ann_gie

BUY THE INSURANCE! If you are going to book with OAT which I would not recommend make sure you buy their very exspensive trip insurance. We didnt and boy did we pay...our car was broken into 18 hrs before our flight all of our luggage passports and of course my wallet were stolen, leaving us unable to take our much anticipated trip to Turkey. It was Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and nothing was open there was no option to get replacement passports issued. Not only did OAT offer to do nothing for us, they even refused to give up the airline tickets which were issued in our name so that we could at least fly somewhere later once our passports had been reissued. We spend 8K on this vacation and we are not wealthy retirees like most of their travelers, it will take us a long time to recover from this loss. If I had booked this travel independently like our previous trips I would have at least been able to use my plane tickets later and cancel my hotel rooms. BOO OAT! You are everything that is wrong with corporate america, so greedy!

bettyk

I'm not sure why you had your passports and wallets in your car instead of on your person. This was not the fault of OAT but yours.

And, as seniors, you should always buy travel insurance for any trip you take. We always do because anything can happen either before or during a trip as you now know and the cost is minor compared to an $8k loss.

Besides, you did not have to buy trip insurance through OAT; in fact, most people would recommend that you buy through a disinterested 3rd party. There are numerous insurance companies and policies that you could have chosen from that would have covered your trip at a reasonable cost.

While some might argue the greediness of corporate America, I do not see where this is the fault of OAT.

janisj

Sorry this happened to you. BUT OAT has no responsibility for your problem/loss. It was up to you to 1) secure your documents/wallets/etc, and 2) but travel insurance if you could not 'eat' the cost of your trip.

That is what insurance is for. An NO tour company would 'give' you the air tickets booked as part of an organized package tour. It doesn't work that way.

Now, if you had booked something like Virgin Vacations, or United Vacations - they <i>might</i> be able to 'un-link' the airfare from the package but I'm not sure about that.

But - you may not see these comments since you just registered to post your complaint and and probably won't be back??

sparkchaser

Why are you trying to pass the blame on for your poor decision making?

thursdaysd

I am no fan of OAT - one lousy trip was enough - but it is not their fault you were robbed. It does feel a bit like blaming the victim, but what on earth were your documents and wallet doing in your car?

Iowa_Redhead

<<<If you are going to book with OAT which I would not recommend make sure you buy their very exspensive trip insurance. >>>

No, you should buy insurance from a 3rd party. That's not just for traveling with OAT but for ANY trip that you can't afford to lose or for if you need medical insurance (many US plans do not cover care in other countries).

As the others have said, why were all of your documents and your stuff in the car that far in advance??

Sorry for the loss, but you pulled a stupid and suffered a loss for it. OAT is not responsible for you cancelling at the last minute, even if it wasn't exactly your choice.

Since your car was broken into and that caused other losses, would your car or homeowners insurance cover anything?

suze

Your wallet and passport (and your luggage for that matter) should have *never* been left in a car. Why were they there? I don't understand that part of the story.

Why you are blaming OAT, who had nothing to do with it.

MissGreen

You made the choice to not have travel insurance. You could of purchased any travel insurance I am sure. You choose to leave your stuff in your car.

It is not OAT's fault. The decisions were your own.

JerryS

I wonder whether loss or theft of your luggage and/or passport would even be covered by trip insurance, whether purchased through OAT or otherwise.

janisj

>>I wonder whether loss or theft of your luggage and/or passport would even be covered by trip insurance, whether purchased through OAT or otherwise.<<

Yes - if one purchases that sort of coverage.

Tom109

Buyer Beware!
OAT/GCT is a money grabbing, unscrupulous, uncaring travel company. My wife and I have actually travelled with them enough that we are in their "Captains Circle", which apparently means nothing when you encounter a problem. Here's our story. We put down a $700. Deposit on a trip to Japan for this coming September 2013. My wife has been recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo a double Mastectomy this Wednesday, June 26, 2013. I contacted OAT and advised them that we would have to cancel the trip as my wife will be going through the reconstruction phase at that time. They cited their policy, and are only returning $100., and are keeping $600. For themselves. They did not care that we are not just occasional travelers and have been good customers for their business, or that this is a life altering medical emergency situation regarding my wife. We also cancelled a flight to England on United Airlines this June as my wife was going through three separate biopsy's. United Airlines apparently understands emergency medical situations, and refunded all our monies less a $50. administrative fee, which is certainly fair. Apparently OAT doesn't get this. It's just a money grab on their part because they really didn't have to do any more for us then United did when we purchased our air tickets. We actually purchased our own airfare for the Japan trip, so that's all the less they had to do. So, we will "NEVER" travel with OAT/GCT "EVER" again! Like I said, they are a unscrupulous, money grabbing, uncaring, scum bag organization. I will keep repeating this story from now on to anyone who cares to listen. I wonder how they would react if a serious medical situation ever occurs to them. Hopefully Karma remains a bitch!

geribrum

I find it rather interesting that both ann_gie and tom109 are first time visitors to Fodors.

As for OAT/GCT, I've been on several trips with them and have had to cancel twice for medical reasons--both times my husband had to be hospitalized (the first time he was going with and in March of this year he was not going.) Both times their cancellation insurance paid in full.

As for 'Captain's Circle,' guess I've never heard of that but not denying its existence.

bettyk

Tom, did you have trip cancellation insurance to cover your trip?

MOST travel companies will not refund your deposit and they tell you this up front. This is why you MUST have trip cancellation insurance to cover your non refundable costs unless you are prepared to eat the loss.

I am very sorry for your wife's diagnosis and wish her a full and speedy recovery.

Iowa_Redhead

Sorry for your wife but again, buy insurance or don't whine when companies follow their written policies.

Tom109

You people mentioning trip insurance don't seem to realize that the trip insurance would be more costly then the deposit amount that I am trying to recoup. This particular trip was not paid for as yet, so that is a non issue. I know what their policy states, but still feel that this is unfair to keep $600. Of our money when they really didn't have to do much as we booked our own air. United airlines also has a police that they will charge $250. For a ticket change, but had made an exception due to my wife's medical emergency. My point is that if United does this, why doesn't OAT/GCT? Again, to me this is an unfair money grab. @Iowa_Redhead - I don't appreciate you saying that I am whining! That Karma could bite you one day also.

Tom109

Ok, here's the latest. The squeaky wheel does get the grease. I spoke with a representative of OAT, and they are issuing me a $600. voucher which is the remainder of our deposit that will be good for two years that can be utilized towards any of their trips. So, we have settled our differences, and I hold no further ill feelings towards their company. Just a little frustration that people push us to do things we wouldn't normally do when it would be easier for all involved parties to just do the right thing immediately.

Iowa_Redhead

<<<I don't appreciate you saying that I am whining! That Karma could bite you one day also.>>>

Then don't whine! You CHOSE not to buy travel insurance so accept the consequences of that choice. If the company chooses to make an exception to their policy for you then great but if they don't then it's not their fault and you shouldn't be posting things like <<<OAT/GCT is a money grabbing, unscrupulous, uncaring travel company.>>> It's not fair to insult a company when they're following the written rules that you agreed to.

You made a choice and when it looked like you were going to lose based on that choice you go on a public forum and insult the company (who was following the written terms you agreed to). That is the very definition of unfairly whining.

bettyk

If you had $600 at risk then you could have gotten insurance to cover your $600 deposit. Then, when you paid the balance of the amount owed, you could have increased your coverage amount.

And, I KNOW it wouldn't have cost more than $600 to insure $600!!

You are lucky that OAT saw things your way. They didn't have to.

Tom109

Iowa_redhead
Your still missing the point, so I will not waste any more of my time. Apparently you have nothing better to do then yap on this web site! Get a life!

Bettyk
Same applies to you.

So, if you two care to comment anymore, knock yourselves out. I am done, and won't read any more replies anyway. I'm done, over and out.

Improviser

"You people mentioning trip insurance don't seem to realize that the trip insurance would be more costly then the deposit amount that I am trying to recoup."

Clearly, you don't think logic should apply to you Tom. You buy insurance or you take the risk of losing your deposit. You CHOSE to take the risk. Then decided to complain about the travel company simply following the agreement YOU agreed to.

There are lots of people who think like you do. The rules are fine as long as they do not apply to you.