Public Mediation

Educational Opportunities Tours-Dispute-#1676598

P. D. vs. Educational Opportunities Tours
P.O. Box 6098, Lakeland, Florida, 33807, United States
Amount Involved: $4,409.00
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Educational Opportunities Tours
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 1676598
    • Amount Involved: 4,409.00
    • Filed On: Jan 22, 2012
    • Posted On: Feb 02, 2012
    • Complaint(s):
      • Bad business practices
      • "I just feel ripped off."
View less
Rate or Review on Educational O...
Become an online mediator
  • Review this case.
  • Propose your solution.
  • Win the reward (1,000)
Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (2) - View
Claimant says:
"As a first time traveler, I was not that knowledgeable about passports and in 2008 I mistakenly took the inexpensive way and obtained a passport card. When booking our trip with EO and giving them my passport numbers, they called and said something was wrong with my passport numbers and could we verify them, which we did. All they said was thank you and that was the end of conversation. For a year and a half we made our payments and plans for our trip only to find out when we arrived at the airport to leave my passport did not allow me to fly! What a shock and disappointment. My husband ended up going with the group and I had to stay behind. I was so upset especially so when we called weeks later to find out that EO says they are not responsible and I am not entitled to a refund. I feel that they didn't do their job because they could have said that there might be a problem and we would have plenty of time to get the correct passport. I work by appointments and cleared my schedule for this two week trip to the Holy Land only to sit home worrying about my husband and he worrying about me. We also had the insurance but they had a clause that stated if not able to board or no show it was null and void. It was an expensive trip and we are not in a position to loose over 4000.00 dollars."
...
Reply Have a similar problem?
What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Refund: cost of trip Feb 29, 2012 $4,409.00
2. Other – Physical delivery charges Feb 29, 2012 $2.99
Cash total : $4,411.99
  • 0
Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:
  • I disagree with the explanation / grounds provided

    "1. Mr. and Mrs. DePetro registered for this cruise via our website. Very clearly stated on this registration form (and they had to check the box) it states “I attest that the name provided above is as it appears on the passport and understand that costly name change fees will be incurred if incorrect. I also understand that passport cards are not valid for international travel.”

    2. We understand from you that this was Mrs. DePetro’s first time traveling internationally. However, her husband did have a passport book. The thing we don’t understand is why during that year and a half did she never wonder about the difference or compare her passport card to her husband’s passport book. The passengers do have to take responsibility to ensure their documents are in order.


    3. On July 14, 2010 our Tour Host Assistant Manager called Mrs. DePetro concerning her passport number. She left a message asking her to return the call to discuss this issue. No return call was ever documented.

    4. On November 5, 2011, we received a phone call from Mrs. DePetro that she was at the airport and had been denied entry to the airplane due to the fact that she had a passport card not a passport. She spoke with one of our Tour Host assistants and was told again that the passport card was only for land and sea travel between US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. She said she would go to Miami and get a passport expedited and we offered to change her flight to the next day so she would still be able to travel. The airline would have charged us a change fee of $300 which is all we said we would charge her. She never called us back.


    5. On Monday, November 7, we called Mrs. DePetro and asked if she had received her passport and would be traveling. She said she was not going and that her pastor told her it was not safe to travel in and out of turkey by herself. Had she called us over the weekend (we have a 24 hour emergency line) with this information, we would have told her that she would have been met by our representatives immediately upon arriving in Turkey and would have been escorted directly to meet up with the group and her husband. Then she would have returned home on the same flight as her husband. Therefore, she would not have been “going in and out of Turkey” on her own.

    6. I am sending you an attached copy of a sample Passport Card. You will note not the back of the card, bottom left hand corner it clearly states “Valid only for international land and sea travel between United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda”.


    7. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do for Mrs. DePetro. We paid the cruise line and airline well in advance for her and we didn’t receive any refund from them for her not traveling.

    8. In regards to the letter Mrs. DePetro sent to our President, we never received a letter from Mrs. DePetro concerning this issue. All of our conversations have been over the phone. It is our policy to respond to every letter that comes to our office.
    In closing, thank you for hearing our side of the story. Since this situation has happened, we are taking further precautions to help our guests with these issues. We have been in business for 38 years and are constantly striving to improve our travel programs. Lord willing, our goal is to continually improve all facets of our organization to better serve our guests."

This claim will remain posted until resolved.

  • 0
Do you agree with the respondent’s Response?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Awaiting response from Party
Brandy Stark, Ph.D. commented
Brandy Stark, Ph.D. (Comment):
"We are requesting a refund for the remaining percentage amount allowed. We would like to know the amount of refund. Please send the check to Gail Stark, since she paid for both of us. Her phone is 727/825-0186, email is gailsstark@yahoo.com, and mailing address is 745 26th Ave North, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33704.
I would not recommend this tour to anyone. First of all, they couldn't keep it straight that we were a mother and daughter traveling together -- kept getting called Mr. and Mrs. (uh, no). Then:

We were told that we could get upgraded seating. The first attempt to get first class seating resulted in a price of $6,000 PER PERSON and did not include the trip to New York. A second attempt at a downgraded seating policy via Premium Economy was quoted to us at a price of $1600. This did not include the trip to New York. At the group tour meeting, we also heard from others that they were initially told different price estimates for upgrades (with prices ranging from $600 to $1450 for seating upgrades) but in the end, all of us were given the $1600 option. Another member of the group was told that upgrading would mean that the tour would revoke the reduced cost of the flight to New York. (Neither of us were told this information when we inquired into upgrades). Checking El Al’s website for estimated cost increments, which I did both before and after we asked for the seat upgrades, shows the chart above, which can be found here:
https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Uniqe-Services/Pages/Upgrade-to-Premiun-Classes.aspx

Poor customer service from EO also resulted in delayed inquiries to flight information. To date, we still do not have the dates and times of the flights. Those given at last night’s meeting, and cited as tentative information, indicated a total travel time of 25 – 27 hours to get from Tampa to Israel (a 10 a.m. flight to New York, layover, a flight leaving New York at 6:45 and arriving in Israel at noon [calculating that Israel is 7 hours ahead of us, that would equate to 7 PM Florida time]). The return flight is scheduled to leave Israel at 1 a.m. and would return us to Tampa at 3:30 PM.

Financial costs continued to fluctuate. The company attempted to revoke our discounted flights due to a $1 difference in a paid cost (credit card versus check). It took three phone calls to settle this as we had no idea why we were getting an additional bill after we had paid the account. It was eventually settled via the accounting department.

Uneven distribution of information -- My mother got more emails than I did on this trip. She saw details and had emails that I never got.

All of this is extremely unsatisfactory. This poor customer service is truly appalling. In doing some research, I discovered that Educational Opportunities is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, has an F rating from them, and has a rating of 1.3 of 5 stars. Though there are five entries, 4 are customer complaints similar to our own. Yelp.com also showed 4 complaint reviews involving poor customer service and questions about cost and refunds, with a rating of 2 of 5 stars. There was one complaint listed on Peopleclaim.com. Of the Facebook review page there are 55 reviews, 15 of which are 4 stars or less. Of those with the poorer ratings, they also cited lack of customer service.

By the time all of this was revealed, we were at the 40% deadline. We lost considerable amounts of money -- and I have no idea how they came up with the refund amount. Do NOT bother with the travel insurance. It's a scam. You can only put in to get vouchers to travel within the next year -- otherwise, you'd best be in the hospital with long term issues. AND they don't tell you that they take fees out of the initial payments, either.

On top of that, the tour doesn't cover items that should already be in place -- tips to the tour bus driver and tour guide. Additionally, any events (such as dinner with a Palestinian family) request additional gifts of cash per person. This just seemed to be a trip for our money, not a spiritual journey."
 (7 years ago)
Reply
Expand
Refresh
  • Show:
  • Sort by:
  • 1
  • Contributed Solution: by Brandy Stark, Ph.D. On 01-30-2018
    View more
    We are requesting a refund for the remaining percentage amount allowed. We would like to know the amount of refund. Please send the check to Gail Stark, since she paid for both of us. Her phone is 727/825-0186, email is gailsstark@yahoo.com, and mailing address is 745 26th Ave North, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33704. I would not recommend this tour to anyone. First of all, they couldn't keep it straight that we were a mother and daughter traveling together -- kept getting called Mr. and Mrs. (uh, no). Then: We were told that we could get upgraded seating. The first attempt to get first class seating resulted in a price of $6,000 PER PERSON and did not include the trip to New York. A second attempt at a downgraded seating policy via Premium Economy was quoted to us at a price of $1600. This did not include the trip to New York. At the group tour meeting, we also heard from others that they were initially told different price estimates for upgrades (with prices ranging from $600 to $1450 for seating upgrades) but in the end, all of us were given the $1600 option. Another member of the group was told that upgrading would mean that the tour would revoke the reduced cost of the flight to New York. (Neither of us were told this information when we inquired into upgrades). Checking El Al’s website for estimated cost increments, which I did both before and after we asked for the seat upgrades, shows the chart above, which can be found here: https://www.elal.com/en/PassengersInfo/Uniqe-Services/Pages/Upgrade-to-Premiun-Classes.aspx Poor customer service from EO also resulted in delayed inquiries to flight information. To date, we still do not have the dates and times of the flights. Those given at last night’s meeting, and cited as tentative information, indicated a total travel time of 25 – 27 hours to get from Tampa to Israel (a 10 a.m. flight to New York, layover, a flight leaving New York at 6:45 and arriving in Israel at noon [calculating that Israel is 7 hours ahead of us, that would equate to 7 PM Florida time]). The return flight is scheduled to leave Israel at 1 a.m. and would return us to Tampa at 3:30 PM. Financial costs continued to fluctuate. The company attempted to revoke our discounted flights due to a $1 difference in a paid cost (credit card versus check). It took three phone calls to settle this as we had no idea why we were getting an additional bill after we had paid the account. It was eventually settled via the accounting department. Uneven distribution of information -- My mother got more emails than I did on this trip. She saw details and had emails that I never got. All of this is extremely unsatisfactory. This poor customer service is truly appalling. In doing some research, I discovered that Educational Opportunities is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, has an F rating from them, and has a rating of 1.3 of 5 stars. Though there are five entries, 4 are customer complaints similar to our own. Yelp.com also showed 4 complaint reviews involving poor customer service and questions about cost and refunds, with a rating of 2 of 5 stars. There was one complaint listed on Peopleclaim.com. Of the Facebook review page there are 55 reviews, 15 of which are 4 stars or less. Of those with the poorer ratings, they also cited lack of customer service. By the time all of this was revealed, we were at the 40% deadline. We lost considerable amounts of money -- and I have no idea how they came up with the refund amount. Do NOT bother with the travel insurance. It's a scam. You can only put in to get vouchers to travel within the next year -- otherwise, you'd best be in the hospital with long term issues. AND they don't tell you that they take fees out of the initial payments, either. On top of that, the tour doesn't cover items that should already be in place -- tips to the tour bus driver and tour guide. Additionally, any events (such as dinner with a Palestinian family) request additional gifts of cash per person. This just seemed to be a trip for our money, not a spiritual journey.
If you are a party to this claim, click here.
Is this a fair resolution?
See how PeopleClaim Works
Get fast access to our Resolver community, for...
  • help with a PeopleClaim or any other complaint
  • assistance with a purchase or contract
  • expert advice
Other PeopleClaim resolvers
Want to see more? Search our directory of resolvers.
Get Free alerts when claims post in your area.
Get Alert
Cases seeking help
Pick a case. Help resolve it.
Need help resolving a dispute? Learn more.
Help resolve claims against businesses and people near you:
View more claims

Public Mediation

The shortest path from your problem to its resolution.
1
Peer to Peer

Engage the other party and use powerful tools to negotiate the best resolution.

Free
If Unresolved
2
Community Resolution

Post your case online and get help from legal professionals, industry experts, consumers & advocates competing to find the best resolution to your claim.

$14.99 + optional reward for best resolution
Full refund if not resolved to your satisfaction
If Unresolved
3
Private Mediation

Lets you mediate your case privately with the help of our professional mediators and industry experts.

Free to claimant. Mediator fees negotiable.
If Unresolved
4
Engage a Professional

Find the best community-reviewed professionals near you to resolve your issue in private online mediation or traditional court/mediation.

Resolution

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.

I am (not) alone, and I feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine...~ Goethe

Get a public verdict — create an online trial $50 public trial / $50 reward for successful resolution
Important: All information contained herein is the opinion of the posting parties, who are solely responsible for its content. PeopleClaim offers both free and paid services to help consumers, patients, employee, tenants, and others resolve disputes without lawyers or courts, through negotiated online settlement and public disclosure of wrongdoing or unfair treatment.
Claims against parties operating under bankruptcy protection, by law must be processed solely through the appropriate US bankruptcy court. Any claims against this party currently posted on PeopleClaim are available for purposes of public business review only and are not an attempt to collect money or recover assets subject to protections under the United States Bankruptcy Code.
*IMPORTANT: PeopleClaim is a public dispute resolution system, independent of the BBB, small claims court, or other dispute resolution services. PeopleClaim is not a law firm and does not provide legal services, opinions, or advice. PeopleClaim facilitates peer-to-peer negotiation and resolution and crowdsourced input on issues of fairness to help resolve complaints. Users should contact professional legal counsel on any matters of law or regulation regarding their claims. PeopleClaim does not review or evaluate the merits of claims submitted through its site, and users are solely responsible for all content filed in their claims.
© reserved by PeopleClaim