John A,
I will outline a few facts so readers can see your post for what it is - a malicious smear:
1. You deceived the Heli-Tours Fiji pilot and received a much longer flight than the one you had actually booked and paid for through your Hotel Tour Desk.
2. The pilot Tim, (who you refer to in your post) is also one of the owners. Tim does not usually do the scenic flights however it was a very busy day for us and other pilots were occupied. You were very chatty, said you owned your own helicopter and had mutual friends with Tim. Tim went out of his way to give you a fabulous flight to celebrate your special day - which you and your finance certainly seemed to enjoy immensely. When Tim returned to the office he discovered you had lied to him and as a result you had received a much longer flight than what you had paid for. As you know helicopters are very expensive to operate and we cannot afford to give away thousands of dollars.
5. That day and in the days following, the Tour Desk agent, our sales staff and Tim left messages on your phone and in your hotel room which you ignored. Our sales staff (twice) drove all the way to your hotel on the Coral Coast (40mins each way) to attempt to meet with you. However while in Fiji, after your helicopter flight, you made no attempt to contact us at all about any matter, including photos.
6. As a last resort, Heli-Tours Fiji was forced to seek assistance from the local police who intercepted you at the airport when you tried to leave the country without paying for your flight. In 8 years of operations here we have never had to do that however we are grateful to the authorities and the Police for their support of local tourism operators.
7. The amount you eventually paid (after police intervention at the airport) was still less than the full amount you owed to Heli-Tours Fiji.
8. You recently sent an email to our Sales and Reservations Manager threatening the company with blackmail and saying unless we sent "your photos"... "within 24 hours" you were (and I quote) "about to go to social media, current affair TV and review your business ..... I have a very large network of media contacts ..... all I am asking for is my photos in 24 hrs or I will go to every website......I will let the public know how bad you run your business".
10. The humiliation of being apprehended at the International Airport by uniformed police, could have easily been avoided if you had replied to our numerous phone calls and messages while in Fiji.
11. In addition to our range of beautiful scenic tours and island transfers, Heli-Tours Fiji has become well known for creative and unique proposal flights which our Sales Team work hard (and spend many hours) putting together. Photo packages are an optional extra however, you never requested or paid for photos to be included on your flight. Our prices are very reasonable, in what is a very competitive industry in Fiji.
10. The helicopter pilot is often the only other person to witness to a romantic beach proposal so he may take a few photos on his own phone and share them with the couple later. This is a gift from us to guests - not an entitlement. And we would like readers to know that we would never put proposal photos in a brochure without permission.
12.Heli-Tours Fiji is the very proud recipient of a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. We believe this is due to our outstanding personal service, professional team and beautiful flights. The award is endorsed by the number of lovely positive reviews we have received from happy guests.
Should you wish to have any further discussions on this matter please be mature enough to contact us directly and not though Trip Advisor. We were reluctant to acknowledge your post with a response but thought it was important to exercise our right of reply and tell the truth.