Online purchases are becoming more and more popular, especially with travel activities and accommodation. It’s very much a buyer’s market, because you can browse the internet and compare many different agents who are selling the same products & services. For this reason, the market is very competitive. Booking agents need to attract customers and offer the best deals and service. We would like to clarify why we claim to be the best scuba diving booking agent for the trips that we offer. Our philosophy is to offer clear, honest, best-price liveaboard diving online booking.
- Price: The prices of the trips are fixed, and advertising discounts is not allowed. Therefore, ‘best price guaranteed’ doesn’t really mean very much. All agents are selling at the same price.
- No Hidden Fees: We don’t add extra fees or advertise non-diver prices or unreal ‘per-day rates’, like some other booking agents do.
- Service: Our customers get extremely fast, honest & informative responses. And we don’t ask for any commitment until they’re ready to book.
- Freebies: A choice of free gifts is available to our liveaboard guests. These include t-shirts, drybags, towels and wristbands.
- Honesty: Some of our main competitors try to get your attention in ways which we don’t agree with, and you may not like.
- Reviews: We have honest reviews from real customers.
Below you can read more-detailed information about the points above.
Price : Getting the best price is most important to the customer
When choosing to buy the same product or service from one of several agencies or resellers, the price you pay is usually the most important factor. Why pay more for the same thing that you can get for less from another? All of our scuba diving liveaboard trips are sold at a fixed price. Agents may offer a lowest-price guarantee, but in truth the prices are fixed and we are all forbidden from advertising or offering discounts. The dive centres and boat owners forbid agents from offering lower prices, not because they’re greedy but to ensure a fair and level playing field for everyone. This way, customers can choose who they buy from based on merit and service, and therefore the quality of the product or service remains high.
No Hidden Costs : Nobody likes unpleasant surprises
What you see should be what you get. This is especially true for knowing how much an item or service will cost you. We try to be as open and as honest as possible regarding any extra costs, and we try to keep these to a minimum.
Online shopping is nearly always performed using payment gateways, such as PayPal, direct credit card bookings or bank transfers. Customers who book diving trips through us are not charged any extra for banking fees. We absorb these fees on your behalf. In fact, we usually advise our guests how to benefit from choosing the best payment method or currency.
No two scuba diving liveaboard trips are the same. One customer may have his or her own equipment, while another may be entitled to a lower national park fee payment. These are the most-common ‘extras’ that apply to the trips we sell. In an ideal world, we would like to show the full price, including equipment and park fees, but then this becomes unclear or unfair for someone who should pay less than that. Also, there are often guests who join trips as non-divers, and they pay a different price. Therefore, the prices we advertise are for the trips (which include local transfers, full-board accommodation on the boats, use of standard scuba tanks & weights, and the services of professional dive guides).
Some online agents advertise a price that is lower than you can pay. They do this to get your attention and to ensure that you click on their page. You will soon realise that the price you see is not what you pay. It could be the non-diver price, or a per-day rate that is misleading. We don’t do this.
Personal & Honest Service : Deal with the same, efficient & honest person
Our systems are well designed and work to suit your device and the currency of your browsing location. The system is automated in many ways, but not when it comes to your booking experience. As soon as you send your enquiry to us, you will be served by one person. He or she will answer your email with pertinent information and questions. We don’t promise availability until we’re sure it’s possible. Unlike some other agents’ systems, where you may feel you have secured your places by clicking on their websites, we answer you honestly about what is available and what is on hold for you. We pride ourselves in answering quickly, honestly, and with information and questions that are relevant to your needs. We need to sleep & sometimes travel on planes, but you can normally expect an instant personal reply to your enquiry during 15 hours of each day. This is normally 7.00am - 10.00pm Thai time (GMT +7). We hope that this will soon be 24 hours per day. In addition, we don’t ask you to make any kind of commitment when you first enquire. We can nearly always hold spaces for you for free, and without obligation (sometimes on more than one boat for the same dates). All we need is names, and not card your credit details.
Free Merchandise : We give all our liveaboard guests free gifts
We can’t advertise or offer discounts because no agents are allowed to. But we can offer our liveaboard customers free gifts. For the past few years we have given our guests free ‘No Troubles, Just Bubbles t-shirts,’ available in 5 sizes. Now, we are still giving the free t-shirts, but most liveaboard guests can choose to receive a ‘No Troubles, Just Bubbles dry bag’or a large ‘No Troubles, Just Bubbles beach towel’ instead! All the items are completely free of charge and delivered to a location where the guests can easily collect them. This is usually the dive centre, the boat, their hotel or a local restaurant. In addition, everyone gets a ‘No Troubles, Just Bubbles wristband.’
Our Competitors : Some other main agents mislead you with incorrect information
In this competitive world of attracting customers for online bookings, agents may choose their own tactics. The first mission is to be noticed on Google and other search engines, which is vital to be found by customers. Of course, potential customers normally open several websites to compare information, especially prices.
- We have found that some other agent websites will show the ‘non-diver price’ as the main and largest price that you see on the pages. Divers cannot pay this price and join the trip. They have to pay the ‘diver rate’ which is more.
- Another agent shows the ‘price per day’ as much lower than it actually is. For example, a 4-day, 4-night trip spans 5 calendar dates, but is less than 4x 24 hours. They show the ‘per day rate’ as 20% of the full price, instead of 25%. For example, if the trip price for a 4D4N trip is $1,000, they show it as $200/day, when in fact it’s $250/day.
Reviews : Honest reviews from real customers
We have well over 100 honest reviews from customers who have been on trips with us. These reviews can be read and compared on our boat pages, on our testimonials page or by heading on over to TripAvisor and reading them there. We also have a page with photos of customers around the world who have sent us their pictures wearing their No Troubles Just Bubbles t-shirts.
We hope that this page will help you to understand that we are honest and fair, and happy to help in any way we can without breaking dive centres’ rules or misleading potential customers just to get a sale.
