I went out on this charter with my brother and husband. We checked in the afternoon before were set to go out at 6:30 the following morning. When we walked in, the ladies in the office continued their own conversation for 5-10 minutes before even acknowledging our presence. It's a small office and we were standing in front of them at the desk. It was truly unbelievable. The lady said we were checking in too early and that she doesn't normally check people in this early. So my husband said we could come back, but then she said she would go ahead and do it. She gave us the captain's phone number in case we needed to reach him in the morning because she said the office would be closed and she would be at home asleep. Pretty unclear on the expectation of when we should have checked in.
Andy, the captain, was extremely rude to us when we got there. He asked if we were going out on Bite Me 3 and when my brother said yes he said they'd let us know when they were ready. He didn't even introduce himself. Prior to his arrival, we were having a great conversation with another crew getting their boat ready. I wish we had been going out with them.
Once on the boat, we had some immediate bites to no avail. Then it was quiet until we were about 30 minutes to the trip ending. Then we hooked an Ahi! It was amazing. My brother jumped in the seat to start reeling it in. Tommy was pretty helpful at that point, but Andy was irritated and just rude with some of his comments. Let's be real here; we're amateurs. You could do a LOT better job coaching people thru this. It was 5 1/2 hours ago when you went thru the "instructions" and the adrenaline is running high at this point. You may have done this a thousand times, but it is our first. That might be a good thing to remember.
Andy also said during the trip that he did not like his job. Considering his attitude, that didn't come as a surprise. He said the owners are awful and don't even tell him when the boat gets a reservation. He said he has to check on that himself because the owners want nothing to do with him or anyone else. He said he's voiced his opinion before about certain things but that they don't want to hear it. He said 3 guys and their wives own the boat.
Let's go back to the beginning when they were giving us instructions; they said when you use the bathroom that you were not to flush the toilet paper. Instead, you were to throw it in the trash. There's a better way to do and explain the no toilet paper use. C'mon guys. I made sure to not drink the entire trip.
Also, they said it was catch and release for the marlins. When I asked why, Tommy just looked at me. I felt stupid, so I said "I'm just curious" and then he said they're not good to eat. All of the other trips we went on had guides that were eager to teach you and share their experiences with you. Not these guides.
As soon as the fish came in, they hustled us to buy a trophy. My brother was worn out after 15-20 minutes of reeling the fish in, but Tommy said he needed to know "right now" if we wanted a trophy and that it was $1,000 plus up to $250 for shipping and handling. That's a BIG expense to be told about and only given 5-10 minutes to decide. Seriously, guys? You couldn't have gone over that earlier? That's good information to know ahead of time.
Lastly, they also tried to hustle us for the fish. They asked "how much do you want?" as if it were their fish. HOWEVER, earlier when I asked if they ever help reel the fish in Andy said no because they don't want to take the experience away from the person in order to keep it as "their catch". Well then, wouldn't that be "their fish", too? I think the only reason they didn't try to keep the entire fish to themselves as other reviewers stated was because my brother and husband are big guys and had already made their intentions known about eating the catch. We had to come back 4 hours later to get our fish as they had another charter going out right after us, which was no problem. But my brother and husband were worried about getting back before they came in to make sure that we would get our fish. Andy gave half of the fish away to donate to a "funeral" before even asking, so I guess it wasn't truly our fish. They also said that this is how they make their money so we're not sure that they did donate it to a funeral. Just be aware if you do catch something.
I am so glad that we had the experience of catching a fish. It was awesome and a life experience for sure! I also loved being out on the ocean, but after reading many of the negative reviews about the crew and office staff, and reading the negative responses back to the reviewers, I wanted to share our experience as it was all too similar, unfortunately. The overall customer service at Bite Me and on Bite Me 3 could be so much better. I hope this review helps someone.
Одговор домаћина
Sep 2018
Aloha,
Thank you for your review. Good and bad we like the feedback it makes us grow as a company.
I apologize it has taken a moment to get back to this review. Being summer and busy season, plus we felt the need to get some information in order to respond. We like to be very honest in our reply and this review took some investigating. We do not like our customers to walk away unhappy, you are on vacation our only wish is to show you a good time.
I was in the office the day you were here, and let me tell you…. I wish we had 5 to 10 minutes straight to chat, so much happens in the office we barley get a chance to get a few words in to each other before a phone rings, a customer walks in, captain or crew needs our assistance, trust me. A guest that walks in... is always first! We did not get to where we are, as a company today....from chitchatting while we have guest in the office.
The office will gladly tell a customer how to get to their location for a morning charter. Because we have 8 boats at the harbor we make every attempted to make sure a guest is NOT lost in the morning and can find their boat. While you stood before us we not only gave you directions, we texted to you instructions and directions to the boat as well as the captains number in case you needed assistance in the morning.
When a review like this comes to our attention the first thing we do is talk to the captain and crew. Both were very surprised by the reviews you have left. They shared the text messages between Captain Andy and Mr. Rowland. Being unhappy about the charter or the fish was never mentioned, you came back mounted your catch and picked up your fish to eat, he even sent you photos of your fish. And lets not forget, you...yourself tipped the crew $200.00.
Now this brings us to talk about your fish you caught….
Our company policy is to share the fish with our guests. We always give the guests what they can use while here. The size of your husband and brother did not intimidate us, we would give you fish even if you were the size of a mouse. We catch fish that can grow over 1000 pounds. We snorkel with mantas that can be 20 feet in length. Size makes no difference to us.
When a fish is cut, we cannot sell it any longer. The crew let you take what you wanted of the fish you caught, and the rest was donated to a local family that recently lost a loved one and they were very grateful. The Bite Me fleet donates a lot of fish every year. Last month we donated over 500 pounds of cut ahi to the food bank (Hawaii Food Basket) to help the family’s that lost everything do to the volcano. This month we will focus on the hurricane Lane folks in Hilo that need some help. Trust me when I say we take care of our community when we have extra fish our guest cannot take.
The Bite Me 3's Captain Andy has been with our company for 15 years, he must not be that unhappy with the company or he would of left. The owners of the company are always available for any employee at any given time. They are very hands on and at the harbor daily, they are captains of our boats as well.
We hope this clears up some of your concerns and you had safe travels home. May we ask that you do not book with us again.
Mahalo,
Bite Me Sportfishing Charter Team.