Customer ReviewsforEducational Opportunities Tours Inc.

Cancelled our trip because of Israel/Hamas War on the day the war started. We requested to cancel and get a full refund for the trip. Every customer service representative we talked to told us something different. We have now been waiting for three weeks for our refund check. When I contacted them today, they e-mailed me that it would be 4 to 6 weeks for a refund. I would not recommend traveling with this company because of their poor customer service. They obviously do not have enough employees to sufficiently run their business.

Thank you for the time you have taken to share your experience. We can understand your concern for what is currently happening in Israel. We hope you can appreciate that the safety of our passengers and employees is our greatest priority, and we will not operate in a country that will place them in danger. The accuracy of information provided to our passengers is a high priority for our Guest Services Team, so we appreciate you sharing this concern. We were able to locate one call on October 9, 2023, where you requested the cancellation; the penalty amount was confirmed and the email address on file so the Guest Services Advocate could email the confirmation of the cancellation. This phone call took place within the first 48 hours of the incident and the information provided to you was the most up-to-date information and accurate that the refund would take 30 days (under normal circumstances). Based on the speed at which the Crisis progressed, and the overload in the system, we started notifying passengers cancelling during the week of October 16 and beyond that cancellation will take between 4 – 6 weeks. The information was not inaccurate when it was provided to you, it was updated based on the progress of the situation. This is the only call that we were able to find associated with your account. Being able to reach our Guest Services Team is critical in the passenger experience and very important to EO, especially during a travel crisis such as this. Similarly, to most Contact Centers we have acceptable service levels based on our average speed to answer calls and average time a passenger waited on hold before they released the call. For the month of October, we met our service level goals with average hold times below 5 minutes and the average time someone waited before opting to hang up was 44 seconds. If you would like to share additional information on the additional times you may have contacted us, we would be happy to review those calls to provide the appropriate feedback and coaching to anyone that may have provided inaccurate information. We are committed to improving our services and your feedback is invaluable in this process. Thank you again for your feedback! Sincere regards, Camille M. Bailey Director of Tour Host & Guest Services Changing, Delivering, and Serving through Educational Travel Experiences of a Lifetime!

Poor Customer Service / Customer Communication We were booked under Educational Travel Services - their dba company. Same CEO. We were scheduled to leave 10.17.2023 for Israel Holy Land Trip. We have received very little substantial information. The same exact wording has been used on both corporate websites. Currently we are pending details on how to cancel because some internal department is in conversation with the Airlines (Swiss Air). We have connected with Swiss Air in person and they say no fees or charges to cancel... Slow walk responses From EOT, INC dba ETS. ??I have called other tour guides for some reference many were offering full refunds minus a reasonable fee. We can't even get a bottom dollar number of what those fees are if we cancel.

Mr. ****, We have a limited number of staff in our air department and thousands of our travelers have been affected. We have been in touch with your travel advisor, Mrs. Melissa *******, and she has been grateful for our partnership. Yesterday we notified her there will be no additional cancellation fees beyond the $150 per passenger for your group. We have 4 different methods of ticketing and guest calling the airline does not necessarily equate to our specific contracts with the airline, which may not be handled the same way. Thankfully, the airline was able to waive your cancellation penalties. It will take 4-6 weeks to process refunds for those who choose to cancel, once the travel advisor fills out the required form. Thank you for your patience during this unprecedented season.

Thank you for the feedback. Since I posted my original review, I have received this information. I'm thankful for the appropriate response ETS has provided for those that can't reschedule. I would raise my star rating for providing a fair solution. However I do still hold the view that the communications were slower than they should have been. The return of funds also seems to be a slow process. After COVID and other world events I expected back up plans to be in place for any number of circumstances. There was multiple news accounts (see Travel Weekly's article on 10.10.2023) where companies made quick calls to cancel and refund customers. Again thank you for the overall correct response in providing a process for cancelation.