I know I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I have hunted in Zimbabwe. The questions that come to my mind are:
1) Why use a booking agent, if he isn't held responsible (either financially or otherwise) when things go wrong?
2) Why, after the hunts that went sour previously with this particular hunting outfit/PH/whatever Tim Shultz is, did the agent continue to book hunts with him?
3) How were the previous hunts with Schultz that went bad addressed by the booking agent? For example, did the booking agent respond positively and work out an mutually acceptable with the previous clients, or were their complaints felled on deaf ears?
I had a wonderful hunt in Zimbabwe with HHK Safaris. It was in a great conservancy, huge tract of wild lands and so much interesting wild game that I was in awe the whole time. My agent held monies and made sure I was satisfied before reaching a "close-out" agreement with the outfitter/PH.
If the booking agent is only a portal to send money to the PH, which I don't believe they are, then why not arrange hunts direct and save the booking agent's fee? I used a booking agent because I knew I had a written contract with him if something went wrong I had legal/financial recourse here in the USA, and someone would be held responsible.
Without someone being liable for a truely f'ed situation, I can see no reason to go through a booking agent... Booking agents make money from outfitters/PHs by handing over clients to them without the outfitter/PH having to mess with the communications and paperwork. However, for the clients paying the premium of using the agent, there should be some responsibility on the part of the agent to insure the client isn't sold a bridge in BFE without delivery. When previous clients start having problems and those are either ignored or otherwise cast aside, any future bookings by the agent seems to be an accomplice in the fraud to future clients.
I couldn't agree more with these statements.
Seems a lot has transpired on this thread since I last checked in, but I find it ironic how the fingers of the booking agent and the safari company are pointing at everyone but themselves. Schultz even implies it is the hunter's fault since they didn't mention it while they were in country. I find this really hard to believe. In my case, the PH knew about it immediately when I was not happy and he relayed this information to both Tim and Bianca Schultz. Bianca was involved since she is co-owner and was handling company business and since Tim was often in the field and could not be reached. I personally told Bianca Schultz why I was unhappy. There were no offers of compensation or even apologies. Just more finger pointing back at the booking agent and other people in Zim.
In this current case, based on the emails posted, there seem to be a lot of stories being told here and little truth on the part of African Dream Safaris. Be that as it may, as others here have stated, it matters little what the reasons or stories are on the part of the agent or outfitter. The only thing that matters is if the client is happy or not and if they feel that they have received what has been paid for. Most of the folks who participate here in the Africa forum are relatively experienced hunters and have been clients on enough guided hunts so know things will not always be rosy and that sometimes things happen that are beyond the PH and Safari company's control. I think most of us when faced with these situations, as evidenced by the hunts described in this thread alone, make the best of it and continue on with the hunt without complaint. However, when things are blatantly the fault of misrepresentation, mismanagement, monies not paid, quotas not available, areas not available to hunt, camps not available, etc., these are things that are completely avoidable and that should not happen on a hunt of this magnitude, whether it is a PAC hunt or not. If these things are not taken care of before the hunter arrives, then he/she has not received the services that they are paying, or have paid, for. As has been mentioned, these hunts are not "on the cheap" hunts, with pricing very similar to others offering these types of hunts in Zim, so it is not simply a matter of getting what you pay for.
I'll add one other thing: Obviously trying to take care of this kind of dispute in private does not work. It didn't work for me and it's not working in this case since nothing is being done to make the customer (client) happy. The only thing that is being done is to get everyone's versions and from the emails from Tim, he seems to come up with new ones depending on who he is talking to. So for those that call for this matter to be taken care of privately, you need to buy a clue to see that no resolution between the parties will take place. The responsible parties are offering no resolution. Therefore, the only good that can come of this is that the dispute is brought out in public so that others may be forewarned so as not to fall into the same trap with the same people. It seems to me that this is the only thing trying to be accomplished by Model70guy and I agree and support him in this endevour.
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