Wayne Findley
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- Joined
- May 30, 2015
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Fellow hunters. I am writing this review in hopes to save some of you from the horrible mishap I experienced in Zimbabwe with Luxuryhunts.com and ZimAfrica. Listed below is a note that I sent to Rebecca Steyn the owner of ZimAfrica. Luxuryhunts.com sells hunting trips for ZimAfrica. Jeff Marinelli is the sales person. The manager of ZimAfrica is Wayne Jardine.
Let me begin this email on a positive note. My hunt was very successful. I harvested a nice cape buffalo and a 55 inch Kudu. I was able to get exactly what I wanted. My professional hunter, Raphael Ndlovu, was outstanding, as was his tracker Justin. Raphael and Justin made this a memorable trip that I shall always cherish. Raphael took the time to explain things to me about tracking and provided information about the game we were hunting. I learned so much. And both Raphael and Justin were extremely cordial and considerate of my wife and myself which made a tremendous difference. I could not be more pleased with the service I received from my professional hunter and his tracker. The other hunters there Bob, Ed, and Mike were nice hunting companions. And along with Rusty, we had an amazing time.
Now I would like to address the negatives of my hunt. And almost all of the negatives revolve around the management of ZimAfrica who was Rebecca Steyn and Wayne Jardine.
1) The communication from ZimAfrica to me was extremely poor prior to my leaving the states. I asked via email who my professional hunter would be and who would be picking my wife and I up at the airport. I never received a reply. Upon arriving in Victoria Falls, I did not know who would be picking us up and with whom I would be hunting. Communication from ZimAfrica prior to hunt was well below expectations.
2) I later learned that Wayne Jardine was suppose to pick my wife and I up at the airport. But he was busy or tied up or doing something more important. So we were picked up by Raphael (my professional hunter) in his personal pickup which only sat two people (the driver and one passenger). So after a 15 hour air flight, my wife and I had to crawl onto a high seat in the back of the pickup for a two hour drive back to camp with over half the travel time on the inferior roads at highway speeds. We were dressed for comfortable air travel with shorts and flip flops. The temperature was close to 90 degrees and we climbed in the back of the truck with no caps, no sun tan lotion, and started for camp. We began to fry. About 30 minutes in the trip, I asked Raphael to pull over so we could get suntan lotion on, lip balm, hats-caps, and long sleeve clothes to keep the sun off. The trip back to camp was absolutely miserable. Other hunters were being picked up by their outfitters in comfortable vehicles. My wife and I were the only ones riding in the back of a landcruiser baking in the sun. The other outfitters took care of their customers. Absolutely terrible customer service from ZimArica. This was booked as a luxury hunt. There was nothing luxurious about our ride to camp from the airport. It was totally inappropriate.
3) When my wife and I got to camp we were assigned a tent. There were 3 tents for hunters at the camp. Two of the tents, which the other two hunters were using, had A frames with thatch woven into the A frame to protect the tents from the beating sun and provide a roof for the tent, restroom, and shower. My assigned tent had the A frame but no thatch. So the sun beat down on my tent to such a degree that my wife and I could not stay in the tent during the day due to the heat. We had to go to dining area. The shower and restroom were open to the sky and environment, therefore lizards, insects, and spiders crawled freely into these areas over the top of the walls. My wife was always concerned about going into these areas, especially after killing a puff adder on the side of our tent. My accommodations were inferior. The thatch roof should have been installed on my tent just like the other two tents prior to my arrival. Again, absolutely terrible customer service.
4) Prior to coming to camp, we filled out a questionnaire for food requirements. We took great pains to complete this in detail because my wife eats very little meat and requires fruits and vegetables. There were little to no fruits and vegetables served during our meals. Our meals were basically meat, potatoes or rice. The cook was never provided with the questionnaire we filled out and had no information about her diet restrictions. And we learned there was little to no money in the camp to go to town to purchase vegetables. Why would you even bother to ask for diet restrictions and then totally disregard the information? My wife stayed hungry most of the hunt. We had to get Raphael to take us to town to the grocery store so my wife could purchase food. And there was no one there from ZimAfrica to discuss these problems with. Again, absolutely terrible customer service
5) I wanted to talk with Wayne Jardine about many issues including those listed above. Everyday Wayne Jardine was going to be in camp. He was suppose to pick us up at the airport but failed to show. He was suppose to come on Wednesday and didn't show. He was suppose to arrive on Thursday and didn't show. He was suppose to be there on Friday and didn't show. Suppose to be there on Saturday and didn't show. Again on Sunday and no show. And he was definitely suppose to be there on Monday to collect my fees and guess what.... another no show. One of the other hunters, Ed, was suppose to hunt with Wayne because he was hunting dangerous game, leopard, but Wayne nor anyone from ZimAfrican management never set foot in the camp. There were always 3 to 4 hunters in camp and no one ever even bothered to check on us. We were left in the hands of contract professional hunters who could not make any decisions without getting on the phone and calling Wayne Jardine. Terrible customer service.
6) Upon arrival at camp I talked with the other two hunters. They informed me that no buffalo had been seen on the concession where we were staying. Not a single one had been seen during their entire time there. There were two buffalo hunters that left on Sunday prior to my arrival on Tuesday. Both of these hunters got buffalo but had to go to another area to hunt as they had seen nothing on the property. I talked to Rusty (the contract professional hunter left in charge) and he called Wayne Jardine on the phone. Rusty and Wayne talked and he was told for me to hunt the property where we were staying. Raphael tried his best. We drove the perimeter of the property searching for buffalo tracks or spore. None was found. We searched the interior of the property. Not a single track nor any spore was found with two solid long days of hunting. The buffalo were not on the property and hadn't been in weeks. This was known by Wayne Jardine prior to my arrival. That is why the two previous buffalo hunters were taken to another area to hunt. However, I was assigned to hunt the camp area, for three days, where there were no buffalo, becoming more and more frustrated. I finally set down and talked to Rusty who was in daily contact with Wayne on the phone (again Wayne never showed up at camp). Rusty knew there were no buffalo on the property. Rusty explained he thought it was a money issue. So I offered to pay part of bill in advance if it would help. Rusty talked to Wayne and then he asked me for $7000. I gave $7000 to Rusty on Thursday evening and no receipt was given (even though I asked for one). On Friday at lunch, I learned Wayne had obtained a permit for the Metezi hunting reserve for Saturday (same place the last two buffalo hunters went). I later learned from the game scout that the permit cost $3250, so I have no idea why I had to pay $7000, I guess it was to pay other money owed or money for the camp. The point I want to make is that the planning for my hunt was incompetent. Wayne Jardine knew there were no buffalo on the property. He had to make additional arrangements for the prior two buffalo hunters because there were no buffalo. So why did he have me hunting my tail off on the property where there was no buffalo? The plan should have been for me to go to Metezi from the first to hunt buffalo and I should have been informed of the plan. Again, absolutely terrible customer service. Mike (another hunter) showed up Saturday to hunt buffalo and was hunting some area that Wayne had found where there was said to be only one lone buffalo. Mike hunted two days for the single buffalo, walking miles and miles everyday. Mike and his uncle Ed (one of the other hunters) were totally frustrated with ZimAfrica and told his PH to take him back to the airport. Everyone was irritated and upset. Things could not have been more unorganized and ineffective.
7) After I was told to I had a permit to Metezi area to hunt buffalo, I decided to hunt for a Kudu since it would be Saturday before I could begin my hunt. There was no pricing posted for any trophy fees at the camp. I asked Rusty the price for shooting a Kudu. Rusty quoted me a price of $1200. So I shot a Kudu on Friday evening. When I received my invoice at the end of the hunt Wayne Jardine had charged me $1800 for the Kudu even though the price qouted was $1200. Terrible customer service.
8) By Saturday I had killed a buffalo and Kudu. So on Sunday, Rusty called on his phone and got me an earlier stay at the Victorian hotel, so I planned to leave camp on Tuesday morning for Victoria Falls (one day early). My wife wanted to leave early because she was hungry and the accommodations were so poor. I asked Rusty to get my bill ready as I would like to pay. Rusty said he would call Wayne and he would come to camp to collect payment. And of course Wayne never showed up and I could never get an invoice. I went to bed on Monday night, still having never received an invoice so I told Rusty when I received an invoice I would wire the remaining money as I had already paid approx $10000. After I was asleep about 9 PM, Rusty came to my tent, stating he had just received an invoice, on his phone, from Wayne and he wanted his money now. So I had to get up out of bed to make financial payment, even though I had been trying to pay for the previous two days. I looked at the invoice on his phone and it was several thousand dollars too high. I showed Rusty the paperwork that Jeff Martinell had provided. We corrected the $1800 charge for the kudu to $1200 as quoted, Rusty calculated the bill including taxes and I paid the remainder in cash and went to bed. 30 minutes later, another knock on my tent. Rusty said he incorrectly calculated the tax and I owed another $380. I paid it and had Rusty sign a paid in full bill, showing that I paid $13,416. The issue here is that Wayne Jardine never showed up to camp and waited until I had gone to bed on my last night at camp to even send an invoice, with the invoice being incorrect. You just get can't get any worse customer service.
9) On Tuesday morning when we got ready to leave camp for Victoria Falls, my wife and I had a pickup full of travelers. My wife and Raphael rode up front in the cab. There were 4 people including myself on the high bench seat and two more camp staff standing on our luggage in the back. 8 people were riding out of camp in a single vehicle. We were crushed together and rode that way to Victoria Falls. I was so embarrassed for both me and my wife. I would think it impossible for an outfitter to screw up this bad.
10) I inquired about taxidermy work before coming to Zimbabwe. I was told by Rebecca via email that a taxidermist called Colletts Wildlife Taxidermy was used. No one had any information about this at camp. Again there was no one at camp from ZimAfrica, so I had to have my hides sent back to USA for taxidermy work.
11) I hunted last September and all of my trophies are still in Zimbabwe. I could write another two pages on my efforts to try and get my trophies shipped. Needless to say they are still in Zimbabwe.
All of the other hunters in camp including myself, plan on coming back to Africa to hunt. None of us plan on even considering ZimAfrica or Luxuryhunts.com for future hunts because of the terrible customer service we all received.
Just recently I have recieved communication from Mike Seymour who experienced the same terrible customer service that I did. I am sure Mike and his fellow hunters will be joining in this post to help others not make the same mistake we did.
Wayne Findley
Let me begin this email on a positive note. My hunt was very successful. I harvested a nice cape buffalo and a 55 inch Kudu. I was able to get exactly what I wanted. My professional hunter, Raphael Ndlovu, was outstanding, as was his tracker Justin. Raphael and Justin made this a memorable trip that I shall always cherish. Raphael took the time to explain things to me about tracking and provided information about the game we were hunting. I learned so much. And both Raphael and Justin were extremely cordial and considerate of my wife and myself which made a tremendous difference. I could not be more pleased with the service I received from my professional hunter and his tracker. The other hunters there Bob, Ed, and Mike were nice hunting companions. And along with Rusty, we had an amazing time.
Now I would like to address the negatives of my hunt. And almost all of the negatives revolve around the management of ZimAfrica who was Rebecca Steyn and Wayne Jardine.
1) The communication from ZimAfrica to me was extremely poor prior to my leaving the states. I asked via email who my professional hunter would be and who would be picking my wife and I up at the airport. I never received a reply. Upon arriving in Victoria Falls, I did not know who would be picking us up and with whom I would be hunting. Communication from ZimAfrica prior to hunt was well below expectations.
2) I later learned that Wayne Jardine was suppose to pick my wife and I up at the airport. But he was busy or tied up or doing something more important. So we were picked up by Raphael (my professional hunter) in his personal pickup which only sat two people (the driver and one passenger). So after a 15 hour air flight, my wife and I had to crawl onto a high seat in the back of the pickup for a two hour drive back to camp with over half the travel time on the inferior roads at highway speeds. We were dressed for comfortable air travel with shorts and flip flops. The temperature was close to 90 degrees and we climbed in the back of the truck with no caps, no sun tan lotion, and started for camp. We began to fry. About 30 minutes in the trip, I asked Raphael to pull over so we could get suntan lotion on, lip balm, hats-caps, and long sleeve clothes to keep the sun off. The trip back to camp was absolutely miserable. Other hunters were being picked up by their outfitters in comfortable vehicles. My wife and I were the only ones riding in the back of a landcruiser baking in the sun. The other outfitters took care of their customers. Absolutely terrible customer service from ZimArica. This was booked as a luxury hunt. There was nothing luxurious about our ride to camp from the airport. It was totally inappropriate.
3) When my wife and I got to camp we were assigned a tent. There were 3 tents for hunters at the camp. Two of the tents, which the other two hunters were using, had A frames with thatch woven into the A frame to protect the tents from the beating sun and provide a roof for the tent, restroom, and shower. My assigned tent had the A frame but no thatch. So the sun beat down on my tent to such a degree that my wife and I could not stay in the tent during the day due to the heat. We had to go to dining area. The shower and restroom were open to the sky and environment, therefore lizards, insects, and spiders crawled freely into these areas over the top of the walls. My wife was always concerned about going into these areas, especially after killing a puff adder on the side of our tent. My accommodations were inferior. The thatch roof should have been installed on my tent just like the other two tents prior to my arrival. Again, absolutely terrible customer service.
4) Prior to coming to camp, we filled out a questionnaire for food requirements. We took great pains to complete this in detail because my wife eats very little meat and requires fruits and vegetables. There were little to no fruits and vegetables served during our meals. Our meals were basically meat, potatoes or rice. The cook was never provided with the questionnaire we filled out and had no information about her diet restrictions. And we learned there was little to no money in the camp to go to town to purchase vegetables. Why would you even bother to ask for diet restrictions and then totally disregard the information? My wife stayed hungry most of the hunt. We had to get Raphael to take us to town to the grocery store so my wife could purchase food. And there was no one there from ZimAfrica to discuss these problems with. Again, absolutely terrible customer service
5) I wanted to talk with Wayne Jardine about many issues including those listed above. Everyday Wayne Jardine was going to be in camp. He was suppose to pick us up at the airport but failed to show. He was suppose to come on Wednesday and didn't show. He was suppose to arrive on Thursday and didn't show. He was suppose to be there on Friday and didn't show. Suppose to be there on Saturday and didn't show. Again on Sunday and no show. And he was definitely suppose to be there on Monday to collect my fees and guess what.... another no show. One of the other hunters, Ed, was suppose to hunt with Wayne because he was hunting dangerous game, leopard, but Wayne nor anyone from ZimAfrican management never set foot in the camp. There were always 3 to 4 hunters in camp and no one ever even bothered to check on us. We were left in the hands of contract professional hunters who could not make any decisions without getting on the phone and calling Wayne Jardine. Terrible customer service.
6) Upon arrival at camp I talked with the other two hunters. They informed me that no buffalo had been seen on the concession where we were staying. Not a single one had been seen during their entire time there. There were two buffalo hunters that left on Sunday prior to my arrival on Tuesday. Both of these hunters got buffalo but had to go to another area to hunt as they had seen nothing on the property. I talked to Rusty (the contract professional hunter left in charge) and he called Wayne Jardine on the phone. Rusty and Wayne talked and he was told for me to hunt the property where we were staying. Raphael tried his best. We drove the perimeter of the property searching for buffalo tracks or spore. None was found. We searched the interior of the property. Not a single track nor any spore was found with two solid long days of hunting. The buffalo were not on the property and hadn't been in weeks. This was known by Wayne Jardine prior to my arrival. That is why the two previous buffalo hunters were taken to another area to hunt. However, I was assigned to hunt the camp area, for three days, where there were no buffalo, becoming more and more frustrated. I finally set down and talked to Rusty who was in daily contact with Wayne on the phone (again Wayne never showed up at camp). Rusty knew there were no buffalo on the property. Rusty explained he thought it was a money issue. So I offered to pay part of bill in advance if it would help. Rusty talked to Wayne and then he asked me for $7000. I gave $7000 to Rusty on Thursday evening and no receipt was given (even though I asked for one). On Friday at lunch, I learned Wayne had obtained a permit for the Metezi hunting reserve for Saturday (same place the last two buffalo hunters went). I later learned from the game scout that the permit cost $3250, so I have no idea why I had to pay $7000, I guess it was to pay other money owed or money for the camp. The point I want to make is that the planning for my hunt was incompetent. Wayne Jardine knew there were no buffalo on the property. He had to make additional arrangements for the prior two buffalo hunters because there were no buffalo. So why did he have me hunting my tail off on the property where there was no buffalo? The plan should have been for me to go to Metezi from the first to hunt buffalo and I should have been informed of the plan. Again, absolutely terrible customer service. Mike (another hunter) showed up Saturday to hunt buffalo and was hunting some area that Wayne had found where there was said to be only one lone buffalo. Mike hunted two days for the single buffalo, walking miles and miles everyday. Mike and his uncle Ed (one of the other hunters) were totally frustrated with ZimAfrica and told his PH to take him back to the airport. Everyone was irritated and upset. Things could not have been more unorganized and ineffective.
7) After I was told to I had a permit to Metezi area to hunt buffalo, I decided to hunt for a Kudu since it would be Saturday before I could begin my hunt. There was no pricing posted for any trophy fees at the camp. I asked Rusty the price for shooting a Kudu. Rusty quoted me a price of $1200. So I shot a Kudu on Friday evening. When I received my invoice at the end of the hunt Wayne Jardine had charged me $1800 for the Kudu even though the price qouted was $1200. Terrible customer service.
8) By Saturday I had killed a buffalo and Kudu. So on Sunday, Rusty called on his phone and got me an earlier stay at the Victorian hotel, so I planned to leave camp on Tuesday morning for Victoria Falls (one day early). My wife wanted to leave early because she was hungry and the accommodations were so poor. I asked Rusty to get my bill ready as I would like to pay. Rusty said he would call Wayne and he would come to camp to collect payment. And of course Wayne never showed up and I could never get an invoice. I went to bed on Monday night, still having never received an invoice so I told Rusty when I received an invoice I would wire the remaining money as I had already paid approx $10000. After I was asleep about 9 PM, Rusty came to my tent, stating he had just received an invoice, on his phone, from Wayne and he wanted his money now. So I had to get up out of bed to make financial payment, even though I had been trying to pay for the previous two days. I looked at the invoice on his phone and it was several thousand dollars too high. I showed Rusty the paperwork that Jeff Martinell had provided. We corrected the $1800 charge for the kudu to $1200 as quoted, Rusty calculated the bill including taxes and I paid the remainder in cash and went to bed. 30 minutes later, another knock on my tent. Rusty said he incorrectly calculated the tax and I owed another $380. I paid it and had Rusty sign a paid in full bill, showing that I paid $13,416. The issue here is that Wayne Jardine never showed up to camp and waited until I had gone to bed on my last night at camp to even send an invoice, with the invoice being incorrect. You just get can't get any worse customer service.
9) On Tuesday morning when we got ready to leave camp for Victoria Falls, my wife and I had a pickup full of travelers. My wife and Raphael rode up front in the cab. There were 4 people including myself on the high bench seat and two more camp staff standing on our luggage in the back. 8 people were riding out of camp in a single vehicle. We were crushed together and rode that way to Victoria Falls. I was so embarrassed for both me and my wife. I would think it impossible for an outfitter to screw up this bad.
10) I inquired about taxidermy work before coming to Zimbabwe. I was told by Rebecca via email that a taxidermist called Colletts Wildlife Taxidermy was used. No one had any information about this at camp. Again there was no one at camp from ZimAfrica, so I had to have my hides sent back to USA for taxidermy work.
11) I hunted last September and all of my trophies are still in Zimbabwe. I could write another two pages on my efforts to try and get my trophies shipped. Needless to say they are still in Zimbabwe.
All of the other hunters in camp including myself, plan on coming back to Africa to hunt. None of us plan on even considering ZimAfrica or Luxuryhunts.com for future hunts because of the terrible customer service we all received.
Just recently I have recieved communication from Mike Seymour who experienced the same terrible customer service that I did. I am sure Mike and his fellow hunters will be joining in this post to help others not make the same mistake we did.
Wayne Findley
