Jeff Blair if guilty is like any other business. You have great booking agents you have bad booking agents, you have great outfitters and you have crooked outfitters, you have great mechanics and you have crooked mechanics, you have great plumbers you have crooked plumbers, etc, etc, etc. Booking agents can be a huge asset if you use the right one or it can be a nightmare if you use the wrong one just like it will be if you use the right outfitter or the wrong outfitter, the right mechanic or the wrong mechanic, etc, etc, etc. If you use a booking agent ask for references for them just like the actual outfitter. If you book a cruise through a travel agency on a Carnival cruise line ship do you actually think that travel agency will be held responsible for the actions of Carnival Cruise Lines during that cruise? That would be like holding the nurse responsible that checked you in at your Dr's office for mal-practice if your Dr does something bad. If the booking agent has fulfilled everything stated they are obligated to fulfill on their signed contract then I am not sure what anyone expects. If I receive a commission FROM THE OUTFITTER and then the outfitter and their hunter has some issue come up between them I am not going to give our commission paid to us BY THE OUTFITTER to anyone. If there is a legitimate refund owed to the hunter by the outfitter then the outfitter is responsible to pay the entire refund and the outfitter not the hunter is out our commission. I cannot vouch for any other booking agency out there but every outfitter our agency sells hunts for is personally checked out to the best of my ability to ensure of their legitimacy, honesty and the quality of their services. I do this by hunting with, visiting or personally calling several of their past hunters and talking in length with them. We sometimes sell hunts for over 70 outfitters located all over the world so it is not logistically possible to hunt with every one of them (honestly I get to hunt with very few of them) or to even visit their operations so references and past history is all we have. I have had outfitters who gave us extremely good services for years but for what ever reason in their personal lives their services turned totally unacceptable without warning. Unfortunately you never know this is going to happen until it does and some one is going to get a unsatisfactory hunt or poor service. Our only recourse is to terminate using that outfitter but for the hunter that isn't much consolation. It is not an easy business to be in especially if you have a conscience and are trying to offer a honest and legitimate service. And you can take this to the bank out side of a very, very, small select few, being a booking agent is not what you would classify as lucrative. Our contract is very clear that our agency is not responsible for any refunds of any kind. If a hunter reads it and signs it then they should not be surprised if such an issue arises. I have gave commissions back to the outfitter when the situation called for them to issue a refund to their hunter but we do not issue refunds to the hunter/s.