not Refunded My Deposit."

 

I have no idea and you have no idea what the situation is with the people who ran this operation, other than the fact that their website appears to be offline. They may have lost all of their business assets, have had zero revenue for almost a month, and been struggling at best. They may not have enough money readily available to repay all deposits.

 

Again, I do not know the situation with this particular business, but I know of other water sports businesses on the island that have lost literally all of their business assets and are trying to get their homes repaired and their personal lives in order.

 

I would encourage you to relax about this and be willing to exercise a lot of patience with them.

 

Good post, Fortunately my next visit to this wonderful island is still 200 days away. I already have in mind my plans for our visit. Their website, probably hosted elsewhere is up and running. For now I just used the contact me part of it and asked to be added to their mailing list. I've had good luck with private excursions on the various islands and working with their cancelation policies, but I haven't yet had one possibly have their business wiped out in that period.

 

Now that you mention it, I may go and check out Aruba Trikes website again. That was a private excursion, obviously in Aruba, that was great for us. They were planning on expanding into St Martin as we heard last April

There is no internet on the island yet. How can they answer you? Give 'em some time. They are an upstanding organization.

 

I have exchanged emails with OBBR on Dawn Beach for several days now - while they suffered substantial physical damage, they clearly have Internet.

 

Uninformed, misleading posts do no good for anyone - please do not spread misinformation.

I had a similar bad experience w/ them in 2016. I booked an excursion w/ them directly b/c Royal wasn't offering the Rhino excursion on our particular cruise. I paid a $50 deposit to Rhino via PayPal. Shortly afterwards, Royal offered it as an excursion, which included transportation. I emailed Rhino to refund my deposit, explaining that I would be booking it through Royal instead. No response. I sent them two more emails - no response. I finally opened a case with PayPal and was able to obtain a refund that way. No hurricane involved last year - they just plain ignored my emails. I was thankful to get my $50 back - not a ton of $ but I'm a single mom and that's a lot to me. Despite their poor customer service, I still did the excursion through Royal. I've done Rhino 2x now and it's a blast, wouldn't hesitate to do it again, but I sure as heck won't book directly through them.

 

Uninformed, misleading posts do no good for anyone - please do not spread misinformation.

 

If you had bothered to read my next post (#12) you would see my information was from someone "very much informed". Some one who witnessed the whole event and is living with it's aftermath right now.

 

I did say "my bad" . Obviously his information did not pertain to the whole island. I was only trying to offer a possible explanation to person with the problem with Rhino Rider. Geez

 

 

 

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The main point is being missed.

 

OP was bad mouthing Rhino Riders and when questioned if she was dealing with a company that sold their excursions and not directly with Rhino Riders, she has dodged answering.

The main point is being missed.

 

OP was bad mouthing Rhino Riders and when questioned if she was dealing with a company that sold their excursions and not directly with Rhino Riders, she has dodged answering.

 

 

Nope. Not dodging the question....Just busy.

 

I booked directly through them. Put down two deposits. Additionally I paid the balance two months before our planned excursion date.

 

All three payments were disputed through PayPal when they did not respond to emails. The balance was addressed quickly as it was inside the 180 day window. The other two were different. I had to dispute through my credit card (again had a problem with the 180 day window). Neither Rhino Safari nor Paypal was helpful.

 

Eventually the most recent payment was refunded.....And just yesterday my cc company informed me that they would be refunding the first payment as Rhino Safari was not responding.

 

I do understand that St Marteen was hit by a hurricane, but I should have known this would be an issue as even during the payment process they weren't responsive and gave me incorrect information about my bookings, even when I provided transaction IDs from Paypal.

 

I stand behind my "bad mouthing"! Their accounting practices are lacking as are their customer interaction skills.

 

This is NOT my first rodeo in booking independent shore excursions. Buyer beware!

Nope. Not dodging the question....Just busy.

 

I booked directly through them. Put down two deposits. Additionally I paid the balance two months before our planned excursion date.

 

All three payments were disputed through PayPal when they did not respond to emails. The balance was addressed quickly as it was inside the 180 day window. The other two were different. I had to dispute through my credit card (again had a problem with the 180 day window). Neither Rhino Safari nor Paypal was helpful.

 

Eventually the most recent payment was refunded.....And just yesterday my cc company informed me that they would be refunding the first payment as Rhino Safari was not responding.

 

I do understand that St Marteen was hit by a hurricane, but I should have known this would be an issue as even during the payment process they weren't responsive and gave me incorrect information about my bookings, even when I provided transaction IDs from Paypal.

 

I stand behind my "bad mouthing"! Their accounting practices are lacking as are their customer interaction skills.

 

This is NOT my first rodeo in booking independent shore excursions. Buyer beware!

 

 

You posted on cc on oct 5, 6 and yesterday so too busy to post on the thread that you started here seems like an unlikely reason to me.

 

 

So was the problem with Pay Pal?

 

The whole story seems weird. Why would Rhino Rider refund the majority of the money but not your deposit?

Karysa,

 

What I find "weird" is that I have detailed what happened multiple times, yet you still think that I am making this up or something. Why do you doubt the story? You have questioned every aspect of this yet provided no facts showing that anything I have said is untrue.......Just insinuations that I am lying!

 

 

The issue is that Rhino Safari keeps terrible books, has no idea who has paid what.....And when was asked about a refund DIDN'T respond! Paypal intervened to get my balance refunded when Rhino Safari would not respond to emails. They DID acknowledge that Paypal had refunded my money (after the fact), but when I asked about my deposit money, I never heard from them again. If you have some insight as to why they wouldn't simply "do the right thing" and refund my money when asked.....I'm all ears. The only explanation I can think of is that they hoped I'd give up so they could keep my money!

 

I have fought with them every step of the way and am suggesting to others that they be careful when dealing with these guys hoping that they don't have to go through the same arduous ordeal that I have.

Karysa,

 

What I find "weird" is that I have detailed what happened multiple times, yet you still think that I am making this up or something. Why do you doubt the story? You have questioned every aspect of this yet provided no facts showing that anything I have said is untrue.......Just insinuations that I am lying!

 

 

The issue is that Rhino Safari keeps terrible books, has no idea who has paid what.....And when was asked about a refund DIDN'T respond! Paypal intervened to get my balance refunded when Rhino Safari would not respond to emails. They DID acknowledge that Paypal had refunded my money (after the fact), but when I asked about my deposit money, I never heard from them again. If you have some insight as to why they wouldn't simply "do the right thing" and refund my money when asked.....I'm all ears. The only explanation I can think of is that they hoped I'd give up so they could keep my money!

 

I have fought with them every step of the way and am suggesting to others that they be careful when dealing with these guys hoping that they don't have to go through the same arduous ordeal that I have.

 

I was unsure weather both pay pals and Rhino Riders was the problem. I found it odd that The Rhino Riders website said that it was parked free by go daddy and you were still contacting them.

 

I do find much of it confusing.

 

I have never dealt with Rhino Riders and when I couldn't find their website I wonder if they were wiped out by Hurricane Irma.

 

Honestly, I still don't understand why they paid you back all the money BUT the deposit. If it's a bookkeeping problem you would think that they would give you back the deposit because everyone pays a deposit and not refund the other money and keep the deposit.

 

It's an odd story especially that part.

When I deal with a unknown vendor in another county I would challenge my fear of taking cash with me on a cruise. I would much rather wait and pay a balance in person once I see the excursion, or apartment, or whatever is reputable. Lessen the risk.

 

Now that would not have solved your initial deposit problem, but I sure would feel safer in the long run.

Knowing nothing about Rhino Riders and what I do know about pay pal, I would say the problem is pay pal. They are absolutely terrible to work with.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The Rhino Riders website said that it was parked free by go daddy and you were still contacting them

 

If you were really reading....I corrected the company name...Rhino Safari....Their website is alive and taking reservations. Yes, I originally said Rhino Riders.....can't change the title now.

 

Honestly, I still don't understand why they paid you back all the money BUT the deposit. If it's a bookkeeping problem you would think that they would give you back the deposit because everyone pays a deposit and not refund the other money and keep the deposit.

Again....read carefully. The deposits were over 120 (or 180 days depending who you talk with) days old. This complicated the dispute process. Due to Rhino Safari's poor accounting practices, they even argued with me about the balance due - even when I provided transaction IDs and amounts. This accounting problem, exacerbated by the length of time since the original transaction, made it ever so much more difficult for my credit card company.....And Paypal refused to deal with it....Referring me to my credit card company.

 

If you honestly can say that you have read every post.....Every word.....and are still puzzled by the situation, I will try again. But I'm not sure that will help.:(

 

Yes, this was a comedy of errors. One I've not happened before in >10 years of cruising.

 

The conundrum that it poses is that to get good shore excursions, you have to book early....But by doing so, you put yourself in a catch-22 in that if anything goes wrong, getting it fixed is a royal pain.

 

Counter this with a vendor in St Thomas. I paid him in full ($600) as well. When Irma cancelled our port stop, I emailed him and had my refund within 3 daysl

 

Guess who I will do business with in the future?????

Let's deal with the important issue!

 

You waited until today to casually mention that you have been bad mouthing the WRONG company.

 

 

You mentioned in the title and posts that the company was Rhino Riders and it was actually Rhino Safari!!

 

 

 

 

You said that it was not the Rhino Rider website in which I was googling. The reason for that is that I was looking up the company that you were complaining about and NOT the company that you were actually dealing with!!!

 

 

 

This is a really big deal to me.

 

 

 

My last question to you is this. Have you reported your really big mistake to the moderators? This thread should be removed and you should be the one that asks that to be done.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Karysa