Gemfinders Tours & Travel Staff
Gemfinders Tours and Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2018)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $120 to $380 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Nico Goetz | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A mediocre experience at best
So the tour started about 1hour and 30 minutes late because the initial driver could not pick us up because the safari car broke down on the way to our hotel. So we got assigned a new driver and this driver was supposed to arrive at our hotel 20 minutes later than the actual pickup time. But he arrived over 1 hour later and the boss of the travel agency promised us to extend the game drive for the amount of the time the driver was delayed. So when the driver arrived he was in not so good of a mood because he had been woken up in his sleep to do the tour instead of the other driver. So his bad mood was understandable to us at first. We continued with the tour and tried to make the best out of the situation. The Safari tour felt rushed and the actual Safari was very underwhelming because we just rushed through the main paths of the national park for about 2 hours and did not get any explanation of the driver whatsoever without us actually asking him specific questions. We did not see many animals and our requests during the drive were not regarded. The Safari was expensive (500$ and more for 2 people) and it was not worth the money at all. We spent 25$ per person for a meal which was just rice and vegetables and the driver even was rude to us when we asked him why he was making us rush through everything when actually we were promised a longer Safari tour because of the delay. We can’t recommend this agency although not everything was bad.
Reply from Gemfinders Tours and Travel
Posted on Apr 10, 2024Hello Nico,
Thank you for your honest feedback, we value it for it helps us to continue improving our service levels. We are only perplexed that you did not raise these issues during the safari or immediately afterwards and that this is the first time we are hearing about them. The driver actually told us you thoroughly enjoyed every bit of your safari! We are sorry about that and we wish to assure you and all our current and prospective customers of our commitment to ensuring that we deliver our itineraries as detailed, that is our promise.
As stated in your review our vehicle developed a mechanical problem when we were just about to pick you up from your hotel. We then had to make last minute arrangements to ensure the safari went ahead as planned. We turned to one of our partners to handle the transport and tour guiding part of the safari. This is someone we have worked with before so we are really surprised he behaved this way towards you. The delay happened because of the usual Nairobi traffic at that hour and hence our promise to extend the game drive to cover for the lost time. We kept tabs during the safari and had you told us you had only 2 hours of game drive we would have ordered him to go back and do it to your satisfaction.
We have also noted your concern about the food. Lunch outside booked accommodation is usually not in our inclusions; we only recommend places our customers can get their meals at their cost. However, if a customer leaves it to us, as you did, we have our partner restaurants whose service levels and menu options are satisfactory. Still, we do not impose restaurants nor any meal items on our customers. The usual practice should be you being given your right to choose your food. We therefore do not understand how you ended up having a meal you did not want, and again we wish you had rejected it right away – we would have found you alternatives.
We have taken actions to ensure that this does not happen again in future. Although when we reached out to the driver, he denied it all, hence making it a ‘your word against his’ situation, we have given you the benefit of the doubt and dropped him from our list of partners. Please accept our apologies. We thank you for having chosen our services and we look forward to serving you better in future.
We wish to reiterate that we take customer service very seriously. We go to great lengths to ensure our travelers get the most out of their safaris to this wonderful destination, Kenya. We are professional and we keep our word. You can trust Gemfinders Safaris.