GoPlaces35715477636
22 Nov 2024
Premier Voyage en Égypte. Quel beau voyage grâce à Egypt tour. Toutes les visites au Caire ont été exceptionnelles grâce à notre guide Farouk. Un guide avec les connaissances, une patience et une gentillesse propre à la culture du pays. Encore merci. Expérience similaire à Luxour et Aswan avec notre guide Mohamed Wafa. Également avec les connaissances, la patience et la gentillesse. Un service avec chauffeur tout aussi exceptionnel. Un gros merci à toute l'équipe. Nous vous recommandons chaudement. Sylvie et Serge du Canada
DayTrip55180898829
20 Nov 2024
The worst tour we ever booked that we quit midway on day 5 to fly back home!
1. Soon after booking, we failed contacting the tour operator as the advertised contact number was incorrect. After submitting the complaint, we finally received the first WhatsApp and the game began.
2. We realised during the trip that there was no registered company named “Here Egypt Tours”, it was just a bunch of small shop operators faking as a tour company (company’s guarantee letter shows them as Oceania Tours - letter attached).
3. The lady Salwa pretending to be from “Here Egypt Tours” had no clue that a Tour operator’s guarantee letter is required at immigration on arrival for e-visa travellers. We had a lot of back and forth with her to get this letter which was finally provided 1 day before the trip.
4. In contrast to the advertisement here, no meet and greet service through immigration was provided which is unlike the authorised tour operators who help you throughout the airport (immigration, money exchange, SIM cards etc.). She rather told us this service is not included and sent a driver instead who parked far away and dragged our luggage to the parking lot and dropped us at the hotel - Safir Dokki. He barely spoke any English and told us that he was from another company whose owner is named Mohammed (who genuinely was very prompt and hospitable).
5. Throughout the trip, Salwa who pretended as the point of contact, played the laidback WhatsApp game and only called twice after none of our calls were answered on several issues.
6. On the call, she demanded to speak in Arabic (which I don’t speak) and barely understood my complaints on day 4.
7. We faced racism, classism and gender bias on day 4 by the Tour guide named Tarek who made a nasty comment on Qatar and how miserable our lives must be living in Qatar. He apparently went through all our documents much in advance to pass judgements (even when we spoke the least about personal information).
8. On day 4, before arriving at Luxor he recommended to avoid hiring a porter inside the Luxor airport and we didn’t need any. However, he appointed one himself without consulting with us and made him wait outside the airport for 30+ minutes till we collected our baggage to exit. This porter then forced and yelled at us for a tip which we didn’t find appropriate to oblige to.
9. On this day, the driver had a 20 minutes (very tense) coordination with the airport police (while exiting) relating to issues with his License/ Car paperwork. We noticed that we were the only car stopped by the Airport police. Upon enquiring with Tariq, he chose to completely dodge the question.
10. Tarek didn’t seem interested in letting us take our time for breakfast (considering we’ve been awake since 3:30 am to fly at 7:20 am from Cairo), rushed us through both Karnak and Luxor temple, only to reach the cruise on time for lunch before 2:30 PM.
11. He spoke in a tape-recorded loud pitch, completely ignored my queries (an Asian women) and dragged my husband by his arm to show him the spots (as if I didn’t exist by my husband).
12. To top his negative behaviour, he dictated the tipping prices for each party (in exact dollars) - driver, cruise staff, himself and others. None of whom we found delivering a satisfactory service!
13. Contrary to the 5-star level cruise advertised here, we were assigned a downtrodden tiny room with a malfunctioning toilet. We were also denied a window side table at lunch and a centre table at dinner based on our nationality.
14. We came across the broken shower and drainage system at night (while trying to clean up before bed) and that’s when the real drama began. The miniature toilet stank very bad as they shut off their central exhaust system at night. We then found that the shower tap and shower head both worked at the same time to spew boiling water with no temperature regulation. As a result, the tiny bathtub flooded with boiling soap and dirt water when operational. Additionally, the shower cabinet had black mould everywhere and a rusty soap dispenser. It was an impossible task to bathe in such unhygienic conditions. (Bear in mind that we were up since 3:30 am on this day and this episode unraveled at 10:30 PM).
15. As we complained about the housekeeping and facilities issue, we were shown 3 other rooms which were equally dirty and tiny. We were enlightened that only the malfunctioning rooms were made available for Asians and the better ones were reserved for whites. (At 12:30 AM on day 5, we witnessed an elderly white man being checked in to the room next to us, a room that was available when we complained, but was never shown to us).
16. With the feeling of utter humiliation, at 12:30 am on day 5, we decided we should rather return back home than to continue haggling with the cruise operator or tour operator. We filed a refund request at Viator (which we are still fighting for) and informed Salwa about it.
17. Salwa agreed very quickly for a refund at 12:40 AM Tuesday which at hindsight, appears to be a trick to get us off the cruise boat and exit Egypt, just so we don’t visit their office in Luxor. (She later denied a refund request blaming us for making unusual requests and behaviour).
18. We made emergency expenses to fly out from Luxor to Cairo and then to Qatar after we were asked to checkout from the cruise boat (if we don’t move into the other sad room options). The tour operator also informed the cruise operator to not help us with our luggage (and one told us at our face to carry them out ourselves off the 4 boats parked one after the other).
19. To this point, I’m fighting for a 50% refund (and have only received a small partial refund).
20. This entire experience makes us question the decision to travel to Egypt knowing that the internet is full of bad reviews on personal experiences of travelling here.
21. You’ll meet a lot more deceiving, scamming and aggressive people here than you would at any average travel destination, “Here Egypt Tours” has made that amply evident to us!
22. Lastly, the “Roles & responsibilities” of a tour operator should include handling grievances promptly and efficiently, however in our case no effective solutions were provided to mitigate the cruise boat issues, we were rather directed to their reception to fend for ourselves.
PS: This will be the first recent honest review on “HERE EGYPT TOURS” and there’s no Google reviews for them either.
At first, I was a bit skeptical about booking with this agency due to the few online reviews. However, I decided to take a chance, and I'm so glad I did!
Bassant, our dedicated travel consultant, was incredibly attentive and responsive throughout the entire trip. She was always available to answer questions, offer advice, and ensure everything ran smoothly.
The team of guides and drivers were equally impressive. Their knowledge and passion for Egyptian history and culture were contagious. Caesar, Owf, and Mohamed were particularly outstanding.
While there were a few minor hiccups along the way, Bassant handled them promptly and professionally. Her commitment to ensuring our satisfaction was evident.
A Few Tips for First-Time Visitors:
* Cash is King: Be prepared to have plenty of cash on hand, as tips are expected for EVERYTHING.
* Nile Cruise Choice: Do your research and ensure the cruise ship you select aligns with its advertised category. Some ships may not live up to their star ratings.
If you're planning a trip to Egypt, I wholeheartedly recommend them. They will make your experience unforgettable.