avgtravels.com

Give AVG a big miss

I booked a 17 day Vietnam small group tour as surprise birthday trip for my husbands 50th birthday, it would be 2 adults and a 15 year old.We were told there would be 12 people in our group. We flew into Hanoi and were picked up by a driver and taken to a hotel that appeared to be well out of the tourist area. It was in fact a 10 minute taxi ride to the city area where most tourists stay.We were picked up the next morning for our transport to Halong Bay where we were to spend the night aboard a boat with our tour group. There were 24 people in the tour group (double the advertised and confirmed amount). Upon arriving at the harbour we were then told we would be joined by 14 other people from another group. We now had 38 people on board a ship that originally was meant to be 12. The first night our rooms were ok, the second time however, the floor in our room sagged and I was worried we would actually fall through and our sons room smelt strongly of urine. We were not able to change rooms.When our booking was made, I was very clear that our son had a disability and would need to stay in a room on the same floor, preferably close to us. ( The tour company advised there was no triple share rooms so he would need to stay in his own room at an additional cost). I had advised our booking consultant who was a direct employee of AVG that due to his disability he would not be able to climb up onto a bunk in a sleeper carriage for the train to Hue. I was assured this would not be a problem. We arrived at the train and we were told by our tour guide, that it was tough luck about our son, but he didnt have a choice he would need to go on the top. The other person in our group could not climb up either, and she was told the same, climb up too bad. She ended up going and finding another carriage and paying additional money to the staff on board.We arrived in Hue on the sleeper train and taken to our hotel, a 2 or 3 star hotel with no facilitiesI asked our tour guide about a money changer in Hue as the hotel rate was very low at 1400, and the street/bank rate was 1600. He said that the bank was a long way away and he could offer 1500. I said no thats fine, tell us where the bank is, it turns out the bank was 300 metres around the corner from the hotel. I didnt like the idea that he appeared to want to take advantage so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.However, I was under the impression that we were paying for guides that were there to assist and help. The other traveller in our carriage on the train became very unwell and needed to be admitted to hospital and our guide just gave her directions to catch a cab. She was in hospital for 3 days with Influenza A and remained very weak for the rest of the trip. At no time did he check in on her. When we arrived by coach to Hoi An, we were taken to a place of accomodation that does not even have a star. The beds were broken, the curtains were torn, the bathrooms flooded and there was no restaurant nearby and it was in the middle of nowhere, they said the pool and gym were being repaired. A google check revealed the pool has been under repair for over a year. Several guests complained to their travel agents and we were moved the next day to a lovely hotel that was about a 15 minute walk from the city of Hoi An. I emailed our consultant Paul regarding the dismal accomodation but never received an answer. They also tried to put our son and us in separate hotel buildings and when I objected our guide told me to just deal with it.I asked our travel guide Hoang about organising something special for my husband on his 50th birthday, and he said he could help. He told me it would cost 1 million VND for the hotel to help decorate it for me. I accepted this amount. I went to see Reception about paying the money and they told me that it was no charge, it was their pleasure to help celebrate. I made sure twice that this was ok, as I was happy to pay. Both times I was advised it was no charge. On the morning of my husbands birthday we went out and I keep receiving messages from Hoang about the money.He keep saying I needed to leave him 1 million VMD in an envelope or the hotel would not be able to decorate. I told him I had sorted with hotel, and he asked for the money again. It was not until I told him they had said no charge did he stop messaging for the money. I cannot believe how dishonest this man is.Our flights were changed and we were split up some on Vietnam Airlines and some on Vietjet, the ones on Vietjet were delayed by 10 hours. We were taken to a hotel in District 10, where there are no facilities and no one speaks English, and a 20 min taxi trip to District 1.We value honesty above all else and found that this tour did not provide what was promised, there was no follow up and the employees are dishonest and would steal from the guests if given a chance

Date of experience: May 08, 2025