Cultural Heritage Alliance (CHA)

We want to share our very negative experience with CHA Educational Tours based on a purposeful lack of communication about change of trip dates displayed by CHA, and their unwillingness to provide an appropriate fee refund based on a decision CHA madeOur son’s high school Spanish class was scheduled to take a trip to France and Spain in mid-June The total cost of the trip was approximately $4, In February the final, $3,payment for the trip was due We made that payment and then within weeks were informed that CHA was changing the dates of the tour in order to combine it with another group While we subsequently learned that the fine print of CHA’s documents allowed them to change trip dates within a certain timeframe, CHA never communicated this possible change to the students nor did they make it clear to the high school teachers organizing the trip for the school that such a date change was likely or even possibleThey only informed the group of the date changes within days after the cancellation fees increased from $to $495, even though they had to have known this was a likely possibilityDue to a significant family event planned, our son would not be able to attend the trip to France and Spain on the revised dates We contacted CHA to let them know about this and were told that we would only receive a refund of around $3,586, even though we had made payments of $4,Included in the $we would not get back was $for trip insurance Common sense and integrity would dictate that an event like the tour guide changing the trip date without the knowledge or approval of the participants is something that a reasonable insurance policy would cover But of course CHA said that this was not a covered item and that in addition to the $in cancellation fees, there is no insurance coverage eitherOn top of the misleading manner in which CHA handled the change in trip dates, the CHA staff was obstructionist in their communications with us during our attempt to get a fair refund This is not an organization that I would trust to do business with in the future and would not recommend others to do business with either

Dear Ms
Raiche,
",sans-serif">Thank you
for giving us the opportunity to address Mrs***’ concern
Mrs***’
daughter, ***, enrolled in one of our tours through *** *** High School
on August 30, 2014; the tour is scheduled to operate in June
Unfortunately
her participation in the tour was cancelled by Mrs*** on Nov 10,
Money paid
towards a tour is held in an escrow account and a signed and witnessed release
form must be submitted for these funds to be released
At the same
time the release form is printed, a check for the refund due is issued, which
is then mailed upon receipt of the completed formThe form and the check were
printed on Dec 2nd, The form was then mailed to Ms*** at
the address she had provided on her application
The refund
amount is calculated according to our standard cancellation fees as per the important
information that Ms*** agreed upon when enrolling in her tourHer
enrollment form, showing her acceptance of our terms and conditions, as well as
our Important Information Booklet are enclosed for your perusal
Mrs***
called several times to inform us that she had not received the release form
Our employees verified with her the mailing address and informed her that all
correspondence is addressed to the tour participant, in this case her daughter
***, and mailed her the forms again several times
On Monday
Feb 16th, Mrs*** called again and asked for the form to be
faxed to herThe form had to be reprinted and was faxed to her on Feb 18th
(The office was short staffed on Tuesday Feb 17th, due to a snow
storm and only essential personnel was in the office)
We received
the completed form on February 23rd, and her refund check was
sent to her on the same day at the address she has verified several times
As you can
see from the enclosed photocopy, the check was issued on Dec 2, and CHA
had no interest in retaining it
We urge Mrs*** to check her mail and
inform us immediately if the check has not been received within the next few
days
Upon
reviewing the circumstances, and since Mrs*** signed the release form and
the refund check has been mailed to her, we hope you will concur with us that this
matter has been solved
Yours sincerely,
DLF*
Vice President
CHA Educational Tours

Dear Ms
Raiche,
Thank you
for giving us the opportunity to address Mrs***’ concern
Mrs***’
daughter, ***, enrolled in one of our tours through *** *** High School
on August 30, 2014; the tour is scheduled to operate in June
Unfortunately
her
participation in the tour was cancelled by Mrs*** on Nov 10,
Money paid
towards a tour is held in an escrow account and a signed and witnessed release
form must be submitted for these funds to be released
At the same
time the release form is printed, a check for the refund due is issued, which
is then mailed upon receipt of the completed formThe form and the check were
printed on Dec 2nd, The form was then mailed to Ms*** at
the address she had provided on her application
The refund
amount is calculated according to our standard cancellation fees as per the important
information that Ms*** agreed upon when enrolling in her tourHer
enrollment form, showing her acceptance of our terms and conditions, as well as
our Important Information Booklet are enclosed for your perusal
Mrs***
called several times to inform us that she had not received the release form
Our employees verified with her the mailing address and informed her that all
correspondence is addressed to the tour participant, in this case her daughter
***, and mailed her the forms again several times
On Monday
Feb 16th, Mrs*** called again and asked for the form to be
faxed to herThe form had to be reprinted and was faxed to her on Feb 18th
(The office was short staffed on Tuesday Feb 17th, due to a snow
storm and only essential personnel was in the office)
We received
the completed form on February 23rd, and her refund check was
sent to her on the same day at the address she has verified several times
As you can
see from the enclosed photocopy, the check was issued on Dec 2, and CHA
had no interest in retaining it
We urge Mrs*** to check her mail and
inform us immediately if the check has not been received within the next few
days
Upon
reviewing the circumstances, and since Mrs*** signed the release form and
the refund check has been mailed to her, we hope you will concur with us that this
matter has been solved
Yours sincerely,
DLF*Vice President
CHA Educational Tours

We want to share our very negative experience with CHA Educational Tours based on a purposeful lack of communication about change of trip dates displayed by CHA, and their unwillingness to provide an appropriate fee refund based on a decision CHA made.
Our son’s high school Spanish class was scheduled to take a trip to France and Spain in mid-June 2016. The total cost of the trip was approximately $4,300. In February 2016 the final, $3,790 payment for the trip was due. We made that payment and then within 2 weeks were informed that CHA was changing the dates of the tour in order to combine it with another group. While we subsequently learned that the fine print of CHA’s documents allowed them to change trip dates within a certain timeframe, CHA never communicated this possible change to the students nor did they make it clear to the high school teachers organizing the trip for the school that such a date change was likely or even possible.
They only informed the group of the date changes within days after the cancellation fees increased from $95 to $495, even though they had to have known this was a likely possibility.
Due to a significant family event planned, our son would not be able to attend the trip to France and Spain on the revised dates. We contacted CHA to let them know about this and were told that we would only receive a refund of around $3,586, even though we had made payments of $4,285.
Included in the $700 we would not get back was $109 for trip insurance. Common sense and integrity would dictate that an event like the tour guide changing the trip date without the knowledge or approval of the participants is something that a reasonable insurance policy would cover. But of course CHA said that this was not a covered item and that in addition to the $590 in cancellation fees, there is no insurance coverage either.
On top of the misleading manner in which CHA handled the change in trip dates, the CHA staff was obstructionist in their communications with us during our attempt to get a fair refund. This is not an organization that I would trust to do business with in the future and would not recommend others to do business with either.

Review: I am not sure I am choosing the correct complaint. My daughter and I enrolled with CHA tours for a tour to [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted] that was scheduled for June19-July 1, 2013. We paid our registration fee of $95.00 on May 30, 2012. We then made our first payment of $400.00 on June 29, 2012.

We specifically chose this tour for [redacted].

In late January/early February, we were notified that the trip to [redacted] has been cancelled due to the fact that there was not another charter school interested in taking this same tour. Now CHA is changing the tour to [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted], which we are not interested in taking. My daughter and I want CHA to refund the $400.00 that we each paid.

My daughter has contacted CHA. The woman with whom she spoke was very curt and unprofessional, and my daughter was then transferred to another woman who was equally as rude and offered no help to resolve this issue. My daughter was told that we would receive only a partial refund of $195.00. This means that we lose $200.00 of the $400.00 we paid as our first payment. We are aware that the $95.00 registration fee we paid in May is non-refundable. But for CHA to retain $200.00 for THEIR change of plans is not acceptable.

I have searched for information regarding CHA's cancellation policy, and the only thing it addresses is cancellation due to a serious illness or family illness/emergency. Nowhere does it state that CHA can change the tour at any time.

I have also sent several emails requesting to speak with someone higher up in management. I waited for a week for a response. I again emailed CHA. Despite my requests via email to speak to a more senior level administrator at CHA, I am being routed to the same woman that my daughter has contacted.

I am very dissatisfied with how this is being managed. I would like the $400.00 payment that both my daughter and I paid to be refunded.Desired Settlement: Refund of $400.00 to me and $400.00 to my daughter.

Business

Response: