Anyone else ever had this problem. I'll not release the name of the outfitter or booking agent yet, in order to give them more time to get their stuff together. But this same song and dance has been going on for over a year. Trophies have still not made it to Andy Hunter.

Here's the email I received from the outfitter:

let me apologize for the continued delay, subsequent to my last
communication informing you we were good to go with your trophies, I that
the cash deposits I had done to acquit your hunt paperwork and export
permits, could not be recognized, as the new regulation stipulates we have
to show proof the funds came in from outside the country and I didn't not
have such proof as record I had liquidated funds to cash here without
knowing that.
Andy has advised me the only way to get around that is to have to try and
re-circulate the funds out the country and then back in again with an
official record of having done so and it is this that i have been trying to
sort out since i last emailed you. I am sincerely sorry for the mix up and
assure you I will make it right and get your trophies on their way asap.

Best Regards,
XXXXXX

Something smells on this deal. Who is the booking agent? He need to exert some horsepower on the outfitter if he has any. Maybe we need to have our agents withhold some funds untill we get the trophies or at least untill the trophies are delivered to the shipper.

Aaron Neilson is the B.A. I want to make clear that Aaron has done nothing wrong in this case, though he has been slow in helping to resolve this issue.
Has anyone else encountered this with their outfitters before? Any suggestions on getting things moving? In many many trips, I've never had this happen...which gives me some heartburn.

I had same issues in Zambia some time back.. Never could seem to get anything rolling.. I finally got hold of President of Zambia Pro Hunters Assc. Mike Heath squared things away.. Perhaps doing the same in Zim can get you sorted..

Why can't the outfitter wire the funds to Aaron, and Aaron wire them back?

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Why can't the outfitter wire the funds to Aaron, and Aaron wire them back?

I think he has to prove he got the money from out of the country first before he can do that.

In fact, the whole problem seem to be that he has no proof that the money came in from outside in the first place.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Why can't the outfitter wire the funds to Aaron, and Aaron wire them back?

I think he has to prove he got the money from out of the country first before he can do that.

In fact, the whole problem seem to be that he has no proof that the money came in from outside in the first place.

I hear ya...but the money was sent through a B.A., so why couldn't he prove it? This is one of the things that gets me.

sure seems like there more and more problems getting trophies out of zim.

Got mine in 4 months..
My hunt was was Aug/Sept 2010

And paid with TC's...

got mine in 7 months( shot Oct 2010, received in states in May 2011). guess it depends who you deal with from start to finish. i booked my hunt direct with the outfitter( advertised on AR). couldn't have gone any smoother( thanks again Mart). the more i read here, the less inclined i am to use an agent( in fact i have only used one once in 10 safaris- and that hunt had problems).

I must be missing something.

If you paid the BA here in America, you have a receipt for that funding.

If the BA sent funds to the PH company he should have receipt(s) for those transfers. I sent money for my taxidermy bill nine months ago to RSA. I used my bank for an IMO EFT sitting in my bank. It took twenty-some minutes for the bank in RSA to confirm the funds arrived safely, and early the next morning I had Email confirmation from the taxidermist that they had my $$$ in their account.
I did the same a couple weeks later with the company that stuck my big crate on Swiss Air. I did the same with Fauna & Flora when the crate arrived in NYC. They got it to my driveway in eight days.

With the tight controls of foreign currency and funds in most, if not all of Africa, somewhere his bank had that data.

I have no issue with using a booking agent.

I just have had two wonderful, worry free hunts, and brought $$$ with me both times. I dealt direct with the PH Company, and that is what I am doing now. I have planned a second hunt with the people I hunted with in April of 2010. He trusts me to bring the money with me, and that is what I plan to do. Worked last time, it'll work this time.

I would suggest that the Ph probably had the funds paid into an offshore account(as many do) then simply withdrew the funds locally using Visa cards etc or did a deal with someone who needed funds overseas and paid him cash locally. Unfortunately living in Zim does necessitate this type of transaction from time to time.

The outfitter is indeed correct in saying that the Reserve Bank is now demanding proof that funds have entered the country from outside. Now that we are trading in USD, this is a safeguard to make sure that money does actually enter the country instead of just being paid externally and the country itself does not benefit in any way.

I do think that you will get your trophies, but the Reserve bank is not the quickest and are certainly taking their time on acquitting TR2s etc. I make it a point to check regulations prior to every season as they have a habit of changing without the affected parties being notified

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
sure seems like there more and more problems getting trophies out of zim.

Mine arrived yesterday from my hunt in June of this year with CM Safaris. No problem with them.