Whilst we understand your disappointment at not seeing whales, our crew was also disappointed, expecting a refund is unrealistic and unreasonable, especially as you did not even book directly with us!
The fuel dock does not give us a refund if we don't see a whale, our staff still need paying, we still have to pay moorage, rent, insurance etc.
No company in Victoria gives a money back guarantee, we are dealing with wild whales that travel up to 100 miles a day. However, on the rare occasions (we see whales on 95-98% of our tours in peak season) a guest does not see a whale, we offer a lifetime opportunity to come out again for free, a more than reasonable offer. This was the only tour in July that had not seen Whales.
The fact is that when our vessel left the harbour conditions were good and there were Orcas nearby, so we were very confident we would see whales on that trip. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes after we had left the harbour the boats with the whales lost sight of them. We along with 5 other vessels spread out and tried to reacquire them. One vessel did briefly spot them but despite our best efforts we could not find them.
We then tried to head South West to spot Humpback Whales that we had seen on the morning but the conditions to the south had deteriorated, preventing us from heading in that direction safely. We always put passenger safety first.
Yes, we had moved you from the evening tour as there were strong winds forecast that evening and it would not have been safe to head out in the evening.
Whilst we are sorry that you did not see whales on your tour, your expectation of a full refund was unrealistic. We provide a very reasonable return policy that is a lifetime offer for a complimentary trip.