Disaster on the Canal
 

We booked a barge trip with Overseas Adventure Travel (“OAT”) a sister company of Grand Circle Travel, a Conde Nast Traveler Gold List company, in January of this year. The tour was “The Best of Burgundy - Vineyards and Waterways” and left for France on September 4th, 2006. This was our first trip to the French countryside and we were looking forward to it. When we got to the barge (originally the Lafayette and replaced by the Marguerite due to problems with the former), we discovered the cabin assigned to us reeked of cat urine or some chemical no one could identify. The captain stated he could smell nothing; the tour guide was offended by the odor, stated that we should not have to stay in the cabin and agreed to contact the regional director for us. However, the regional director chose not to visit the barge. The captain tried to palm off our cabin onto two other passengers, hoping that since it was bigger than their assigned room they would take the bait; they sniffed and decided against it. Suffice it to say, it appeared the cabin had been visited by a big burly feline who left his mark seemingly in every nook and cranny of that cabin. The smell was so offensive that sleeping in the space was unthinkable. This was a small tour and all cabins were occupied so for two nights we were forced to sleep off the barge. Despite his claim that he could smell nothing, the captain got busy cleaning the carpet in the cabin but the odor still remained.
We asked that OAT pay for our off-barge sleeping accommodations until the smell abated. Astoundingly, they refused. After two very frustrating days of trying to get OAT to acknowledge the problem and to do something besides pouring more chemicals on the carpeting in an attempt to mask the smell, we decided to visit the regional director in the hope of appealing to his sense of decency. We wound up in Dijon for three days and our meeting with the director was less than stellar. He vowed his and his staff’s complete support in Dijon, but paid not one euro for anything. Discouraged, we returned to the barge and FINALLY, the smell had dissipated enough that we were able to spend the last two nights in our cabin.
When back in the States, we sent a certified letter on September 30th to Alan Lewis, the CEO of Overseas Adventure Travel, asking that he reimburse us our expenses in Dijon. Between the two of us we spent nearly $8,000.00 for this trip; reimbursing us the $700.00 we spent in Dijon was the least OAT could do. We received a response dated November 6th from Quality Management denying our claim because “… we rely on our regional office to care for matters that occur during the tour and … they did not detect a strong odor…” Of course, the regional office did not visit the barge until the fourth day after we first detected the disgusting smell.
Be careful when choosing a small barge tour company, among other things, ask about their policy if a barge cabin on a totally booked boat is unacceptable for any reason. What is the tour company equipped and willing to do for you under those circumstances? Karen Hoffman

So sorry your trip was impacted by this very unpleasant event. I don't have any experience with barge trips (although have often thought of taking one) but do know from other experience that you certainly should not stop at one "refusal" letter.

You say that the tour guide was offended by the odor and agreed you should not stay there. Do you have the guide's name? Did you include it in your letter? It's a little unclear from your post where "Quality Management" is from but I assume your letter to the CEO was referred to them.

I would write back (I would stay with the QM people at this point and move back to the CEO if you don't get a proper resolution) and be very clear and factual, including the name of the tour guide (this is not to get that person "in trouble" but they are an important verfication of your story.)

I had a recent experience with American Airlines (see my post on the Airlines board) which took a lot of patience and persistence on my part but was eventually resolved to my satisfaction.

I have heard nothing but good things about OAT and GCT from family members and would hope they would resolve this appropriately. Good luck.

hoff...I'm conflicted in responding to your post. Once we got on the ground with OAT..India, Ecuador, and Egypt..the guides were tremendous. The small group experience great..The approach culture sensitive etc. the CORPORATE response was beyond lousy. Our adult daughter traveled with us on one of the trips and signed up for (and was assigned) a roommate. At the last minute, like two days before, the roommate backed out. After we got home OAT tried to bill our daughter for the single supplement (You know that the person who backed out lost more money to OAT than what our daughter was billed). Never mind what's "right" here, the mind-boggling part was that no one would answer our e mails, letters, etc..repeated efforts to even contact them (politely) were simply stiffed. It's about as angry as I've ever been in a customer service situation. 9We tried to write the Lewises,too). Since they didn't have our daughter's "fine" and weren't going to get it, they eventually...months later backed off and provided a $250 CREDIT on the next trip if taken before.
Mind you, this was our third trip with them. was it greed? It might have been stupidity. It wasn't customer service. we haven't traveled with them since...but now and then we think of Patricio (Ecuador) Ashok (India)Dina (Egypt0 who were so great. We certainly can feel your pain.

Grand Circle was de-listed from the BBB last year because of multiple unresolved complaints. They say they are trying to get reinstated, so maybe you should file a complaint with the BBB. They made the top 10 list of most complained about companies.
http://www.bosbbb.org/news/complaints_top_10.asp

I find this very interesting because we went on the Lafayette 2001 on a charter with Abercrombie and Kent. These barges were operated by French Continental Waterways. This report could not be MORE different from any possible experience we had with the crew, and others in our city that followed the next few years on barge tour--on the Lafayette. I hardly know what to say. It would seem that that barge must have changed hands.
That is an interestng statistic about Grand Circle--they used to have a good rep, at least from what I read on travel boards.

Hoff..I would send a letter to Ombudsman at Conde Nast Travel and see what they can do, especially since they recommended the company. Each month they publish disputes and help resolve them...

ek - That's EXACTLY what I was about to recommend.

I agree with ek.

Bonjour Karen,

You should relay your complaints to the

Comité Régional du Tourisme de Bourgogne

BP 20623 - F 21006 - DIJON Cedex
Fax +33 380 280 300

Information / Booklets: [email protected]

and
Côte d'Or Tourisme
Comité Départemental du Tourisme de la Côte d'Or
BP 1601 - 21035 DIJON Cedex
Phone +33 3 80 63 69 49 - Fax +33 3 80 49 90 97
[email protected]
http://www.cotedor-tourisme.com


http://www.burgundy-tourism.com/bref/index.htm


Good luck, and happier travel next time.