My mother recently visited the DR on a mission to do some investagatory work for our non-profit. She also happens to be a dog lover. She rescued a street dog in Samana and got it all it's shots, spayed and neutered. Then she wanted to get the dog-her- a home. She decided that she wanted to got to St. Croix to get the dog a home. She went ahead and rented a charter that AIRDOMCA told her would be 1,000.00 plus tax. I thought that was excessive, but it was meant to save her the hassel of driving back to Santa Domingo and taking a traditional flight. She was delayed 6 hours because of home land security strip search of the plane, and interrogation of the pilots and my mother. A nightmare. Wait, it gets better-or worse. When my mom returned to the states my dad opened the credit card bill and "Carribair" had charged them $11,000.00 for the flight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They had rushed her to sign the fax and she was unfamilar with the peso conversion. She's 65 years old and her eyes aren't that great. What can we do??!!! Please let me know her credit card company is disputing it with her. Carribair is blaming the guy Lennin at Aerodomca for telling my mom the wrong price for the plane, and saying that the 11,000.00 is the right price. Please help!!! Thank You!!
- Thread starter Chavela
- Start date
Getting ripped off in mid air!!
Wow, that's a pretty serious mistake to make. If your mother has put her signature to anything with the price on it then I doubt you will beable to do much. Her eyesight is no concern of the agents really. Bloody nasty story, hope someone can point you in the right direction.
Chavela - Sorry to hear this has happened to you and your mother. Here is some remedies that might be possible. I am a pilot and have flown from Samana. Call Aerodomca / SAP and ACSA - these are the current 3 operators that can provide you service right now. Get a quote for the same flight in writing. Ask them for a charter from Samana to St. Croix. Have them send it to you in writing or via e-mail. Depending on the aircraft they use, it should be around US$3000. This is about a 1 hour flight in each direction - so for them to do this flight, they will charge you 2 hours - which will bring the plane home back to SDQ. Once you have these quotes, send them to your credit card company and see if they can use these quotes to get your money back. Unfortunately, due to Caribair being shut down - they are really drained and it might take also some legal advise from a lawyer in Santo Domingo to persue this credit. I hope the above helps in some way. Sorry to hear about your problem
dringa, would US$3000 be the approx price for a shared charter, or one just for one person plus dog? Or does it make no difference? I'm assuming price will have something to do with number of seats sold?
have her contact the credit card company and refuse to pay, and dispute the charge....the card company will not pay the airline company if she refuses to pay....and no it will not affect her standing with them....but she has to act soon, real soon....the card company will do an investigation and let her know of the results....but she has to be firm on the refusal to pay the total....trust me it works
I'm confused as to where the charter originated and ended. She mentions Homeland Security? Did thsi flight land in USA?
$1,000.00 bucks isn't going to charter much, maybe a Cessna 182 for a couple hundred mile round trip
$1,000.00 bucks isn't going to charter much, maybe a Cessna 182 for a couple hundred mile round trip
I think the point is his mum is a little bad with her eyesight and misread the price, or misheard the quote, or the guy took advantage.
Pure silliness. And as board members we laugh at the lengths people will go to spending money on their Dominican girlfriend or boyfriend! But then again, I guess mum screwed the pooch, too... figuratively, not literally.
Thank you Ma'am
Well Ma'am, I honestly overlooked that and I feel so silly for your highness having to point this out
Thank you for spending your life monitoring this board and correcting we silly newbies
Now in your educated opinion, based on your thousands of hours PIC and or Charter contracts, is that a fair price for the charter of an airplane you obviously know the type of, we mere mortals have to ask questions to provide a valid answer.
The OP said something about rescuing the dog in Samana and wanting to save the hassle of returning to Santo Domingo and wanting to go to St Croix and when returning tot he USA< I really have no idea where the flight originated and terminated, but I'm sure Tamborisa does, so if you could enlighten me I would appreciate it
Well Ma'am, I honestly overlooked that and I feel so silly for your highness having to point this out
Thank you for spending your life monitoring this board and correcting we silly newbies
Now in your educated opinion, based on your thousands of hours PIC and or Charter contracts, is that a fair price for the charter of an airplane you obviously know the type of, we mere mortals have to ask questions to provide a valid answer.
The OP said something about rescuing the dog in Samana and wanting to save the hassle of returning to Santo Domingo and wanting to go to St Croix and when returning tot he USA< I really have no idea where the flight originated and terminated, but I'm sure Tamborisa does, so if you could enlighten me I would appreciate it
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One would definitely need to know the type of craft chartered. A small Gates Lear from Boston to DC and return , about the same 650-700 mile R/T could easily run 10 grand, a King Air maybe 6-7 thousand
I'm sure Cobraboy could give you a close cost estimate.
I have flown very little in Caribbean so don't know the route, don't know if a single would meet ETOPS, there was mention of "pilots" (Plural) so I assuming something in at least cabin class, not inexpensive and I guess anyone chartering on a whim would be somewhat familiar with costs?
I do agree changing of the contract would leave options to dispute the charges
I think I got the wrong end of the stick and have decided I know nothing of prices regarding this kind of transportation, I shall look and keep my gob shut as I feel I this could be a very self deserving error and bank hit.
Yes I understand (I'm a pilot too, but only private, not commercial) but I thought that around the islands some companies operated a system of 'shared' private charters i.e. a bunch of strangers could go on same trip if it met their needs (like a shared consignment deal on a container), thus reducing costs.
Chavela, I'm 65 too & my eyesight isn't that great (but it was good enough to get me my pilot's licence many years ago) but common sense dictates that US$1000 for a private charter would only cover a very short distance (as dringa says, charterer pays for return to home base as a deadhead - empty leg). There are companies that sell 'empty legs' at a reduced price.
For those asking about per hour costs, my guess would be something like US$1300 per hour for a King Air (turbo prop), US$2500 per hour for a small Citation or Learjet, US$4500 per hour for the medium sized Gulfstream & maybe US$8000 per hour for a large Gulfstream; & the 'cheapies' approx US$600 per hour for a Cessna 182 & maybe US$800 for an Islander (all including pilots, obviously :cheeky
. I'm sure cobraboy has more exact figures.
^^^All fairly accurate, although a Commercial Cessna 182 would be around $300 per hour, a Seneca maybe $500 hr.Yes I understand (I'm a pilot too, but only private, not commercial) but I thought that around the islands some companies operated a system of 'shared' private charters i.e. a bunch of strangers could go on same trip if it met their needs (like a shared consignment deal on a container), thus reducing costs.
Chavela, I'm 65 too & my eyesight isn't that great (but it was good enough to get me my pilot's licence many years ago) but common sense dictates that US$1000 for a private charter would only cover a very short distance (as dringa says, charterer pays for return to home base as a deadhead - empty leg). There are companies that sell 'empty legs' at a reduced price.
For those asking about per hour costs, my guess would be something like US$1300 per hour for a King Air (turbo prop), US$2500 per hour for a small Citation or Learjet, US$4500 per hour for the medium sized Gulfstream & maybe US$8000 per hour for a large Gulfstream; & the 'cheapies' approx US$600 per hour for a Cessna 182 & maybe US$800 for an Islander (all including pilots, obviously :cheeky
At the FBO, we got calls all the time saying:
Potential Customer: The airlines want $1200 to fly to NYC First Class and returning the next day. That's too much. How much for a charter?
Me: What kind of plane? Lear 31? Lear 35? C3? Challenger 601? Jet? Prop? Turboprop?
Them: A little, cheap one. A jet.
Me: That would be $18,000, plus $1500 overnight fee.
Them: No, no...one of those little, cheap jets.
Me: That is a little, cheap one. 8 seats.
Them: :surprised
absolutely right.
if she understood 1K and got charged 11K's i would guess the misunderstanding been that the charter flight would cost 10K's plus 1K extra to let that dog on board. that rate is depending of planetype absolutely not out of the rates range for comfo private flight charters between islands down here. if you want a really comfo one you pay much more.
Mike
if she understood 1K and got charged 11K's i would guess the misunderstanding been that the charter flight would cost 10K's plus 1K extra to let that dog on board. that rate is depending of planetype absolutely not out of the rates range for comfo private flight charters between islands down here. if you want a really comfo one you pay much more.
Mike
Thanks
The credit card company already paid the Caribair guy. Can she still refuse to pay, send in the other quotes that we get and have a chance--thanks!!
The credit card company already paid the Caribair guy. Can she still refuse to pay, send in the other quotes that we get and have a chance--thanks!!
Thanks!!!
The credit card company already paid the Caribair guy. Can she still refuse to pay, send in the other quotes that we get and have a chance--thanks!!
The credit card company already paid the Caribair guy. Can she still refuse to pay, send in the other quotes that we get and have a chance--thanks!!
claims can be made after a 'false' voucher been paid.
but with what legal proof you want to claim that she get's money back?
she signed the form, that means she agreed to the charter rate which i do not see that overdone on the market, so she made a deal, purchased a product, got that purchased product completely and without any failure delivered, why should the seller not get paid?
if i sell you one of my own businesse's charters for 2K's and a month later you hear from a former customer that he got a 'similar' charter on a 'similar' outfitter for just 1.200, would that mean in your opinion you have the right to get something back?
basically it is a buyer who get's the offer of a seller for a specific product, buyer agrees, seller provides service, deal.
Mike
but with what legal proof you want to claim that she get's money back?
she signed the form, that means she agreed to the charter rate which i do not see that overdone on the market, so she made a deal, purchased a product, got that purchased product completely and without any failure delivered, why should the seller not get paid?
if i sell you one of my own businesse's charters for 2K's and a month later you hear from a former customer that he got a 'similar' charter on a 'similar' outfitter for just 1.200, would that mean in your opinion you have the right to get something back?
basically it is a buyer who get's the offer of a seller for a specific product, buyer agrees, seller provides service, deal.
Mike