Reviews
DE
Email Ellen Gutzler | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
charming, but not reliable and cheating
Very bad end to initiallly good experience!
We had an almost 4 weeks trip in Uganda and Rwanda.
The company owner (Meddy) drove us from Rwanda to Uganda and back. We we visited friends, the Murchinson Falls National Park including Budogo Chimpanse Tracking, and Mambasa Wet Lands, toured Rwanda (Musanze, Rubavu, Rusizi, Huye and Kigali). In the ed we did a 1,5 days tour to Akagera National Park. For the last trip, an employee was employed driver.
First everything went well and we had really great experiences. (Not the Company Owner is driving very fast.)
The travel was planned by myself and covened with the Company Owner and we paid in advance. For the last trip the company owner did not only ignore what we had convened, he changed the lodge, which made a big difference, but he did not tell us before and did not give a clear explanation, after questioning. The communication was very bad. I got very angry.
But more important in the end we had a problem about payment.
Arriving at Akagera Park Visitor Center we learnt to our shock, that the companys credit card was not charged suffiently. No explanation. The company owner asked me to pay and he would reimburse me. I trusted him, because he had done this before and he was friend of friend...
But in this case, Meddy first started to delay and to question details.... He was back in Uganda, I was in Rwanda. He did not pick phone. We texted..... In the end he reimbursed but in tranches and up to today incompletely, and only after many discussions, reminders and big delays!!! Up to now there is a still a balance due that he did not pay. He keeps on promising, and then not action but silence.
This startedd early February and we are not mid March!! This is not professional.
Advises: Don't pay all in advance, don't pay on his behalf and do not rate until the very end of the trip and all bills settled!
Reply from Beyond Travel
Posted on Mar 31, 2025Hello Ellen!
Thank you so much for your time to share your feedback and your recent tour with us!We are genuinely sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations
Here at beyond travel we aim at giving our clients a great experiences and am happy to read that you a great experience from the beginning till the last the last 2 days to Akagera National park
As you planned the itinerary yourself and selected all accommodation, we had to go with your itinenery and help arrange everything and also payments. Your first guide Meddy fall sick on this tour four days to end and we replaced him with Renato Brain so that he was to go and access medication
Upon reaching Akerage National Park! You requested our guide Renato to send money to your Ugandan Nephew who you visited previously on this same tour and you would compensate by paying the park entrance to Akegera National Park! As this was sent to them immediately before you even entered the park, as the guide even showed you the transaction proof which was shared to you and also us! This act by our guide to send the money on your behalf to Uganda was surely considered as an of help since you were not able to the money directly by yourself
Regarding the itinerary, we strive to provide all activities as stated. Our records show that all planned activities were conducted. We never changed any accommodation from your itinerary as this was pre planned by you and we only came to help reserve the accommodation and payments and also made sure every goes as you planned, You wanted an upgrade of the accommodation and of course this meant that you would pay extra top up to cover up which you were unwilling to do and also you booked your tour with 1000 usd for a such long trip of more than 25 days, we used the company money to make sure all activities and accommodations were fully paid before the start of the trip as you were paying the reset of the balance on arrival
All this means your accommodation was paid a weeks before you arrived to akagera where you only stayed one night. You requested for an up grade 4 days before heading to Akagera and it was impossible to up grade because this would lead to100% cancellation fees on the booked accommodation
We regret any confusion this may have caused and will work on improving our communication to ensure all guests are aware of their options.
We apologise for the negative impression and inconvenience this might have caused by our tour guide. All our guides are fully trained, certified, and hold annual licenses from the Uganda Tourism Board. They also undergo regular refresher and customer experience training to ensure they provide professional, enthusiastic, and informative service. We regret that this was not reflected in your experience and will address this matter directly with the Guide to prevent it from happening again.
We appreciate your feedback as it helps us improve our services. If you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. We hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a much better experience in the future.
sincerely,
Ahmed