A group that booked a luxury fishing tour in Vancouver, BC, was disappointed by the experience and sued the company it hired for the occasion.
Four people filed separate claims against Pacific Tugboat Adventures Inc. (PTA) in documents released publicly by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Each person spent well over $5,000 booking the experience, and all their allegations were the same.
The group claimed that PTA failed to deliver on the experience in several ways, including not providing a professional chef, friendly and experienced staff, fine wines, professional fishing guides, and a skiff (fishing boat) for every two people as advertised.
PTA added that it couldn’t provide some of the services for the fishing trip due to “circumstances out of its control,” but said that it did provide many things as promised and argued that none of the group members are entitled to a $5,000 refund.
The trip was a six-day and five-night “Follow the Fish Adventure” between June 26 and July 1.
Screenshots from the website at the time of booking suggest the following elements were supposed to be included in the trip:
- Accommodations
- Five-star meals prepped by a professional chef, which included sea-to-table meals, including Dungeness crab and wild salmon
- Premium wines and decadent desserts
- Everything needed for fishing
- Six skiffs
PTA admitted there was not a professional chef aboard. The owner of PTA ended up cooking the meals himself.
Instead of the fine wines the group was expecting, it was only provided boxed wine, served in decanters. The tribunal disagreed that the wines weren’t high-quality despite being boxed.
The tribunal found that PTA breached the agreement by failing to provide guides to the guests, as advertised.
Ultimately, the tribunal said the PTA breached the contract for failing to provide a professional chef and five-star cuisine and by failing to have experienced staff on board for private instruction.
Instead of the $5,000 they had hoped for, each group member was awarded $1,000 plus tribunal fees.