US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam: DO NOT BOOK
This tour operator is a complete scam, and they ripped my friend and I off of $1800.
We were supposed to go to on a safari with them in May, but due to Coronavirus, we needed to cancel. They said they could only refund 60% of what we paid according to their terms and conditions, which we agreed to. However, they never ended up paying us anything, they just continued to lie and come up with new excuses each time I asked for the money they owed us.
I even offered to do an installment plan, where they would pay me about $150 once a month until the balance was paid, but they didn’t pay me on the first date agreed upon, they just came up with some unintelligible excuse as quoted from my most recent email with them:
“We were by this time supposed to have started giving you back the money due to you. However, with the work system between us and line hotels we got to wait for the feedback as our bookings are normally done under group trip plans NOT individual names that you can ask from outside and get to know as such.”
The above doesn’t make any sense, since they never even made a reservation at any hotel for us.
After seeing a 1 star review in February, I decided to contact all the hotels that we were supposed to stay at to confirm that there was a reservation with this company. Each hotel said they had no reservations and had never worked with them before. I confronted Edmond about it, and he said they were going to eventually make a reservation, but I called the hotels again two weeks before we agreed to our installment plan, and they had still never heard of them. Therefore, he was blatantly lying to me in his last email.
Trust me, there were many other irregularities and blatant lies they told us that would take too long to type.
TLDR: They are liars, and a complete scam. Please pay a little bit more for a reputable tour operator that is KATO certified, NOT these con artists.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
COVID19 Cancelled our trip and this company took advantage of the pandemic
I do not recommend booking with this company. Anne was very friendly, but the savings of a few hundred dollars turned out costing us thousands. We had a safari scheduled for early June 2020, which we chose to cancel due to COVID19. We cancelled 3 months in advance. We chose not to wait it out because we feared losing all of our money if this safari company decided that COVID19 was not a good reason to cancel and to be honest it turned out that they didn't feel a pandemic was a good enough excuse to cancel anyway. Their policy of a 75% refund less the gorilla permits was better than losing the total $6600 I spent.
However the upsetting part was that I emailed Anne asking how they planned on dealing with COVID19. I was nicely told they would give full refund less the Gorilla permit that they tell you aren't refundable (which is not true by the way.). Needless the say when I took her up on her kind offer of giving full refund.... well, there was radio silence for over a day. So I emailed again and then she finally replied telling me... Oh sorry that full refund I mentioned we could do, well we can't because i talked to people who told me I can't give it. IT IS HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE TO DO THAT. Also their website states that they give 90% refunds if canceled more than 60 days in advance but their written policy doesn't say that. Also, please check out this link and never use a tour company like I did to book your Gorilla permits- Uganda Wildlife Authority does give refunds. It's just another way for these tour companies to SCAM you. https://www.bwindiimpenetrablenationalpark.com/gorilla-permits/cancellation/
After arguing with Anne over email that it was not okay to tell a customer full refund and then change your mind. I finally accepted the refund they would give and filed a dispute with my credit card company. The crappy part is my credit card company is so bogged down right now with other travelers. Anne failed to mention to them that she had told me full refund and then took it back. She also failed to mention, I never signed a contract. She failed to mention that the Uganda and Kenya are closed right now due to COVID19. Failed to mention that it's not possible to go on a trip right now.
Overall, my experience is I got scammed. When I didn't want to rebook my trip and took her up on her offer I think she freaked out and then said, oh no... By the way, rebooking the trip would have cost me more money. Why you ask? Because the Gorilla permits cost more next year and there is a fee to reschedule. And don't forget they aren't refundable. They are refundable, just not to you if you book with this company or one like it.
So the moral of this story is, I'm totally bummed I had to cancel my trip. Yet, there are better companies out there to work with. These guys are not fully honest. The policy stated on their website versus the one given to you are different. They can decide when they feel like it if they don't want to honor something they tell you.
I will likely not win my dispute for the other half of my refund, but I have not given up. One thing I've learned in all my travel is that you need to fight for your refunds. I travel a lot. I'm a digital nomad. I'm writing this review in hopes to save another person from this experience.
COVID19 or not... I would not trust this company. They have some good reviews and it's why I went with them, but don't be fooled. You could have a great trip with them or you could get total ripped off and scammed just like me. The choice is yours. I wish you all well.
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
SCAM WARNING - They will not return any deposit!
SCAM WARNING - They will not return any deposit!
I always hesitate writing bad reviews, but this one is worth over $2000.
We scheduled a trip with them for the end of June 2020 and paid 40% deposit. Due to current situations involving travel and mandated quarantine on both ends of the trip, we cannot go.
Faces of Africa Adventures says they will not return our deposit.
This would be understandable if they:
a) had a written policy about deposits (which they don't), or,
b) would provide any written verification of any deposits they had made on our behalf (they have none), or,
c) any services had already been rendered (they haven't).
They don't dispute any of the above.
They have switched excuses from they have already paid deposits (they can't provide any proof) to their office is being closed (yet, they continue to accept reservations and money from people).
We have contacted the Tanzania Tourist Board, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, and the Tanzania National Parks to help remedy the situation.
Please be very, very careful with this company and get everything in writing. Do not give them any money unless you have solid guarantees that you can back up.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unfortunate Experience
Galloping Safaris took our money for a trip they did not deliver. Our hotels were not booked or paid for in advance, as promised. We chose activities that they did not take us on and did not respond to our questions and requests to have our trip as planned. Walter was avoidant of our texts and phone calls, but offered to meet us in person to make it right and explain himself on our last day in Tanzania. We drove for hours to meet up with him and he never showed. Walter has offered to provide my group a refund of some funds, which we accepted, but he has not followed through with that promise. I strongly urge you to pick a different company for your safari.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Broken Promises
I booked a safari though Kenya and Tanzania with Galloping Safaris in 2019. Walter provided a nice itinerary for myself, my husband, and my two best friends. Other providers were less expensive, but Galloping Safaris had great reviews, so I went with it. Walter demanded prompt payment, that the money be wired to him immediately, which we did. The safari took place in February 2020. There were several issues throughout, including Walter and his staff not listening to requests to change small parts of our trip, lying about why we couldn't go to a place we planned to go, and skipping events we had paid for all together. We had paid for two nights at The Four Seasons Serengeti, and Walter instead had our guide take us to a less expensive hotel three hours away, one that was riddled with tsetse flies, without letting us know that we wouldn't be staying at The Four Seasons as planned/paid for. We demanded that they take us to the Four Seasons as planned the next day, but when we arrived the staff at Four Seasons let us know that Walter had not paid for our stay, and we were left sitting in the lobby. They told us that Walter often does this, and they do not extend credit to Galloping Safaris anymore, so we would have to wait until he paid to be taken to our rooms. We asked the Four Seasons staff to confirm the rest of our trip with the hotels in our packet that were booked, and not one of them had been booked or paid for. My guess is that Walter is unable to pay for the current clients' reservations until the future clients give him cash, which is why we were stuck waiting without paid reservations even though we had submitted payment in full to him many months earlier.
When we had issues with the trip Walter ran from us, ignored our calls, had our guide disappear. We drove hours out of the way on our last day of travel to meet up with Walter and settle up our issues, and he never showed up.
Through phone calls and emails Walter acknowledged that he was at fault and owed us a refund, which he never sent. We have contacted him multiple times and its always one excuse after the next.
I have traveled all over the world and have never felt as scammed as I have with Galloping Safaris. I strongly recommend that you book your trip with a more reputable provider.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No safari - no refund
We paid to go on a safari but when we arrived the guide didnt show up and James could not book another safari for us. Now 9 months later we still havent recieved our money we paid! James keeps telling me that he will pay soon. We went to Africa to go on a safari.. Dont book with this company!
TH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Poor!!
Do not trust Sardius Tours and it’s owner, Felix Ndunda. He is very good in engaging customers but take extra caution. He will demand a downpayment and when you have changes in plan he will refuse to give back your money even if you cancel the tour way in advance. He will suck out money from you. I recommend you go to Safaribookings.com and you will find hundreds of reliable African tour operators which are highly recommended from different African destinations/countries. We found "Lion King Adventures" and "Getaway Africa". We booked with them and both deserve 5 star ratings. We researched further and we found lots of negative reviews/comments about Sardius Tours. Please review links below:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294207-i9695-k11871897-Sardius_Tours_Felix_Ndunda_BEWARE-Nairobi.html#94339015
https://www.safaribookings.com/reviews/p446#34038
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294207-i9695-k5744405-Sardius_Tours_rip_off-Nairobi.html
https://www.safaribookings.com/p446
http://www.african-safari-journals.com/sardius-tours-review.html
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294207-i9695-k964770-Anyone_know_about_Sardius_Tours_and_Safaris-Nairobi.html
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/africa/tanzania/sardius-tours
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294207-i9695-k4269296-Sardius_tours_or_Skyview_of_Africa-Nairobi.html
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294207-i9695-k1510372-Sardius_Tours_and_Travels_Con_Tour_Operator-Nairobi.html
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware of this fraudulent agency
They don't organize any tours themselves and are just a broker who work with tour operators.
Beware of such fraudulent agencies, as they will not be available on phone (only way to reach them) after you have made the payment. NONE of the terms and conditions agreed upon will be honoured, and you will be at the mercy of the actual tour operator, who might just decide to extort more money at the time of starting safari.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stolen our money and cut all contact
We had booked our honeymoon with them for June 2020 before the Covid-19 outbreak. We contacted them when outbreak first occurred and where promised a 90% refund as per their terms and conditions. When we them asked them to process this they went quiet, only replying when contacted on whatsapp and saying the hotels had our money. We have had confirmation from both hotels today that they are refunding 100% of bookings, so no money being held there. When I told Bee Eater safaris this they quickly deleted our correspondence and blocked us on whatsapp and cut all contact so they could steal our money. We are reporting to the police in the hope of justice.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Worst customer service ever with too many lies.
Four years ago we did make a gamedrive on our own in Moremi N.P. Unfortunately we got stuck and so we decided in 2018 to go again, but now we did book a “professional” gamedrive. Not cheap, but we really wanted to see the park this time.
Unfortunately we did get disappointed again. In a very uncomfortable car and an incompetent guide we did not see what we wanted to see. The guide did not know his way around and lucky enough we had still the map of 2 years ago, otherwise we had to spend the night in the park for he could not find the exit. He was alo unable to find the Black Pool. So sad, because other guides did see some lions there. During the day we saw that nothing did work on the dashboard of the car and that the tires he no profile at all. Because the guide could not find the exit we left the park too late and therfore he drove too fast and if we had not seen a big whole in the road we would have ended up in hosptal. But the emergency stop he had to make because of this, was the end of the car as well. Gladly another car picked us up after a while and did bring us back to Maun.
Of course we did complain and the result was that we should get a refund and than the misery started. Because I am working in travelbusiness I did not go on the internet with this story, to give Bush Baby Call the opportunity to solve this issue in the proper way. He promised to refund us and that was ok with us inspite of our disappointment missing Moremi again. But now after 1,5 years we run out of patience and are really finished with all the lies he told us. A few examples of his OWN MAILS he did send to us:
04-01-2019 You have to check your account in about 7working days i have sent the money this morning
01-06-2019 As for us we will pay your whole amount within this month
16-12-2019 you dont have to make a bad review over $300,00. It will be unfair and you know it.I will send the funds to you.
30-12-2019 I will forward the money when i get back from holidays
02-01-2020 I am going to transfer the money on or before the 30 January 2020
31-01-2020 Can you kindly refresh me with the account details,i seem to have misplaced them,just came back from east africa,i want to forward the refund
04-02-2020 I will definitely send you the proof, i am doing a cheaper transfer method so i will send the proof once it is initiated, please let us finish this transfer,
13-02-2020 Hope this email finds you well, i will make a follow up when i get back to Maun from the safari, i had hoped u have already received it i will also forward the proof.
15-02-2020 I will be back on thursday, i will straight away go to the bank to find out and send proof.
20-02-2020 as far as i am concerned i am not refusing to send you your refund
And many more of these lies. We gave the owner enough time (1,5 years), but now we think the world should now what a lier this person is. Our advice: don’t book here. I think something can go wrong everywhere, but it is so important to solve the issue properly and he failed dramatically.
And many more of these lies. We gave the owner enough time (1,5 year), but now we think the world should know what a lier this person is.