There some people who I think, think that ALL the safari costs are kept in an outfitters escrow account until the safari ends.

From talking to several professional hunters, they say this not the case.

In fact, they were unanimous in saying if the daily rates are not in their account before the client arrives, he is not going to g to be hunting.

There are, of course, exceptions.

Like the client is a repeat customer and he is a known quantity.

But the general client hopping over to Africa for a safari, all daily rates are paid in advance.

The escrow account only deals with trophy fees.

Saeed,

MEA only holds back daily fees if the outfitter requests it. Otherwise we try to send the daily fee payments to the outfitter as soon as we can after receiving them.

Mark

It's not a TRUE escrow account, the agent has your money in his/her account and as such is in complete control of it. I always wonder if there is a dispute, who the agent is going to side with? The hunter who only books every once in a while, or the outfitter that makes all of their clients book through the agent.My personal feeling is it would be the person who generates more income for said agent.

Gunny,

We already established in Saeed's other thread that where an agent holds fees is not necessarily a real escrow acct.

So what would the nature of the dispute be? If in my case I only hold onto the trophy fee deposit. The only dispute I can see is if the safari company said the hunter shot X,Y,Z and the hunter says he/she only shot Y,Z. Personally if I found out this was the case an the safari operator had intentionally padded the final invoice he'd never get another hunt from me but I've never had that happen.

The safari operators usually want to keep a good relationship with their agents so that they will continue to advertise and book hunts for them. Thus a safari operator might ask a hunter to book thru the original agent they booked with for their next booking. The end result is the same for the hunter.
Who knows the agent might be called on to bail a client out of some mix up in the airport or one of many other things the agent can assist with.

Cheers,

Mark

May be I made a mistake in my question or my understanding.

What I really would like to know is this.

Hunting in wild places like Tanzania.

Professional hunters have stated, every single one of them, that they require ALL daily money well in advance, or there is not going to be a hunt.

Trophy fees can be paid at th end of the hunt.

Is this true or not, booking through an agent.?

Some individuals actually thi8nk their money remains Stateside, all of it, until after the hunt, which I know is not true.

In my 30-odd-year history that has always been the case including dip & pack and transfers. Some have asked for a deposit on trophy fees, and the balance will be paid when the client returns home.

Every now and then someone posts here saying that will not send money ahead.

And some actually claim that they can do that.

I know there some rare exceptions where both parties know each other very well.

But under normal circumstances daily rate must be paid ahead of your arrival!

quote:

But under normal circumstances daily rate must be paid ahead of your arrival!

Correct.

Normally 50% to secure the hunt and balance a month or so prior to safari commencement date but on arrival is usually acceptable.

You are unlikely to proceed to camp if the balance is not paid.

Saeed,

You are correct. All needs to be paid upfront except trophy fees. On the other hand I've had hunters tell me that they've never paid all upfront and refused to book because of my payment policy. I don't know who these people have booked with as all of my operator clients want their fees paid well before the hunt.

Mark

My reason for asking is exactly to answer this question.

I have never heard a single professional hunter accepts a client unless all daily fees are paid well in advance.

There are very rare exceptions where both, as I mentioned, where both parties know each other well enough for complete trust.

I am in the minority, but I have had it happen to me 4 times with 4 different outfitters in 4 different countries. I was a first time client with all of them. So yes, it can and does happen but it is very rare.

quote:

Originally posted by MD375:
I am in the minority, but I have had it happen to me 4 times with 4 different outfitters in 4 different countries. I was a first time client with all of them. So yes, it can and does happen but it is very rare.

Where were you hunting?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:


Where were you hunting?

Zambia, TZ, Mozambique and Botswana