5-Day Tour to Andalusia, Costa del Sol and Toledo from Madrid (from Madrid to Ronda)

Customer Reviews

• MN

  Maria Manniya

  · October 3rd, 2019
  Buyer beware... I am not one to write reviews or complaints. But this is important. Pros: Our guide Yolanda and driver was nice. I had purchased for a English speaking tour, Yolanda spoke fair English and had to repeat things back and forth for the other half of the group in Spanish. Cons: 1-Our first day of our tour for Andalusia to Costa del Sol from Madrid we were told to meet our tour bus at the 2nd level of a parking garage, the taxi would know where to drop us off. We gave the directions to our taxi driver and made sure we arrived earlier than instructed, at least by 20min. The taxi driver didn’t drop us off at the right spot. We had to scramble, we asked a shop, called the tour, actually ask the guard from the palace of Madrid to help direct us to where we needed to go, thankfully we made it. We were dropped off the opposite side of where we were supposed to be. 2-we waited awhile for our tour bus to arrive, and once it did we loaded our luggages and boarded. Only to wait a good 20-30min to get going because one of the passengers had forgotten their passport in the hotel. Yolanda was able to call the hotel and they were supposed to arrange for a cab to pick it up and drop it off to us at the parking lot. Time passed and was then told the cab refused to do it and that we would have to stop by the hotel and pick it up. Traffic was terrible getting through Madrid to her hotel. 3-our first stop was at Cordoba, in La Mancha. We were clearly instructed several times during the drive that this was a 15-20min stop. We ended up waiting close to 50min all due to 2 elderly women who apparently didn’t pay attention. Many of us were not happy, we witnessed 2 other tour buses come and leave as we waited. Upset and disgusted that they nonchalantly returned to the bus smiling without even an apology. 4-the drive...it was long, we were not allowed to drink or eat in the bus. It was disappointing to not have a tour guide talk about the history of the area we were passing during our tour. It was also disappointing to sell a tour during a tour. It’s a scam. This was not a cheap tour, we were being sold more tours and activities during the tours ex) boat tour, flamenco dance... 5-Julia Travel has the worst customer service. I purchased my tour in July 2019 and had asked for an itinerary of when the tour will end because their website is vague and does not show specifics (times, locations, hotels). I asked by phone and by email. I was told initially it would end between 12-1pm, then in a written message that it would be between 2-3pm. Which at this point I had already purchased train tickets for the same day to travel back to Madrid. I’ve even given them my itinerary way back in July of my train tickets and a request for a taxi to the train station. Only to be messaged back that they recommend that we don’t travel the same day due to inconveniences like traffic. The day before my last day of the tour, we were informed by the tour guide that we would end between 5-6pm. I had explained and showed my messages to my tour guide my situation. She told me not to worry and that she would speak to Julia travel in my behalf to come up with some kind of solution. The day of the last day of the tour. We were told Julia travel would do nothing. We were basically left abandoned to figure things out. We decided to go along to Ronda, Spain. Scrambling, stressing, frustrated, feeling nauseated on the drive to Ronda from Seville trying to figure out what to do. I was strongly encouraged by Yolanda, our tour guide to write about our situation and also by people in our tour who we’ve become friends with and had heard about our situation. We did get a taxi to take us to the train station without any problems or traffic. I was able to call Tourradar and explain my situation, I spoke with Marion who was sympathetic and was able to see the messages exchanged about the misinformation provided by Julia Travel. She agreed we were wronged and that she would open an inquiry. After several messages with Julia Travel, I was able to discuss my situation via phone w Christine. She was a mediator. Her basic message for me was that all I wanted was a refund for the taxi. She talked to me like I was just a number. I had to raise my voice a bit to due to my emotion. That she was missing the human factor. I pointed out that she didn’t know who I am, she didn’t know my case. I wanted to speak with someone who actually did their homework (read the messages, know the facts) before getting on the phone with me, the customer. At the end, Julia Travel stood firm that they provided their service. If that’s service, then I suggest you do your homework. I will never work w Tourradar again.
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  Trip date: September 2019