Below is from another UK kite forum.....................


WARNING! Hooked-On/Bradshaw, Don't Be a Victim!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know if anyone on here has had any dealings with a company called Hooked-On Kitesurfing or its founder, a character who calls himself Dan Bradshaw, danbrad2000 on the forums, unfortunately I have. If you are thinking of booking a holiday with this company, you might want to reconsider after reading this post.

Some time ago this thread appeared offering a kitesurfing trip to Dahkla, Western Sahara:

http://forum.kitecrowd.com/showthrea...ghlight=DAKHLA

I had a look on the website, thought it looked fantastic, emailed them, waited, waited some more, eventually got a reply. I didn't book a place until a few weeks before the trip as I had trouble getting time off work. In this time I emailed various questions I had, he was always slow to reply, never once responded to any texts or voicemails I left, and only confirmed he'd received my payment after I'd asked him a couple of times. I found this quite annoying but put it down to him being busy, seeing as he runs a company offering holidays to several different locations. I later found out from speaking to other clients of his that this was typical, one of them had given up on him and booked directly with the company running the camp.

The day before I was due to fly to Morocco I'd still not received any details of where to go, what to do or what I'd need to take, I tried ringing, texting, emailing, no luck. I asked on the forums as I was getting a bit concerned by then. Dan Bradshaw must have seen my posts, as if by magic he started emailing me, telling me he'd passed my mobile number on so I'd get picked up, his colleagues in Dakhla would ring me to sort it, also letting me know what to bring and even telling me what a great trip this was going to be as plenty of people were there etc.

I flew to Marrakesh, spent a night there and then took the coach to Dakhla. On the way there I rang a number Dan Bradshaw had given me and spoke to Soufiane Haimini, one of the guys organising the trip, and explained to him I would be there a bit later than I'd planned. No problem. 28 hours and who knows how many police and army checkpoints later I arrived in the centre of Dakhla. I rang Soufiane again, ten minutes and someone will be there he said. An hour later I'm still waiting, so I tried ringing again. No answer. So I rang Dan's number, he's already at the camp so he's gonna know what to do. Rings but no answer, so I text him. He texts back to tell me theres been an emergency and he can't ring me, he's still in the UK but he'll be in Dakhla asap. Bearing in mind I've been standing outside a now closed for the night coach office in a small North West African city , I'm tired, it's now dark, I've got all my kite gear with me, I'm being approached by all manner of beggars, offers of cab rides, hashish, I'm starting to feel a wee bit pissed off. Its a beer and a rest I want, not this crap.

So then a 4x4 appears, out steps a young Moroccan bloke and walks over to me. He said something in French I didn't understand so I asked him if Hooked-On had sent him , he looked puzzled. So I said 'Soufiane?', 'Soufiane Haimini, oui!' he says. I got in the car with him and he drove me to a block of flats, got out, gestured to me to remain seated and walked over to a woman and a man and started talking to them. By now I'm thinking 'What the f*ck am I getting into here and where the f*ck am I?'. I'm starting to remember this part of the world has an Al-Qaeda presence, nobody knows where I am, I'm thinking beheading videos starring me etc. I needn't have worried, he got back in, smiled and drove to the camp. He turned out to be a pretty sound bloke as it happens.

We arrived at the camp and I got my next taste of Hooked-Ons marvellous organisational capabilities. I told them my name, that Dan Bradshaw of Hooked-On had sorted everything. More blank looks. Nobody knew him, nobody had ever heard of him. They were alright about it, fed me (I had to explain I don't eat meat of any kind, no chance that Bradshaw would ever have thought of such a minor detail anyway) and put me in a tent. I went to bed thinking I'd probably come to the wrong place, they've probably not had the money and if I stay here I'm gonna have to pay again.

Next morning I get a text from Bradshaw saying he's trying to sort things and keep him posted. Eh? I didn't realise this was a sort it yourself trip, everything was supposed to be organised by him, I was supposed to be there enjoying myself. Steve and Paul turned up after breakfast, similarly unimpressed by Hooked-On/Bradshaw. Steve was also doubtful that we were in the right place or that the money had been payed. We decided to stay put, do the kitesurfing and see what happened. After a couple more days we decided we didn't want any last minute surprises so went to the Admin office to have a chat about our situation. It turned out they didn't have any record at all of Steve or Paul, they didn't even know they were there, but assured us everything was fine. It turned out the money had gone through but we all had this nagging doubt all the time we were there.

As for the Hooked-On Kitesurfing trip, well, it never actually happened. We, the THREE of us were the group, despite Bradshaw telling me only days before that it was going to be a big trip, wonder what the small ones are like....

Our man Bradshaw was AWOL for the duration, Mohamed Haimini was there but never got the chance to help us with any riding tips as his days seemed to be filled working in the camp shop and hanging out with his pals. I spoke to him, and guess what, he'd never heard of Dan Bradshaw or Hooked-On! Soufiane who was also meant to be offering help didn't get the chance to either. Mainly because he lives in Tarifa, Spain. Another of Bradshaw's name-dropping exercises is IKSURF Magazine, I've yet to ascertain how he is connected with them, I suspect he isn't, he just thought it would look good on his website to help lure his victims.

I did actually enjoy the kitesurfing, it was a pity the holiday was spoilt by the uncertainty caused by Bradshaw's incompetence and disinterest, I'm intending to do a write up of the kiting itself separately so as not to tarnish the place by associating it with Hooked-On and Bradshaw.

I've been in touch with Bradshaw since I got home, his emails are unintentionally amusing, blaming everyone but himself, he even thinks I'm being unfair as he's only 21! He thinks I'm trying to ruin his life and his business by letting people on the forums know what happened. If I ever meet him I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself from ruining his ability to pee standing up. According to him he has scores of satisfied customers. He's not all bad either, he's offered me, wait for it.......£20 as compensation. I'm not surprised, everything the man says or does is utter shite.

Hopefully he'll see this and trot out some of his pathetic explanations. I've got a whole series of emails from him which I intend to print off and laugh about in years to come. They really are treasures!

So if you fancy a holiday like mine, Steve and Paul's, I can heartily recommend Hooked-On and Dan Bradshaw. Or you might prefer a well organised holiday where you're not constanly lied to, treated like a fool, and actually get what you paid for, in which case I recommend almost anyone except Hooked-On and Dan Bradshaw.

Its becoming an interesting topic on kitecrowd now... The uni have used him for their tarifa trip and I heard it was good and he seemed nice enough when I met him. But what a way to start and end your business. Needless to say I won't be joining the uni trip to Tarifa this year!