Travel

#Top 19 Complaints and Reviews about Overseas Adventure Travel

Consumer Complaints Reviews

I own my own company and I was horrified to learn of my Aunt's best friend that used the Overseas Adventure Travel company to go to Nepal this year. The treatment her friend received during a horrific time was appalling. The follow-up experience after she and her son finally got home to the USA was even more disconcerting. Regardless of the extenuating circumstances of the earthquake that leveled that country, being left behind without this tour group was so unprofessional. The reason people hire Tour Groups when traveling outside of the United States is so they are safe. Not only did the tour guide leave them stranded they also had their travel visas and documents required to travel. After five days of anguish and using their own money were they able to get out of Nepal but to finally arrive in Chicago. They had to make other arrangements to finally get home to Colorado.

I am due to go on my 5th trip with OAT in two weeks. I decided to get on the site just to see some reviews. For a company this large, I was astounded to see only 11 reviews and all BAD. I now see why anyone I've recommended to this company has not signed on. Our tour guides have been great. Things have always gone pretty smoothly. We've stayed in really nice places, but I have to agree with the poor service coming from the home office. The right hand NEVER seems to know what the left hand is doing.

OAT is SO stringent, so petty and unmoving on some things I find it disgusting and a VERY poor business tactic. Even with someone doing as many trips as my sister and I have, they will not budge when it comes to giving that lousy little credit toward another trip if it falls just weeks after their designated expiration date. How in the hell can they expect the average person to be able to take two expensive trips in back to back years? Make the damn credit for more than one year or make it indefinite. They goad you with these tiny credits and then REFUSE to work with you to keep you as a customer.

I have written time and time again, called, gone direct to the Lewis' about the utter waste of postage, paper and redundant mailings and nothing changes. The cost of our trips go up, in part, due to the UNBELIEVABLE waste in mailings alone. Example - once signed on for a trip, wait until the time period for cancellation has expired before sending out the costly trip package. Just think of how many people cancel 24 hours after signing on for a trip, but OAT seems to be so needy for business, that they waste approx. $10 in mailing a welcome package which will be tossed away. WAIT until the time frame for cancellation has passed to mail anything to the client. Same goes for when you've done a few trips with them, you get your choice of a gift. Long story short, my sister and I should have received one jacket each, but due to their errors, we each received 3 or 4. Wrong colors, wrong sizes, wrong item, etc. At least 4 OAT employees have agreed with the utter waste of mailings.

So there is good about the company and the trips, but they have a LOT to learn about customer care and keeping customers. I agree, OAT shows NO concern when they cancel a trip. They could care less about the customer and how they have worked other things around an OAT trip only to have it cancelled. If just 4 people sign on for a trip, have done all their personal prep, paid for the trip and ins. then it should go as planned. OAT is NOT poor and I doubt many trips have just a few people going, so on those trips that do have a low number at least contact those few people and discuss it with them, don't make the decision without some kind of input from the client as to how this will affect them. Most people are willing to change unless they have other air plans, using miles, have paid for ins. with an outside company, etc.

TIPS: As for this new tipping plan OAT has, I would like to know how much they are tipping assistants on busses, baggage handlers, etc. I hope to God they give a decent tip each and every time. I have been on enough trips to see how utterly CHEAP Americans can be when it comes to tipping. If OAT recommends a $2 tip, by God that's all they will give or less. It is embarrassing to be with a group of Americans and actually see them STIFF on tips or give one that is nothing more than a slap in the face to the very deserving people working so hard to make your trip pleasurable. Most people on these trips have money and will buy $1,000 rugs, jewelry, etc. but are cheap, cheap, cheap when it comes to the service people.