hunt booking agents
03-22-2011, 07:07 AM
#31
Spike
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location:
Posts: 32
SJadventures is wrong. Hunters do pay the costs of a booking agent. It is true that the cost to the hunter may be the same whether you go through a booking agent or book directly with the outfitter. But there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Booking hunts is a marketing expense. Outfitters that choose to do their own marketing, pay the costs of advertising, brochures, websites, attending outdoor shows, etc. These costs are then included in the cost of the hunt you purchase. Other outfitters choose to use booking agents to do these chores and pay them a commission for doing so. These commissions are then included in the price of the hunt. So one way or another the hunter pays these marketing costs. Any booking agent that tries to tell you differently is blowing smoke you know where.
I have used top notch booking agents on a number of hunts and have been very pleased. However I feel that any booking agent that keeps a commission on a hunt that falls through due to his outfitter's negligence or fraud is, at the very least, unethical regardless of what the fine print of his legal contract may say.
Booking hunts is a marketing expense. Outfitters that choose to do their own marketing, pay the costs of advertising, brochures, websites, attending outdoor shows, etc. These costs are then included in the cost of the hunt you purchase. Other outfitters choose to use booking agents to do these chores and pay them a commission for doing so. These commissions are then included in the price of the hunt. So one way or another the hunter pays these marketing costs. Any booking agent that tries to tell you differently is blowing smoke you know where.
I have used top notch booking agents on a number of hunts and have been very pleased. However I feel that any booking agent that keeps a commission on a hunt that falls through due to his outfitter's negligence or fraud is, at the very least, unethical regardless of what the fine print of his legal contract may say.
Last edited by Kodi; 03-22-2011 at 07:11 AM.
03-22-2011, 09:04 AM
#32
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
Kodi---I wasn't even going to get into a discussion on that aspect of his posts because the basis of the thread was "refunds" on a bad incident like the one with Blair. However, a good example like you stated was a horseback mulie hunt I went on back in 1994. I talked with a booking agent and he slipped and mentioned the first name of the outfitter he wanted me to book with after he had advertised he worked for free. Yea, right! It was a weird name and I had no problem finding out the name of the outfitter. Long story short, I booked directly and saved $200+ and was able to draw a tag by using that money to pay the higher special fee and went into that draw for the tag. That is the kind of stuff you need to look at because if they tell you or advertise anything else I would be very leery of what else they might not be upfront on! If it wasn't for that, I would not have cost him the booking and would have gone through him. I agree with your last statement 100%, but this guy obviously doesn't----"just read his contract!", as he stated!
Last edited by Topgun 3006; 03-22-2011 at 09:08 AM.
03-22-2011, 11:24 AM
#33
Spike
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 14
Some people just like stirring the pot (take me for example)SJAventures couldn't have explained it any more clear and has not tarnished his reputation at all by arguing with stupid people on the internet when they are so blatently wrong and rude. Any rational person understands what he is saying. 
03-22-2011, 12:12 PM
#34
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Wright, WY
Posts: 1,281
Nice! I wouldn't feel right either. If my business was to lead customers to outfitters and provide them a more confident choice because I say I have looked into it and they got screwed! Thats just not right. Sure the outfitter would be responsible for the majority of the cost but I would feel better giving my cut back since I was the one responsible for booking that outfitter. Who cares what the contract says! People just don't do the right thing these days. It's unfortunate and makes me wonder.
03-22-2011, 12:19 PM
#35
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,837
I said I wasn't commenting on this anymore but I guess I have to since kodi and topgun out of lack of correct knowledge have made an incorrect statement at least in regards to my business. Our service is absolutely a free service to hunters. Any outfitter who has signed up with our agency for us to sell hunts for them has to agree up front that any hunt we sell or advertise for them is the same exact brochure or regular price that it would be if the hunter booked the hunt directly with the outfitter. They have to agree up front not to mark the price of any hunt up in trying to recover the commission they pay us. If they will not agree to this then we will not sell hunts for them. It's as simple as that. They either offer their hunts for the same price to our clients as they do to their clients or we refuse to work through them. We advertise as a 100% free service to hunters and the outfitter has to agree with us on this in order for us to do business honestly and my business is honest if it isn't anything else. It absolutely does not cost one cent more to book a hunt through us with any of the outfitters we sell hunts for PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by SJAdventures; 03-22-2011 at 01:32 PM.
03-22-2011, 01:31 PM
#37
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,837
Really doesn't matter. After thinking about it I went back and edited my post to remove anything that may have been personal or derogatory. I am not going to get into name calling and accusations I know nothing about. If anyone else wants to do that it is America and they have that right so have at it. I'm not going to stoop that low though. Most understands just because someone can type doesn't always mean they have a clue what they are typing about.
03-22-2011, 01:43 PM
#38
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 9,557
Well, I hope this hasn't hurt your business.
Believe it of not. From the beginning I was trying to help you, because I thought you worded something wrong, and meant something else.
You came back with you don't need to explain anything to me. True, but by explaining to me you explain to everybody who's reading this thread. Which could be potential future customers.
If I was going to deal with someone in your business. I'd like them to have more patience in dealing with problems.
My .02 and i'm done here.
Believe it of not. From the beginning I was trying to help you, because I thought you worded something wrong, and meant something else.
You came back with you don't need to explain anything to me. True, but by explaining to me you explain to everybody who's reading this thread. Which could be potential future customers.
If I was going to deal with someone in your business. I'd like them to have more patience in dealing with problems.
My .02 and i'm done here.
03-22-2011, 02:26 PM
#39
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,837
I have a tremendous amount of patience with our clients and that has never been an issue, just not with a couple of people that don't have a clue who wants to tell me how I should or shouldn't run my business. Start your own business and run it exactly how you feel it should be ran and then you will have no complaints. I Have always gotten complimented by our clients on how much time I am willing to spend with them. If anyone judges one's patience by how he tolerates two or three people on a forum who only seem to do nothing but criticize then so be it there's nothing I can do about that. I feel completely confident that anyone with common sense who reads any of the posts in this thread made by pretty much 3 people pertaining to me and my business (which by the way this thread was about Jeff Blair) will see that I was completely out in the open and honest on how I run my business. We do not give refunds personally to clients. We have never tried to hide that and there is an out in the open, straight forward and plain to read clause in our contract stating so up front. If a hunter reads that clause in our contract and it is not acceptable to them or even if they will just ask from the very beginning if we give refunds all they have to do is not book the hunt, it is their choice. The only way we personally ever give a refund is if the client contacts me prior to the deposit being forwarded to the outfitter and wants to cancel their hunt. Then I will return their deposit or shred their deposit check which ever they prefer. I can promise you I am not going to change the way I run my business because 3 people on here don't approve. No one is getting screwed if they agree to it at the start. I promise you all now I am absolutely done with this thread about Jeff Blair.