Thank you for being in touch. We have several policies in place for travelers who no longer want to travel on a 2016 tour.
Someone from our Traveler Support Team will reach out to you to discuss your options.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
EF Education
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].
Hello. The reason I did not respond was because EF Tours said they would refund my money. I was waiting for them in good faith. They have not refunded my money. Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for your inquiry. After looking into your account, we do see that a check was sent overnight to your address on record and was set to arrive on 1.23.18. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions please contact us at...
Thank you for your inquiry. We are sorry that your daughter will not be traveling with us. The $95 is a non-refundable enrollment fee. Normally, there also a $300 cancellation fee in place for anyone that cancels but that was waived in full because of the Anytime Protection...
Plan that is on your account. Please feel free to reference our booking conditions which explain all of our policies at: [redacted]. Best, EF Tours
Thank you for contacting EF about your concerns. The Group Leader and chaperones are responsible for caring for ill travelers.EF can help facilitate in getting a parent to be with their child, if they are hospitalized or seriously ill on tour. In any overseas trip, if it possible that you will have airline connections and spend time in airports.You mentioned paying for a single room, but our information indicates that you requested to room with two other individuals on the tour.We would love to be able to work with you directly about your specific concerns.Please feel free to contact our Traveler Support Department.Thank youEF Education
Hello,
Our top priority at all times is the safety and security of our travelers. When any concerns over traveling arise we always encourage our travelers to work together as a group to decide their best course of action. To help facilitate these discussions we amended our policies so that any fees...
associated with cancellation would not increase between November 13, 2015 and December 31, 2015. The goal was to allow parents more time to consider their plans without fear of losing additional money. We have also issued amended deadlines for groups making decisions under our Peace of Mind policy (www.eftours.com/bc) . The many options offered through these policies reflect our investment in providing as much flexibility as possible for our teachers and students. All of the schools that we partner with have been offered 4 options in the event that they do not want to travel on their scheduled Tour. Districts were given the option to amend the existing itinerary, change the tour destination, postpone travel to 2017 or take a fully transferable voucher that may be redeemed for travel with EF Educational Tours, EF College Study Tours, EF College Break, EF Explore America, or Go Ahead Tours.
We are sorry to hear that the district has canceled the tour but hope that this information provides more clarity around the options that are available.
Best,
[redacted]
EF Education
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]. Please add your rejection comments below.
[I paid to be a traveler not chaperone. However no it was not my grandson that was left behind. It was another traveler. My grandson became ill after staying in a grotesque room you booked us into. But was forced to travel I'll after a night that we were unable to find anyone to even tell that we needed help. It was another traveler that was to be left behind alone to find thier way across a large strange city alone. It was the place of your staff/director/group leader to care for travelers not other paying travelers. The excursions were part of the experience you promoted and charged me for. Refunding them individually doesn't replace the overall experience that you charged me for and I paid for. But I see that you didn't offer to refund the amount charged for the overnight sleeper train or the missed meals. And where is the compensation for the multiple connection and hours spent in airports before we even left the United States. There is no mention that you combined us with another larger group from Colorado and that our so called free time was when your director left us to take them on thier seperate excursions. You also haven't addressed how our time was used driving hours from the tour location to stay in those nasty hotels or the slack of service we recieved once we got there. Your tour failures are greater than are listed here but I have talked to you about them and I keep hearing the excuse that this was a teen tour and that wasn't the right product for us but you sold this product to us knowing that we were adult travelers. You haven't mentioned that even though I paid full price plus some that I never had a bed to myself even though I paid for my room. I should have asked for a full refund but was trying to work with you and meet you half way but have not shown any desire to do your part to make this right. [redacted] you are rejecting the business's response please enter your rejection comments here.]
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].
While yes, the company does disclose the cancellation fee in their agreement form, however, it is embedded in a lengthy agreement statement that is hidden behind a hyperlink. The consumer must navigate away from the registration page to the agreement page; instead of being plainly stated, such as at the bottom of the registration page. By accessing these fees through an "agree to these terms checkbox" generic-type statement, and embedding the fees in several lines of text, the company makes no effort to protect the consumer by making them abundantly clear of their (the consumer's) obligations. Furthermore, after trying to resolve this amicably with EF Tours, we question that the amount in cancellation fees truly reflects the amount of effort they claim was made on our daughter's behalf; in other words, we question whether they have done $550 worth of 'scheduling', especially 6 months ahead of time!After encountering this issue with EF Tours, I quarried the internet and found that ours is not an isolated occurrence Other consumers have felt taken as well by their hidden and exorbitant fees.Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. I was contacted and received an offer of $300 vouchers to travel on [redacted].
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for your message. The application for the EF tour referenced in the complaint was received on our website, www.eftours.com.In order to complete an application, the parent or guardian must agree to the EF booking conditions, which include our cancellation policy. They may be reviewed...
at www.eftours.com/BC.EF's cancellation policy states that any cancellation received prior to 150 days before departure, will receive a full refund, less the $95 deposit, all non-refundable fees and a $300 cancellation fee. EF has a cancellation with replacement option, that allows for a greater refund, if another traveler takes the place of the cancelled traveler.EF will honor this option if another traveler enrols on the tour and adjust the refund.Sincerely,EF Education
Thank you for your response. We are sorry to hear about the cancellation. When we spoke with [redacted], we explained that the reason for cancellation may be covered under the insurance that is provided on both of the accounts. We have started the claims process for you and paperwork...
will be sent. Please visit www.eftours.com/coverage or call us at [redacted] for any additional questions. EF Tours
Thanks for being in contact. The Traveler Support Manager has been in touch with you today to give a complete record of the payments you have made to EF.
Please contact EF Traveler Support with any further questions or concerns.
thank you
EF Education
Thank you for being in touch. We are disapointed that you will not be able to travel with EF.
When you enrolled your child on the tour, you purchased the insurance. I am not sure your specific reason for cancellation is, but it may be something that would be covered by the insurance...
company.
I would recommend you reach out to the insurance company to see if this would be something that could be reimbursed by them.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you
EF Education
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]. Please add your rejection comments below. The school has cancelled the trip and have made it clear they will NEVER do business with EF tours again due to their unethical and unreasonable response to the situation. These options provided by EF tours are NOT acceptable. I clearly want a waiver of cancellation fee of $300 per student.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted...
by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for contacting us. We will be contacting you shortly to go over additional options our company has for you. If you have any questions please contact us at [redacted]. Best, EF tours
Thank you for your email. On behalf of EF, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience your daughter experienced due to water issues at the hotel in [redacted].The entire district was in [redacted] was out of water that evening. Water service was restored promptly once the initial issue was...
resolved. EF staff in [redacted] and [redacted] were in contact with the Tour Guide, the Group Leader and Our Operations team during this incident.Had this lack of water issue not been resolved in a timely manner, we would have looked at alternatives for the group.As a gesture to compensate the group EF Education paid for an excursion for the group to go to the [redacted].Sincerely, EF Education ?
We are sorry to hear that [redacted] is unable to travel. It looks like you spoke with a manager at our company on 12/12/2016 and she had gone over with you the cancellation fees and the fact you may be eligible for a refund from the insurance company that we work with. If you have questions...
remaining regarding the insurance coverage or how to file a claim please contact us at 1-[redacted]. It looks like we asked you to file a claim with 7 Corners and follow up with us once you received an answer from them. Thank you, EF Tours
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]. Please add your rejection comments below. Again, there words and my response to each point:
All participants and Group Leaders sign a contract between themselves and EF. A copy of this can be found at [redacted]I went to the site and no such contract found. Further, discussing it with my group leader, and another we are friends with no contract of any kind signed by either so please produce such a signed document, from my group leader. Lastly when we asked if EF Tours knew we were assigned an untrained leader they acknowledged they were aware but still confident in her. Here is that question and response from the again attached email with your company. As I said before, when I questioned her about leaving my child alone in Atlanta because she was afraid the rest of the group would miss their connection she described being overwhelmed and unsure what to do.Was EF Tours aware of the new group leader for the return travel and did they have any way to get in touch with her, and she you, if a problem arose? / Why was the change in group leader to one not trained by EF Tours even authorized?We were aware of this designated chaperone, [redacted], who would accompany this group. Mrs. [redacted] has been a chaperone on a previous trip, and was knowledgeable about navigating the airport with the group, and comfortable with the responsibility. She has not been on one of our Teacher Training Tours but not all of our teachers attend these tours as they are optional and not a requirement. Adam did also call out to this chaperone to give her further instructions and ask if she had any questions or concerns. She had all of the emergency contact info on getting in touch with EF and felt as though everything went smoothly. This was communicated to us that Mr. [redacted] had discussed this with the parents of the group.EF offers a 5 day in depth training program for all first time Group Leaders. This is designed to help our Group Leaders prepare for taking students abroad and to make the most of their EF tour. This helps them set expectations on hotels and meals, how a tour works, the role of the Tour Director and how to lead a safe, group tour.Offers but apparently doesn't care if the knowledge past is used or not as documented here.We have followed up directly with your daughters Group Leader to make sure he is aware of all our policies.He informed us that he was never even told he had to stay with minors in accordance with your Safety Handbook, again attached here, stating he must stay with the children. His only apology, and that of EF Tours as well, is that we weren't aware of his plans to leave them unattended for hours each day, by his own description, in direct violation of the Safety Handbook. He went on to say the requirements set forth in that handbook were nowhere to be found in his paperwork.Please feel free to contact EF directly with questions or concerns.As you can see by the attached email I have and did not receive anything. Heck it took 13 emails just to get answers to five simple questions referred to herein. Simply stated EF Tours continues here what they did in the attached email, just keep talking with no real answer. EF Tours Safety Handbook specifically, and reasonably, requires group leaders to stay with the children at all times, read it for yourself in the attached picture, but when they find out a leader did not comply, they do nothing. According to the three group leaders we've discussed this with all of them state there are no requirements, no contracts, and the optional training doesn't cover this.If you want your child to travel abroad with a teacher more concerned with getting a free trip than your child's safety this is the place to go. If EF Tours has anything to counter my claims with they would but the facts are hard to get around, and our group leader is already planning next years trip – we have his itinerary.Show me my group leader's contract. Tell me how he was allowed to violate your own Safety Handbook's policy. Tell me how an untrained leader came to be in charge of my daughter and 35 some other minors, and tell me why he's being allowed to plan another trip.
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for contacting us. We are extremely sorry that you had to cancel Makanna’s trip. The cancellation fees take into account the large amount of planning that goes into our tours well before they ever leave. You are required to read and agree to EF's standard booking...
conditions upon enrollment, which you signed on 11/19/2014. These booking conditions include our standard cancellation fees. These can be found at www.eftours.com/BC. Please review all the general exclusions regarding the emergency cancellation insurance at www.eftours.com/coverage. If you have any other general questions, please contact our customer service department at [redacted] Sincerely, EF Tours.
Thank you for being in touch. We have several policies in place for travelers who no longer want to travel on a 2016 tour.
Someone from our Traveler Support Team will reach out to you to discuss your options.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
EF Education
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].
Hello. The reason I did not respond was because EF Tours said they would refund my money. I was waiting for them in good faith. They have not refunded my money. Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for your inquiry. After looking into your account, we do see that a check was sent overnight to your address on record and was set to arrive on 1.23.18. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions please contact us at...
1-[redacted]. EF Tours
Thank you for your inquiry. We are sorry that your daughter will not be traveling with us. The $95 is a non-refundable enrollment fee. Normally, there also a $300 cancellation fee in place for anyone that cancels but that was waived in full because of the Anytime Protection...
Plan that is on your account. Please feel free to reference our booking conditions which explain all of our policies at: [redacted]. Best, EF Tours
Thank you for contacting EF about your concerns. The Group Leader and chaperones are responsible for caring for ill travelers.EF can help facilitate in getting a parent to be with their child, if they are hospitalized or seriously ill on tour. In any overseas trip, if it possible that you will have airline connections and spend time in airports.You mentioned paying for a single room, but our information indicates that you requested to room with two other individuals on the tour.We would love to be able to work with you directly about your specific concerns.Please feel free to contact our Traveler Support Department.Thank youEF Education
Hello,
Our top priority at all times is the safety and security of our travelers. When any concerns over traveling arise we always encourage our travelers to work together as a group to decide their best course of action. To help facilitate these discussions we amended our policies so that any fees...
associated with cancellation would not increase between November 13, 2015 and December 31, 2015. The goal was to allow parents more time to consider their plans without fear of losing additional money. We have also issued amended deadlines for groups making decisions under our Peace of Mind policy (www.eftours.com/bc) . The many options offered through these policies reflect our investment in providing as much flexibility as possible for our teachers and students. All of the schools that we partner with have been offered 4 options in the event that they do not want to travel on their scheduled Tour. Districts were given the option to amend the existing itinerary, change the tour destination, postpone travel to 2017 or take a fully transferable voucher that may be redeemed for travel with EF Educational Tours, EF College Study Tours, EF College Break, EF Explore America, or Go Ahead Tours.
We are sorry to hear that the district has canceled the tour but hope that this information provides more clarity around the options that are available.
Best,
[redacted]
EF Education
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]. Please add your rejection comments below.
[I paid to be a traveler not chaperone. However no it was not my grandson that was left behind. It was another traveler. My grandson became ill after staying in a grotesque room you booked us into. But was forced to travel I'll after a night that we were unable to find anyone to even tell that we needed help. It was another traveler that was to be left behind alone to find thier way across a large strange city alone. It was the place of your staff/director/group leader to care for travelers not other paying travelers. The excursions were part of the experience you promoted and charged me for. Refunding them individually doesn't replace the overall experience that you charged me for and I paid for. But I see that you didn't offer to refund the amount charged for the overnight sleeper train or the missed meals. And where is the compensation for the multiple connection and hours spent in airports before we even left the United States. There is no mention that you combined us with another larger group from Colorado and that our so called free time was when your director left us to take them on thier seperate excursions. You also haven't addressed how our time was used driving hours from the tour location to stay in those nasty hotels or the slack of service we recieved once we got there. Your tour failures are greater than are listed here but I have talked to you about them and I keep hearing the excuse that this was a teen tour and that wasn't the right product for us but you sold this product to us knowing that we were adult travelers. You haven't mentioned that even though I paid full price plus some that I never had a bed to myself even though I paid for my room. I should have asked for a full refund but was trying to work with you and meet you half way but have not shown any desire to do your part to make this right. [redacted] you are rejecting the business's response please enter your rejection comments here.]
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].
While yes, the company does disclose the cancellation fee in their agreement form, however, it is embedded in a lengthy agreement statement that is hidden behind a hyperlink. The consumer must navigate away from the registration page to the agreement page; instead of being plainly stated, such as at the bottom of the registration page. By accessing these fees through an "agree to these terms checkbox" generic-type statement, and embedding the fees in several lines of text, the company makes no effort to protect the consumer by making them abundantly clear of their (the consumer's) obligations. Furthermore, after trying to resolve this amicably with EF Tours, we question that the amount in cancellation fees truly reflects the amount of effort they claim was made on our daughter's behalf; in other words, we question whether they have done $550 worth of 'scheduling', especially 6 months ahead of time!After encountering this issue with EF Tours, I quarried the internet and found that ours is not an isolated occurrence Other consumers have felt taken as well by their hidden and exorbitant fees.Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. I was contacted and received an offer of $300 vouchers to travel on [redacted].
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for your message. The application for the EF tour referenced in the complaint was received on our website, www.eftours.com.In order to complete an application, the parent or guardian must agree to the EF booking conditions, which include our cancellation policy. They may be reviewed...
at www.eftours.com/BC.EF's cancellation policy states that any cancellation received prior to 150 days before departure, will receive a full refund, less the $95 deposit, all non-refundable fees and a $300 cancellation fee. EF has a cancellation with replacement option, that allows for a greater refund, if another traveler takes the place of the cancelled traveler.EF will honor this option if another traveler enrols on the tour and adjust the refund.Sincerely,EF Education
Thank you for your response. We are sorry to hear about the cancellation. When we spoke with [redacted], we explained that the reason for cancellation may be covered under the insurance that is provided on both of the accounts. We have started the claims process for you and paperwork...
will be sent. Please visit www.eftours.com/coverage or call us at [redacted] for any additional questions. EF Tours
Thanks for being in contact. The Traveler Support Manager has been in touch with you today to give a complete record of the payments you have made to EF.
Please contact EF Traveler Support with any further questions or concerns.
thank you
EF Education
Thank you for being in touch. We are disapointed that you will not be able to travel with EF.
When you enrolled your child on the tour, you purchased the insurance. I am not sure your specific reason for cancellation is, but it may be something that would be covered by the insurance...
company.
I would recommend you reach out to the insurance company to see if this would be something that could be reimbursed by them.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you
EF Education
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]. Please add your rejection comments below. The school has cancelled the trip and have made it clear they will NEVER do business with EF tours again due to their unethical and unreasonable response to the situation. These options provided by EF tours are NOT acceptable. I clearly want a waiver of cancellation fee of $300 per student.
Regards,
[redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted...
by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for contacting us. We will be contacting you shortly to go over additional options our company has for you. If you have any questions please contact us at [redacted]. Best, EF tours
Thank you for your email. On behalf of EF, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience your daughter experienced due to water issues at the hotel in [redacted].The entire district was in [redacted] was out of water that evening. Water service was restored promptly once the initial issue was...
resolved. EF staff in [redacted] and [redacted] were in contact with the Tour Guide, the Group Leader and Our Operations team during this incident.Had this lack of water issue not been resolved in a timely manner, we would have looked at alternatives for the group.As a gesture to compensate the group EF Education paid for an excursion for the group to go to the [redacted].Sincerely, EF Education ?
We are sorry to hear that [redacted] is unable to travel. It looks like you spoke with a manager at our company on 12/12/2016 and she had gone over with you the cancellation fees and the fact you may be eligible for a refund from the insurance company that we work with. If you have questions...
remaining regarding the insurance coverage or how to file a claim please contact us at 1-[redacted]. It looks like we asked you to file a claim with 7 Corners and follow up with us once you received an answer from them. Thank you, EF Tours
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]. Please add your rejection comments below. Again, there words and my response to each point:
All participants and Group Leaders sign a contract between themselves and EF. A copy of this can be found at [redacted]I went to the site and no such contract found. Further, discussing it with my group leader, and another we are friends with no contract of any kind signed by either so please produce such a signed document, from my group leader. Lastly when we asked if EF Tours knew we were assigned an untrained leader they acknowledged they were aware but still confident in her. Here is that question and response from the again attached email with your company. As I said before, when I questioned her about leaving my child alone in Atlanta because she was afraid the rest of the group would miss their connection she described being overwhelmed and unsure what to do.Was EF Tours aware of the new group leader for the return travel and did they have any way to get in touch with her, and she you, if a problem arose? / Why was the change in group leader to one not trained by EF Tours even authorized?We were aware of this designated chaperone, [redacted], who would accompany this group. Mrs. [redacted] has been a chaperone on a previous trip, and was knowledgeable about navigating the airport with the group, and comfortable with the responsibility. She has not been on one of our Teacher Training Tours but not all of our teachers attend these tours as they are optional and not a requirement. Adam did also call out to this chaperone to give her further instructions and ask if she had any questions or concerns. She had all of the emergency contact info on getting in touch with EF and felt as though everything went smoothly. This was communicated to us that Mr. [redacted] had discussed this with the parents of the group.EF offers a 5 day in depth training program for all first time Group Leaders. This is designed to help our Group Leaders prepare for taking students abroad and to make the most of their EF tour. This helps them set expectations on hotels and meals, how a tour works, the role of the Tour Director and how to lead a safe, group tour.Offers but apparently doesn't care if the knowledge past is used or not as documented here.We have followed up directly with your daughters Group Leader to make sure he is aware of all our policies.He informed us that he was never even told he had to stay with minors in accordance with your Safety Handbook, again attached here, stating he must stay with the children. His only apology, and that of EF Tours as well, is that we weren't aware of his plans to leave them unattended for hours each day, by his own description, in direct violation of the Safety Handbook. He went on to say the requirements set forth in that handbook were nowhere to be found in his paperwork.Please feel free to contact EF directly with questions or concerns.As you can see by the attached email I have and did not receive anything. Heck it took 13 emails just to get answers to five simple questions referred to herein. Simply stated EF Tours continues here what they did in the attached email, just keep talking with no real answer. EF Tours Safety Handbook specifically, and reasonably, requires group leaders to stay with the children at all times, read it for yourself in the attached picture, but when they find out a leader did not comply, they do nothing. According to the three group leaders we've discussed this with all of them state there are no requirements, no contracts, and the optional training doesn't cover this.If you want your child to travel abroad with a teacher more concerned with getting a free trip than your child's safety this is the place to go. If EF Tours has anything to counter my claims with they would but the facts are hard to get around, and our group leader is already planning next years trip – we have his itinerary.Show me my group leader's contract. Tell me how he was allowed to violate your own Safety Handbook's policy. Tell me how an untrained leader came to be in charge of my daughter and 35 some other minors, and tell me why he's being allowed to plan another trip.
Regards,
[redacted]
Thank you for contacting us. We are extremely sorry that you had to cancel Makanna’s trip. The cancellation fees take into account the large amount of planning that goes into our tours well before they ever leave. You are required to read and agree to EF's standard booking...
conditions upon enrollment, which you signed on 11/19/2014. These booking conditions include our standard cancellation fees. These can be found at www.eftours.com/BC. Please review all the general exclusions regarding the emergency cancellation insurance at www.eftours.com/coverage. If you have any other general questions, please contact our customer service department at [redacted] Sincerely, EF Tours.