DevOcean Boat Rides - Saint Ives

Q S.

Avoid this dishonest company.

Got a ticket to the island to see seal, half way the wave is too big that the boat is not able to go near to the island, and some of the passengers got so sea sick because of the big wave. So the boatman turned back to the pier.

After we all got down from the boat, the boat immediately pick up the next batch of passenger to the island. I mean does the wave get smaller after 20min? The boatman knew the condition is bad and yet still "pretend" to ride passenger towards the island (risk people life and make people feel sick) and make a turn back half way, just to avoid refund to the customers.

It will be nice to just inform your customers it's not a good condition to go before the journey.

Mark S.

I am writing this in order to warn people about this company so they don’t encounter the same problem as us.

On holiday we were caught in a rainstorm seeking a place to shelter when Devocean salesman John approached me selling tickets. He was very nice and looked professional. I said I needed to go and check with my family so he offered me a discount. He had the exact number of places left that we needed with only 30 minutes before departure. I asked if there was seating room inside. It was essential due to the horrendous weather and my wife's autoimmune condition as she can't stand for long periods of time. He told us there was. As the boat approached we were concerned whether there would really be enough seating space, so called to the captain who replied there was standing room only. We were unable to board as my wife couldn’t possibly manage the trip. A couple with a baby were also distressed about this. If they happen to read this review I’d love to hear from them.

Eventually found John who offered 50% refund and chance to come again and pay the outstanding 50%. We could not guarantee the future weather or our plans and were unhappy with Devocean anyway so declined.

Wrote to the company who responded “it is difficult to understand the basis of your claim”.

They say we “did not want to sit outside even though we had seen pictures of the boat which shows partial inside and outside seating and having had this explained to us by staff”.

There were no pictures showing inside seating. Even if there had been that is totally irrelevant as we were told by the captain there were none. What good would pictures have been? Nothing about partial seating was explained by staff. Expecting anyone to sit outside in the high winds and torrential rain was ridiculous. Customer service and health and safety clearly mean nothing to this company. Last minute sales do.

They claim seating was on a first come first served basis with no guarantee of it being inside or outside. If that were true why were we not told about it? We would not have bought the tickets. They now deceive the credit card company saying that people had already boarded before us. No one had boarded or even attempted to when the captain shouted from the dock it was standing room only. As a previous reviewer says, they clearly have no desire to give refunds or have any qualms about being dishonest.

In addition to my wife’s autoimmune condition I have 2 children with autism/ADHD who were distressed about the lack of seating and couldn't board. Devocean have twisted this around blaming our children for “suffering from a condition” and “misconception of cramped conditions” as the true cause of us not being able to board, in other words accusing us of lying.

They say they would have informed us of the “first come, first served rule” if we had explained our families medical needs beforehand. Surely it was their duty to inform us of the terms and conditions correctly upon asking regardless of our reasons? Why would we need to give an explanation?

Finally, they have tried to make themselves look like the victims by claiming they were subjected to “vulgar and offensive language” by myself and my family and “threatening and abusive conduct”. Anyone who knows my wife and I know that this is utter nonsense. It is not within our nature to treat people that way. We are also not ignorant of the fact that that sort of behaviour would have hindered rather than helped us with our request.

This experience has just reminded me why I usually never make quick on the spot decisions or transactions like that and should not have made an exception. As for their terms and conditions which they now bring up, they never thought to give them to us at the time and when we checked on the internet it said “website coming soon” so no way to see their terms and conditions anyway.

Small claims is next if credit card company can't help.

Hope this review might be of some help to others and perhaps encourage Devocean to up their standards of honesty and customer care.

Becky J.

Brilliant trip out to Seal Island. Would definitely go again

Amélie B.