20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam Company
Do not book through this company if you dont want to ruin your holidays. This guy Jose will take your money and will never provide the service. And you will never be able to get him on the phone as he will switch it off as soon as the payment is made. He will ask for advance payment and payment on the first day. Don’t ruin your holidays by booking with him no matter what he tells you. He is a good speaker ! This guy is bag of lies. He should be in jail for escroqueries !
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
1 hour after leaving, the 4x4 broke down.. no front brakes! The driver tried to fix it just enough to keep going which meant driving in second gear for the entire journey. A 2 hour trip turned into a 5 hours trip which was just to the park entrance. The driver took the car to a mechanic after our game drive, which was limited to just 1.5 hrs due to our late arrival, but had no luck so we continued with no front brakes. On the way back, one of the doors almost fell off and the driver had to secure it using rubber strap. We had to stop every 40 minutes as something else went wrong (low oil pressure, refill leaking radiator). Eventually the car died and we continued our return in a taxi. We wasted another 5 hours getting back to our hotel. Ann from the agency agreed to compensate each customer USD 50 each, which amounted to USD 200 as we were 4. But as it was a Saturday and she had no cash and we were leaving Iringa, she agreed with the Mama Pizza Iringa Hotel, where we were staying, to deliver the $200 first thing Monday morning which would go towards our accommodation bill. This never happened, the hotel manager (Richard) called her and went to see her in the office but no money.. always offering another excuse. We tried to contact her but she refused to answer. Eventually we gave up and transferred the money to Richard so at least the hotel was not out of pocket. This company cannot be trusted and their service was absolutely terrible as was their unsafe vehicles. As for Ann and the way she managed this situations, she should be ashamed of herself. You can confirm this info with Richard at Mama Iringa Pizza Hotel.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We received same email as others about technical difficulties for September 2019 8 day safari for 4.
if you paid by credit card, you can try to get refund from credit card company by claiming paid but services not provided. It is a shame he would steal all this money after good reviews on this site and trip adviser. We have had no response from tour since giving information for refund.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do NOT book with this company
Communication with this guy Joseph was terrible. We booked a 3 day trip to Masai Mara. We were supposed to meet them at 9am in the hotel, he arrived by 10 am with another couple saying he had a problem with another driver(probably a lie) and told us we had to share the safari, although we had paid for private safari. Finally we went to Masai Mara, we had our game drives and when we were leaving the camp site on the final day we were told we could not leave because the company hadn’t paid our stay. So to be able to leave we had to pay AGAIN for something it was already included. Terrible company, don’t even think to book with them.
TH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I paid $2985 in full for my trip on May 18, 2019. and now I can't contect them
I paid $2985 in full for my trip on May 18, 2019. KWSS also confirmed our contract on June 18, 2019 and has sent me detailed itineraries, including the name of accommodation, telephone number, address and other information, as well as invitation. and Then I applied Visa Kenya and vaccination. I look forward to Kenya with KWSS. On August 8 (80 days after I paid) KWSS suddenly sent me an e-mail informing me that it was cancelled for technical reason, not for political reasons, Ebola virus, terrorists reasons.That is to say, KWSS has made the mistake and should responsible for it. So I sent 2 E-mails to KWSS and try to get the refund but I can't contect them at all.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam
Exactly one year after we booked a 10-day safari and two weeks before it was to begin, we got an email saying that the services could not be provided. Calls said phone service was disconnected and emails went unanswered. I filed a complaint with my credit card company and hope for good results.
I am grateful that we lucked out and found out before our trip. I rebooked with a different company and we leave in a week but am nervous after my KWSS experience.
I hold Safari Bookings responsible for sponsoring such a scam company. Service providers should have been fully vetted and investigated by them before offering their service to customers.
Safari Bookings must follow up on their end and pursue prosecutions against KWSS!
If anyone has information on where to report this in Kenya please let me know.
This is outrageous and a black eye on the country.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam!
We are a family of 6 people who booked a 15 days trip through Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. The first week in Kenya went well, but with quite a few issues in the plan, that always got sorted out thanks to our driver.
From day 8 they just let us down, the driver informed us that the boss Mr. Otieno had left with the money and all employees and clients were left with no bookings, no money and no info... We basically had to pay the rest of the trip ourselves. When going to the police station they informed us that many other groups of tourists had filed a report against the company for the same reasons. We then got informed that Otieno got arrested and is now under investigation. We have not yet gotten our money back, and waiting for more news on what is happening next.
KWSS was a successful business, all it took to ruin this was a BAD and selfish person. The employees lost their jobs (and God knows that jobs are gold in Africa) and certainly some lives got ruined, all this for a few $$$... Shame.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Needing information
On the recommendation of one of our parties family member (who had been on safari with KWSS Ltd last year) we booked to go on a Safari in Sept 2019. We just received an email stating it is cancelled due to technical difficulties. Now we can not view terms and Conditions.
I cannot claim on insurance if firm defaults or is in financial difficulties. We have lost a considerable amount of money, have no holiday, have had to cancel flights( getting only a small refund which did not cover costs)
Now need to know how to go about getting money back from KWSS.
Could only choose one star in review would like to have given none!!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What else can I add?
Everything that has already been said is too true. I too have been scammed by this company. I've lost $2,000 which was 1/2 of my original deposit. I did receive 1/2 of my money back, but it took 10 months and what seemed like hundreds of emails. Unfortunately for the latest victims of Mr. OT, I don't think you will see your refunds. I booked my trip based on the positive reviews on this site and Tripadvisor. This is unfortunate for the honest tour operators.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
KWSS IS JUST ANOTHER NAME FOR THIEVES AND CON ARTISTS
This company is just a bunch of thieves running a con game. Apaprently they do this every year. take bookings and then run off during peak season. i mean what the hell ? I just got to know today that they have conned even some local hotels in nairobi. for anyone interested, here's the link to the local news about this thieves.
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Duped-and-dumped--Pain-of-tourists-in-hands-of-fake-agents/1056-5231206-tx2h8d/index.html
We paid 2000$ and now i am sure we are not seeing it ever again. We are now spending more to book another company. I hope these criminals get caught and spend the rest of their lives in prison for being such frauds !