September 22, 2014Revdex.com K Street NW, 10" Floor Washington, DC 20005-To whom it may concern,We received the complaint from you concerning customer complaint # [redacted] , and offer the following response:Military Historical Tours (MHT) has been in operation since as a tour companyWe are not a travel agency, so our trips are packaged for certain locations and length of timeA copy of the basic tour brochure is attached (exhibit 1)As are most of our trips, this one did not include airfare, but we offer the customer the opportunity of buying airfare through us, but it’s booked and paid for using an outside agency.When the [redacted] s registered for this tour, they filled out our registration form paid a deposit and agreed to our terms and conditions (exhibit 2)A copy of our terms and conditions, which is a part of the actual registration form, is attached (exhibit 3).Response to the actual complaint:The [redacted] s have requested some meal reimbursementsThe meals on our tour exceptfor rare occasions were provided, including meals that MHT paid for, but were not consumed by the [redacted] sWe have been offered no proof from the [redacted] s, such as meal receipts, that there were any meals on the tour itself that were paid for by themAny meals not part of the tour, such as their private trip, would certainly not be the responsibility Of MHTAs for tour reimbursement, the [redacted] s requested and made a deviation from the tour to actually end their portion of the tour on August 8, days shy of tour completionThey elected to leave on the morning of the 9", so their claim of tour abbreviation was of their own choosingThey were offered the opportunity to stay for the complete tour, which was adjusted due to an airline dispute/strike from Solomon Airlines, but they declinedA copy of their air tickets which they purchased are attached (exhibit 4) showing their deviation from the package tourOur terms and conditions, under Deviations, Revisions, and Changes (exhibit 5) clearly allow for MHT to ????? a fee of $per personIn an e-mail from the [redacted] s to MHT dated August 28", the [redacted] s claimed to have been charged this deviation fee (exhibit 6)This, even though we can charge them based on our terms, claim is totally falseWe have so far not charged them in order to give them a break and provide good customer service, although we are now considering doing soFurthermore, we processed and paid for the [redacted] ’s visas to Australia (exhibit 7), which was clearly not a part of the regular tour, which incurred fees of $USD per person, plus administrative fees of $per personNeither of these fees has been charged so far, as wellAs for the issues with the airlines and having to restructure the tour, our terms and conditions under responsibility (exhibit 8) show that the [redacted] s were aware of the possibility of changesThe staff at MHT called the [redacted] s on their cell phone at the airport upon learning of the air problem between Air Fiji and Solomon Air to notify them that the tour leader was already in Fiji and working on an alternative route for the group since MHT had not been notified of the problem with the air scheduleAt that time the [redacted] s went a head a boarded the plane for Fiji since they had plans to continue onto Australia/New Zealand afterwardsThey were given the choice to go ahead on tour knowing that changes were going to have to be madeThis was THEIR decision Even though our terms and conditions clearly state that MHT had no responsibility, we made changes to accommodate passengers, and paid several hundred dollars for each passenger to making airline changes plus providing additional hotel rooms for eachEach passenger was offered the opportunity to purchase trip insurance (exhibit 8, Trip cancellation insurance) through TravelEx to cover the possibility of trip interruption/cancellation, which would have reimbursed them for things not covered by MHT, but the [redacted] s declined this opportunityThe [redacted] s complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itineraryPrior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what is important to themA smaller special request section is also on page of our registration form (exhibit 2)At no time did the [redacted] s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tourWhen the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the [redacted] sAfter the trip was over, the [redacted] s sent out e-mails to others on tour to sow discontent as to their experience on that day, but as the attached e-mails (exhibit 10) shows from one of those on the trip, what the [redacted] s claimed was totally false.At all times MHT strives to provide the best trip possibleThe claim for reimbursement for an abbreviated trip is for MHT, a non-starterThey were given the option of staying as we had adjusted the tour to complete the itinerary, yet they elected to take the abbreviated tour to continue with their personal itineraryThe additional claim by the [redacted] s as to us having knowledge of the problems with Solomon Airlines is specifically not trueNo one would ever books tickets if they were not going to be validIt is absurd to think that MHT or any business would incur thousands of dollars in change fees and hotels to do such a thing when other options would have been possible if we had knownOnce this problem was brought to the attention of the MHT office staff, we did all possible to correct the problemAs for the internet usage, they offered Joe the ability to use their computer with no strings attachedSince the [redacted] s actually owe MHT $for deviation fees and visas and the service charges, they would actually owe us a differenceFor meals, we would need receipts and circumstances for consideration as none of the other tour participants had any such claims and all were on the same schedule with the exception of those who came from Europe.If the [redacted] s will provide receipts we would consider an adjustment for those items, but for any other claims, based on what evidence we have provided to you, feel that no reimbursement is due the [redacted] sWe would be pleased to discuss this further if necessary, and will be glad to respond to any counter claims by the [redacted] s.The points of contact for MHT are Anne S [redacted] or John P***They may be reached by phone from the numbers on the letterhead above or by e-mail: [redacted] or [redacted] Military Historical Tours [redacted] Woodbridge Virginia,
From: Anne S [redacted] < [redacted] >Date: Wed, Jan 28, at 6:PMSubject: Emailing: [redacted] , ***To: [redacted] Mr [redacted] - please find attached the check for $for the [redacted] party The original check was mailed today to them directlyWe would liketo request that they now send us the original receipts since the ones thatwere faxed over or the copies we got from you were not legible.Thanks so muchAnneWS [redacted] Anne WS [redacted] Military Historical Tours, Inc [redacted] ***Woodbridge, VA 22193###-###-#### [redacted] Fax ###-###-#### [redacted] ###-###-#### [redacted]
From: *** *** Date: Tue, Jan 19, at 2:PMSubject: Re: You have a new message from the Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania in regards to your complaint #***.To: [email protected] so much for your assistance
I received my $refund from Military Tours today I so appreciate the Revdex.com and their ability to help customers who are unable to deal with a business.Sincerely,*** ***
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
See Attachment
Regards,
*** ***
To Whom It May Concern,This letter is in response to Military History Tour (MHT) letter dated October 24, responding to our complaint #***This letter states that our complaint changed, Our complaint did not changeOnce we read the MHT response we only responded to the items listed but provided more detail.The original email was sent to MHT on August 28thWe allowed more than weeks to pass before we contacted our credit card company or the Revdex.comAs of that time, we had not heard anything from any of the MHT individuals we sent our email toWe were waiting for an acknowledgement, a request for more information or any communicationHaving received none, we took further action, In the most recent letter's last paragraphs, MHT said they wished we had tried to work with themThey have been the non-responsive partyAfter two letters, they still have not addressed our initial request for compensation and meal reimbursement for expenses, Had we received an offer from MHT to pay for our meals and other miscellaneous expenses that their representatives stated they would (once receipts were received) and an offer to prorate the tour (as promised) when we first sent MHT the email on August 28, 2014, we would not have taken further actionWe have faxed MHT the receipts for expenses for reimbursementOnce the complaint is addressed and actions taken we will withdraw our complaintWe would be happy to participate in a conference call with Revdex.com and MHT so that this can be resolved, if the parties so desire, *** would even meet with the parties in person, if need beTo ensure there are no misunderstandings we have addressed each of the items in the most recent response from MHT in the order presented,
The first item states we made no attempt to resolve the problem with MHT prior to filing the complaint with the Revdex.comWe will restate what was stated aboveWe sent our ermail to MHT on August 28, We waited weeks for any type Of acknowledgment from MHT prior to taking any additional actionThe email was sent to all parties that we communicated with prior to our travel and during our tour as well as the CEO of MHT, MHT did riot respond to our email but chose to ignore itThe Revdex.com complaint and the credit card chargeback were done simultaneously, more than weeks after the email was sent to MHTSince we had not heard from MHT we contacted our credit card company to discuss our optionsThe amount on the chargeback was calculated by the credit card company based on the days we were not on the tour, At that time MHT had been non-responsiveMHT called the trip to Red Beach a deviation in their letter of September As quoted from item number of that response letter:?Revdex.com WASHINGTON DC NOV l Complaint #***The *** complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itineraryPrior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what was important to themA smaller Special request is also on page of our registration form (exhibit 2)At no time did the ***s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tourWhen the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the ***s,Notice in their response they stated Red Beach was a tour deviation, therefore we had to respond to that Statement.In the registration information sent to us when booking the tour MHT under Deviations & Changes defines a deviation as: A deviation is any change to the tour program outside of the advertised tour itinerary as set forth by MHT, excluding pre or post tour options or extensionsOur post tour travel was not a deviation nor was the request to go to Red Beach in the one whole day or half days we had there,Concerning item an MHT representative contacted us after we had checked in, minutes before boarding for departure to Fiji, Hardly enough time for us to change plansMHT knew about the Fiji and Solomon Airline issue more than weeks before, and possibly 3-weeks before given the strike occurred early July, Even if MHT had told us on July when we received the first email from the MHT coordinator, we could have modified our arrangements but not minutes before boarding the plane in Los Angeles, miles from our residenceThe fact we got the email on July lets us know, in hindsight, MHT knew there was a difficult situation with the strike,The statement concerning August meal we were on the plane for breakfast and arrived in Fiji on that date at AMAll others on the tour had their lunch charged to the hotel, but we were not at the hotel for lunchLunch was not at the hotel, Per Johns email and Joe we were to keep all receipts for lunch and dinnerIn the spreadsheet it noted where MHT paid and where they were to reimburse us with the amount to be reimbursedWe have the receipts but were never asked to provide them, we will be faxing the copies of all receipts for reimbursementNo meals in Brisbane were prepaid arid our hotel receipts will show that and the receipt showing our charges in Brisbane, MHT did not cover either mealWe made Joe aware of that through our email to Richard that evening, We ate breakfast the morning of the 8” at the hotel in Brisbane our receipt will show thatAs far as the internet goes we offered the use of our plan because we thought devices could be online at onceOnce we found out only one could be on at a time we told them, so they had use of the internet, while we could not use the service we purchased, We mistakenly offered it when we thought devices could connect and Joe needed to print all itineraries for all tour participants,We were advised by Anne that the trip cancellation insurance we could purchase on our own would not cover the types of situations and that it would not help us in the situation as we were traveling the next dayIt was only good if the trip had to be canceled and it would not have helped get back the money from MHT, We reviewed the insurance sent to us and claims had to be submitted in days, however a reduced tour was not coveredSince MHT was covering all meals transportation and lodging the insurance was not going to cover anything elseNot until the September letter did we know they had insured us through August 22,
7, Other points:a.The tour leader was told the day before while at the memorial the importance of Red Beach and still had no intentions of goingHe stated that we would not have time and he had no idea what the front office was telling usAs stated in our last letterIt was not until we said we were taking a cab and the others in the group did not want us to that the tour guide conceded, not willingly, to take us to Red BeachWe had let him know early the morning before, when we had the entire day to see Guadalcanal how important this was to us and he had no plans to take us there, We actually got back to the hotel around 3:So theré would have been time that afternoon, We can rermérnber his words almost verbatim as if blaming us for cutting our tour to daysLike stating if it was so important why did we cut the tour time? There were instances with additional passengers being added to the busThe one we referenced was the instance when we took the missionary priest, Jason, from the airport to the monastery the day we arrived in Guadalcanal, Good point MHT brought up about the second person that joined us the only full day we had in Guadalcanal as we had not mentioned him, Might we ask how much he got charged for his one day tour? As far as the flight changes upon leaving the tour, our only communication with the organization arranging our flights was through MHT as this was there recommended travel agentWe had received updates to all of our flights thru MHT and only called Anne as we had not received an update on the additional change with the extra day we were to spend in FijiAs far as we were concerned until we left on our next scheduled flight to our next destination we were still on the Tour since they had done all of the arranging, am just glad we had some travel experience to have some idea of what to doWe would have really been in a lot more trouble in a foreign country had we not had some experience, The complaints we spoke of about the Men*** Hotel were noted on the participants' web sites and on *** ***One of the couples actually would not stay in the room they were assigned and upgraded at their expenseWe could not as there were no more rooms availableWe can ask the other tour participants in a survey if you would like about the water situation for the days we were at the hotel and we can also get exact quotes off of *** ***, You did have to buy water to brush your teeth and drink at night, We have made no accusations, we have only stated truths about our experienceWe would not have been on this tour had my husband had an experience like this on the first MHT tour he was on with his father when they went to Peleliu in He had a great experience in 1999, this one was not, We also view MHT in a different lightThey had told us to begin with that they would prorate the tour, but that never happenedWe only took actions when MHT did nothing.We would very much like to resolve the issues and retract our complaintH is time to quit writing letters and address our requests.*** and *** ***
From: Anne S[redacted] <[redacted]>Date: Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 6:27 PMSubject: Emailing: [redacted], [redacted]To: [redacted] Mr. [redacted] - please find attached the check for $96 for the [redacted]party. The original check was mailed today to them directly. We would liketo request that they now send us the original receipts since the ones thatwere faxed over or the copies we got from you were not legible.Thanks so muchAnneW. S[redacted]Anne W. S[redacted]Military Historical Tours, Inc[redacted]Woodbridge, VA 22193###-###-#### * Fax ###-###-#### * ###-###-####[redacted]
September 22, 2014Revdex.com 1411 K Street NW, 10" Floor Washington, DC 20005-3404
To whom it may concern,We received the complaint from you concerning customer complaint #[redacted], and offer the following response:Military Historical Tours (MHT) has been in...
operation since 1987 as a tour company. We are not a travel agency, so our trips are packaged for certain locations and length of time. A copy of the basic tour brochure is attached (exhibit 1). As are most of our trips, this one did not include airfare, but we offer the customer the opportunity of buying airfare through us, but it’s booked and paid for using an outside agency.When the [redacted]s registered for this tour, they filled out our registration form paid a deposit and agreed to our terms and conditions (exhibit 2). A copy of our terms and conditions, which is a part of the actual registration form, is attached (exhibit 3).Response to the actual complaint:1. The [redacted]s have requested some meal reimbursements. The meals on our tour exceptfor rare occasions were provided, including meals that MHT paid for, but were not consumed by the [redacted]s. We have been offered no proof from the [redacted]s, such as meal receipts, that there were any meals on the tour itself that were paid for by them. Any meals not part of the tour, such as their private trip, would certainly not be the responsibility Of MHT. 2. As for tour reimbursement, the [redacted]s requested and made a deviation from the tour to actually end their portion of the tour on August 8, 4 days shy of tour completion. They elected to leave on the morning of the 9", so their claim of tour abbreviation was of their own choosing. They were offered the opportunity to stay for the complete tour, which was adjusted due to an airline dispute/strike from Solomon Airlines, but they declined. A copy of their air tickets which they purchased are attached (exhibit 4) showing their deviation from the package tour. 3. Our terms and conditions, under Deviations, Revisions, and Changes (exhibit 5) clearly allow for MHT to ????? a fee of $100 per person. In an e-mail from the [redacted]s to MHT dated August 28", the [redacted]s claimed to have been charged this deviation fee (exhibit 6). This, even though we can charge them based on our terms, claim is totally false. We have so far not charged them in order to give them a break and provide good customer service, although we are now considering doing so. Furthermore, we processed and paid for the [redacted]’s visas to Australia (exhibit 7), which was clearly not a part of the regular tour, which incurred fees of $25 USD per person, plus administrative fees of $50 per person. Neither of these fees has been charged so far, as well.4. As for the issues with the airlines and having to restructure the tour, our terms and conditions under responsibility (exhibit 8) show that the [redacted]s were aware of the possibility of changes. The staff at MHT called the [redacted]s on their cell phone at the airport upon learning of the air problem between Air Fiji and Solomon Air to notify them that the tour leader was already in Fiji and working on an alternative route for the group since MHT had not been notified of the problem with the air schedule. At that time the [redacted]s went a head a boarded the plane for Fiji since they had plans to continue onto Australia/New Zealand afterwards. They were given the choice to go ahead on tour knowing that changes were going to have to be made. This was THEIR decision Even though our terms and conditions clearly state that MHT had no responsibility, we made changes to accommodate passengers, and paid several hundred dollars for each passenger to making airline changes plus providing additional hotel rooms for each. Each passenger was offered the opportunity to purchase trip insurance (exhibit 8, Trip cancellation insurance) through TravelEx to cover the possibility of trip interruption/cancellation, which would have reimbursed them for things not covered by MHT, but the [redacted]s declined this opportunity.5. The [redacted]s complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itinerary. Prior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what is important to them. A smaller special request section is also on page 2 of our registration form (exhibit 2). At no time did the [redacted]s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tour. When the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the [redacted]s. After the trip was over, the [redacted]s sent out e-mails to others on tour to sow discontent as to their experience on that day, but as the attached e-mails (exhibit 10) shows from one of those on the trip, what the [redacted]s claimed was totally false.At all times MHT strives to provide the best trip possible. The claim for reimbursement for an abbreviated trip is for MHT, a non-starter. They were given the option of staying as we had adjusted the tour to complete the itinerary, yet they elected to take the abbreviated tour to continue with their personal itinerary. The additional claim by the [redacted]s as to us having knowledge of the problems with Solomon Airlines is specifically not true. No one would ever books tickets if they were not going to be valid. It is absurd to think that MHT or any business would incur thousands of dollars in change fees and hotels to do such a thing when other options would have been possible if we had known. Once this problem was brought to the attention of the MHT office staff, we did all possible to correct the problem. As for the internet usage, they offered Joe the ability to use their computer with no strings attached. Since the [redacted]s actually owe MHT $350 for deviation fees and visas and the service charges, they would actually owe us a difference. For meals, we would need receipts and circumstances for consideration as none of the other tour participants had any such claims and all were on the same schedule with the exception of those who came from Europe.If the [redacted]s will provide receipts we would consider an adjustment for those items, but for any other claims, based on what evidence we have provided to you, feel that no reimbursement is due the [redacted]s. We would be pleased to discuss this further if necessary, and will be glad to respond to any counter claims by the [redacted]s.The points of contact for MHT are Anne S[redacted] or John P[redacted]. They may be reached by phone from the numbers on the letterhead above or by e-mail: [redacted] or[redacted]Military Historical Tours [redacted] Woodbridge Virginia, 22193
September 22, 2014Revdex.com K Street NW, 10" Floor Washington, DC 20005-To whom it may concern,We received the complaint from you concerning customer complaint # [redacted] , and offer the following response:Military Historical Tours (MHT) has been in operation since as a tour companyWe are not a travel agency, so our trips are packaged for certain locations and length of timeA copy of the basic tour brochure is attached (exhibit 1)As are most of our trips, this one did not include airfare, but we offer the customer the opportunity of buying airfare through us, but it’s booked and paid for using an outside agency.When the [redacted] s registered for this tour, they filled out our registration form paid a deposit and agreed to our terms and conditions (exhibit 2)A copy of our terms and conditions, which is a part of the actual registration form, is attached (exhibit 3).Response to the actual complaint:The [redacted] s have requested some meal reimbursementsThe meals on our tour exceptfor rare occasions were provided, including meals that MHT paid for, but were not consumed by the [redacted] sWe have been offered no proof from the [redacted] s, such as meal receipts, that there were any meals on the tour itself that were paid for by themAny meals not part of the tour, such as their private trip, would certainly not be the responsibility Of MHTAs for tour reimbursement, the [redacted] s requested and made a deviation from the tour to actually end their portion of the tour on August 8, days shy of tour completionThey elected to leave on the morning of the 9", so their claim of tour abbreviation was of their own choosingThey were offered the opportunity to stay for the complete tour, which was adjusted due to an airline dispute/strike from Solomon Airlines, but they declinedA copy of their air tickets which they purchased are attached (exhibit 4) showing their deviation from the package tourOur terms and conditions, under Deviations, Revisions, and Changes (exhibit 5) clearly allow for MHT to ????? a fee of $per personIn an e-mail from the [redacted] s to MHT dated August 28", the [redacted] s claimed to have been charged this deviation fee (exhibit 6)This, even though we can charge them based on our terms, claim is totally falseWe have so far not charged them in order to give them a break and provide good customer service, although we are now considering doing soFurthermore, we processed and paid for the [redacted] ’s visas to Australia (exhibit 7), which was clearly not a part of the regular tour, which incurred fees of $USD per person, plus administrative fees of $per personNeither of these fees has been charged so far, as wellAs for the issues with the airlines and having to restructure the tour, our terms and conditions under responsibility (exhibit 8) show that the [redacted] s were aware of the possibility of changesThe staff at MHT called the [redacted] s on their cell phone at the airport upon learning of the air problem between Air Fiji and Solomon Air to notify them that the tour leader was already in Fiji and working on an alternative route for the group since MHT had not been notified of the problem with the air scheduleAt that time the [redacted] s went a head a boarded the plane for Fiji since they had plans to continue onto Australia/New Zealand afterwardsThey were given the choice to go ahead on tour knowing that changes were going to have to be madeThis was THEIR decision Even though our terms and conditions clearly state that MHT had no responsibility, we made changes to accommodate passengers, and paid several hundred dollars for each passenger to making airline changes plus providing additional hotel rooms for eachEach passenger was offered the opportunity to purchase trip insurance (exhibit 8, Trip cancellation insurance) through TravelEx to cover the possibility of trip interruption/cancellation, which would have reimbursed them for things not covered by MHT, but the [redacted] s declined this opportunityThe [redacted] s complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itineraryPrior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what is important to themA smaller special request section is also on page of our registration form (exhibit 2)At no time did the [redacted] s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tourWhen the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the [redacted] sAfter the trip was over, the [redacted] s sent out e-mails to others on tour to sow discontent as to their experience on that day, but as the attached e-mails (exhibit 10) shows from one of those on the trip, what the [redacted] s claimed was totally false.At all times MHT strives to provide the best trip possibleThe claim for reimbursement for an abbreviated trip is for MHT, a non-starterThey were given the option of staying as we had adjusted the tour to complete the itinerary, yet they elected to take the abbreviated tour to continue with their personal itineraryThe additional claim by the [redacted] s as to us having knowledge of the problems with Solomon Airlines is specifically not trueNo one would ever books tickets if they were not going to be validIt is absurd to think that MHT or any business would incur thousands of dollars in change fees and hotels to do such a thing when other options would have been possible if we had knownOnce this problem was brought to the attention of the MHT office staff, we did all possible to correct the problemAs for the internet usage, they offered Joe the ability to use their computer with no strings attachedSince the [redacted] s actually owe MHT $for deviation fees and visas and the service charges, they would actually owe us a differenceFor meals, we would need receipts and circumstances for consideration as none of the other tour participants had any such claims and all were on the same schedule with the exception of those who came from Europe.If the [redacted] s will provide receipts we would consider an adjustment for those items, but for any other claims, based on what evidence we have provided to you, feel that no reimbursement is due the [redacted] sWe would be pleased to discuss this further if necessary, and will be glad to respond to any counter claims by the [redacted] s.The points of contact for MHT are Anne S [redacted] or John P***They may be reached by phone from the numbers on the letterhead above or by e-mail: [redacted] or [redacted] Military Historical Tours [redacted] Woodbridge Virginia,
From: Anne S [redacted] < [redacted] >Date: Wed, Jan 28, at 6:PMSubject: Emailing: [redacted] , ***To: [redacted] Mr [redacted] - please find attached the check for $for the [redacted] party The original check was mailed today to them directlyWe would liketo request that they now send us the original receipts since the ones thatwere faxed over or the copies we got from you were not legible.Thanks so muchAnneWS [redacted] Anne WS [redacted] Military Historical Tours, Inc [redacted] ***Woodbridge, VA 22193###-###-#### [redacted] Fax ###-###-#### [redacted] ###-###-#### [redacted]
From: *** *** Date: Tue, Jan 19, at 2:PMSubject: Re: You have a new message from the Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania in regards to your complaint #***.To: [email protected] so much for your assistance
I received my $refund from Military Tours today I so appreciate the Revdex.com and their ability to help customers who are unable to deal with a business.Sincerely,*** ***
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
See Attachment
Regards,
*** ***
To Whom It May Concern,This letter is in response to Military History Tour (MHT) letter dated October 24, responding to our complaint #***This letter states that our complaint changed, Our complaint did not changeOnce we read the MHT response we only responded to the items listed but provided more detail.The original email was sent to MHT on August 28thWe allowed more than weeks to pass before we contacted our credit card company or the Revdex.comAs of that time, we had not heard anything from any of the MHT individuals we sent our email toWe were waiting for an acknowledgement, a request for more information or any communicationHaving received none, we took further action, In the most recent letter's last paragraphs, MHT said they wished we had tried to work with themThey have been the non-responsive partyAfter two letters, they still have not addressed our initial request for compensation and meal reimbursement for expenses, Had we received an offer from MHT to pay for our meals and other miscellaneous expenses that their representatives stated they would (once receipts were received) and an offer to prorate the tour (as promised) when we first sent MHT the email on August 28, 2014, we would not have taken further actionWe have faxed MHT the receipts for expenses for reimbursementOnce the complaint is addressed and actions taken we will withdraw our complaintWe would be happy to participate in a conference call with Revdex.com and MHT so that this can be resolved, if the parties so desire, *** would even meet with the parties in person, if need beTo ensure there are no misunderstandings we have addressed each of the items in the most recent response from MHT in the order presented,
The first item states we made no attempt to resolve the problem with MHT prior to filing the complaint with the Revdex.comWe will restate what was stated aboveWe sent our ermail to MHT on August 28, We waited weeks for any type Of acknowledgment from MHT prior to taking any additional actionThe email was sent to all parties that we communicated with prior to our travel and during our tour as well as the CEO of MHT, MHT did riot respond to our email but chose to ignore itThe Revdex.com complaint and the credit card chargeback were done simultaneously, more than weeks after the email was sent to MHTSince we had not heard from MHT we contacted our credit card company to discuss our optionsThe amount on the chargeback was calculated by the credit card company based on the days we were not on the tour, At that time MHT had been non-responsiveMHT called the trip to Red Beach a deviation in their letter of September As quoted from item number of that response letter:?Revdex.com WASHINGTON DC NOV l Complaint #***The *** complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itineraryPrior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what was important to themA smaller Special request is also on page of our registration form (exhibit 2)At no time did the ***s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tourWhen the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the ***s,Notice in their response they stated Red Beach was a tour deviation, therefore we had to respond to that Statement.In the registration information sent to us when booking the tour MHT under Deviations & Changes defines a deviation as: A deviation is any change to the tour program outside of the advertised tour itinerary as set forth by MHT, excluding pre or post tour options or extensionsOur post tour travel was not a deviation nor was the request to go to Red Beach in the one whole day or half days we had there,Concerning item an MHT representative contacted us after we had checked in, minutes before boarding for departure to Fiji, Hardly enough time for us to change plansMHT knew about the Fiji and Solomon Airline issue more than weeks before, and possibly 3-weeks before given the strike occurred early July, Even if MHT had told us on July when we received the first email from the MHT coordinator, we could have modified our arrangements but not minutes before boarding the plane in Los Angeles, miles from our residenceThe fact we got the email on July lets us know, in hindsight, MHT knew there was a difficult situation with the strike,The statement concerning August meal we were on the plane for breakfast and arrived in Fiji on that date at AMAll others on the tour had their lunch charged to the hotel, but we were not at the hotel for lunchLunch was not at the hotel, Per Johns email and Joe we were to keep all receipts for lunch and dinnerIn the spreadsheet it noted where MHT paid and where they were to reimburse us with the amount to be reimbursedWe have the receipts but were never asked to provide them, we will be faxing the copies of all receipts for reimbursementNo meals in Brisbane were prepaid arid our hotel receipts will show that and the receipt showing our charges in Brisbane, MHT did not cover either mealWe made Joe aware of that through our email to Richard that evening, We ate breakfast the morning of the 8” at the hotel in Brisbane our receipt will show thatAs far as the internet goes we offered the use of our plan because we thought devices could be online at onceOnce we found out only one could be on at a time we told them, so they had use of the internet, while we could not use the service we purchased, We mistakenly offered it when we thought devices could connect and Joe needed to print all itineraries for all tour participants,We were advised by Anne that the trip cancellation insurance we could purchase on our own would not cover the types of situations and that it would not help us in the situation as we were traveling the next dayIt was only good if the trip had to be canceled and it would not have helped get back the money from MHT, We reviewed the insurance sent to us and claims had to be submitted in days, however a reduced tour was not coveredSince MHT was covering all meals transportation and lodging the insurance was not going to cover anything elseNot until the September letter did we know they had insured us through August 22,
7, Other points:a.The tour leader was told the day before while at the memorial the importance of Red Beach and still had no intentions of goingHe stated that we would not have time and he had no idea what the front office was telling usAs stated in our last letterIt was not until we said we were taking a cab and the others in the group did not want us to that the tour guide conceded, not willingly, to take us to Red BeachWe had let him know early the morning before, when we had the entire day to see Guadalcanal how important this was to us and he had no plans to take us there, We actually got back to the hotel around 3:So theré would have been time that afternoon, We can rermérnber his words almost verbatim as if blaming us for cutting our tour to daysLike stating if it was so important why did we cut the tour time? There were instances with additional passengers being added to the busThe one we referenced was the instance when we took the missionary priest, Jason, from the airport to the monastery the day we arrived in Guadalcanal, Good point MHT brought up about the second person that joined us the only full day we had in Guadalcanal as we had not mentioned him, Might we ask how much he got charged for his one day tour? As far as the flight changes upon leaving the tour, our only communication with the organization arranging our flights was through MHT as this was there recommended travel agentWe had received updates to all of our flights thru MHT and only called Anne as we had not received an update on the additional change with the extra day we were to spend in FijiAs far as we were concerned until we left on our next scheduled flight to our next destination we were still on the Tour since they had done all of the arranging, am just glad we had some travel experience to have some idea of what to doWe would have really been in a lot more trouble in a foreign country had we not had some experience, The complaints we spoke of about the Men*** Hotel were noted on the participants' web sites and on *** ***One of the couples actually would not stay in the room they were assigned and upgraded at their expenseWe could not as there were no more rooms availableWe can ask the other tour participants in a survey if you would like about the water situation for the days we were at the hotel and we can also get exact quotes off of *** ***, You did have to buy water to brush your teeth and drink at night, We have made no accusations, we have only stated truths about our experienceWe would not have been on this tour had my husband had an experience like this on the first MHT tour he was on with his father when they went to Peleliu in He had a great experience in 1999, this one was not, We also view MHT in a different lightThey had told us to begin with that they would prorate the tour, but that never happenedWe only took actions when MHT did nothing.We would very much like to resolve the issues and retract our complaintH is time to quit writing letters and address our requests.*** and *** ***
From: Anne S[redacted] <[redacted]>Date: Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 6:27 PMSubject: Emailing: [redacted], [redacted]To: [redacted] Mr. [redacted] - please find attached the check for $96 for the [redacted]party. The original check was mailed today to them directly. We would liketo request that they now send us the original receipts since the ones thatwere faxed over or the copies we got from you were not legible.Thanks so muchAnneW. S[redacted]Anne W. S[redacted]Military Historical Tours, Inc[redacted]Woodbridge, VA 22193###-###-#### * Fax ###-###-#### * ###-###-####[redacted]
September 22, 2014Revdex.com 1411 K Street NW, 10" Floor Washington, DC 20005-3404
To whom it may concern,We received the complaint from you concerning customer complaint #[redacted], and offer the following response:Military Historical Tours (MHT) has been in...
operation since 1987 as a tour company. We are not a travel agency, so our trips are packaged for certain locations and length of time. A copy of the basic tour brochure is attached (exhibit 1). As are most of our trips, this one did not include airfare, but we offer the customer the opportunity of buying airfare through us, but it’s booked and paid for using an outside agency.When the [redacted]s registered for this tour, they filled out our registration form paid a deposit and agreed to our terms and conditions (exhibit 2). A copy of our terms and conditions, which is a part of the actual registration form, is attached (exhibit 3).Response to the actual complaint:1. The [redacted]s have requested some meal reimbursements. The meals on our tour exceptfor rare occasions were provided, including meals that MHT paid for, but were not consumed by the [redacted]s. We have been offered no proof from the [redacted]s, such as meal receipts, that there were any meals on the tour itself that were paid for by them. Any meals not part of the tour, such as their private trip, would certainly not be the responsibility Of MHT. 2. As for tour reimbursement, the [redacted]s requested and made a deviation from the tour to actually end their portion of the tour on August 8, 4 days shy of tour completion. They elected to leave on the morning of the 9", so their claim of tour abbreviation was of their own choosing. They were offered the opportunity to stay for the complete tour, which was adjusted due to an airline dispute/strike from Solomon Airlines, but they declined. A copy of their air tickets which they purchased are attached (exhibit 4) showing their deviation from the package tour. 3. Our terms and conditions, under Deviations, Revisions, and Changes (exhibit 5) clearly allow for MHT to ????? a fee of $100 per person. In an e-mail from the [redacted]s to MHT dated August 28", the [redacted]s claimed to have been charged this deviation fee (exhibit 6). This, even though we can charge them based on our terms, claim is totally false. We have so far not charged them in order to give them a break and provide good customer service, although we are now considering doing so. Furthermore, we processed and paid for the [redacted]’s visas to Australia (exhibit 7), which was clearly not a part of the regular tour, which incurred fees of $25 USD per person, plus administrative fees of $50 per person. Neither of these fees has been charged so far, as well.4. As for the issues with the airlines and having to restructure the tour, our terms and conditions under responsibility (exhibit 8) show that the [redacted]s were aware of the possibility of changes. The staff at MHT called the [redacted]s on their cell phone at the airport upon learning of the air problem between Air Fiji and Solomon Air to notify them that the tour leader was already in Fiji and working on an alternative route for the group since MHT had not been notified of the problem with the air schedule. At that time the [redacted]s went a head a boarded the plane for Fiji since they had plans to continue onto Australia/New Zealand afterwards. They were given the choice to go ahead on tour knowing that changes were going to have to be made. This was THEIR decision Even though our terms and conditions clearly state that MHT had no responsibility, we made changes to accommodate passengers, and paid several hundred dollars for each passenger to making airline changes plus providing additional hotel rooms for each. Each passenger was offered the opportunity to purchase trip insurance (exhibit 8, Trip cancellation insurance) through TravelEx to cover the possibility of trip interruption/cancellation, which would have reimbursed them for things not covered by MHT, but the [redacted]s declined this opportunity.5. The [redacted]s complained about a particular area that was important to them that was not on the trip itinerary. Prior to each trip, MHT sends out a questionnaire (exhibit 9) asking each participant to let us know about their history and what is important to them. A smaller special request section is also on page 2 of our registration form (exhibit 2). At no time did the [redacted]s indicate the importance of this area until that morning while out on tour. When the tour leader found out, he made a tour deviation to accommodate the [redacted]s. After the trip was over, the [redacted]s sent out e-mails to others on tour to sow discontent as to their experience on that day, but as the attached e-mails (exhibit 10) shows from one of those on the trip, what the [redacted]s claimed was totally false.At all times MHT strives to provide the best trip possible. The claim for reimbursement for an abbreviated trip is for MHT, a non-starter. They were given the option of staying as we had adjusted the tour to complete the itinerary, yet they elected to take the abbreviated tour to continue with their personal itinerary. The additional claim by the [redacted]s as to us having knowledge of the problems with Solomon Airlines is specifically not true. No one would ever books tickets if they were not going to be valid. It is absurd to think that MHT or any business would incur thousands of dollars in change fees and hotels to do such a thing when other options would have been possible if we had known. Once this problem was brought to the attention of the MHT office staff, we did all possible to correct the problem. As for the internet usage, they offered Joe the ability to use their computer with no strings attached. Since the [redacted]s actually owe MHT $350 for deviation fees and visas and the service charges, they would actually owe us a difference. For meals, we would need receipts and circumstances for consideration as none of the other tour participants had any such claims and all were on the same schedule with the exception of those who came from Europe.If the [redacted]s will provide receipts we would consider an adjustment for those items, but for any other claims, based on what evidence we have provided to you, feel that no reimbursement is due the [redacted]s. We would be pleased to discuss this further if necessary, and will be glad to respond to any counter claims by the [redacted]s.The points of contact for MHT are Anne S[redacted] or John P[redacted]. They may be reached by phone from the numbers on the letterhead above or by e-mail: [redacted] or[redacted]Military Historical Tours [redacted] Woodbridge Virginia, 22193