Kensington Tours - Warning
May 29th, 2013, 07:13 AM
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Kensington Tours - Warning
Hello forum,
I am an experienced traveler who has visited over 104 countries and dealt with many tour operators, good and bad, and Kensington Tours was by far my worst experience with any of them. I’m sharing my recent experience below in the sole hope that others considering this company will have some indication of what they are getting into.
In March 2013 I arranged a 10 day itinerary with Kensington Tours for two for a tour of Santiago, Chile, and parts of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina for a cost of $15,000 (exclusive of international airfare).
- From the outset Kensington refused to provide names or contact information for any drivers or guides meeting us at during any phase of our trip.
- During one leg a driver almost failed to show up entirely, arriving over half an hour late as we were prepared to give up waiting and board a taxi.
- Kensington’s agents in Santiago had no knowledge of two meals confirmed on our itinerary.
- Kensington insisted we would be flying to Lima, Peru when our itinerary had us confirmed for Punta Arenas, Chile.
- Kensington scheduled a 5:20am car for a 6:00am flight, knowing that the airport was 35 minutes away.
- During a six hour drive from Torres Del Paine to El Calafate for which we had confirmed a box lunch, the lunch was forgotten by the guide, and no water was available for the entire journey.
- When inquiring about adding Machu Picchu to our schedule Kensington made no attempt to warn us that on February 13th the U.S. Embassy in Lima issued a security message for US citizens indicating a specific threat to kidnap U.S. citizens in the Cusco and Machu Picchu area.
- Kensington went ahead and charged $11,000 for the Machu Picchu trip to my credit card without my consent and with full knowledge that we were no longer interested. They reversed the charge only after being warned by the President of American Express Platinum that this was unacceptable behavior from a merchant affiliate.
I am not seeking any form of compensation from Kensington, but I hope that others will heed the above and spare themselves a similar experience.
Andy from Amagansett
World Traveller Since 1967
I am an experienced traveler who has visited over 104 countries and dealt with many tour operators, good and bad, and Kensington Tours was by far my worst experience with any of them. I’m sharing my recent experience below in the sole hope that others considering this company will have some indication of what they are getting into.
In March 2013 I arranged a 10 day itinerary with Kensington Tours for two for a tour of Santiago, Chile, and parts of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina for a cost of $15,000 (exclusive of international airfare).
- From the outset Kensington refused to provide names or contact information for any drivers or guides meeting us at during any phase of our trip.
- During one leg a driver almost failed to show up entirely, arriving over half an hour late as we were prepared to give up waiting and board a taxi.
- Kensington’s agents in Santiago had no knowledge of two meals confirmed on our itinerary.
- Kensington insisted we would be flying to Lima, Peru when our itinerary had us confirmed for Punta Arenas, Chile.
- Kensington scheduled a 5:20am car for a 6:00am flight, knowing that the airport was 35 minutes away.
- During a six hour drive from Torres Del Paine to El Calafate for which we had confirmed a box lunch, the lunch was forgotten by the guide, and no water was available for the entire journey.
- When inquiring about adding Machu Picchu to our schedule Kensington made no attempt to warn us that on February 13th the U.S. Embassy in Lima issued a security message for US citizens indicating a specific threat to kidnap U.S. citizens in the Cusco and Machu Picchu area.
- Kensington went ahead and charged $11,000 for the Machu Picchu trip to my credit card without my consent and with full knowledge that we were no longer interested. They reversed the charge only after being warned by the President of American Express Platinum that this was unacceptable behavior from a merchant affiliate.
I am not seeking any form of compensation from Kensington, but I hope that others will heed the above and spare themselves a similar experience.
Andy from Amagansett
World Traveller Since 1967
May 29th, 2013, 07:37 AM
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Andy: Welcome to the Fodor's South America forum!
You need to understand the fact that you have been traveling for 46 years and only became a forum member to tell us about this problem works against the credibility of your post, as we are always wary of one-time posters who post a complaint or extravagant praise about a certain tourism service and then vanish.
Besides, I feel your post should NOT have been tagged as a trip report.
Just saying....
You need to understand the fact that you have been traveling for 46 years and only became a forum member to tell us about this problem works against the credibility of your post, as we are always wary of one-time posters who post a complaint or extravagant praise about a certain tourism service and then vanish.
Besides, I feel your post should NOT have been tagged as a trip report.
Just saying....
May 29th, 2013, 09:53 AM
#3
Highly unlikely that we ever hear from Andy again.
I'm surprised such a well traveled individual got ripped off so badly. What an outrageous price.
I guess when you overpay like that you have expectations of perfection. Not a guide forgetting your box lunch.
I'm surprised such a well traveled individual got ripped off so badly. What an outrageous price.
I guess when you overpay like that you have expectations of perfection. Not a guide forgetting your box lunch.
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