terrible trip terrible company

we had the poorest service from this tour guide company and there staff. we were lied to and when confronted were told sorry no speaky english funny how they turn that on and off at there own pleasure..
we booked 2 trips with Eltour one to paradise island one on the monster truck.we were told 2hrs to paradise from sasoa it took 5 hrs . breakfast was ment to be included . but alas when we got to the restraunt with no running water it was not to be found.we told the guide we would havew to cancel the trip for the next day as it was already 2hrs into the trip and we were less than half way , he siad okay when we get back come to the office with me.
don't get me wrong when we actually got to the island it was great but 5hrs was way to hard on our son and when the bus was stopped for an un knowen reason we sat ,it was the guide taking a **** but did he ask anyone on the bus if they needed to pee no.
after 2-1/2 hrs on the island it was back to the bus hurry up we were told get fu#$%@ he was told 3= hrs later we got back to there office and thats were the problemns really started , we didn't want our money back for the trip we had taken but we did for the one we wanted to cancel , we sat and tried not to loose it a s we were told No . we even offered to loose a security deposit we were still told no so we were robbed by this tour outfit and will never go back to the DR because of it . we travel about 4times a yr so they will loose out ,we choose not to go on all inclusive as we feel the local restraunts only loose which means the people loose .please use this warning to your addvantageand if possible use another company this is our experence hopefully it won't be yours.
Terry Strobel Andover NJ

Timex thanks for the reply.we found this tour outfit through our hotel the susoa bay but for some reason we felt if we delt with them themselves in susoa we would be cutting another middle man out ha for thinking right. you asked for more info on the tour group and guide. it was ELTOUR in susoa the guide was a german i didn't want to know his name after the trip.
We learnt early on to checkout these boards and find info on the places to go and not to go it has been very informative but i guess you always find a rotten apple. We were very impressed with the island and it's people so don't think i am putting the DR down because of this group but there are many more islands i can visit and wll do before i go to DR again.
Terry S andover NJ

From what I can gather El'tour's main office is in Sosua at the Plaza Internacional, Carretera Principal. They have several sales offices, 4 in Sosua, 4 in Cabarete, 1 in Cofresi and 5 in Punta Cana. They had a sales office in our hotel and one on the street leading to Sosua beach which is the one we used, they looked very professional, but it just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover! Koenraad was the salesman in the office we used. The company logo is in a hot pink, as is their literature and sales receipts.

The money they refused to refund us, in whole or in part, was a total of US$280, for 4 people on the Monster Truck Safari. el'Tour told us they couldn't refund any because Monster Truck had already been promised the money. But I spoke to Monster Truck directly and they told me "no problem to cancel, as we don't have your money, el'Tour hasn't paid us yet". They also told us that each tour company handles these type of situations themselves and in their own way. el'Tour COULD have treated us fairly if they had wanted to, and they would not have been out of pocket anything! As I said before, loosing a secrurity deposit is fair, but US$280? Especially after the hellish coach trip they put us through the day before, for which we paid a total of US$96!

I will be posting this info about el'Tour on all other DR bulletin boards to warn travellers to DR and plan to post this info regularly. Several others that were on the same Paradise Island trip will also be spreading the word about this tour company to ensure as many DR travellers are warned as possible. There are several other tour companies to use and/or you can go direct to the service providers. I also plan to send a link of all the posts to el'Tour themselves so that they can see the negative publicity at work.This will also be submitted to the DR Tourism Board

Terry S. Andover, NJ

I agree Robert! I hope they reply too!.

I used this board before the trip to gather info and I think it's a great forum to learn about both the negative and positive experiences of a trip.

HB thanks for a great offer we do relise every were has good and bad . We also saw a very small part of your island and do not judge all by one. As you said come and relax well that was the idea shame it turned out the way it did which was very stressfull.
Terry S. Andover NJ
PS you never know we might take you up on it one day

Eddy,
Maybe we were just unlucky with our 5 hour coach trip to Paradise Island. They may have many happy customer, however, none of them were on the trip to Paradise Island with us last Thursday! The point is, when things go wrong you get to see how professional a customer oriented company really is. El Tours could not care less about us or whether we enjoyed our experience with them. They had our money and they were going to keep it, regardless of how they screwed up.

As for causing ourselves grief. Our grief was last Thursday and Friday morning dealing with el'Tours. We enjoyed the rest of Friday and most of Saturday on the beach at Sosua relaxing on the last hours of our stay in the DR. We don't want anyone else to have to go through the same thing with el'Tour which is the reason for posting our experience.

Nicki Strobel (Terry' wife)

ps. We got bumped to business class on the flight back...now that's the way to travel!

Johnny Honda
We do feel very honored and fortunate at the hospitality HB extended to us, THANKS HB, ....and your from NJ too....say no more. I'm in no rush to get back to DR, but I've learned to never say never!! As my husband said before, we may take you up on it one day.

Timex,
WOW....thanks for the offer. But....it really isn't about the money, it's about being treated fairly and professionally by a company that screwed up.


Eddy
Yes, we went to the main office. I sat for over 45 minutes trying to reason with Daniela (I think that was her name). I had her call her boss too and the answer was still NO, they would not work with us on it! They didn't care! Five or us were flying out saturday, so there was no way for us to reschedule, the Monster Truck Safari Trip. Two of our party were staying an extra week, so they were able to reschedule. I also stopped in the sales office in Sosua Friday morning and explained the whole situation to Koenraad (he sold us the tickets). He called the main office for us and was told "we already told them NO yesterday". Koenraad told me to stop by his office again Saturday before we left, which I did, but the sales office was closed and we had a flight to catch.

So....there ends the saga....unless el'Tours chooses to respond in anyway to these posts.

Thanks guys
Nicki S.

ps. We always check out bulletin boards before we travel....and this is one of the best!! A great group of members!

Wendy i was extremally impressed with the service i got in the DR and have not tried to put people off visiting there just this one tour company (ELTOUR). Had i seen a post like this before i traveled i wouldn't have used them.
We were not slamming monster as they told us it was okay with them to cancel to me that is being proffesional,the problemn was they didn't have our money Eltour did.
Another example would be LOBO he works with the association renting chairs at the beach a great guy making a living to keep his family, i was so impressed with his service that a large bag of kids clothing we had taken with us will be being used by his family also pen- crayons and the like.
I can see why you would move there but i still can not understand why a tour company would treat it's clients so badly.
Terry Strobel Andover NJ