myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi Steve,
Fantastic website!!! I hope every vaction destination we want to visit has such an intelligent and comprehensive resource as MyTobago.
As part of our vacation preparation, we tried to email Sheppy via the link on this website. This was on Thursday Sept. 29. So far no answer from him. Also, I tried his website at http://www.tobagocarrental.com and it is down. Do you have any information about this? Are they just working on the website? I would really like to get a quote from Sheppy prior to booking our rental car.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Cheers,
Claude

Hi Claude

Welcome aboard!

On reading your email, the first thing I did was check his site. Sure enough, it was down. Then, being a professional webmaster, I used the tools at my disposal to track down the reason. I couldn't believe it when I found that the simple answer was that his domain name had expired had not been renewed.

This is something that we webmasters live in dread of. For whatever reason, a renewal reminder goes missing and/or we forget to take action; the domain lapses then the website dissapears. You may not even notice it immediately if its a low-traffic site. Then you go past the redemption period and either have to fork out hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get the name back, or start from scratch. Thank God that we have automated systems for our clients that automatically renew all domains by default.

Anyway, Sheppy's domain/site are nothing to do with me, but it still put me into a panic. I thought he probably didn't know. So, I telephone him. All is not lost - he isn't suffering from Tobagoitis and simply ignoring emails. He had received a renewal reminder but had lost his credit card. Its in the process of being sorted today, but it will probably take a couple of days before the site reappears.

As regards your enquiry, he remembers your email - although he says he received it on Friday, so maybe you sent it after business-close on Thursday evening. He thought he had replied, but I've left him searching his system. He will either reply or send another copy of his original reply. I'm afraid that the local TSTT Internet provider is notorious for either 'eating' emails or delaying delivery for days, but one way or the other its in hand now.

Hi Steve, I also need to get back to dear old Sheppy in order to cfm a car hire. Do You know his personal e-mail or telephone number?
If YOu do not want to put it in the public domain kindly mail me at [email protected]

Kindest rgds
Stefan R

Hi Stefan

Sorry, but the only contact information I have is the numbers listed on the Tobago Car Rental Agencies page, i.e.

Email: [email protected]
Office: (868) 639-1543
Mobile: (868) 680-8931

Hi, all. Sheppy just sent me an e-mail responding to a question I sent him last week regarding my car reservation for December. He gave me two numbers, one of which is different from the number Steve posted. 868-680-8931 (mobile) is still good, but he gave another number: 868-631-8277. Hope that helps.

Dianne

Thanks Dianne

The number you provide is a second line into the office. The main number I listed is still good - as I can confirm from having used it this week.

Thanks for letting us know though. With two lines and the lovely Rita and another girl to assist him in the office, we'll soon be having to make an appointment to talk to Sheppy.

Hi Steve,
Thanks for investigating the fate of Sheppy's website. He's since been in touch with me and provided a quote for the week. I inquired about a reduction in the rate based on declining the CDW (my credit card offers this coverage as a benefit) and this was not an option. I have also been in touch woith KCNN and they have been most accomodating. We will likely book with them. I've read through the posts and other information relating to car rental and insurance coverage on MyTobago (very helpful!) Any additional thoughts/comments or advice?
Cheers,
Claude

heard that sunbird holidays have a great insurance policy... maybe you'll check it out. http://www.sunbird-holidays.com