Artex - travel agency 'miracles and fairy tales'

Choosing a tour to Portugal on the website of the Artex travel agency, I must admit that I was somewhat surprised by the lack of reviews on such a wide range of programs. However, from my own experience, having fully felt the fact that Portugal is a “land of wonders and fairy tales”, I understand that there were TAKI reviews, but they did not pass moderation, because they did not shine with positive colors. And, even if this post is not on the Artex website in the “reviews” section, I will not be particularly upset, because I intend to post it in places where it would be problematic to remove it.

Well, now, in fact, I have serious complaints about the decency of the Arteks94 travel agency, which, having earned a reputation in the market for decades, turned out to be absolutely illegible in choosing partners. And, KNOWING ABOUT THE DISGUSTING QUALITY OF THEIR SERVICES, he prefers not to voice this fact, in the hope of a Lokhov miracle ....

Until the moment of full payment for the amount of services, everything is so wonderful that it’s already scary from the upcoming happiness. BUT! As soon as you pay in full, the nuances begin to emerge and, here, a separate “thank you” to the manager Inna Gusak, a mega specialist in miracles and fairy tales.

Question: I paid for one sequence of the program, but received a completely different version.

Answer: Oh, this is such a specificity of the country. They always change everything with their siestas, but everything will be fine

WRONG ANSWER!

Country specifics are irrelevant. But the host will change everything every day. Treating tourists like garbage is the creed of the work. What can not be said about the Portuguese themselves, who are attentive, friendly and always happy to help - THIS is the specificity of the country! Moreover, be prepared for the fact that, having paid for the transfer, they will forget to meet you at the airport, or you will be confronted with the fact that out of the 6 days of excursions that you paid for at home, there are only 2 in your program and if you want to see something , for excursions you need to pay 800 euros for two more times, and then, already, you will return home and you will figure out how it happened - there are so many stories of a wagon and a small cart in 10 days that you can publish a book

Question: tell me, is it written on the site that there is a Russian-speaking guide on the bus. What is the need to buy headphones and pay 2 euros per day for each sightseeing day?

Answer: headphones for what can be hard to hear on the bus (how???), but you can not take them.

WRONG ANSWER!

EVERY DAY, there will be MINIMUM 54 people on the bus, you will ride on each other’s heads, get in and out of the bus for 20 minutes (I won’t say anything about how much time you paid for, you will spend in queues for the toilets), and you will Needed so you don't get lost! maybe 54 people in big cities like Porto or Lisbon have to either run headlong for a guide or go to the sound of an audio guide. Well, and if you want to get at least some minimum information, the guide does not bother to speak so that all 54 can hear, on the street he works into a microphone.

Question: when will it be possible to receive an information sheet regarding the details of the trip?

Answer: it will be given to you at the airport.

WRONG ANSWER!

It doesn't exist in principle. There are hotel vouchers (cheapest and lousy) and a tour program that is not valid. THIS IS ALL. No general information about the country, no details on excursions, no support phone in case of unforeseen situations (those phones that are indicated in the voucher work selectively and very narrowly - for transfer and accommodation) (by the way, at the airport, as well as at the hotel, I and these no one gave out papers - one of the guides poked on the 3rd day of the trip)

Well, general information - TO REFLECTION

Ask about the name of the company that is the host - if it is Lusitana Sol - look for an alternative without hesitation. THEY ARE.

During the 10 days of the trip, I did not meet A SINGLE PERSON who would be satisfied or at least neutral. Everyone, without exception, was hysterical from the quality of rest and the services provided, moreover, there were plenty of reasons at any time of the day and day

The motto of the Lusitana Sol company is “you signed up for a GROUP tour - what do you want?”. Taking into account the fact that the average cost of the tour is 1300 euros (with a flight that the host party is not burdened with), then, as it were, it’s not a sin to want to - this is not a bus driver with night crossings for 250 euros for 10 days. Moreover, Portugal is not the country that most tourists choose to visit first, as a result, almost everyone has the experience of foreign trips, as well as group trips. In this situation, the calculation is banal - people have already "hit", all you need is to wait for their departure and accept the next suckers. The principle of the carousel in this situation is very appropriate. Go home and experience your ruined vacation there, but you don’t need to pour out your negativity on us - there was nothing to choose a group tour.

THAT'S WHY

Be prepared for the fact that the bus will arrive 20-30 minutes late every day, then collect another hour of people (you need to score all 54 places) in hotels, transfer some of the people who did not fit into another bus and only then move on .

The guide is busy until the moment of lunch (while you need to take people away for food in the place where it gets a kickback and collect money for excursions) miracle bus for a trip to the hotel. It is useless to ask organizational questions to the guide - there is only one answer - it's not my problem, it's my job to tell. Logically. (The restaurant asked the guide to translate the waiter so that he would bring juice or wine and got a great answer “I’m not your service staff” - ask yourself).

Transport is a different story. Old stuff that regularly breaks down (especially great when it happens in the mountains and the manager says that there are no replacements, “repair and go SO SOMETHING” The pride of the company is a bus for 60 people (I don’t know why it’s trifling - they would take a wagon trains, but they dragged them - you see, all 100 people would fit in - the loot conquers any evil. The sale of seats on the bus was very amused - no need to say that because of so many people, slips are inevitable. As a result, every morning people went to war - push the poor fellows who are not in the subject from their seats, win back and exhale. The drivers are handsome. They didn’t load the suitcases and didn’t get it even once - this is not a master’s business (here is a replica of one of the guides “so get it yourself - what problems ?”), There were no problems in principle, since the whole trip became one big problem ..

Summarizing the above, I return once again to the decency of travel agencies that have been selling this partner for more than a year. The situation with making money in the country has changed somewhat, if you haven't noticed. People do not earn money for a year in order to spend it on loosening the nervous system and endless scandals. And, if you do not shy away from selling this low-grade product, be kind enough to inform customers on the shore about its quality, and only after that, let the client himself make this choice - to take a tour or not.

As for me - I used the services of Artex exactly 2 times - the first and the last. Expensive lesson, but learned to "excellent".

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