details of Abu Simbel excursion changed after payment

[malinmaid]

When my husband and I took a weeks cruise on the nile we booked in for extra excursions. One excursion we discussed was a balloon trip but the holiday rep told me it was a 4 o clock wake up call and I said no way. The next trip I booked was for us both to Abu Simbel for which we paid £70- British- each.
At 5.30 the evening before the guide told us that we would be leaving at 2.30 the next morning and it was by arrangement with the police who provided the armed guard for the trip from Luxor. At no stage had anyone mentioned that this trip was 'dangerous' and required an armed guard and also as we were on a weeks holiday there is no way we would have booked this trip if we had known the exact details. We told the guide we did not want to go and would not have booked if the details had been made clear but she shrugged-no refunds.I feel we should be refunded our money but the tour operator is adamant -no refunds. Any advice ?

[Bookworm]

Unfortunately, it's quite well documented (depsite the exotic ads) that Egypt is not the safest of places to travel. I fancied honeymooning down the Nile until I found out it's not uncommon to have funny guys taking pot shots at tourists, which kinda put me off the idea pretty sharpish!

It is always a good idea to research the country where you're going to, the Foreign Office has an up to date advice to travellers page on their website here:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?...=1007029390590

And of course, terrorist threats are not covered by travel insurance, and are in fact a specific exclusion.

I'm not sure that there is much you can do. Maybe someone else will know better, I'm happy to get corrected.

[malinmaid]

thanks bookworm, but I understood that one cannot enforce a contract where there is either a mistake of 'fact' or if one side is party to information regarding the contract and the other isnt. As we had turned down the ballooning due to the 4.30 start surely as it was only a minute later they should have drawn our attention to the likely early start for Abu Simbel !! If for example they had advised us that the excursion was now by bicycle instead of bus would that have been acceptable. ?

[Bookworm]

Sorry, I thought from your post the reason you refused to go was because of the danger element.

To enforce that which you refer to, you would have to be able to prove that at the point of booking the trip, the guide knew that the trip would start early. Did he? Or did he get news from the police later that this was the only time they would be able to provide an escort? Is there a brochure that states what time the excursion starts? And if there is, look out for small print that will say something about "times can not be guaranteed and are likely to change at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances" or words to that effect.

If you booked through one of the big tour operators, you certainly can make noises, and see where that gets you, but I doubt you'd get very far beyond a token goodwill gesture. I'm happy to be corrected if you succeed, do let us know!

[Stuartlin]

Hi sorry to hear that you were put of by the journey to Abu Simbel and the armed guard escort. I have been to Egypt 5 times over the last 10 years and feel it to be one of the safest destinations I have been to. The journey to Abu Simbel is through desert on a single track road and the Egyptian Authorities to prefer tourists to travel in convoys of several buses with an escort due to the nature of the surrounding desert. You have truly missed a wonderful experience.

As far as I can remember and I was only there a year ago all the excursion lists state that this is done by convoy with guards and that it is an early start as are all excursions in Egypt due to the extremely high temperatures and they are trying to look after their guests.

I'm not sure that you will be able to claim any recompense as everything is clearly stated and the information is readily available.

Hope you get a satisfactory response from your tour operator.

[malinmaid]

Thanks a million for all your advice but the point is that nowhere on any of the information leaflets did it discuss armed guards or early departures. We booked £400 plus worth of trips all at the same time with the same guides and they heard me say I wasnt doing the balloon trip because of the early start-4.30a.m. . The balloon start wasn't mentioned in the literature either---that just came out in 'chat'-'banter', so I think they put their heads down when it came to Abu Simbel as it was the most expensive trip and they make commission. I know we were horn-swaggled I just haven't made my mind up what to do.

[Loula]

Hello!

A few questions..

When was this trip?
Was everything dealt with through the same holiday company including the additional tours?
Were your complaints about that particular excursion made in public ie. infront of other passengers and did other passengers have the same feelings?

Who was the tour operator?

I should be able to help you with this. I used to underwrite travel policies so know what is a 'proper' claim and those likely to be throuwn out.

LOULA

[malinmaid]

A few months back-the operater was First Choice and the trips were booked the first day we arrived on the ship with the First Choice representatives. No mention was made at the 'welcome talk' which was when the details of the trip were given out with arrangements for bookings to be taken that evening on the ship after we returned from an 'inclusive' trip. As previously mentioned we paid approx £400 for two for these extra trips and I really feel we were misled. We paid by Visa but still havent seen the entry on our bill. Other passengers complained but when it was MADE CLEAR no refunds all went except ourselves and another couple who were ill?. I stll have the original brochure and the 'other half of the booking form which makes no mention of early rises for abu simbel-nor the armed convoy. We were given the details the evening before at around 5.30 after our felucca trip on the nile. That night we told the rep that we would not be going as the 2.30 rise was ridiculous. She just confirmed no refund-and we left it as that as far as we were concerned the laws of contract had been breeched one party was aware of and had not shared facts material to the making of the contract
The bill will probably arrive this week so we will take it up with Visa but wondered if anyone had more concrete advice.

[Loula]

Ok.

You should write to Frist Choice and explain your complaint fully, using bullet points. Make sure you give any written evidence you have regarding the conversation with the rep and also about the trip leaving so early and the armed guards.

The only 'problem' is that this is not one they can easily pass to their insurers. They did supply the holiday you paid for, it is just the excursion which did not meet satisfactory standards. They should just refund the money for the trip. If they do not, stick to your guns, get a managers name at the complaints centre and send a RD letter to them.

Keep us informed

LOULA