Thread: how can I protect myself

I want to hire a boat for cruising in the Maldives. The booking agency does not take credit cards and requires 50% bank transfer $ up front. Travel insurance will not help to ensure that I receive the promised boat and services. Is there any way I can protect myself? I am not sure bank transfers offer any protection.

Perhaps another travel agent can provide more information on the issue, but personally I would not do business with someone who demanded a bank transfer. As you alluded to, you have no protection to insure you get what you bargained for and travel insurance will not protect you either. Should they take your money and run, you have no recourse. If they allowed credit cards, then obviously this would afford you some protection against fraud.

With that said, normally reputable businesses like that will either have an American agent for you to deal with or do business using credit cards. There are alot of boat operators in the Maldives and many offer credit card payment, so you might want to check around and see what other companies offer the same service. Even if they charge a bit more, it might be worth it in the long run.

And lastly, if you decide this is the only way for you to proceed, then I would be checking around to see what kind of reputation this company has. In today's environment with information readily available, you will probably find something about them either good or bad. This might help in your decision-making process.

Best of luck in your search and please let us know what you decide and how everything goes for you. I know the Maldives is an excellent scuba diving site, so I hope you'll spend some time enjoying the underwater life.

Pete

I personally would not do business with an operator that offered bank transfer as the only option. At least not until checking out everyone else. I'm sure Pete is right that there are other operators in that area that do take credit card payment.