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Orange Sky Travel

Simpsonville, South Carolina, United States, 29681-4572

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Orange Sky Travel Reviews (%countItem)

We booked a trip thru my daughter school orchestra to Disney world. This trip could not be provided by Orange Sky Travel as due to covid 19 Disney was closed and still is. Orange Sky is refusing to give a full refund on a trip the can’t provide due to Disney shut down the travel restrictions set by President and Governor. Hey

Orange Sky Travel Response • Apr 29, 2020

We are a company who works hand in hand with our schools and vendors to provide an excellent travel experience for each traveler. The events of COVID 19 and the fallout from the subsequent closings have been unchartered territories for all-individuals, small businesses like ourselves, schools, districts and vendors. We are all trying to do what is best for everyone involved. As everything is so new and we are having to develop action plans and steps and move forward with the cancellation of over 100 trips throughout multiple states, we have asked for patience and understanding from our travelers. Not all travelers are willing to wait or be patient, and some are not very understanding. We understand their concerns as many have lost jobs, are dealing with childcare or e-learning issues and more. We, too, have been affected as we have had to lay off staff due to the tremendous strain of cancellations, refunding the highest possible amount recouped from vendors and creating communication to let people know as soon as possible how we are helping. Although we are working doubly hard for our clients-first in booking their trip and handling all payments, customer service, account management, and now unbooking the trip, handling customer service, vendors and communication, most parents are demanding that we should not be paid for that work. We have cut into our amounts received to cover as much as possible for the parents with regards to our services already rendered to give back as much as possible for the trip. There is 0 profit in this for Orange Sky Travel.

To clarify the formula used to determine refunds, these are the factors we must look at:

What is used for the Group Credit we are able to give schools;1) Any amounts recouped from vendors2) Any expenses not already paid (such as meal budgets, payment for handlers, tips, etc)3) Any projected profit from OSTWhat are Non Refundable Expenses:

1) Amounts not recouped from vendors2) Expenses already incurred and paid ( cc processing, promo materials, staff for specific school meetings, etc.)3) Services provided and staff paid to do so since the trip has been booked-working specifically on that trip

This client is not privy to information discussed with decision makers for the trip-the school and district leadership that we contracted with. We have, in fact, worked with the school and have already provided this traveler with a 100% refund of all money they paid into the trip (a check per the customer request mailed 4.27.20 for all except $50 which is provided in a prepaid VISA card which was already purchased for the student to use for meals during the trip. This parent was told by us and the school that the card would be available for pick up at the school on 4.30.20). With the help of the vendors, the school, and the tremendous effort of Orange Sky Travel staff working as a team, we were able to come to a resolution to help all involved. While we hope the traveler will be appreciative of the efforts made to restore his payment refund to 100%, that still does not signify that he has access to vendor information. That is not information that is given in the documentation signed by the traveler at any point. Our hope is that is in realizing he has already received a full refund of the money he paid for the trip, the client will remove his complaint.

Customer Response • Apr 30, 2020

Revdex.com:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
Regards,

***

orange Sky did not refund but 3/4 of trip. They kept 1/3 of the money when they could not provide a trip at all. They are trying a play on words. My daughter sold hundreds of dollars worth of candy the proceeds of this went towards the trip. The remainder of balance was paid by me. So they are not issuing a full refund when in fact they are keeping 1/3 of this for themselves. This is same for every traveler. They also refuse to disclose how much they are keeping when vendors gave 100 percent refund. Orange Sky should not be allowed any money as they can not provide a trip. They continue to use deception in this complaint as they are taking 1/3 of all refunds of every traveler and not issuing a 100 percent refund. I have yet to this day recieved any refund from Orange Sky Travel

Orange Sky Travel Response • May 09, 2020

This trip was cancelled within 2 weeks of departure. According to our contract with both the school and the travelers (which had to be read and agreed to prior to signing up for the trip and booking), no refund is due the customers for cancellations within 30 days of departure-regardless of circumstances. (see attached) In order to be good partners with the school and travelers, we worked tirelessly on their behalf with vendors to obtain refunds for funds already paid to vendors. We have been rendering services on this trip since it was booked in the fall. There are goods and services that have been rendered over the last 6 months in preparation for the trip in addition to money paid to vendors for the trip. Even in light of the fact that neither Orange Sky nor the vendors were obligated to refund any amounts, we worked to refund the entire school at least 77.91% of all funds received. Every traveler received that amount as a minimum.

This traveler received a 100% refund of the amount he paid to our company. He received a check (per his request -see attached) for $525 with the balance of $50 received in a prepaid VISA debit card (good anywhere VISA is accepted) which had already been purchased for his traveler for meals for the trip and that was unable to be returned (again, due to the trip being cancelled less than 2 weeks prior to departure). In addition, we have issued a $75 credit for all travelers towards any trip with Orange Sky Travel in the next two years to increase the amount of value for all travelers. This brings this traveler's refund amount plus credit to 113.04% of the funds he paid directly for the trip. Any amounts above and beyond the 100% that he paid in were received from the school and at the school's discretion to utilize. They were not paid by the traveler thus not under his authority to allocate.

The customer has requested a full refund. We have issued the customer a full refund of the amount he paid toward the trip. We have also issued future credit, bringing the refund amount above 100%. The customer is now insisting on a refund of fundraising money which he did not pay into the trip. The school issued us a check for fundraising proceeds. The school sends us a check and lets us know who to credit and how much. We have done so. Any funds not received directly by the customer are under the authority of the school to allocate and we have done so at their request. Should the traveler have any dispute or problem with the allocation of those funds, he needs to speak to the school since they own those funds and are the only ones with the authority to allocate them.

Customer Response • May 11, 2020

Revdex.com:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.

Regards,

***

This trip was cancelled longer than two weeks out. The cancellation doesn’t matter as Orange Sky Could not fulfill this trip as Disney was closed and still is closed. Orange Sky sent out emails saying they were going to request 100 percent refunds. Then all of sudden Orange Sky is keeping 1/3 of every travelers money Yes every traveler not just mine!! So everybody got 1/3 of their money lost to Orange Sky. Yes Orange Sky was profiting off of others during a pandemic!! Then all of sudden it was oh we didn’t get full refunds. They did and refuse to disclose who didn’t return money. Orange Sky then said oh we can’t do that. Yes because I contacted both Disney and Hotel and both stated no money from covid 19 cancellations were kept even if was group travel!! So Orange Sky then sent email saying they were refunding me one amount then changed it to another amount. I still as of today have not recieved any refund other than 50 gift card? Bottom line is Orange Sky toke 1/3 of every travelers money and made a profit on a trip the couldn’t make happen!! They were only one out of anybody that kept money. Shame on you Orange Sky.

My childs field trip was cancelled due to Covid. I paid the full amount to them for the trip. We are being offered a 74 percent refund without being told what exactly the other 26 percent is being kept for. I have contacted several times and asked for specifics but keep being told it is confidential.

Orange Sky Travel Response • Apr 19, 2020

We understand this client's frustration. We too were saddened that the school district cancelled the trip. We have been working diligently on this and all traveler's behalf to book and handle all details of the trip since it was first booked in July 2019. Our company handles all payments, customer service and booking of all transportation, hotels, venues, meals, etc. of a trip and sends a handler along with the trip to ensure it all goes smoothly so that teachers can focus on their students and teach. We thereby remove additional work associated with the trip from the school. When the trip was cancelled by the district, we had already completed about 90% of our job having booked and secured everything, taken payments and handled payments with vendors on behalf of the school. When the trip was cancelled, we had to go back to vendors and ask for refunds. Although many vendors are refunding individual reservations in full, they are not doing so with groups due to non-refundable clauses in the contract. In addition, some venues which are free to individuals incur a charge or fee when booking for groups. Some of our fees in addition to those not recouped from venues include credit card processing fees which all travelers utilize and which are paid each time they make a payment, promotional materials for the school and students, staff which conduct meeetings at the school on behalf of the trip at the start of the contract, pay for staff who handle customer service, interaction and booking with vendors, updating numbers and contacting parents with payment needs and information, etc. These services have already been rendered and paid out. While we can appreciate that the traveler would like to have 95% back, her number is an arbitrary one assigning value on things of which she doesn't know the cost. We are legally bound to not disclose contract and pricing information from our vendors and cannot incur litigation from that on behalf of travelers who do not have permission to view those contracts. Our percentage refunded was based on a complete accounting of all funds, to the penny, which have been recouped and incurred from the trip, and then that amount was sent to the district. The district was asked if they would like to add to that amount or if they would like for us to refund the amount we were able to recoup. They chose to go with the amount that could be recouped from expenses incurred and not refunded. We have personally removed all profit from the trip and have actually cut into reserves to try and get each traveler back a higher refund, but even those reserves have limits. We sent back the absolute most that was recouped from this trip while not even retaining the actual amount for our company that was fully incurred.

Customer Response • Apr 20, 2020

Revdex.com:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID3, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.

Orange Sky Travel is keeping over $9,000 for a trip that never occurred, where they received refunds from their vendors. This is only one trip. Multiple schools have fallen victim to them. A quick search on social media shows the numerous schools that have been treated the same way. There is no way the amount collected from not only our trip but all the others combined don't cover their overhead. All they need to do is show the actual numbers. Not the contracted amounts, but the amount that was not refunded. Also the school district was assured that if parents called we would be told the numbers, but that was not the case when I called. The school is also calling museums to check on the fees that were supposedly incurred. I was told that the museums that have free admission, charge them. When I asked which free museum charged, I was not told. The secrecy from Orange Sky Travel does not give a vote of confidence. Orange Sky spent our money to cover other things and now can't give refunds. That is the real problem.

Regards

Orange Sky Travel Response • Apr 28, 2020

The customer has asked for documents that we are legally unable to provide for them. We have nondisclosure agreements with our vendors which contain confidential pricing information available only to tour operators. This is how we are able to provide the variety of services for our clients that help to remove work from educators so they can teach the students while providing a high quality trip for a great price. We have been in communication with both the principal and the school district. Those decision makers have not indicated that any parent would be given a breakdown of cost from each vendor from Orange Sky Travel because they know that we legally cannot do so.

This client is not privy to information discussed with decision makers for the trip-the school and district leadership that we contracted with. We have, in fact, worked with the school and will be providing each traveler with a 100% refund of all money they paid into the trip. With the help of the vendors, the school, and the tremendous effort of Orange Sky Travel staff working as a team, we were able to come to a resolution to help all involved. While we hope the traveler will be appreciative of the efforts made to restore her payment refund to 100%, that still does not signify that she has access to vendor infomation. That is not information that is given in the documentation signed by the traveler at any point.

With regards to the two *** posts the travelers included. As with many *** posts, people often rant and make accusations/statements without verifying their authenticity or caring if it is true. The post from the parent at *** Middle School is referring to trips made within the Greenville County School district-not Laurens as this traveler is. One of the trips he mentioned is not even a trip that Orange Sky Travel has planned or has anything to do with. Because so many trips were within Greenville County, the district requested all transactions to go through them. When this parent made the post, we had already notified the district of all information and were working with them on the refunding process. We have since paid the district and turned over all traveler documentation for them to distribute refunds. Again, working in collaboration with the schools and the districts, all of those parents will be receiving a full refund. With regards to the second *** post the traveler included. This is also a Greenville County parent who had issue with the timing of the refund and who made up her own narrative. That parent is also receiving a full refund. We, again, have already given the district the money and all customer transactions. The district is choosing to refund each traveler directly through the schools.

To clarify the formula used to determing refunds, these are the factors we must look at:

What is used for the Group Credit we are able to give schools;1) Any amounts recouped from vendors2) Any expenses not already paid (such as meal budgets, payment for handlers, tips, etc)3) Any projected profit from OSTWhat are Non Refundable Expenses:1) Amounts not recouped from vendors2) Expenses already incurred and paid ( cc processing, promo materials, staff for specific school meetings, etc.)3) Services provided and staff paid to do so since the trip has been booked-working specifically on that trip

We are a company who works hand in hand with our schools and vendors to provide an excellent travel experience for each traveler. The events of COVID 19 and the fallout from the subsequent closings have been unchartered territories for all-individuals, small businesses like ourselves, schools, districts and vendors. We are all trying to do what is best for everyone involved. As everything is so new and we are having to develop action plans and steps and move forward with cancellation of over 100 trips throughout multiple states, we have asked for patience and understanding from our travelers. Not all travelers are willing to wait or be patient, and some are not very understanding. We understand their concerns as many have lost jobs, are dealing with childcare or e-learning issues and more. We, too, have been affected as we have had to lay off staff due to the tremendous strain of cancellations, refunding the highest possible amount recouped from vendors and creating communication to let people know as soon as possible how we are helping. Although we are working doubly hard for our clients-first in booking their trip and handling all payments, customer service, account management, and now unbooking the trip, handling customer service, vendors and communication, most parents are demanding that we should not be paid for that work. We have cut into our amounts received to cover as much as possible for the parents with regards to our services already rendered to give back as much as possible for the trip. There is 0 profit in this for Orange Sky Travel.

Our hope is that is finding out that she is receiving a full refund of the money she paid for the trip, the client will remove her complaint.

Customer Response • Apr 28, 2020

Revdex.com,

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards

Field trip was canceled due to corona virus and this company will not refund my money. They cannot provide the service that I paid for in the amount of $275 and I want my money back.

Customer Response • Mar 26, 2020

I was contacted by the company and was assured that I will receive a full refund

Thank you for your help.

Orange Sky Travel was contracted by *** Middle School to organize a trip to Disney World for the performing arts students. My husband and I signed up to be chaperones so our trip total was for 3 people, costing us $2,397.00. With the World Health Organization labeling the Coronavirus as a pandemic, things began to change and escalate quickly. Greenville County Schools have canceled all out-of-state field trips, Disney World is now closed, and yet Orange Sky Travel is refusing to refund any money to me. Orange Sky Travel claims that a refund cannot be processed because they have all ready paid their vendors, yet no services have been rendered to me. I did not purchase travel insurance because there was no reason for me to not go on this trip. I have absolutely no control over Disney World closing and therefore should not be forced to accept a financial loss or to be given a "travel credit" to be used at another time. I will never do business with Orange Sky Travel again and will be speaking to Greenville County School's Superintendent about finding a different travel company to work with for all future field trips.

Orange Sky Travel Response • Mar 28, 2020

Orange Sky Travel was contracted on September 4, 2019 by *** Middle School to organize and plan a trip to Orlando for their chorus on April 2-5, 2020. Each traveler had to read and agree to our terms of agreement, cancellation policies (listed as no refunds for cancellations within 30 days of travel), and accept or deny the opportunity to purchase additional Travel Insurance (including Cancel for Any Reason) prior to booking. *** booked the trip for herself, her husband, and her student on September 27, 2019 without purchasing additional Travel Insurance. The school district announced that trips had to be postponed or cancelled March 17, 2020. At that time, we reached out to the teacher and she wanted to postpone the trip. Since the trip is booked on behalf of the school, they decide whether or not the trip is cancelled or postponed. We notified all travelers that the trip was being postponed and we would contact them with more information when we received it from the school. Mrs. immediately started harrassing and bashing our company publically on ***. Spreading slanderous accusations that were untrue. She claimed, as with the complaint with the Revdex.com, that we had refused to give refunds. This is not true. We only said that for trips that are cancelled, we would begin working on behalf of our travelers to reclaim any funds possible from our vendors. With group travel, all expenses are paid in advance. We had already received Disney tickets, and on the day of the school district announcement, Disney was open and had told us that they were not refunding any ticket prices. We asked for parents to be patient as we worked with our vendors. 5 days later, Disney closed it's parks, and 8 days later, we were told that the tickets would be refunded. Mrs. continued to slander us online and distribute false information. We repeatedly tried to contact her to discuss the situation, both through private messaging on ***, by calling her listed phone numbers on the account, and a return call or message was never returned. It became so bad, that we finally had to call the teacher and ask her to get in contact with the parent to stop her slanderous behavior as she wouldn't respond to us. The school district has since cancelled all trips. We sent another email to travelers letting them know of the cancellation and that we would begin working on refunds with our vendors. Mrs. has been sent all of this communication, which clearly states that we will be issuing refunds. As with business anywhere, a little patience goes a long way. We were able to contact the school district that cancelled the trips, and have worked out a system and process to give all travelers for this school district a full refund. Had Mrs. contacted us back when we requested, she would have known this. Instead, she chose to continue to spread falsehoods and file illegitimate complaints. When dealing with such a large amount of cancellations at one time from COVID 19 (80 school trips to be exact), we have asked for patience as we negotiate with vendors, schools and school districts on behalf of the travelers. These things take time as refunds must be received prior to issuing refunds, and all must be done manually. We have our final submission to the district this week so that we can secure the remaining funds to refund all travelers.

Customer Response • Mar 30, 2020

Revdex.com:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.

I have attached screenshots from my email communication between myself and Orange Sky Travel, where they plainly stated no refund would be given. I also included a screenshot from Orange Sky Travel's *** page, that they have since deleted, stating no refund would be given. Orange Sky Travel claims I was harassing and slandering them, I feel I was just expressing frustration about the selfishness of the company. Orange Sky Travel has hidden and deleted so many of the responses they received about not giving refunds. My *** post had 133 comments on it, a lot of which came from parents of students at other school that were being told the same thing. Orange Sky Travel claims they had to reach out to my child's teacher to try and get me to "calm down' and that never happened. Her teacher has my cell phone number, email address, and home address. I did not receive any kind of communication from a teacher about this. Yes, Orange Sky Travel did call me at the number I provided to them, but I was unable to answer my phone at that time ( it was nearing 5 pm on a Friday, that is a very hectic time for me). After placing my complaint here with the Revdex.com and seeking legal advice, I felt it would be better for me to not speak with Orange Sky Travel. I did send a *** message to OST earlier today requesting an update on my refund and they stated they could issue me a refund today, over the phone, if I called them. I did not call them, instead I had my husband reach out to them. OST immediately asked my husband if I would be willing to remove my complaint from Revdex.com and said that they couldn't issue him a refund over the phone, even though I was told that exact thing minutes before. I have more screenshots and communications to provide but there is limit of 4 attachments allowed on this response. OST is claiming they have to get approval from the school to issue us a refund but that makes ZERO sense because I paid OST directly, I did not pay the school.

Regards

Orange Sky Travel Response • Apr 14, 2020

To Whom It May Concern,

The initial complaint with the Revdex.com is that we were not offering refunds for this trip. We have since proven multiple times with a variety of communications to both the customer who initiated the complaint, teachers, school district leaders, and all travelers that we are working on their behalf to secure and provide refunds.(see document 4-communication sent to all travelers for that trip on March 17th after we received confirmation from the school that the trip was being canceled-not postponed). The customer provided a *** post that she created which stated that we said we would not provide a refund. Those are her words-not ours. She is quoting a *** post that we made on March 9, 2020 regarding the COVID 19 situation. At that time, no bans were in effect and no districts had cancelled trips. We had to let clients know that if they chose to personally cancel their trips, then the cancellation policies that they had to agree to prior to signing up for the trip were in effect. The situation with COVID 19 has been a rapidly changing one, with new insights and closures each day. When we received the email from this client demanding a refund or she would utilize communication for legal action against us, we went to our contacts once again to see if there was any type of refund offered and they said there was not (see attached communication). On March 13, 2020 there had been more developments and we deleted the previous post on *** as it was no longer valid. We instead posted new information where we let the travelers know that we were in communication with school leaders and vendors and were working on their behalf to secure refunds. (see attached documentation). We kept this customer up to date on where we were with regards to refunds with the vendors as we gained more clarity. She claimed she contacted vendors and they said they were offering full refunds. As you can see from the attached documentation, that is in direct disagreement with the communication from the vendors themselves. Group travel works very differently from individual travel. Group travel is paid months in advance with many non-refundable components in the contracts. We were working on behalf of our clients to secure any refunds possible. The businesses contract directly with us as a group travel agent, not with individuals, so the customer would have had no authority to speak on behalf of the group with those vendors.

The customer claimed that we offered her a refund over the phone. This is also not true. According to the attached documentation (see full transcript of Messenger communication-document 2) The customer insisted we email information about the refund. Since there had been much misunderstanding, we asked to speak on the phone instead. The customer again asked for email communication, which we declined. I stated that we could discuss refund information over the phone. She then answered by asking if her husband could call. There was never the indication that refunds would be made over the phone, simply that we could discuss them over the phone. Since the complaint against our business was that she thought there would be no refunds, and we showed communication that directly contradicted that-showing that we were giving refunds, I asked her husband if they would remove the complaint since it seemed it was based on a misunderstanding. He indicated that he didn't think they would remove the complaint until the refund was issued. I replied that I understood.

With regards to her multiple *** complaints, yes, we did hide the negative remarks, threats to sue and disparaging remarks about our business that were on our business *** page. Instead, we chose to highlight those who understood we were working on their behalf and understood that we were working on refunds. We did not want misinformation to be stated on or stay on our page-which is within our right as managers of our page. There are many additional remarks on her personal *** page which we have no control over, thus we are not able to do anything with those. We are simply removing negativity and misinformation from our page.

While we collect payments and sign contracts on behalf of the travelers, our contract is with the school. We cannot work outside of their decision making authority. Just as the school sets the price of the trip, inclusions, and can choose who gets to attend, the school and district ultimately have control over refunds as well. We have been working hand in hand with the school district with regards to refunds for all Greenville County School trips. Although the parents pay us directly, the school has the final decision making authority, thus we must wait for their direction on how and when they would like refunds distributed. A message will be sent to all travelers regarding those refunds but we had to wait on direction from the school district.

In summary, if the complaint is that the traveler is not getting a refund, that complaint is not valid, as she will be receiving a refund. We have communicated this in a multitude of ways to the schools and travelers.

Customer Response • Apr 17, 2020

Revdex.com:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.

Orange Sky Travel is correct in stating they have communicated multiple times with everyone on working on getting a refund. Every communication I have received has only stated that OST is "working" on getting everyone the "best possible" refund. I will not accept anything less than a FULL refund. It has now been over a month and no one has received a single penny back from OST for services they did not use. It makes no difference to me whether the travel company is working with the school. I did NOT pay the school, I paid ORANGE SKY TRAVEL. I will hold this company responsible for theft of services until I receive a 100% refund. To know this company is keeping and delaying reimbursement for hundreds of parents is unreal. I have written to SC Senator Graham, SC Senator Scott, and SC Representative Timmons about this issue. Once I receive my refund I will be more than happy to accept a resolve of my issue and remove my complaint.

Regards

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