EF Go Ahead Tours

Would not use this tour company again. Reasons: Took them six weeks to confirm a tour to Italy. Had less than two weeks notice after they confirmed.
Have requested a refund for a tour to Latin America which was cancelled due to COVID. I note that someone lost a $600 deposit, I lost $1,000 and was informed that this could not be applied to another tour. Am still waiting for my refund of the remaining balance. Other tour companies have refunded every cent due to COVID cancellations.

EF Go Ahead Tours' management and finance Dept leaves me with a sour disposition with this company. My cousin and I booked a 15 day guided tour to Australia for November 2021 and was told that we would receive a full refund if cancelled before August 1, 2021. Well with the borders still being closed and quarantine imposed by Australia, we cancelled the tour before August 1, 2021. The representative told us we would receive a full refund within 2- weeks. Well, my cousin receive a full refund within two weeks. I received an email stating I would not receive a full refund because I did not sign up for the payment plan nor did I fully pay within three days of booking the tour so I would not be a full refund of $6530, but I would be receiving a refund of $5804 which has not happened. This company has provided false and misleading information from the start of misguided adventure. Borders are not open, 14-day quarantine is imposed, and a refund cannot be issued to me within the specified time frame. This would have been my third tour with Go Ahead and each tour has had its issued with Representative who do not provide correct information. If you have an issue, then you are told you received incorrect information. My travels with Go Ahead have been marred with issues, but not receiving my refund is literally the final straw. No more tours with the company and I will not be proving a recommendation to family and friends. Travelzoo has all my business at this point. Just give me my refund and you don't have to be bothered with me booking another tour.

Georgia

We have been on a few tours with this company. The tours and tour directors have been very good for the price point. HOWEVER, if you need to discuss any issue with the company, their response time via telephone is horrendous! I have better wait times with my local Department of Motor Vehicles!

I have tried several times in the last few weeks to discuss an upcoming tour. As of this missive I have not been able to speak with a rep. In fact, one time I held for 45 minutes and still did not speak with a rep.. Mgmt of office is non-existent for a tour company.
Caveat emptor!

Well, if I could even get them to answer their phones or emails that would be helpful. Scheduled a call with them at specific time and day. After agent heard me request canceling a trip and moving the money to another later trip, she transferred me to another line to hold, hold, hold, and hold. No ever answered after 30 minutes and she never checked back with me. I had already tried calling them direct and was put on hold up to an hour which is when I finally hung up. I took a couple of trips with EF Go Ahead and they were delightful but this service is beyond poor. It is non-existent! I don't really know if they are still in businesss even though I get plenty of mailings to sign up for new trips. HA! Don't bother booking anything with them! Run far away. God forbid if they need to be contacted while I'm abroad. Yuck!

We booked a tour with the insurance to "cancel for any reason" to China in November of 2019. We were told we could get a total refund if we canceled. After checking the US State department website, they list serious reasons US citizens should not travel to China or Hong Kong, not only for your health but including days of weeks, and even potential incarceration with an inability to contact the US Consulate. We called today to cancel and were told they would not refund our money. They would only give us a voucher for another trip, even if they canceled the trip.
This company is fraudulent in their business practices, they misrepresent and then lie to you about commitments they made to you. I will never book a tour with them and would anyone who considers a tour with them to immediately run away from this dishonest company.

Seriously, you won't refund a deposit for a trip to Italy that was cancelled? Your company stinks.

Ef go ahead tours will not give deposit of $300 back, after flight 2 Ireland canceled because of virus. This was r September 16th. I can understand $299 ins., but I didnt create the virus. They said in one conversation, I would be reimbursed but went back on their word. I will b writing more bad reviews. I will be telling people not to use them, & I wont b using them again. I was going to re book. Not anymore. Give me the $300 back & I will, but otherwise, NO.

Seriously, there is a pandemic and you want to reschedule my tour? You won't refund my $300 deposit even though the person I spoke with originally said you would?
I took a chance with your company even after reading poor reviews, and I totally regret it. You are stealing $300 from me, which we really need.

Our trip was to be in May 2020 and was cancelled by Go Ahead due to the Coronavirus after we had paid the full cost of the trip for two. When contacted about a refund, the only way we would NOT lose our deposit of $600 was if we allowed them to keep the entire amount paid until the trip was rescheduled or changed to another tour. We asked them to refund everything EXCEPT the deposit and carry the deposit until another trip could be scheduled. They refused to consider carrying our deposit. The only was to get our $6000 payment back was to lose our $600 deposit. After several wonderful tours, Go Ahead proved themselves to be unconcerned about our financial loss or hardships caused by their inflexibility.

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] Go Ahead Tours violated the contract we had with them! Now after many emails they finally make a token offer If you believe that $is what they charged us you do not have much business sense Regards, [redacted] ***

Dear Traveler, We regret that we are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution with youWe truly share in your disappointment surrounding this matter, as our goal is for all of our travelers to successfully get to tour and have a wonderful timeWhile we are unable to book you on another departure of this tour at no additional coast for reasons outlined in our previous response and outlined in our Terms & Conditions, our management team would like to extend 20% off (non-combinable with promotions at that time) the cost of the National Parks tour for whichever date you choose to travel on, in addition to the vouchers previously offeredPlease accept these gestures as acknowledgement of the frustration and inconvenience caused by the [redacted] IT issueIf our policies remain unclear to you and you would like further clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach back out to our Customer Service Director who contacted you via e-mail this afternoon or give us a call directly at [redacted]

Go Ahead regrets the frustration Mr [redacted] experienced as a result of the additional $feeWe truly value this traveler as a part of our travel community, and we apologize for any upset caused by thisAs a resolution and in line with Mr [redacted] ’s desired settlement, Go Ahead will not charge the $feeThe flight ticket price will remain at $1,100, which the traveler has already paidWe value this opportunity to regain Mr [redacted] ’s trust, and we look forward to welcoming him on his next tourOur Quality and Reviews Specialist and Director of Quality Control remain readily available to assist Mr [redacted] with any future questions or concernsThey are available Monday through Friday from 9am-5:30pm EST at [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] [Your website states save if you book a trip on or before August 19th and save an additional on tour booking With that figure the Oct US National Parks would be the same 20% figure you would be offering us So really your just giving us what you are offering across the board, which does not really help us we would still have to put out money on this trip when we already paid for it but never got to use it Today I called all the hotels that were part of the tour we were going to be on I spoke with all the managers and each and every one of the managers told me "GO Ahead already informed them we would not be staying at their hotel and WE DID NOT CHARGE GO AHEAD TOURS any money for your hotel stay With that told me where is my credit towards the hotels that we did not use, let alone food,drink trnasportation, tours we did not use? To us this could have been very easy as I stated book us on the Oct 21st tour and or any other tour as a courtesy because we paid and never got to us it and we will pay for our airfare over again knowing the [redacted] airlines is out of your control Honestly I took the insurance this was all out of our control we truly feel we should not have to pay a dime I am physically and mentally drained and do not need to be going thru this right now when my dad just recently died a few months ago all we wanted to do was go away and have some fun not have to stand stranded hours at the airport traveling only to have to fight for my rights and be on the phone trying to get back out trip for now a total of days, this is not my way of traveling nor is it a way I would want my good paying customer to have to deal with PLEASE NOTE, [redacted] said to us after many attempts that they had no flights available to get us there and they could not guarantee if they did that there would be a delay or not - to this day there are still delays with [redacted] - at that point enough torture of being in a airport for hrs we went home to live like humans (attached please hotel info with managers name stating GO AHEAD was not charged for our stay Regards, [redacted]

Dear Traveler, We regret that ***’s IT issue has caused you and many travelers around the world such frustration and inconvenience. As a company of travelers, we know all too well the stress delays and cancellations can cause. We share your disappointment in the negative impact this has had on... what should have been a wonderful tour experience. Unfortunately, we are unable to re-book you on another date at no additional cost. We understand that you spoke with several members of our team when your trip was initially delayed and that they provided you with two alternative routing options. Both routing options would have gotten you to your first destination of [redacted] **, one at midnight and one at 12:40 pm the following day. These flight options would have ensured that you could still experience all of the beautiful National Parks included in this tour. Our team advised you to continue with one of the alternative flight options so that you and your husband could enjoy the tour and not lose out on cancellation fees. We are sorry that these two options did not meet your expectations and that you declined to accept either one. In light of your choice to eventually cancel the trip and return home, you forfeited the cost of your tour. We understand this was discussed with you on the phone by several of our managers, and it is also stated in the Terms & Conditions which you accepted prior to tour. It is certainly not our intention to make you feel further disappointed or taken advantage of, and we regret that this experience resulted in this way, as you and your husband are valuable members of our travel community. As a gesture of acknowledgement for the frustration you experienced due to ***’s IT issue and your decision to cancel, we offered you and your husband vouchers to apply toward a future tour. We do hope that this gesture makes it clear that we truly care about you being able to experience this tour and others in the future. Again, as a company of travelers, we understand how upsetting it is when flight delays and cancellations occur and throw a wrench in our travel plans. We wish we had control over these air travel setbacks, so that our travelers never had to experience them. Unfortunately, the only way to respond when these unexpected hurdles occur is to either work directly with the airline to resolve your issue, which you tried and did not have success, or to accept an alternative flight routing option, which we were able to provide and you did not accept. Again, we regret that this situation occurred and that it ended with you and your husband missing your tour. We are more than happy to work with you to apply the vouchers toward a new date so that you can still take this tour at a later time. Our Customer Service Director has followed up with you via e-mail, but please do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you have further questions. You can reach us at [redacted]

Dear ***, We are glad two of our Quality Control members were able to speak with you regarding these matters and we regret that you were unhappy with the resolutionRegarding the [redacted] optional you purchased, all of the optional excursions we offer have descriptions clearly listed in the itinerary and day-by-dayOccasionally, our Tour Directors will add in surprise and delight moments, such as a visit to the university museum in your caseHowever, the description will always state exactly what will be visited and/or experienced on that optional excursionYou will notice that for the optional excursion to [redacted] , we do not list a visit to the golf course or the souvenir shop, which means that these two sites will not be included on that visitWe apologize for any misunderstanding that the optional would include the golf course or souvenir shop, but as they were not part of the optional, we are unable to issue a refundOur staff is always available for questions and clarification about what is included in our itineraries and optional excursions, and we are sorry that we did not have the chance to speak with you about your interest in visiting the golf course and souvenir shop before your tour in order to properly set expectationsRegarding your dinner in Italy in 2007, we regret that you were unsatisfied, and we wish we would have learned of this upon your return homeWe encourage travelers to contact the Quality Control team or mention in their written evaluation any issue or concern they may have about their tour, so that we may investigate and address it immediatelyTraveler feedback is of the utmost importance to us, and we are committed to resolving issues as they come upWe are sorry we cannot issue a refund in this case, as far too much time has passed and we cannot verify what happened nearly a decade agoAgain, we thank you for sharing your experience with us, and we will be sure to communicate all of your feedback to the relevant departmentsWe certainly value you as a repeat customer, and we are grateful for your loyaltyPlease don't hesitate to reach out to us with any further questions.Best Regards,Go Ahead Tours Quality Control Team

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***
Regards,
*** * *** ***

After an entire week of loosing out on our trip, today GO AHEAD TOURS made good on the trip we lost out onA special Thank you to *** ***, Director of Customer Relations at Go Ahead Tours for finally correcting this matterIn the end, I have to admit the staff could not be more sincere towards us, extending different dates to travel again as wellMy husband I are excited to go on his tourWe are thankful for Go Ahead Tours final decision in re-booking usWe look forward to keeping this positive relationship with Go Ahead Tours and will continue to travel with them in the future! Please delete my compaint or add this final comment - thank you *** ***

Hello Dal,Thank you for continuing to communicate with us regarding your upcoming trip to England, Scotland and IrelandHopefully you received a recent email from us explaining the reason behind this change to your itinerary, as well as the offer to refund you $per person due to this change.As
we may have already mentioned to you, we take the quality of our tours very seriouslyWe capture the feedback of each of our travelers at the end of every tour via a written evaluation, and then our staff reads through these evaluations to help us make educated decisions about how to continuously improve the quality of our toursSo far this year, we have received consistent feedback about the boat tour you have mentioned, which stated that the overall quality of the cruise was lowAdditionally, because this cruise is scheduled for the day the group transfers to Liverpool, our travelers weren't getting into Liverpool until in the eveningThis is a rather late arrival into Liverpool and leaves little time for our travelers to explore the city, visit museums, or shop.Due to the fact that the itinerary only spends night in Liverpool, we chose to alter the itinerary and exclude this cruise from the day so that you can get to Liverpool faster and maximize your amount of time spent thereWe have already issued you a refund of $per person, which is the approximate cost of the cancelled boat trip. We do appreciate your feedback in this matter and hope that you find this solution satisfactory.If you have further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us here at ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted]. . 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted]. . 
Go Ahead Tours violated the contract we had with them!  Now after many emails they finally make a token offer.  If you believe that $15 is what they charged us you do not have much business sense.
Regards,
[redacted]