3 years ago
Along with two friend couples, my wife and I had a...
Along with two friend couples, my wife and I had a Spain & Portugal Trip booked for a departure date almost two years ago, now. The trip was canceled and re-scheduled twice because of the pandemic. No fault on Vantage for that.
Most recently, the tour was scheduled for departure on the 9/13/21. Twelve days before, I found I'd been exposed to COVID. Following Vantage's online guidance, I called to report on same. After waiting on hold for precisely 3 hours, my call was disconnected. I called again, this time waiting on hold for 4 hours and 14 minutes (7 hours 14 minutes total wait time).
Finally, a nice woman named Latoya answered. I reported my exposure. She responded by stating that Vantage would be canceling my wife and I from the tour. She further explained that we'd forfeit our prox $11K tour fee.
I insisted that, since it was Vantage itself that was canceling against our will, it was wrong to claim continued possession of our tour fee. I said, in lieu of forfeiting our tour fee, we'd love to simply be re-booked on a future tour. This was refused. I offered to compromise, with Vantage keeping only such portion of the fee as it had expended in purchasing our airline tickets. This was also refused.
Finally, I pointed Latoya toward the online guidance provided by Vantage (over the signature of its Founder and Chairman, Henry R. Lewis), which reads in parts as follows:
"Travelers who ve tested positive or who ve been exposed to COVID-19 [within 14 days of] an upcoming journey should call Vantage to discuss their options."
I pointed that this was an implicit promise from the Founder and Chairman, to the effect that options would be offered -- and in fact that promise was being violated because my wife and me were being offered no options. Instead, Vantage was simply denying us what we paid for, while simultaneously keeping our money.
Latoya again consulted with superiors, and again came back with the same answer. Yes indeed, Vantage was determined to deny what we'd paid our $11K to purchase, while simultaneously keeping our $11K
Now you must ask yourself, when a company shows such egregious lack of principle and such thorough disrespect for its customers, is it a company you want to book your tour with?