Really, dont. increase price of airfare after OAT cancelled my 3rd booking and added me to a fourth safari. So thanks to Bob and all who went to bat with them before me. You and I know that is totally bullshi_. What you need to know about Grand Circle Travel Small Group Adventure or Small Ship Adventure for two Judges will also select a winning photo from each of the following four categories. Here's a link to a Seattle Times article from the end of June on Grand Circle tours with is the parent company of OAT. However, I lost the reasonable airfare paid for in November 2021. Ireland! Good to hear. What is the purpose of the trip? Travel | At any rate, their response today will certainly color my decision as to whether to book with them in the future. They get five stars from me for customer service. ANSWER: Youre absolutely correct that the Massachusetts Travel Seller law (940 Mass. Desired outcome: About. After taking 12 tours with them, they treated us terribly. This past month (November 2010), my mother treated my husband and I to a 3-week African safari. Buyer beware! As time went by, I was very disappointed in the way they were rescheduling tours for next year as opposed to giving refunds. I do not like their tipping and excursion costs. Fortunately, we, and the other couple, were able to stop payment on our checks before they cleared. Traveler Photo Contest | Overseas Adventure Travel My math makes $7,340 less $2,916 is $4,424. We recommend upgrading your browsersimply click the button below and follow the instructions that will appear. This demonstrates a commitment to customer service and transparency, which is a positive sign for building trust with customers. If I "only" had been out $2400 I would not have fought as hard as I did to get our refund. They also got some bad press in the Seattle Times. A trip to Egypt was originally scheduled for 04/20 but cancelled due to the pandemic. Life Travel Another canceled tour, another customer who wants a refund not a credit | Travel Troubleshooter June 14, 2021 at 6:00 am By Christopher Elliott Special to The Seattle Times. We have to cancel our trip to Australia and have been trying unsuccessfully to contact OAT via phone calls. In trying to adjust my air travel arrangements for APRIL 2022 I was kept on hold for over two hoursI never reached anyone who could help meI was promised a call back from a supervisor and never received oneTo date my email has gone unansweredI will not be traveling with them in future, This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. OAT has been a fantastic company for the past two tours we have taken with them, but now I am worried our $9,864 they agreed to refund will disappear. On our COVID canceled trips, we have received 100% refunds in a relatively short time from all companies. Our priority continues to be focused on recruiting, hiring and training both Sales and Service agents, with an added focus on Service. Oattravel.com has a valid SSL certificate, which indicates that the website is secure and trustworthy. Completely unacceptable and I guess we are the fools for not doing our research. Companies like OAT are struggling amid a difficult pandemic. Can you find out? Look for the padlock icon in the browser and the "https" prefix in the URL to confirm that the website is using SSL. And any partial refund is someone else's problem. At the three+ hour mark on one call I was disconnect because it "exceeded the allowable wait time. So first we try to get the remainder refunded, then go to the school board later. However, the trip is led by the OAT-parent company Grand Circle. I would like to complain on a recent reservation. Im dealing with a lot of Overseas Adventure Travel cases at the moment. Travel Troubleshooter: I might be on Alamos Do Not Rent list. Today I was told that my trip leaving next week, for which I have been sent airline tickets and reserved back in. Overseas Adventure Travel - Rick Steves Travel Forum So far, all communication has been one way since I paid, with no customer service at all. Do not get the insurance they peddle - Review of Overseas Adventure The trip was cancelled September 30, 2021. You get a refund. Instead, it appears the company waited several months, and its no secret that airfares start to rise as you get closer to your departure date. The agent was polite and friendly and said she could certainly do that for me. Thus, it appears that Allianz paid Overseas Adventure Travel and it chose whether or not to pay me. We have a couple more weeks before the refund is supposed to come through. Recommended Web Browsers: Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. They asked if I wanted to reschedule, and I declined. But as Nigel says until the money is in my account, I will stay on top of it. I contacted the Elliott Advocacy group and they are going to bat for me. Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. You are about to leave travel.state.gov for an external website that is not maintained by the U.S. Department of State. U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE BUREAU of CONSULAR AFFAIRS, Include an email address or phone number where we can reach you when traveling. I booked an African safari trip through OAT back in 2019. We originally scheduled for April of 2020. Beyond Europe / Overseas Adventur. He makes you feel welcome, informed, comfortable and It must be extraordinarily difficult to be a travel service provider right now. You will not be charged a fee for any changes made to your reservation up to 90 days before your trip departs. I certainly understand why someone who'd paid in full might be more eager to get cash back, but I just hope the company is still around next year after having to cancel all their departures this year. We spoke with Ms. Brown, and she accepted a $2,100 certificate in compensation for this issue.. Beware of Overseas Adventure Travel This group tour is a branch of Grand Circle. "Or maybe there are just honest decent people who know the long term value of good service?". I booked from them for the first time recently and had some questions regarding my trip. They offered us a good deal to reschedule but who knows if they will be around next year or if we will. My husband and I were really upset about it. Were working through these issues as quickly as possible based on departure date, and are hiring more Traveler Support associates to assist travelers. The NYT noted that the Massachusetts Attorney Generals office had over 400 (!) Update - I had hoped that OAT was going to do the right thing and refund my money. Even emails are left unanswered. Overseas Adventure Travel reviews & complaints Was surprised about some of the lower reviews, but many had to do with the global problems concerning the pandemic, scheduling and lack of personnel. Then to make matters worse, the layover in London for my mother's flight from the United States was only 1 hour. Glad they seemed to come around for you, hope you see the promised money. Take time to research local conditions and safety requirements. Whether you reside overseas or are just visiting, it is important that you know what to expect in advance and understand the risks inherent with adventure travel in a foreign country. ANSWER: Youre right. Travel Troubleshooter: Overseas adventure rebooked for 2021, but we don 16 years' experience in successful complaint resolution, Each complaint is handled individually by highly qualified experts, Last but not least, all our services are absolutely free. I was surprised to learn that even though I paid a premium of $1,398 to Allianz, Overseas Adventure Travel and not me, is the beneficiary of the policy. 5,892 talking about this. And I certainly understand why people whose trips were canceled would be upset about not getting a refund. I have been looking around for another tour company but have not found one that has itineraries as good as OAT. I waited 45 minutes today to ask a question before giving up. Alpine Europe: France, Italy's Dolomites, Switzerland & Austria New! The company provides a physical address, 3 phone numbers, and 2 emails, as well as 2 social media accounts. ComplaintsBoard.com is a leading complaint resolution website on the Internet. Wedding Capital of the World lifted by Las Vegas historic chapels, Nevada travel: Reno adventures, spas and craft breweries to explore, United Airlines pilot caught on surveillance video taking an axe to a parking gate at DIA, President Biden rents Lake Tahoe home from 2020 primary foe Tom Steyer. If it knew that your pre-trip was canceled, it should have told you immediately. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/travel/coronavirus-refunds-overseas-adventure-travel.html?smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR1l6Evy9gi6NjG3Bjudne5Qu4UOns2g_EVbq2EsESRzL_gtGr_kYZP0R5o. They only reply withe usual THANK YOU FOR CONTACTING OAT and IT WILL TAKE A FEW DAYS. Travel Insurance and Its Importance. Better late than never! Examples of things that vary: statute of limitations, maximum claim, whether lawyers are allowed in the courtroom, and if the county will serve the defendant the summons for you at no charge. In finding the problem hadnt been solved, I left messages for her, but she never called back. Travel Troubleshooter: Should Overseas Adventure Travel cover fare after cancellation? #154 of 451 things to do in Boston. This is what they care about customers. Do yourself a huge favor when booking your travel plans to foreign and exotic locations: do not use Overseas Adventure Travel / Grand Circle. The original reservation was #3910108 and changed to 3975236 when I rescheduled. O.A.T. Overseas Adventure Travel Reviews and Financial Problems We will see how that goes. From trip cancellations to medical emergencies, travel insurance provides peace of mind during your overseas adventure. Update - I just received an email from Allianz that the travel insurance premium portion of the total is being refunded. I am done with OAT. Incidentally, no one mentioned in my previous post something key: small claims court filings can only happen in the county where the tour business is located, so that's a huge wildcard that fortunately works out for me since I live there. SAFETY NOTICE: ComplaintsBoard has determined that Overseas Adventure Travel has an exceptional credibility, near-perfect reputation level of trust, with a legitimacy rating that is more or less around 87%. Due to the pandemic I rescheduled it for summer 2023. Reg. This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC. OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL - 55 Photos & 338 Reviews - Yelp Most complaints on tour operators stem from missed connections, and OAT, in spite of their boasting about repeat customers, failed us. OAT is the reason that I had to pay more, not me. Ive wanted to visit Morocco for a long time and was looking forward to the trip. We are very sorry about the difficulty reaching us. They provide a strange kind of service. Travel | We booked a departure date of November 5, 2020. After reading The NY Times article on the Sunday before Memorial Day, we called immediately to cancel a trip made just the day before. Travel | We conducted a search on social media and found several negative reviews related to Overseas Adventure Travel. This is terrible what you do. I expected to have to argue with them but they were very gracious about it and will issue a full refund to my cc in about 30 days. Several times I was put on hold for several hours and finally give up. I called the company to request a full refund for our September Morocco tour just a few minutes ago. OAT has many problems but - Review of Overseas Adventure Travel Winners will receive a $500 Travel Credit. I'll second that. How about their advertising a major tourist attraction for the day that it is closed. We were scheduled to leave Aug. 29 for Morocco and return Sept. 26. But, if the extraordinary number of reader complaints I have received more than a dozen and counting are any indication, they have been doing so anyway. I have done independent travel in the past, but because of my age (too old) I am having troubles renting cars in Europe. After 3 hours and 15 minutes on hold, our calls are disconnected with a promise to return our call in 24 hours. Lesson learned. We leave in less than two weeks. I would appreciate a response as to why new customer calls are answered in just a few minutes while paid customer calls are on hold for nearly an hour or more and some exceeding three-hours.If OAT were a customer-friendly company paid customer calls would be answered first and not last. Changes to your reservation made within 89-30 days of your departure will be charged a $150 service fee per person per call, plus any additional fees charged by the airline. But you shouldnt have to do that, and the state of Massachusetts agrees. If you are thinking about booking a trip . Because we were only two months from departure, the cost for this rebooking was an additional $1,056 per person, which the agent advised I would have to pay. Christopher Elliott, King Features Syndicate, Inc. Review: '80s pop music icon hits the concert trail instead of retiring, Dear Abby: My husband justifies his behavior by saying he doesn't like boys, SF Giants manager Gabe Kapler suspended by MLB. I will be calling them Monday morning. OAT and Grand Circle have many complaints over the years with the BBB. DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!!! Complaints for Overseas Adventure Travel - Better Business Bureau (800) 221-0814 Monday - Friday: 9am-8pm (ET) Saturday: 9am-6pm (ET) Sunday: 9am-6pm Effective 4/30/2023 For questions about your trip reservation*, contact us by email at Support@oattravel.com For questions about your flight arrangements, contact us by email at Air@oattravel.com Decided to call and was on hold for about 40 minutes without somebody picked up the phone. As time moved forward we realized that we would not be comfortable traveling to Morocco this fall so I reviewed our contract. We had paid for our Morocco holiday, and had paid OAT to arrange for our air travel from Sacramento CA so that if there is any delay in flight, a representative would still meet us in Casablanca upon arrival. My fear is that they will file bankruptcy and a lot of us will be left holding the bag. That includes airlines, hotels, rental cars, etc. I wish we read these reviews before we placed our deposit. We may have been scheduled for the same Morocco tour! This complaint was posted by a verified customer. I only had to call them once and request that they obtain a refund from the airline since our flights were cancelled, and I also requested a refund from Gate 1. Travel Troubleshooter: Should Overseas Adventure Travel cover fare I have been sending more than 50 (FIFTY) emails because they failed to fully refund me. 6 years ago Save We just booked a tour for next year with this company. Alternatively, you could have filed a case in small claims court, although you would have had to limit your . Contact him at elliott.org/help or chris@elliott.org. Take a look at Odysseys Unlimited for your safari. Since all I've paid is a $350 down-payment, I'm not concerned and didn't feel the need to press for a refund. OAT cancelled all three. 347 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210-1222. I'd also encourage people to print out the refund policy at the time you book your trip. OAT had the best itinerary for Morocco that we had seen although I was not happy with them adding extra fees for some of the optional excursions. I understood I was just wasting my time. Christopher Elliott, King Features Syndicate, Inc. www.elliott.org/company-contacts/grand-circle-travel/, Review: '80s pop music icon hits the concert trail instead of retiring. Now I had to pay another $5,000 for the new airfare, increased cost of insurance and an extra hotel room after my group left. TheSmart Traveler Enrollment Program(STEP) is a free service for U.S. citizens traveling to, or living in, a foreign country. I had booked and paid in full three attempts for a Kenya and Tanzania Safari. We were also told we'd get a call back with a day/time specified, never got the call. Perhaps all the bad publicity and angry customer response has had something to do with it or the MA AG a got on their case. Overseas Adventure Travel. I try to believe the best of people and have faith in them until they prove otherwise. Since our trips were all booked and paid for at the same time as travelers on the same trip, I thought it was extremely cheap for OAT to put my 78-year-old mother on an international flight all alone. Travel | Do not trust them. We have been trying for over 1 week with no resultsalways on a wait list, "we will call you back within 24 hours" message after waiting for over 3 hoursand no call back. Travel Troubleshooter: I might be on Alamos Do Not Rent list. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. I was hopeful that they were going to do the right thing when they promised to refund our money. For tour content and guides, I feel they are on the same level as RS tours. Overseas Adventure Travel website is deemed to be popular and indicating that it receives a high volume of traffic. Travel Troubleshooter: I might be on Alamos Do Not Rent list. We had a few Very reasonable questions we wanted answered. But we had never traveled with them before so we thought we would give them a go. Travel Trouble: A $30K Overseas Adventure Travel refund goes awol Jan 10, 2022, 10:10 ET. I contacted Overseas Adventure Travel on your behalf. Thanks very much for your patience. Thanks, Pam. We called to ask about it but waited on hold for 5 hours - and never got through. If you still need assistance, please contact us at request@oattravel.com. Overseas Adventure Travel (Boston) - All You Need to Know - Tripadvisor I then booked a trip through the Adriatic for the summer of 2022. We apologize for the very long call hold times. Overseas Adventure Travel told them that the pre-trip had been canceled, but the company waited another two months to advise me of the cancellation. Hidden Gems of the Dalmatian Coast & Greece, Enhanced! Whether for mountain biking or bungee jumping, safaris or surfing, millions of U.S. citizens travel abroad each year and engage in adventure travel. If things next fall are still dicey, I will have the option to postpone again to 2022. I am one of those who had to fight to get their refund. I phoned today and spoke to Jeffrey who told me that the bill was sent by a separate department and that my refund will now take 45 days. I think that OAT has done a lot of damage to their reputation. The support team lacks customer service skills, training, and resources, resulting in only 0% of 0 complaints being resolved. Yes, I have done RS tours back to back. Look . Observe and obey all posted regulations and instructions. We made our reservations number 395357 for myself and Friend on early February. Overseas Adventure Travel, Boston: See 607 reviews, articles, and 549 photos of Overseas Adventure Travel, ranked No.150 on Tripadvisor among 451 attractions in Boston. 1. Use your credit card, don't pay in cash to get a discount. Established in 1978, Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) Really, dont. Chart: Rainfall totals for Tropical Storm Hilary in Southern California, Dear Abby: My neighbor is too noisy but I'm the one catching flak, Russian moon mission ends in disastrous crash, Tropical storm warnings for Hispaniola and Texas as hurricane center watches 5 systems in Atlantic and Gulf, Did Dodger Stadium flood? I just stopped calling. Well be using OAT when it becomes feasible. OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL (Boston) - All You Need to Know - Tripadvisor After we filed with BBB OAT said they would refund our money however they said it was given as a voucher and would take 30 days to send to us. Or make connecting flights 1 hour apart even though we need to use a wheel chair and move from one terminal to another. Our country informationpages contain information on adventure travel in the locations you are traveling. Costa Rica! Life-altering because there isn't a week that goes by when I'm busy in my modern kitchen that I don't think about the Berber mother out on the desert that showed me her kitchen: a few pots and plastic dishes secured to a big bush, a pit in the ground for the cooking fire, and a dried mud oven for baking the daily bread. Travel | They haven't completely done the right thing until the promised money arrives in your card. We provide a buying advantage with verified reviews and. OAT's email offering a refund would have made your credit-card dispute an easy win. I never even had to contact United. But that is insignificant, certainly not worth complaining about, when reminiscing about the incredible trip and fantastic guide (Aziz). But frankly for other families not familiar with travel they aren't angry because they don't know how much they were had, and how much school employees contributed to the adverse outcome. Since that trip, our second, we have OAT book our travel into the trip's take-off point (like Paris or Amsterdam) a week ahead of main trip, and we do our own 'Pre-trip". There are some overseas adventure travel complaints that are so annoying that it should be brought to our attention before using their services. Instead, it appears the company waited several months. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Travel | 19 29 Buyers Beware of OAT Review of Overseas Adventure Travel Reviewed May 15, 2020 OAT's actual tours are great but, in recent years, their administration and customer service have become difficult to work through. The Aegean Islands, Athens & Istanbul, Cruising the Adriatic: Croatia & Montenegro, French & Italian Rivieras: Marseille, Corsica, Elba & Rome, Enhanced! They could allow people to leave a message, and then the company could call people back and arrange a time they could speak with someone to resolve whatever they need. Travel | Travel Troubleshooter: Ive been banned by Airbnb, but no one will tell me why. We cancelled the trip and have decided to never use them again. A representative told me that it would take 30 to 90 days. I get daily emails from them. A couple of weeks later, we received a notice from Overseas Adventure Travel that they had rebooked us on a trip to the same destination in June 2021. Today, I forwarded your information to our finance team to track the status of your $2398.00 refund.. I contacted Overseas Adventure Travel on your behalf. They also refused to let me speak with a supervisor or manager., I have a problem with that kind of customer service. A company should always answer its customers, even if its to politely say no.Related Articles Please, Sicily's Ancient Landscapes & Timeless Traditions, Northern Italy: The Alps, Dolomites & Lombardy, Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zambia & Zimbabwe Safari, Northern Spain & Portugal: Pilgrimage into the Past, Antarctic Circle Expedition: Journey through Antarctica, Tuscany & Umbria: Rustic Beauty in the Italian Heartland, Back Roads of Iberia: Spanish Paradores & Portuguese Pousadas, French Impressions: From the Loire Valley to Lyon & Paris, Enhanced! BOSTON, Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 2022 may be the year that travel really comes back. James, I am not sure why it takes 30 days for a refund but I have run into this before with refunds from other companies so I wasnt too concerned. Another canceled tour, another customer who wants a refund not a

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