Owner Specific Terms

Owner Obligations

Registration

Prior to using BoatBooker's Services, an Owner is required to register on the BoatBooker Platform and perform all actions necessary to comply with the BoatBooker Platform registration requirements and all Terms.

Responsibility for Applicable Laws, Rules, and Regulations

Owners agree that they are responsible for, and agree to abide by, all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to their use of the Platform, their use of any tool, service, or product offered on the Platform, and any transaction they enter into in connection with their use of the Platform.

It is the Owner's responsibility to meet all local regulations and licensing requirements to offer boating services to paying passengers and to act as a charter operator, tour operator, and in any other capacity related to the boating services.

Profile, Listing(s) and Trip(s)

After creating a Profile on BoatBooker, Owners may create their Listings and trips. In order to create a listing, Owners will be asked a variety of questions. During Listing creation, Owners are presented with an option to create their Trips. Owners acknowledge and agree that they alone are responsible for any and all content they post related to any boating trip. Accordingly, Owners represent and warrant that any boating trip they post and the booking of – or a Renter's experience with a boating trip they create will not breach any agreements they have entered into with any third parties, and will:

  1. Be in compliance with all applicable laws (such as maritime laws and laws governing boats, bodies of water, etc), tax requirements, intellectual property laws, and rules and regulations that may apply to any fishing trip they post (including having all required permits, licenses, and registrations).
  2. Not conflict with the rights of third parties.

Please note that by creating a listing and by adding its required features, amenities, descriptions and policies, Owners constitute their Offer and Terms, which Renter accept by booking a trip.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BOATBOOKER ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN OWNER'S COMPLIANCE WITH ANY AGREEMENTS WITH OR DUTIES TO THIRD PARTIES, APPLICABLE LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS.

BoatBooker reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to remove or disable access to any BoatBooker trip, account, or listing for any reason, including ones that BoatBooker, at its sole discretion, considers to be in violation of this Agreement or BoatBooker's policies, objectionable for any reason, or that are otherwise harmful to the website, BoatBooker, or its users.

While creating their Profile Owners are responsible for adequately establishing the type of operations they offer. By choosing between:
  • Captain: if you run your own business and take renters boating;
  • Charter operator: if you are a business owner with multiple boats and/or for-hire captains and operator;

Team Members

Owners may be presented with the option to add their team members to their profiles. Before adding a team member, an Owner is required to obtain consent in order to publicly present their team member’s personal information, including first and last name, photo, and position. Owners are fully responsible for maintaining accurate information about their team members at all times and should remove information about personnel that no longer work with them or that don’t want to be associated with the Owner in a timely manner.

Owners can only add team members that are of legal age.

BoatBooker reserves the right to remove team members from Owners’ accounts at its sole discretion.

Verification of Credentials

Owners will be required to submit certain credentials for verification.

The information in these documents is used to verify that Owners have the necessary permits, licenses and registrations to run a charter operation. Please note that BoatBooker currently does not have the capacity or resources to focus on local/city/marina regulations.

If the information provided in the credential is insufficient to fully verify an Owner's profile and the missing information is publically available, BoatBooker may use the information on record to find new information. For example, if a captain’s USCG MMC expires, we will use the reference/document number on the first page to check the online USCG database to make sure that the credential has been renewed.

For Owners using BoatBooker’s Online Payments feature, please note that if BoatBooker has trouble opening a sub-merchant account in their name for verification reasons, the information contained in your documents may be sent to Braintree for the sole purpose of opening a sub-merchant account.

If you are a Charter Operator, you may be required to verify credentials for more than one captain or guide.

BoatBooker may, at its sole discretion, require Owners to submit additional credentials, such as Drug Consortium Cards, local licenses, and other business-related documentation. These documents will be used as supporting documentation for verification purposes.

While BoatBooker goes the extra mile to ensure legal compliance, we do not and cannot guarantee the accuracy and validity of provided credentials and they, therefore, must be confirmed with the issuing authority in order to be validated.

We DO NOT sell your information to any third party.

Insurance

Owners hereby confirm that they understand and agree that BoatBooker does not act as an insurer or as their contracting agent. If a Renter requests the booking of a fishing trip, any agreement Owners enter into with such a Renter is between them and the Renter, and BoatBooker is not a party to it.

BoatBooker strongly recommends that Owners obtain insurance for their fishing trips. Owners are encouraged to review any insurance policy that they may have for their fishing trip carefully and ensure that they are familiar with and understand any exclusions to, and any deductibles that may apply for such an insurance policy, including, without limitation, whether or not their insurance policy will cover the actions or inactions of renters while on the trip.

BoatBooker makes decisions on the basis of information from the listing, the enclosed document and registered data, without examining the accuracy of the information from the listing, the credibility of the enclosed documents, and the regularity and legality of the proceedings in which the documents were brought, and therefore is not liable for any mistakes and/or damages that occur or may occur if the information or documents provided prove to be false.

For more information regarding the posting of any content on the BoatBooker platform, please read the BoatBooker Content Terms carefully.

In the event that a Renter or Owner experiences any cost that may occur prior to, during, or after the trip, due to a trip’s cancellation, BoatBooker will not be responsible regardless of the reason for the cancellation.

Communicating with Your Renter

We recommend using BoatBooker's Instant Messaging feature to communicate with Renters prior to a Trip to ensure all details are clear to both parties. For Owners who have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy, it can be accessed here. For Owners from the European Union, please refer to BoatBooker's GDPR Privacy Notice .

For further information please read our Platform Rules and Guidelines, as it defines communication in more detail, which constitutes an integral part of these Terms.

Instant Book Feature

Any Owner who has had one successful booking with BoatBooker is automatically eligible to use the Instant Book feature. It enables a Renter to instantly book a trip for any open date in the Owner's calendar. When Instant Book is enabled, Owners don't need to accept trip requests, they are automatically accepted by the system if the requested date is set as available.

When Owners cancel a trip booked through Instant Book, they receive a penalty. After a number of such penalties determined at the sole discretion of BoatBooker, an Owner's Instant Book feature may be turned off. The feature can be turned back on if the Owner wishes, but if more cancellations are reported, then access to the feature may be disabled for a whole year.

Please keep in mind that Instant Book penalties do not apply to cancellations due to:
  • bad weather;
  • boat malfunctions;
  • short notice  bookings;
  • shared trips that fail to meet the minimum number of people.

BoatBooker reserves the right to manually review each cancellation and apply penalties to any cancellation we deem, at our sole discretion, to be invalid. BoatBooker reserves the right to change the objective standards required of Owners in order to activate the Instant Book feature without notice and at our sole discretion. In such a case, Owners will be required to comply with the new standards and fulfill all requirements in order to have the Instant Book feature activated.

Canceling or Changing Your Booking

Canceling

If a trip has to be canceled, it can be done through the Owner's app (BoatBooker for Owners) or the Website.

Please note that, if an Owner cancels the trip, the Customer will receive a full refund of their deposit and the Owner will have a penalty applied to their listing.

Reasonable penalties

If an Owner cancels a confirmed booking, they agree that BoatBooker may apply penalties or consequences to them or their presence on the Website, including, without limitation:

  • Publishing an automated review on the Website indicating that the Owner canceled a reservation;
  • Keeping the calendar for the Owner's listing unavailable or blocked for the dates of the canceled booking;
  • At the sole discretion of BoatBooker, removing the Owner’s listing from the Website, suspending the Owner’s access to the Website, or otherwise limiting their use of the Website as an Owner;
  • Damaging the Owner's charter’s ranking due to a decrease in their booking success rate.
  • Potentially losing the Instant Book feature.

If Owners have the Instant Book feature enabled, they can cancel a maximum of 4 trips before the trip is disabled on their listing. Owners can reactivate the feature 1 year from the date of the first canceled trip.

If Owners cancel due to circumstances outside of their control, such as bad weather, mechanical issues, or an extenuating circumstance, they may be eligible for a penalty-free cancellation. These circumstances are judged on a case-by-case basis and will be processed by BoatBooker administrators. These conditions can be found in our Extenuating Circumstances Policy. BoatBooker may ask an Owner for supporting documents in order to substantiate their claim for a penalty-free cancellation. Please note that all cancellation requests must be sent within 15 days of the trip date. We cannot process cancellation requests sent more than 15 days from the trip date. 

If a Renter Cancels a Booking

If a Renter cancels a booking but does not breach an Owner's cancellation policy, they will be refunded the full amount of their deposit.

If a Renter cancels a booking and breaches an Owner's cancellation policy, the Owner will receive the deposit amount, unless the Renter's reason for cancellation falls within the Extenuating Circumstances Policy. In this case, BoatBooker administrators will review the reason for cancellation and, if they find it has merit, the Renter will be refunded in full.

If a Renter has booked through Online Payments and cancels without breaching an Owner's cancellation policy, they will again be refunded in full.

If a Renter books through Online Payments and the cancellation breaches an Owner's cancellation policy, the Owner will receive the full trip amount, reduced by BoatBooker's commission (10-30%) and the fee for Online Payments, unless the Renterr's reason for cancellation falls within the Extenuating Circumstances Policy. In this case, BoatBooker administrators will review the reason for cancellation and, if they find it has merit, the Renter will be refunded.

Changing a Booking

Owners can request to change the start time and date of their upcoming trips and/or the number of people in the group on their app or on the BoatBooker website. The Renter will be notified and have the option to accept the Owner's suggestion or not within 48 hours.

When Owners make a change request, the original date and the new trip details will register in the Owner's calendar. They will remain registered until the Owner receives a response from their Renter.

Owners can change the request itself until the Renter replies to it.

If a Renter Tequests a Change

If a Renter wants to change an aspect of the trip, Owners will be notified immediately and can reply within 48 hours. When Renters make a change request, the original date and new trip details will remain registered in the Owner's calendar. Both dates will remain registered until the Owners respond to their Renters.

Cancellation by BoatBooker

BoatBooker may cancel a trip at its sole discretion at any time. In the very unlikely event that a trip is canceled by BoatBooker, funds will be refunded to the Renter as it would have been done under circumstances of a regular cancellation whereby the  Owner’s policy was not breached.

Calendar Sync Feature

Owners who maintain multiple online calendars may be presented with the Calendar Sync option. If an Owner of connects other online calendars with their BoatBooker calendar, our system will automatically scan the Owner’s availability and block trips that can’t be run.

The Owner is solely responsible for regularly updating their availability in their calendar and, therefore, BoatBooker is not liable for any mistakes and/or damages that occur or may occur in cases of inaccurate calendars.

Boater's Choice Award

The Boater's Choice Award allows Owners who have distinguished themselves by providing excellent service to present that to BoatBooker Users.

BoatBooker does not endorse any Owner, nor guarantee or control the qualification, safety, suitability, or conduct of any host, regardless of whether or not an Owner has the Boater's Choice Award. If an Owner qualifies for the Boater's Choice Award, they've met BoatBooker's Boater's Choice Award performance standards, which are measured by an automated system. This does not mean that BoatBooker endorses certifies, or approves an Owner's listing or any Owner. Owners are still responsible for complying with applicable laws and for all their other obligations under our Terms of Use.

BoatBooker may change the criteria for the Boater's Choice Award or terminate the Award at any time for any reason.

To qualify for the Boater's Choice Award, Owners must:

  1. Have at least 10 (ten) verified renter reviews
  2. Have an overall renter rating of 4.8/5 or greater
  3. Have a reliability score of at least 98% or above
  4. Have a response rate of at least 98% or greater
  5. Have their credentials verified by BoatBooker and issued an enhanced badge"

Qualifications are evaluated on a quarterly basis. If an Owner satisfies the performance standards and other qualifications for the most recent 12 months from the review date, then the Owner is automatically eligible to receive the Boater's Choice Award.

The Boater's Choice Award is automatically revoked at the next review date if an Owner does not meet the performance standards for the previous year. BoatBooker may at its sole discretion notify Owners of the revocation of their award. Owners whose Boater's Choice Award has been revoked may regain the Award for a future qualification period if they meet the qualifications for the most recent previous 12 months on the applicable review date.

If an Owner receives the Boater's Choice Award, a badge indicating that they have received the Award will automatically be added to their BoatBooker profile and their listing pages for as long as they continue to qualify. They will also be provided with resources that will enable them to add a Boater's Choice Award widget to their website. Occasionally, it may take some time for our automated system to process. If an Owner wishes to turn off their Boater's Choice Award badge, they can contact BoatBooker Customer Service. If they want to turn the badge back on, they can also contact BoatBooker at [email protected].

Any use of the Boater's Choice Award widget is subject to the BoatBooker Widget terms and content quality standards. Qualifying for a Boater's Choice Award does not give an Owner any ownership or other proprietary rights to the badge or any other BoatBooker intellectual property, other than that provided for in the Content Terms. BoatBooker retains all rights, title, and interest in and to the Boater's Choice Award widget, badge, and any other intellectual property. 

Prohibited Uses

Having the Boater's Choice Award does not allow an Owner to:

  • Claim they are endorsed by an agent or representative of BoatBooker or otherwise misrepresent their association with BoatBooker;
  • Use their Boater's Choice Award and/or badge in association with any materials that are false, misleading, offensive, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, harassing, illegal, or that violate the rights of any third party;
  • Commercialize the Boater's Choice Award badge and/or widget (such as by creating, importing, or selling merchandise with the Boater's Choice Award badge or widget) without BoatBooker's express permission.

For more information about the Boater’s Choice Award please visit this page.

Loyalty Program Participation

BoatBooker holds the unilateral right, at its sole discretion, to incorporate listings fulfilling Loyalty Program eligibility criteria into the Loyalty Program offer, without notifying Owners beforehand. Please note that Owner participation in the Loyalty Program does not entail any additional rights or obligations for the respective Owner.

The benefits of the Loyalty Program apply solely to Renters.

Indemnification

Owners (the "Indemnifying Party") will defend and indemnify BoatBooker (the "Indemnified Party") against any and all claims, losses, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that the Indemnified Party may incur as a result of claims in any form by third parties arising from:

  1. The Indemnifying Party's intentional tortious or negligent acts or omissions (including, without limitation, noncompliance with any applicable legal and/or regulatory requirements).
  2. The Indemnifying Party's breach of any representation, warranty, or covenant set forth herein.
  3. The infringement of any third party's intellectual property by any trademarks or other intellectual property provided by the Indemnifying Party to the Indemnified Party.
  4. The Indemnifying Party's failure to collect all taxes, fees, and charges that may be applicable to the boat rental services being offered for sale by the Indemnifying Party.
  5. The Indemnifying Party's failure to provide accurate information related to their listing which results in legitimate claims of false advertising.
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