Warning....Private Bus Tours

Booked a trip, paid 3300 deposit, in May, contacted broker, no response, as we must cancel, asked for refund as trip is scheduled for end of July. Finally sold my trip at a 1600 pesos loss.....7 weeks preceeding trip. Just an FYI

Jim W wrote:Booked a trip, paid 3300 deposit, in May, contacted broker, no response, as we must cancel, asked for refund as trip is scheduled for end of July. Finally sold my trip at a 1600 pesos loss.....7 weeks preceeding trip. Just an FYI

You should name the people you purchased the trip from. Obviously another scam artist.

johninajijic wrote:

Jim W wrote:Booked a trip, paid 3300 deposit, in May, contacted broker, no response, as we must cancel, asked for refund as trip is scheduled for end of July. Finally sold my trip at a 1600 pesos loss.....7 weeks preceeding trip. Just an FYI

You should name the people you purchased the trip from. Obviously another scam artist.

Not a scam John....CB knows the issue....me lose 1600 pesos....he knows

Another "I am the victim story" out of Jim W. Try purchasing an airline ticket these days and get your money back when you change you mind!

CheenaGringo wrote:Another "I am the victim story" out of Jim W. Try purchasing an airline ticket these days and get your money back when you change you mind!

Neil the jerk, I paid the money......just letting people know to be aware when they buy a bus ticket. You are such a dildo....get your mouth off my post.....this has nothing to do with the airlines. I had a bad experience,,,sharing with all,,,you need to get a life!

Was this like tour? If so, who was the operator and booking agent?

Jim decided he didn't want to go on the tour and sold his ticket to another person for 1/2 price. His choice. Has nothing to do with the tour at all and I wonder why he would even post about this.

CanuckBob wrote:Jim decided he didn't want to go on the tour and sold his ticket to another person for 1/2 price. His choice. Has nothing to do with the tour at all and I wonder why he would even post about this.

Maybe he wants us to know that they are no refund.

Z

It's always very difficult to get a refund under any circumstances in Mexico. There's no "Nordstom" attitude here.

As Jim indicated above, I don't believe he even contacted the tour operator. If so, I am sure a refund could have been arranged considering several more people have signed up for the tour in the meantime. When you have no patience it costs you money.......

I think he did contact them. I believe he mentioned that in a post where he offered the tix for sale.

Maybe so however a direct transaction with the next customer could have been arranged. Regardless, what is done is done. I just don't like the way this post makes it look like something is amiss......

Contacted broker, no response...........so who was asked for a refund?

BTW....there is nothing in the original ad about asking the tour operator for a refund either. I will also be checking with the tour operator to see if he was contacted and if so, will advise that he needs to offer refunds within a certain time period.

http://www.insidelakeside.com/t4423-noe-s-tours-to-michoacanjuly-29th-departureaugust-1st-return

I sent them an email 3 days before I posted tix for sale, as no response received. I am not implying I have been cheated in any way. It was my stupidity that cost me the money. Rather than chasing my tail trying to unload the tickets, I chose to dump them at a loss.

I failed to ask how much of a deposit was required, voluntarily put 50% deposit. I also failed to ask about refund policy, prior to puchase.....my bad.

Thanks for the explanation. Case closed.........

I don't think this is a scam artist as posted earlier. I don't know of any travel group lakeside that will refund your money for a trip. I've had it happen that I wasn't able to take a trip and they usually offer to "sell" your seat for you if they have a sell out. In fact I was able to go on a trip one time that was completely booked and I took the place of someone who had to cancel - and and paid them directly.

Most of the travel groups are small businesses and they can't function if at the last minute many in the group wanted their money back - they have to pre-pay deposits for hotels, bus, etc. Most travel groups require a 50% deposit and it's non-refundable.

So be warned, when you book a trip, unless it's a sell out, you will likely not get your deposit back if your plans change. Same applies to Charter Club Tours and Viaje Ajijic, and all the travel groups I've used. Having said that most of the travel groups are reputable and the trip is a fraction of the cost vs if you went on your own - cost of hotels and gas alone being much higher. And of course if you don't have a guide there are a lot of experiences you will miss.

Same as an airline ticket, there was a vet who had cancer and was not expected to live and asked for refund. Denied by major airline until continuous negitave coverage by major networks and boycotting.

Some tour agencies offer trip cancellation insurance "just in case", but it will cost extra.

Simpsca made a good point. There are up front costs to the tour agencies.