quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Saeed,

In principal I understand your point of view but in reality there are people that will walk away from 10's of thousands in trophy fees without blinking. That leaves the safari operator with a huge hole in his yearly income.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Folks,

I think Ryan,Mike and Jake are putting themselves at substantial risk by not requiring any payment toward trophy fees until after the completion of the safari. It would be easy for a hunter to just not pay. What actually could these guys do if someone fails to pay. The answer is nothing.

My clients and none have complained about it pay some sort of trophy fee deposit 30 days before the hunt. The deposit doesn't have to cover every animals they might take but it should cover the major target animals. If they over shoot which many do we bill them and if they have a balance of the deposit left we reimburse them within 7 working days. No trophy fee money goes to Africa until we know what was taken and what was not. This protects the safari operator in that we are holding a significant amount of money should the hunter re nigh on the agreement and it allows the hunters to travel with a minimum amount of cash which they love.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Ultimately, the client has his choice.

In this particular case, the hunt is in Tanzania, the booking agent is in the UK.

How do you work it out?

Frankly, this is becoming a bit silly now.

So many outstanding outfitters are offering straight forward way to book, and provide excellent services with not a single complaints about them.

One is probably better off negotiating directly with whoever he is considering to hunt with, and make a deal that is agreeable to both.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Ultimately, the client has his choice.

In this particular case, the hunt is in Tanzania, the booking agent is in the UK.

How do you work it out?

Frankly, this is becoming a bit silly now.

So many outstanding outfitters are offering straight forward way to book, and provide excellent services with not a single complaints about them.

One is probably better off negotiating directly with whoever he is considering to hunt with, and make a deal that is agreeable to both.

Saeed, is it not the agent's job to ensure that the safari is legitimate and they process the logistics and payments? Agents offering Africa are often international.

It would appear that the offer has been reworded in a separate post.

Ryan is one of the good buggers and any hunter should feel comfortable with his operation.

Maybe a case of too many cooks in this kitchen

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Ultimately, the client has his choice.

In this particular case, the hunt is in Tanzania, the booking agent is in the UK.

How do you work it out?

Frankly, this is becoming a bit silly now.

So many outstanding outfitters are offering straight forward way to book, and provide excellent services with not a single complaints about them.

One is probably better off negotiating directly with whoever he is considering to hunt with, and make a deal that is agreeable to both.

Saeed, is it not the agent's job to ensure that the safari is legitimate and they process the logistics and payments? Agents offering Africa are often international.

It would appear that the offer has been reworded in a separate post.

Ryan is one of the good buggers and any hunter should feel comfortable with his operation.

Maybe a case of too many cooks in this kitchen

Andrew, frankly, I do not put too much faith in agents today.

Sure, they facilitate a business transaction between the client and whoever he is hunting with.

Some are very good at what they do, but most are as useless as door knob!

In the old days, agents represented people they have visited them in the bush.

Nowadays they seem to crop up like unwanted weed in your back garden.

An argent, should check what he is offering.

If there is any questions, he should sort it out before making his offer public.

This offer raised several questions right from the start, and his answer only added fuel to the unacceptable conditions his clients in Africa have set.

I still stand by what I have said.

There is no way in hell I would pay in advance for trophy fees.

Especially dealing with a new outfit I am hunting with in Africa.

And this applies to the other condition other outfitters are pushing - keeping your money in their account.

It is just not how I do business.

Thankfully, there are so many honest outfits in Africa who are more than willing to give the client what he wants without making him feel like an untrustworthy crook.

I am not suggesting that anyone involved in this is dishonest.

We deal with others in business every day.

Sometimes with new companies.

They ask for advance payment, which is fine, but we ask for a counter check for that amount in our favor as guarantee.

Works for both parties.

The working company gets cash in advance to help them start the job.

We have a guarantee that if they did not, we can cash their cheque.

This system has been working for us and them so well, it actually makes sure that every job is done on time too!

One does not have that facility dealing with one entity in Africa and the other in the UK.

Dealing with a known outfit in Africa is a totally different matter.

There are a few who I would have no problems paying them whatever they ask in advance, yourself included.

But that is entirely different in dealing with an unknown - to me - outfit who demand it.

I am in a bit of a different situation.

We have just finished a full 21 day safari, several of us.

My PH is probably still in the bush, so I have not received a bill from him yet.

For anything.

That is the sort of trust one can only get through years of dealing with each other.

Once the bill arrives, payment is done within 24 hours.

No questions asked.