ATTENTION:
24-Hour cancelation policy is strickly enforced on all bookings made through a third party. This includes TripAdvisor, Viator, Booking.com or anywhere else other than this website. There are no exceptions! Please, read below to understand why.
The above companies have made our job more difficult and have convinced the public that it is best to book through their site. This, however, is far from the truth. These companies charge a very high commission and compete against our advertising. These companies not only hide your contact info from us, but they also block our automated communication that has been designed to give you the most critical information at the correct time; with that said, 99% of our guests that are unable to show up on time or to the correct location booked from a third-party site.
We keep our groups small, and we hire limited staff. For that reason, every single seat reserved is essential. If we had unlimited availability, these seats would not be that important. Please, remember, for almost every sold-out tour, we turned away two to four guests.
Common reasons for cancellations inside 24 hours
We understand that things can happen like you hit traffic, your uber was late, or you went to the wrong location, or there may be things that were out of your control. However, please know that it also is not our fault that you couldn’t make it. You might feel like it’s unfair that we won’t refund you for a missed trip
However, please understand that if you reserved a seat and can’t make it to the tour for whatever reason, that seat can never be sold again. If you reschedule without paying again, you are now taking another seat that can’t be sold. We can no longer afford to reschedule guests who could not make it on time.
Flight Delay/Canceled
Do not book a tour the day or even the next day you are scheduled to arrive. Allow yourself to cancel our tour outside our 24-hour policy if your flight is canceled or delayed.
Wrong Location
Our meeting locations are different for every tour. Read your confirmation emails and click that address for the meeting point. Do not google us, it will send you to the incorrect address.
Uber Takes to Long
Uber is not 100% Reliable. If you can't make it on time, we will not reschedule you. Again, your seats can never be sold again.
- We don't recommend using Uber to any of our tours. They are often late, but the biggest issue is finding an Uber home. Our tours are in remote locations.
We are running late
We have given you ample warnings about being late and where to meet. We run group tours, not only does running late hold up the current customers that were on time, but it will also affect the turn around for the next tour. Our guides run two tours a day with an ideal lunch break.
What we have done to help?
When you book direct we are in control of our communication and very little can fall through the cracks.
Automatic & Timed Text
After booking, you will receive a text message asking you to click a link and confirm all the information is correct. After clicking the link, you should reply "2fl". This tells us you are receiving our messages and that you've double-checked everything is correct.
- We believe your confirmation with "2fl" is super important. Your response has started an open line of communication and ensures you receive all further information.
48 Hour Warning
This text message and email is designed to remind you of our cancelation policy and includes important information about where to meet and what to bring. It includes a link to our local weather forecast and encourages you to cancel if you have second thoughts. We are giving you a full 24 hours to cancel before you're inside the no-refund time frame.
5 Hour Text
This last text message gives you the address to our meeting location. The address is in all email reminders, but this text is timed so you don't need to search for emails or messages sent out days ago. It might even be the most recent notification on your phone, that's what we are hoping for.
Why Book Direct?
When you book direct we are responsible for payment and the mentioned communication. Even with all of these failsafes in place we are willing to work with you on a reschedule. If you booked through TripAdvisor we have lost a considerable amount of commission. We have asked them to edit certain emails and their booking process, but they. have refused.
- If you booked through TripAdvisor, we are concrete on their cancelation policy.
- If you booked directly through our website and need to cancel within 24 hours, there are options.
- If you booked directly through us, you have already received a text message and an email with very detailed information.
- You can reply to either the text or email, and we are very quick to respond from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
- 99% of our customers that booked an incorrect date or could not find us, booked through TripAdvisor. My theory is that they encourage customers to book several tours at once without requiring payment, and they do not send enough reminders encouraging you to cancel before they charge you.
- TripAdvisor blocks our automated communication in many different ways. This makes it difficult to automate effective communication you need for your tours
- Expedia, TripAdvisor, and hotels.com are huge corporations that do not care about customer service. WE DO!
- WE NOW OFFER A 24-HOUR CANCELLATION POLICY.
Click the links for a google map.
Manatees and Mangroves Kayak Tour – We are located inside the Port of the Islands Everglades Adventure Resort. 25000 Tamiami Trail East Naples, FL 34114
Dolphin & Manatee Boat Tour – Same Location as above
East River Everglades – There is no address here. This launch site is located 5 miles east of our office at the Port of the Islands Everglades Adventure Resort.
Rookery Bay Sunset Tour – This tour meets at 10 Shell Island Rd. It is located off of Collier Blvd. This tour does NOT MEET AT THE EDUCATION CENTER!!
If you booked through TripAdvisor or any other third party you must cancel directly through them. Again, their policies make running our business much harder than it should. They take a large percentage of your payment, and they don’t pay us until the 9th of the month after your tour. They force us to log in to a different system to communicate with our customers and if we need to contact them it is always overseas and very difficult to communicate with them.
For that reason we highly recommend you book directly through our website.
If you booked through our website simply reply to your confirmation email or text message asking us to cancel.
We do require cancelations via email or text message. This will timestamp and record our communications.
If you booked with TripAdvisor, Viator, Groupon (our tours are listed here but not discounted), The Mariot, or any other third-party websites you MUST CONTACT THE COMPANY YOU BOOKED THROUGH.
If you booked directly through us simply reply to your confirmation email or our confirmation text messages asking us to cancel or reschedule. As long as you are outside of our 24-Hour cancelation policy we will cancel without question and issue a refund immediately.
THIS IS NOT A VALID EXCUSE FOR RECEIVING A REFUND IF YOU DO NOT SHOW UP FOR YOUR TOUR!
As of March 1st, 2022 I performed a test booking through TripAdvisor. The confirmation email in your inbox will look like this.
Tripadvisor
Your reservation, 12345590
Here are the details…
This is all I can say about their emails. If you entered in your correct email you did receive an email from them. At the time of my test booking, you are supposed to receive a reminder text and at least one email.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PLEASE, CHECK YES TO RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES FROM THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On March 1st, 2022 I performed a test booking and selected pay later and selected to receive text reminders. The confirmation email stated I won’t receive my tickets until I’m charged. PLEASE, BE AWARE THOSE TICKETS HAVE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THE TOUR.
I’m going to assume I will receive a text from them 24-48 hours before the tour. However, knowing how TripAdvisor operates like all other horrible corporate companies, I am going to assume you won’t receive your text reminder until after they charge you for the tour.