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| On The Go Tours Go Travelling Tour and Travel company, OTG www.onthegotours.com, Internet |
| 1st of Jan, 2012 by User826529 |
| Welcome fellow travelers! I am reporting on this website to caution all travelers regarding On The Go Tours, also doing business as, Go Travelling LTD London Great Britain. In summary, On The Go Tours SUCKS! They have unfair business practices that cost me $ thousands of dollars $. Check out my website at for the entire story and to sign my guestbook. Our 9 day King Tut Tour with On The Go Tours (OTG) was to have occurred March 26 through April 3, 2011. Sounds familiar? Yes, that’s during the time that Egypt was grappling with civil unrest. Because of escalated violence in Egypt before, during and after the time of my tour, I believe my proactive decision to cancel my trip using all reasonable, prudent person information available to me at that time was a sound decision. OTG is refusing to refund $3,532.00 for a trip that I canceled with all reasonable prudent person beliefs that OTG would not be able to assure my personal safety in a civil war torn country. We booked our travel long before there was any unrest in Egypt. On January 5, 2011 my credit card was charged for the full cost of the tour. On January 31, 2011, after weeks of growing unrest in Egypt, and several emails with OTG staff expressing my increasing concern, I contacted OTG to cancel my trip and formally request a full refund. OTG had my funds for less than 30 days and yet they refuse to refund me? I made all of my travel arrangements on the Internet and via email, so I’m supposing that my demands as a customer requiring service were quite low, certainly not to have warranted a $3,532 fee! And get this, they advise they won’t refund me because, “As a company based in the United Kingdom and hence governed by British Law we are obligated to follow the Travel Advice given by that of the British Foreign Office only…we do not follow the Travel Advice given by other nations so this Advice does not apply.†Yes, that’s right. They refuse to refund me, a United States citizen, because I was following the Travel Advice posted by my US Department of State. At the time of my proposed travel, their website posted, "The U.S. Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Egypt. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated February 6, 2011, to update information on the ongoing security and political situation in Egypt." OTG Manager John Taylor wrote , "As an impartial viewer the government has the best judgment on whether a country is safe to travel or not which is not based on media hysteria or over dramatization but on actual facts.†“If the situation does not change and the governments advice is that it is indeed not safe to travel in March then a refund will be made in due course." Well, my government has weighed in. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has weighed in citing that even as of May 2011 that the region is unsafe with “violent clashes†“situation is unpredictable†“violent sectarian clashes†“violent confrontationsâ€.And “media hysteria†and “over dramatizationâ€?! I’m sure that Lara Logan, CBS news correspondent, had no idea she was merely part of the “media hysteria†and “over dramatization†when, while reporting from Egypt, she was violently attacked, beaten and sustained a prolonged sexual assault by a mob. Shame on you OTG for your lack of human decency and empathy! The OTG website states in section "Cancellation by on the go: The Company reserves the right to cancel a tour in any circumstances...The Company will, upon cancellation, return all monies paid...because of Force Majeure.." Their website defines Force Majeure as "…includes war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity...or other similar events beyond the control of the Company." OTG chose not to cancel the tour or to allow me a refund. As a reasonable, prudent person, I believe I could have interpreted from their cancellation policy that the riots, civil strife, terrorist activity, 846 dead, 6000 injured and threat of war occurring in Egypt immediately preceding and during my tour would mean that I could expect them to provide a full refund. Come on OTG! I would have happily booked a different trip with you. But now I no longer trust your judgment. You are only after my dollar. You obviously don't value my safety, my potential return customer bookings, my positive word of mouth, or your standing in the US business community. I sent a personal letter to every current and former board member of OTG asking for a refund. I NEVER heard a word of reply. Scott Briadwood Jayvant Lakshman Reginald Bamford Ashley Deakin Michael Kaye All OTG ever wanted was my money. Unfair! Unscrupulous! Unimaginable! ALL TRAVELERS BEWARE of On The Go Tours! OTG SUCKS! Check out what another travelers are saying about OTG: "Due to protests, the train tracks were cut between Cairo and Aswan. This meant we had to catch an overnight bus for 14 hours!!! Despite already having paid the upgrade for the overnight sleeper train. NO REFUND FOR THE OVERNIGHT TRAIN!! Overall I felt like we were getting ripped off.†April 2011 "This company, though still claiming "guaranteed departures", cancelled the tour, having already taken full payment, and confirmed the booking in writing. I had to ask four times to have the money paid back. And they refused to compensate for costs such as flights and visas that had already been booked. DO NOT TRAVEL WITH THIS COMPANY. They are dishonest and unhelpful. Stay well away." October 2011 |
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This is in response to the litigious comments and allegations made against us. For these clients to suggest that we would compromise our travellers safety is completely unjustified and unacceptable to us - and a matter that we are taking extremely seriously. We are a highly regarded professional tour operator that takes thousands of satisfied clients away on holiday every year.
- When these clients booked their tour with us, they signed up to our booking conditions which are governed by British law.
- When the British Foreign office lifted their travel restrictions to Egypt, which we are obliged to abide by, we started running our tours there again. This was at the beginning of March.
- Furthermore, our highly experienced local team in Egypt is constantly monitoring the situation to ensure the absolute safety of our passengers. All our tours in Egypt continue to operate smoothly.
- Given that some of our travellers were nervous about having a holiday in Egypt following the unrest there, we extended a free deferral of travel arrangements to all i.e. re-book their trip at a later date for no charges. We are a flexible and service led organisation.
- We managed to do this by negotiating with hotels and Nile Cruises, but had to forego all pre-purchased train tickets and some other deposits ourselves.
- These clients simply refused the deferral and demanded a full refund even though all our tours to Egypt were operating normally in March. They did accept a partial refund however, but having done so, have continued to relentlessly harass us about this matter.
- To our knowledge, they never took this matter forward with ABTA, who would normally arbitrate in such situations.
- They did take their grievance forward with the Kansas Attorney General's office who contacted us, and to whom we responded in full. We never heard back, so are assuming they advised these clients that we had indeed acted fairly.
- They also took the matter forward with their credit card company, who we assume have also advised these clients that we have acted more than fairly.
We trust that the above provides a balanced and objective view on what actually happened.
Should anyone wish to discuss this matter further, please feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected]
On The Go Tours |
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Dale and Cathy Green continue to hope for a full refund from our canceled trip with On The Go Tours. We canceled our trip to Egypt as the revolution and civil unrest took deadly turns. But OTG is saying, “As a company based in the United Kingdom and hence governed by British Law we are obligated to follow the Travel Advice given by that of the British Foreign Office only…we do not follow the Travel Advice given by other nations so this Advice does not apply.” Yes, that’s right. Although the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office posted on March 8, 2011, "There were violent sectarian clashes in Cairo in which 13 people died and 140 were injured. Violent confrontations also took place in Tahrir Square, Cairo and in downtown Alexandria..." and again later posted on April 8, 2011, "A large scale demonstration took place in Tahrir Square...There were violent clashes...As the situation is unpredictable, we advise you stay away from...Tahrir Square and follow the news." Their own British government office was saying that it was not safe.
OTG would really think it is appropriate to send us on our vacation with guidelines to "stay away from Tahrir Square" and "follow the news"?! Tahrir Square is 300 yards from the famed Egyptian Museum and 2100 yards from the Khan al-Khalil bizarre - both sites frequently touted in the OTG travel brochures. I would not have thought that this is how OTG wanted me to spend my vacation in Egypt - missing the Egyptian Museum and following the news for treat of war?!!
No OTG, your business practices are unfair. Cathy Green |
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