WorldPass Travel Group

Review: I paid for my daughter to go on her senior trip with her high school from May 20 through May 22, 2016. This was a three day tour, which included a trip to Newport Beach, CA on Day 1. The tour bus driver clearly did not know how to get to Newport Beach from Napa because he drove towards Sacramento to get on Interstate 5. This caused almost a 3 hour delay, which resulted in hitting LA during peak traffic. In addition to his incompetency, the driver attempted to make up time by driving reckless and placing the students at risk. Due to the driver's actions, they did not go to the beach as agreed and day 1 was spent on the bus instead of visiting Newport.

I attempted to file a complaint with the company but they have responded to my e-mails nor have they made any attempts to return my call. I am requesting some compensation for day one's mishap and would the bus driver investigated for his actions.

Hopefully, New Tech High School will never us this company in the future but they should not be allowed to get away with no honoring their contact.Desired Settlement: The total cost of the tour was $545 for three days. Since day one was less expensive than the following two days, the company should refund me $145 (one payment) for not honoring their contract. In addition to the refund, they should do a formal investigation on the bus driver because he should not be around children.

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com, Thank you for forwarding this concern onto us for response. Mr. [redacted] also contacted us and requested a partial refund. He then went to his credit card company and did a charge back for $145.00 which we have not disputed. We have not heard from him since. Mr. [redacted] was correct in that the motor coach arrived late into Anaheim, causing them to miss a stop at Newport Beach. There was no charge for the stop at Newport Beach, so we felt the request for $145.00 refund was excessive. However, Mr. [redacted]’s arguments as to why the delay occurred are incorrect. The delay was caused because of a late departure from the school. Motor coach arrived on time at 6:15am confirmed by the school district transportation office. It was scheduled to depart by 6:30am for LA but did not depart until 8:00am. This was a group related issue and not a bus driver issue. The original route was to drive through the bay area on the way south to L.A., but because of the late start the original route was plagued with stop and go traffic and the bus driver using Google Maps along with help from the dispatch office, determined that a safer and less congested route would be to avoid the bay area and travel down HWY 5 through Sacramento. This was predicated to take 15 additional minutes but avoided all of the traffic congestion and possible other problems. When motor coach arrived in LA, the head chaperone from the school decided to forego the stop at Newport Beach and head directly to hotel to get ready for Disneyland. This was not a decision made by the bus driver or USA student Travel. The rest of the trip was problem free and the students had a safe and enjoyable senior class trip. Cordially, [redacted]USA Student Travel

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com, USA has been upfront and responsive to this alleged complaint in providing accurate details to verify that the choices and circumstances were out of our control (1. late departure in the morning from school because of late students, 2. school chaperone deciding to bypass stop at Newport Beach, a non-costing venue option. 3. Mr. [redacted] has taken his own action with his credit card company.) Because of these three things, USA believes there is nothing more to do.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: Since I have not receive any compensation, I do not consider this matter resolved. However, it appears we have gone as far as we can regarding this issue. Unless USA is willing to do something more, it appears all I can do is wait and urge New Tech High School to use a different company in the future.

Review: I am writing about a complaint I have against USA Student Travel. This was the bus company that transported my son from Sacramento to Anaheim for his High School Grad Night on May 22, 2014. The 1st day of the trip (May 22nd), the busses were to pick the students up at the High School at about 5:00 am. The busses were already late doing that, as they didn't arrive until 6:00 am (I know, because I was standing in the parking lot, along with several other parents waiting for the busses to get there before I left my son). I know the trip into the L.A. area is unpredictable due to the heavy traffic/etc, but the drive there, even factoring in everyday traffic, should have ben 7-8 hours at the most. Now had the busses been on time in the beginning, the delay getting into Anaheim may have not been that great. Instead the 2 busses provided by USA Student Travel, BOTH broke down enroute. This was a GROUP trip, meaning ALL students on both busses were to go to Disneyland at the same time. While 1 bus arrived at their designated hotel around 4:00 pm, those students still had to wait for the other broken down bus to arrive, which didn't arrive at the hotel until 6:00 pm, before everyone could check into the hotel and head to Disneyland. Mind you, Disneyland closed at 9:00 pm that day, so by the time all was said done, broken down busses finally got to their destination, the students didn't get to Disneyland until 7:00 pm. Another delay from the company being unprepared, was the wristbands weren't available, because of someone's mistake again, so the company had to go get new ones, causing further delay. That left my son 2 hours basically to spend in, what should have been a fun trip to Disneyland. The trip cost me $449.00. That may not seem like a lot of money to some people, but to me, single income family, that is quite a bit of money, and took me working numerous hours of overtime, so I could provide my son with an enjoyable trip with his friends. Instead he spent 10 hours on a bus.Desired Settlement: I realize unpredictable circumstances occur,however,I waited to hear from USA Student Travel right after the trip,and never got an apology/explanation/response/nothing.By June,still hadn't heard anything, I wrote the company,still no response.I called the company, the lady who answered was immediately on the defensive,making excuses for what occurred, saying the delays weren't that bad and the company was definitely not offering refund.To be fair, I am asking for $150 refund for inconvenience.

Business

Response:

First, buses did arrive on time at school at 6:00am which was the scheduled time. I understand the school requested that students arrive earlier to get organized, check-in and prepare for the trip south. However, the buses did arrive on time, load and depart right on schedule.

En route, one bus had a mechanical delay causing part of the group to arrive at the hotel approximately two hours after the other bus arrived. The school chaperones decided to have both groups go to Disneyland together giving the first group additional time to relax at the hotel and enjoy the facilities while waiting for the second bus's arrival. The delayed group arrived at the hotel approximately at 6:00pm. Disneyland was open until 9:00pm and Disney California Adventure was open until 2:00am the next morning. The school group enjoyed both parks.

The balance of the 3 day trip occurred as scheduled.

Because of this delay on the first day, WorldPass Travel Group provided two forms of compensation to the group.

1. WorldPass provided a meal to the group at Magic Mountain on the final third day of the trip that was not part of the original itinerary. All participants enjoyed the additional meal.

2. WorldPass has provided a $500.00 bus reimbursement to the school. Since WorldPass paid by the school and not individual travelers, the agreed-to-reimbursement went sent directly to the school on June 17.

Throughout the trip and during the delay, WorldPass was in constant communication with school chaperones to provide corrective action and compensation.

WorldPass Travel Group apologizes for any inconvenience experienced by the group for the delay but feels it acted in good faith to resolve the delay quickly and provide adequate compensation to the group as noted above.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

One, the employee answering the response back, was not at any of the starting/stopping points. I was at the school first day in the morning, as was my child, and other parents I know who will back up the issues I mentioned in the first complaint. The busses were late, period. Add that to the fact that BOTH busses that your company provided, broke down, one just not as long as the other. Regardless, the fact that your company failed to maintain these busses, caused my child to be late, and therefore miss out on activities MY family paid for.

Second, I don't know why the school was reimbursed ANYTHING. The school didn't lose out on anything, my son did. He lost out on a trip w/his friends to Disneyland, that he had been looking forward to for months, which is the amount of time it took me to pay off the balance for the trip to YOUR company, NOT the school. As you said in your response, the second bus did not arrive to the hotel until 6:00 pm & Disneyland closed that night at 9:00 pm. As I said again the first time, after getting all the students together, since the second group had to now check in, put their belongings away/etc in the hotel, that caused an even further delay, a delay that could have been avoided, AGAIN if your company had been more responsible w/bus maintenance, and having booked such a large/distant trip, this was would have been avoided. I for one, did not pay $449 for my son to spend 2 hours at Disneyland.

I am sincerely fed up with companies like yours, who do not take responsibility for their actions. Your company was negligent, and any parent(s) who complained should be reimbursed for the lack of appropriate business conduct. Consumers like myself, should not have to waste our time filing complaints because you fail to accept responsibility. Saying my student thoroughly enjoyed the meal you comp'd the students? Really? What was that $10 for a lousy trip. Your business has a serious low opinion of your customers if you think that was compensation enough.

Business

Response:

Dear Mrs [redacted]:

Thank you for your further response. On a couple of points I guess we'll disagree.

One of those is that we do care about our customers. We were involved from the very beginning in mitigating the impact of the delay and resolved it in as few as two hours for an out of town trip. We also compensated the entire group while on tour with a free meal because of the delay. The balance of the three-day trip occurred on schedule and without problems. As an industry comparison, when airlines have delays, they will only compensate with a free meal if the delay is over four hours.

As for Disneyland, yes the park was scheduled to close at 9:00pm but the Grad Nite event for which the school was attending in Disney California Adventure Park was open and running until 2:00am the next morning. All students got to enjoy the special private event for the full-time.

As a further compensation for the bus delay, we have refunded the School $500.00. The reason the money was returned to the school was because we were paid by the school for the trip. All financial dealings with this tour occurred between our company and the School.

The school has accepted our efforts to take care of and compensate the group for the delay.

In an attempt to do something for your child, our company has highly discounted tickets to Disneyland if your family wished to return as a family outing. I'd be happy to offer our wholesale rate for your family and an additional discount for your child as a result of your follow-through on this unfortunate incident. The savings from this would far outweigh your requested refund.

I hope this explanation and offer helps you understand our reasoning for doing what we did to take care of this group's trip to Disneyland,

Sincerely,

V.P. of Operations

WorldPass Travel Group

Review: WorldPass uses an unethical cancellation policy to retain all payments made for a trip several months out.

The cancellation policy for their student payment plan ensures that WorldPass/Worldstrides retains most if not all the payment installments for a student trip. After paying $96 into the trip, we unexpectedly had to cancel. With their unethical policy, this means that they keep all $96 for doing nothing at all. Looking further into the policy, the travel group has enacted a policy to guarantee that anyone who cancels loses any money that has been invested into the trip through payment plans. This unethical business practice has guaranteed that I will never allow my children to participate in one of their programs through the schools going forward and I will strongly urge our school to look at other companies for future travel. Desired Settlement: While a $20-30 cancellation fee would be justifiable for paperwork, I fail to see the legitimacy of keeping the entire $96 paid into the trip and formally request a refund.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Dear Mrs. [redacted].

Thank you for contacting the Revdex.com and allowing us to clarify our cancel policies and group travel procedures. I have also spoken with [redacted] the company representative in Indiana that has handled this school account for many years. Also, we have several other schools in the district that travel with our company to Washington D.C. every year. Hundreds of students and parents work with our travel company every year without any problems and enjoy high quality youth travel experiences.

I am sorry your son [redacted] will not be able to join the traveling group next April for this unique tour. I hope he'll have another opportunity soon to experience one of our travel programs!

The cancellation policy we have on our tours is clearly spelled out on the terms and conditions portion of the registration form you agreed to and signed when registering [redacted] for the travel program. Transparency of these policies is critical and is why we have you review and agree to them prior to sending us any money. Also, we offered an optional Traveler Cancellation Policy for your purchase to protect the monies you would invest into this travel program. I've seen on your application that you turned down that offer of cancellation insurance, taking full responsibility for any cancellation penalties outlined in the terms of the travel agreement.

So I would strongly disagree with your characterization of our cancel policies as unethical. They are quite standard for the group travel industry as a whole and are clearly offered to you for review and agreement, prior to contracting with us.

However, I've noticed the date of your cancellation is close to the date of a lower cancel amount. I also noticed you agreed to a $30 fee as justifiable in your opinion.

In an attempt to seek your goodwill, I will authorize the reduction of the cancellation penalty to $30 and refund to you the difference upon your agreement to not disparage our reputation and company.

Thanks for your consideration and please let me know of your agreement to my offer!

Cordially, [redacted], Senior Vice President

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Thank you for understanding. I gladly except the reduction of the cancellation penalty and my son will be thrilled that the money he worked so hard for will mostly be returned to him. I believe part of the problem lies in that he waited until the deadline to turn in the form so I did not have the time to read through all the detail.

We never travel through an agent and this may be why we are so unfamiliar with such high cancellation fees. Thank you for compromising and upon the receipt of the agreed refund amount you have my written agreement to not disparage your company's reputation.

Regards,