Beware Lead Tour

Holidays in the Czech Republic can not be spoiled by anything. However, never use the services of the tour operator "Vedi-tour" if you do not want the same bouquet of adventures that they presented me. I have never met greater unprofessionalism anywhere, and I travel very, very much. Having traveled all over Europe, I never thought that instead of help, only indifference and untrue information could be expected from representatives of the tour operator.

By booking and fully paying for a health tour to the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary, Imperial Hotel 4 * superior) more than two months before the start of the trip and, accordingly, submitting documents for a visa in advance (in order to obtain a visa as soon as possible and to release a passport for a trip to visa-free country for the New Year holidays), I received the documents only on December 29, 2011. after repeated requests. Whereas, the visa was actually received from the Czech Consulate on December 18, 2011.

Moreover, the supervising manager swore that the documents had been sent on December 20, and only after urgent requests to provide me with the invoice number and the special communications operator (of course, to no avail), the documents were received (moreover, the special communications courier explained that the parcel had been sent from Moscow only the day before! Accordingly a trip to the warmer climes for the New Year holidays was canceled, but oh well, because there is a vacation in my beloved Czech Republic ahead (by the way, I go there 2-3 times a year at the slightest opportunity).

On the eve of departure to the Czech Republic (January 16, 2012), my travel agent during the printing of air tickets (which Vedi Tour provided on the same day) discovered that instead of a 3-hour direct flight Kazan-Prague-Kazan, I was transferred to connecting flights through Moscow , and, as a result, I have two days of rest, since connecting flights through Moscow amounted to 3 to 4 hours of waiting and, accordingly, nerves - what if the plane was delayed and the connection did not take place ?! And then - if I planned this trip with a direct flight, then why should I endure inconvenience! When canceling direct flights, counterparty airlines inform about this in advance, but I was simply confronted with a fact on the eve of departure!

And even if such a situation happened (the direct flight was canceled) and it was necessary to fly through Moscow, then why not transfer me to a direct flight to Karlovy Vary, which coincided in time with the connecting flight to Prague - at least two hours could be saved on the transfer !

After the flight to Prague, it turned out that the transfer I had paid for was missing, and only after calls from my personal phone and, accordingly, at my own expense, a car with slurred explanations was provided to the Czech representative office of Lead Tour and Russia (to the travel agency) - at first I they said that the driver did not find me, thought that the trip was canceled and left, then the representative of the transport department explained that the car that had left me had broken down. So what actually happened? Lead Tour simply forgot about its tourist. The waiting time for the transfer at the Prague airport was an hour and a half - I got to the hotel only at 19:30!

Again, okay - there are a lot of plans and nothing will spoil my vacation here!

On the eve of the return flight, it turns out that the transfer from Karlovy Vary to Prague airport is booked for a time later than the flight itself - at 17:00, while the Prague-Moscow flight will take place at 13:35! In this connection, I again had to spend money on calls to the Czech representative office of "Vedi Tour" and Russia in order to clarify - when will they come for me? And will they come? We rebooked the transfer for the time corresponding to the departure, we got to the airport normally! Maybe that's the end of the trouble?

Not! During check-in for the return flight, it turns out that the ticket was issued for a different surname, and therefore they refused to check me in for the flight - they offered to wait until everyone checks in - what if Ms. N appears ?!

And again I had to call Russia, unpack my suitcase to find a printout of an electronic ticket in order to prove that the ticket issued for N belongs to me! Although everyone around knows that electronic tickets are electronic, and it is not necessary to print (and even more so keep them for 2 weeks)!

Upon arrival, I wrote a claim to Vedi Tour Group LLC, stated all the facts, and in response - a formal reply in two weeks - they are not to blame! And I, in order to compensate for non-pecuniary damage (although I did not evaluate it - we live in the wrong country!), I must provide all kinds of evidence of my losses (quite obvious) - I asked to compensate for lost time and telephone conversations! Or at least just an apology, but no - education is not right!

By the way, during the trip I had a birthday! So this fact was ignored by Vedi Tour Group! Although what kind of congratulations am I?

For them to apologize is a big problem!

I am a fairly active tourist - I have been traveling abroad 4-5 times a year (including the Czech Republic - 2-3 times a year) for more than 20 years, but with so many problems in one trip, associated with inattention and even negligence of employees tourism business (in this particular case, Vedi Tour Group-M LLC) I encounter for the first time! If you don’t want to spoil your vacation, don’t contact Vedi Tour!

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