Complete Galápagos - Yolita

Customer Reviews

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  Ian Ruddle

  · June 18th, 2022
  Great overall holiday with close up views of lots of wildlife. Swimming with turtles, rays, sea lions, sharks and penguins was the highlight. Well organised and great food on board.
  Trip date: April 2022

  Review collected by G Adventures
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  JenniferNarzt

  · August 16th, 2022
  I haven't written a review regarding this experience before now because I've been trying to give G Adventures the opportunity to make things right. Unfortunately, at this point it seems like that is extremely unlikely to happen, and not at all unless I make a scene publicly. So, where to begin? I suppose we'll start with the fact that G Adventures advertises "lifetime deposits" & "guaranteed departures". Their Terms & Conditions at the time of booking clearly stated that if the tour was cancelled by the operator that we would receive: (a) a substitute Tour of equivalent or superior value; or (b) a substitute Tour of lesser value if no Tour of equivalent or superior value is reasonably available and to recover from the Tour Operator the difference in price between the price of the Tour originally purchased and the substitute Tour; or (c) a full refund of all monies paid for the cancelled Tour. Now, of course, an exception is made regarding circumstances beyond their control (i.e. Force Majeure events). However, the spirit of what the company advertises certainly gives one the impression that they would attempt to make things right should such an event happen. (Spoiler alert: They don't.) Feeling secure because of this rhetoric, and after having researched Galapagos tours & tour operators for months, I booked the G Adventures' Complete Galapagos - Yolita tour in early 2019, and submitted my final payment (totalling C$21,318 for my husband & I) in mid-January 2020. As the departure date (mid-March 2020) neared, I kept an eye on the evolving COVID crisis in China. So did G Adventures, and in fact they sent me multiple emails assuring me that they were taking all possible safety precautions, that the tour was still going ahead, that tourism was important for the local economy, and that Ecuador was unaffected. My husband & I debated cancelling, but those same Terms & Conditions which promised a full refund if the tour was cancelled by G Adventures were starkly different regarding cancellation by the participant, indicating that we would keep our deposit ($700), but that the remainder of the tens of thousands of dollars that we paid would be forfeit. And, of course, there's no Force Majeure exception in the T&C to protect customers. Foolishly, we believed the lies that G Adventures was selling us, and flew to Ecuador on March 13. We arrived in Quito on March 14, and at 7pm we entered the conference room at our hotel for our "kick-off meeting", and were greeted by the sight of the customer service email for G Adventures written on the whiteboard. My heart sank as the guide told us that the Ecuadorian government had issued a ban on travel to the Galapagos, and then went on to say that the airport would be closed to all traffic after the 16th (~53h away). The next several days are a blur, but my husband & I finally managed to get back to Canada just in time -- no thanks to G Adventures, who dropped us like a hot potato; meanwhile, other tour operators were shepherding their customers through the airport, securing flights, and providing translation services. And thus began the arduous process of trying to be compensated for the tour's cancellation. Initially, we were told we would receive a 110% credit valid for two years. Imagine, after being essentially abandoned in a foreign country during a global crisis, being told that more than $20,000 of your hard-earned money is just going to disappear at an arbitrary point in the future. I contacted customer service informing them of my dissatisfaction with this offer, and after weeks of back & forth I was able to get it extended to 5 years, but my insistence that they were not fulfilling the spirit of their own Terms & Conditions fell on deaf ears. [As a side note for comparison's sake, we had also booked a tour of mainland Ecuador with Happy Gringo (a small, local, "mom & pop"-style company) that was to take place after our Galapagos tour with G Adventures, and which we obviously had to cancel. While G Adventures has been obstinate, inflexible, and cruel regarding our money, Happy Gringo refunded us almost all of our payment within the month. If you're looking for an alternative to G Adventures, I cannot recommend Happy Gringo enough based on their customer service alone.] Feeling trapped, I attempted to rebook the Galapagos tour for 2021, and that trip was also cancelled. I suppose I should be grateful that G Adventures at least had the decency to do so BEFORE we arrived in the country the second time around. Then, overwhelmed by G Adventures' indifference, swamped at work (I'm an ICU nurse), and having been dealing with PTSD from the pandemic on top of pre-existing anxiety & depression, I let the issue fall by the wayside until a few months ago, when I started to look into alternative tours we could take with G Adventures in the next year to use up our credit. After a lot of research into the tours that they offer & which destinations are at their best during the times when I was able to get vacation time, I landed on Southeast Asia. I contacted them asking to use my travel credit to book two back-to-back tours to Vietnam & Cambodia; and, as SE Asia itself is considerably less expensive than the Galapagos -- both tours combined would cost around half of the outstanding credit that we have -- I requested that G Adventures also arrange our flights, and inquired about extending our vacation pre & post tour, all of which are services that G Adventures readily advertises on their website. I was told in no uncertain terms that my travel credit could only be applied to the tours themselves. When I asked to speak to a manager/supervisor regarding an exception, I was told that none were available, but that they would forward my request. Several weeks later, I received a curt, generic-sounding email that dismissed my concerns with a single line. I again asked about extending the credit, as half of the initial 5 year period has now elapsed -- and most of that time international leisure travel was, if not impossible, then highly discouraged -- and was told that they are unable to extend it further. At this point, I honestly do not know what to do. I'm not even back at square one, I'm at square zero, as my financial situation is not as rosy as it was in 2019, and I do not have the ability to drop several thousand dollars on flights. On top of the fact that G Adventures is holding tens of thousands of dollars of my money hostage, we have had multiple unavoidable large expenses recently that have limited our ability to save money for a trip, and I have had to reduce my hours at work to protect my mental health (I was beginning to seriously contemplate suicide). I am honestly beginning to fear that I am going to lose all $21,318. TL;DR: DO NOT USE G ADVENTURES! While they might look good on paper, it is possibly the most disingenuous company that I have ever interacted with. Their tours are full of hidden fees, their promises of "lifetime deposits" & "guaranteed departures" are nothing but lies, and their customer service is horrible. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY, BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER GET IT BACK!
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  G Adventures commented on this review

  Hi Jennifer, I hope you're well. I reviewed your file and it looks like you were in touch with our sales management team around the same time you wrote this review and a resolution was reached. Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the stress and... Show more
  Trip date: March 2020
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  SojournerTruth

  · August 9th, 2022
  I am writing this comment to inform others of the unethical business practices of G Adventures. I hope that others can learn from my experience and not lose their money to this company. After not traveling for years during the pandemic, I splurged and booked an expensive Galapagos tour with G Adventures. I was already traveling in Ecuador when I learned that a powerful indigenous political group had called for a national strike beginning the week before my tour. There was little information about the details of the strike -- most people seemed to think it would only last two or three days. But the strike turned out to be volatile and violent. It lasted for over two weeks and both shipping and travel were crippled by protests and roadblocks across the country. Though I was just 200 km from the Guayaquil international airport, there was absolutely no way for me to get there to catch my flight to the Galapagos. I was in close contact with various G Adventures staff in the days leading up to my tour. None of G Adventures' travel experts were able to offer any help at all. At the last minute I located and attempted to catch an expensive air rescue flight at my own expense, but it was cancelled. I tried absolutely everything, but I was physically prevented from attending my cruise through no fault of my own. I eventually had to evacuate the country over land -- a difficult journey that took three days. I assumed that G Adventures was a reputable business, and would offer me a full refund or at the very least a credit. However, G Adventures customer service was non-existent. If I was lucky enough to speak to a representative, they would deflect and give me mixed messages or false information. I was eventually informed by email that G Adventures would be keeping my money. This was insult to injury given the significant amounts of time, money and effort I had already lost. Do not fall for G Adventures feel-good marketing. G Adventures is a disreputable company that will steal your money at the very first opportunity. They will not offer you any assistance or respond to any customer service requests, no matter how pressing. If anything at all goes wrong with your tour you will lose your money and have no recourse to get it back. I wish I had known all this before I made the mistake of booking a tour with G Adventures.
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  G Adventures commented on this review

  Hi there, thank you for taking the time to write in. I tried to locate your file but am unable to find anything matching the name entered above. Regardless, I would like to extend my heartfelt apologies for the difficulties you've outlined in tour... Show more
  Trip date: August 2022
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  Diane P

  · August 10th, 2018
  Usually very well organised and well looked after travel.
  Trip date: July 2018
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  Andrew P

  · August 17th, 2018
  Loved the trips so far.
  Trip date: July 2018
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  Verity A

  · August 13th, 2018
  Overall good experience. Did feel though as we had booked through a travel agent some of the booking details a bit vague. Such as we didn't know exact date of tour starting, as only listed as day 1, day 2 etc. on the itinary. Also transport details were vague. we were under the impression that our transport from the hotel to the airport on our way home was included and this wasn,t the case.
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  Trip date: July 2018