Sahara Trek Tour Company
Oct 25th, 2011, 09:54 AM
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Sahara Trek Tour Company
I am posting this as I had a horrible experience with this particular company and don't wish for others to go through the same thing. For some reason, it is challengng to find reviews of Sahara Trek online, so hoping this helps people in their decision making process.
Unfortunately for us, we chose Sahara Trek to plan and execute our honeymoon in Morocco in October 2011. It was by far, the worst trip of my life. I would need at least 7 paragraphs to go into detail, but the high level issues that we encountered were as follows: we were woken at 5:30 am at our hotel in Fez by a flock of thousands of birds congregating in the courtyard just outside our door, we had tour guides that only ushered us into stores (not historic attractions as we were promised) to attempt to get us to purchase items from their friends, we were repeatedly asked to pay for transportation and entrance fees while in Morocco even though all of that was supposed to be included in our payment to Sahara Trek, one of our drivers in Fez was more than 2 hours late after we woke up at SIX AM to meet them on our honeymoon, we had random tour guides picking us up and driving us from city to city while giving their friends a ride as well and ignoring us the entire time. Here's the kicker!!! The "desert camp" they had us stay at in the middle of the desert was the biggest hole I've ever seen in my life. You could not have paid me to stay in a place like that... especially on my honeymoon! The toilets appeared to have not been flushed for at least a week, they were unable to flush while we were there and there was no toilet paper. It was absolutely disgusting and unfortunately, after you drive 9 hours (took us a little longer since our driver got in a car accident on the way), you are kind of stuck in this awful place for the night. Lastly, as if we hadn't been through enough, we rode a train 3 hours to get back to Casablanca (after we paid for our tickets at the station even though we had already paid Sahara Trek for them), there was NO ONE there to pick us up. We borrowed a cell phone and called our driver who said he didn't know we were coming but that he would send someone. We waited outside with all of our bags for over an hour before calling him back. He then told us he couldn't come get us and to call the hotel. The hotel told us to take a cab... so after an hour and a half of waiting we paid our own way (again) for transportation that was supposed to be included. Once we arrived at our hotel in Casablanca, the incredibly rude staff told us to talk to a manager (who wasn't available at the time) about why we werent picked up at the train station. We went up to our room, found that the air conditioner was broken, the room was filthy and opted to (again) pay for accommodations somewhere else so that we could actually get some rest. These are just some of the issues we encountered on our trip. Overall, Sahara Trek offered ZERO value and we are out thousands of dollars, not to mention the most special trip of our lives together was completely ruined. Sahara Trek offered us $760 refund for some of the bad accommodations and guides, but that is less than 20% of what we paid for this trip. Unfortunately, our only other option is a trial-esque arbitration with the BBB, which I am not prepared to go through. We have opted to cut our losses and try and put this horrible experience behind us. I hope this review saves some other people from experiencing what we went through. It is an incredibly hopeless feeling to be in a foreign country and feel that the people you paid thousands of dollars to take care of you have COMPLETELY dropped the ball. Their customer service is non-existent and they obviously haven't researched any of the places they have you staying or any of the people that are guiding you on the trip. $760 is not even close to fair compensation for ruining my 2 week honeymoon and now my only recourse is to spend MORE of my free time building a legal case against this company.
Unfortunately for us, we chose Sahara Trek to plan and execute our honeymoon in Morocco in October 2011. It was by far, the worst trip of my life. I would need at least 7 paragraphs to go into detail, but the high level issues that we encountered were as follows: we were woken at 5:30 am at our hotel in Fez by a flock of thousands of birds congregating in the courtyard just outside our door, we had tour guides that only ushered us into stores (not historic attractions as we were promised) to attempt to get us to purchase items from their friends, we were repeatedly asked to pay for transportation and entrance fees while in Morocco even though all of that was supposed to be included in our payment to Sahara Trek, one of our drivers in Fez was more than 2 hours late after we woke up at SIX AM to meet them on our honeymoon, we had random tour guides picking us up and driving us from city to city while giving their friends a ride as well and ignoring us the entire time. Here's the kicker!!! The "desert camp" they had us stay at in the middle of the desert was the biggest hole I've ever seen in my life. You could not have paid me to stay in a place like that... especially on my honeymoon! The toilets appeared to have not been flushed for at least a week, they were unable to flush while we were there and there was no toilet paper. It was absolutely disgusting and unfortunately, after you drive 9 hours (took us a little longer since our driver got in a car accident on the way), you are kind of stuck in this awful place for the night. Lastly, as if we hadn't been through enough, we rode a train 3 hours to get back to Casablanca (after we paid for our tickets at the station even though we had already paid Sahara Trek for them), there was NO ONE there to pick us up. We borrowed a cell phone and called our driver who said he didn't know we were coming but that he would send someone. We waited outside with all of our bags for over an hour before calling him back. He then told us he couldn't come get us and to call the hotel. The hotel told us to take a cab... so after an hour and a half of waiting we paid our own way (again) for transportation that was supposed to be included. Once we arrived at our hotel in Casablanca, the incredibly rude staff told us to talk to a manager (who wasn't available at the time) about why we werent picked up at the train station. We went up to our room, found that the air conditioner was broken, the room was filthy and opted to (again) pay for accommodations somewhere else so that we could actually get some rest. These are just some of the issues we encountered on our trip. Overall, Sahara Trek offered ZERO value and we are out thousands of dollars, not to mention the most special trip of our lives together was completely ruined. Sahara Trek offered us $760 refund for some of the bad accommodations and guides, but that is less than 20% of what we paid for this trip. Unfortunately, our only other option is a trial-esque arbitration with the BBB, which I am not prepared to go through. We have opted to cut our losses and try and put this horrible experience behind us. I hope this review saves some other people from experiencing what we went through. It is an incredibly hopeless feeling to be in a foreign country and feel that the people you paid thousands of dollars to take care of you have COMPLETELY dropped the ball. Their customer service is non-existent and they obviously haven't researched any of the places they have you staying or any of the people that are guiding you on the trip. $760 is not even close to fair compensation for ruining my 2 week honeymoon and now my only recourse is to spend MORE of my free time building a legal case against this company.
Oct 25th, 2011, 12:59 PM
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Sorry for your negative experience many scammy companies
careful research tours with top providers BBB.org A rated wise
cntraveler.com ombudsman might help you with your plight
If you paid with CC(always advisable) u can file a
merchant reversal/dispute u will get an immediate credit
and investigation which will be upheld if allegations true.
Lastly threaten to sue them in small claims court
file a complaint with BBB.org and do so if they do not
satisfy your demands it is not hard to do.
Good luck!
careful research tours with top providers BBB.org A rated wise
cntraveler.com ombudsman might help you with your plight
If you paid with CC(always advisable) u can file a
merchant reversal/dispute u will get an immediate credit
and investigation which will be upheld if allegations true.
Lastly threaten to sue them in small claims court
file a complaint with BBB.org and do so if they do not
satisfy your demands it is not hard to do.
Good luck!
Oct 28th, 2011, 07:54 AM
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thanks everyone! i already filed a complaint with BBB since they are a member (which is SHOCKING). i think we will also file a dispute with AmEx now, but that might be tricky as Sahara Trek required us to pay with our Amex via our Paypal account, which I think makes it harder to dispute.
Nov 25th, 2011, 08:50 PM
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Below is summary of what SaharaTrek did to resolve the client’s complaint:
-Every item they were dissatisfied with (but used anyway) was refunded in full
-Client was offered BBB Arbitration to resolved disputes at no cost to them, client refused
-Client was offered an all-expense paid "Second honeymoon", client refused
-Client accepted the settlement offer in writing
-Refund check was sent and cashed by the client
Missing from the client's complaint was:
-Their flight in was delayed by 14 hours missing the start of their tour, but SaharaTrek rearranged everything to accommodate.
-Clients got food poising (not from any service provided by SaharaTrek) became so sick that they required a hospital stay and we provided a guide for getting them to a doctor and then a hospital and to stay with them the entire time.
-Clients illness delayed their tour, but SaharaTrek rearranged everything to accommodate
-Client decline accommodations they never saw and upgraded themselves to 5-star luxury hotel in Marrakech.
-Clients original demand was for thousands of dollars for their "inconvenience."
SaharaTrek believes it acted as responsibly and quickly to address the client's issues, going beyond what any other company would do.
-Every item they were dissatisfied with (but used anyway) was refunded in full
-Client was offered BBB Arbitration to resolved disputes at no cost to them, client refused
-Client was offered an all-expense paid "Second honeymoon", client refused
-Client accepted the settlement offer in writing
-Refund check was sent and cashed by the client
Missing from the client's complaint was:
-Their flight in was delayed by 14 hours missing the start of their tour, but SaharaTrek rearranged everything to accommodate.
-Clients got food poising (not from any service provided by SaharaTrek) became so sick that they required a hospital stay and we provided a guide for getting them to a doctor and then a hospital and to stay with them the entire time.
-Clients illness delayed their tour, but SaharaTrek rearranged everything to accommodate
-Client decline accommodations they never saw and upgraded themselves to 5-star luxury hotel in Marrakech.
-Clients original demand was for thousands of dollars for their "inconvenience."
SaharaTrek believes it acted as responsibly and quickly to address the client's issues, going beyond what any other company would do.
Dec 3rd, 2011, 09:43 AM
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Just an update, beyond posting a very dramatic review the client has NOT taken any action that would require scrutiny of their claim by others. SaharaTrek retains its A+ rating without a SINGLE complaint in the past 3 years that the BBB tracks. SaharaTrek is also the only US company in Morocco that’s licensed, bonded, and fully insured to offer its services in 47 US states and anywhere in the globe that their IATA/IATAN accreditation is recognized. We would actually like to thank the client (and the moderator of this board) for allowing SaharaTrek to demonstrate its dedication and record of providing quality tours at a great value and excellent customer service since 1997.
Nov 25th, 2012, 12:02 PM
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I used Sahara Trek in November 2004 and had a great trip. I did a post on it, which still should be up. When one of my friends realized that more than one night camping in the Sahara was too much,, Sahara Trek made alternative arrangements for her and still got her to the desert in time for our camel ride.
Outside of major cities and resorts, unless you are paying for luxury experience, Morocco is rustic and toilet facilities are basic. Guess Stephanie missed the bring-your-own-paper message.
Outside of major cities and resorts, unless you are paying for luxury experience, Morocco is rustic and toilet facilities are basic. Guess Stephanie missed the bring-your-own-paper message.
Feb 23rd, 2013, 08:04 AM
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Well Sahara Trek appears to be out of business. Which is a shame as I am going this year and would have used them.
We are going to use Experience It tours instead. Same sort of trip. We get a driver and accommodation. Maybe I'll break with tradition and actually post a trip report as I find the ones others have posted quite informative and interesting.
http://www.experienceittours.com/morocco/
We are going to use Experience It tours instead. Same sort of trip. We get a driver and accommodation. Maybe I'll break with tradition and actually post a trip report as I find the ones others have posted quite informative and interesting.
http://www.experienceittours.com/morocco/
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