Accord-tour, isn't it time to turn to face the tourist?

Good day, dear travelers! I fully support the previous review about the tour to Scandinavia 29.04.-08.05.2018, I can only disagree with the word "cheap".

I consider myself a grateful and non-conflict tourists who enjoy traveling, regardless of any situation. This time, unfortunately, it's different. I think I'm not the only one from Flight 836 who wants to share the "impressions" of the "Heart of the North + Fjords" tour.

A little background. Initially, the four of us with friends chose the 13-day tour "Romantics of the North and Paris", which included visits to Scandinavia, Amsterdam and Paris. On the day the application was submitted, the price of the tour increased sharply from 411 to 596 euros, although at the time of sending copies of the passports, the site featured an amount of 411 euros. As a result, the tour operator lost two potential tourists. Tour for two 100% paid 02/21/2018.

On 04/01/2018, over the phone, the employees of the Accord Tour assured the agency through which the tour was arranged that it would 100% take place. Were urgently bought tickets to Kyiv and back, because. travel dates coincided with a number of weekends and holidays. But on 04/07/2018, the information changed dramatically and instead of a 13-day tour, we were offered absolutely unequal tours:

1) 29.04 - 08.05 "Heart of the North + Fjords" - 10 days (Without Amsterdam and Paris!!!);

2) 29.04 - 06.05 "6 capitals ... Amber roads of the Baltics and Scandinavia" - 8 days (Without Amsterdam and Paris!!!);

3) 26.04 - 06.05 "Lucky chance" - 11 days (without Sweden, Norway and Denmark!!! Departure from Lviv!!!).

Moreover, all tours are offered without surcharges!!??? And what additional payments can be for shorter tours in terms of time and program !!???

We felt deceived, but due to the fact that the vacation had already been issued (it is not easy to take it), and tickets to Kyiv were purchased, we chose the first option.

Here it is important to talk about the phrase "Accord Tour" "without surcharges." The fact that during the day, or even several hours, happened with the prices for the tour "Heart of the North + Fjords" is worthy of a separate discussion and this will definitely be reflected. From the site of the tour operator, the jumps in prices for the specified tour, reaching up to 706 euros, were filmed with a camera!

It looks like they were trying to show that a 10-day tour is much more expensive than a 13-day one (???) so as not to refund the difference in price. Even doubts arose whether they were going to form a tour for the "Romantics of the North and Paris" at all, or is it a PR move to lure tourists with their subsequent "scattering" them on other tours. This idea was prompted by communication with the tourists of flight No. 836, who initially, like us, planned to go on a tour “To the Romantics of the North and Paris”, etc.

By the way, currently the 10-day tour "Heart of the North + Fjords" is 56 euros cheaper than the 13-day tour "Romantics of the North and Paris". And this is logical.

Now about the journey.

1. At the Ukrainian border, the bus is delayed for almost 5 hours due to problems that the driver of our tourist bus had with documents for a car imported from Europe. The only explanation of the head of the group, Vitaliy Voitsikhovsky, is that the regulatory document on checking documents for cars imported from Europe came into force only on the first day and no one knew about it. Unfortunately, she is not very knowledgeable in this matter, but it is hard to believe in such an explanation. I will definitely clarify so as not to be unfounded, but Accord-Tour had no right not to know the list of documents provided for by the rules for crossing the border. Yes, and it is unlikely that regulatory documents will come into force on Saturday, April 29)))

Then 46 tourists, collected to the maximum from other tours, set off without a single explanation or apology from the group leader. Only the positive attitude of the bulk of those traveling on the tour did not allow the explosive situation to get out of hand.

2. Due to an inexplicable downtime at the Ukrainian border (we were overtaken by a lot of buses), later - on the Lithuanian one, we arrived in Riga not late in the evening, but in the morning. And this is a night ride! By the way, the tour route includes a visit to Jurmala, but this is the original deception of the tour operator. It is physically impossible to visit Jurmala and catch the ferry to Stockholm.

3. Having covered a long distance and paid in cash for 68 euros per person, we hoped to see one of the main features of the tour program - the Nigardsbrin glacier. But here's the bad luck ... The pier, from which the boat should depart, is covered by 50 cm of snow, and even without an icebreaker)) do not overcome the cherished 1.5-2 km to the glacier. To say disappointment is an understatement! At the same time, not a word from the lips of the leader Vitaly Voitsikhovsky!!! But in the 21st century of high technologies, the tour operator "Akkord-tour" does not know that the object along the travel route is not available for display, it is simply not acceptable !!!, especially since this is not force majeure. The head of the group categorically did not want to return the collected cash for the excursion to the glacier. True, in return he offered an excursion in Wroclaw, which, according to the tour program, costs 18 euros, but not 68 euros at all !!! Only after a certain pressure, the tourists were returned only 20 euros each, and the remaining 48 euros, which were in the hands of the group leader !!!, were languidly offered to defend through travel agencies in their cities.

Should Vitaliy Voitsikhovsky not know that, according to clause 5.2.5 of the tourist service agreement, “the claims of the Tourist without a copy of the act drawn up by the Tourist and an authorized employee of the organization that provided services to the Tourist and certified by the signature of the representative of the host country in the host country are not accepted for consideration by the Travel Agent” !!! This is our everything !!!)) Would you try to find a representative of the host party on a deserted snow-covered pier who would sign your claim)))

The feeling that you are being deceived only took root in the mind (((. It is also worth noting that for many, 1/3 of the suitcase was occupied with warm clothes and equipment for visiting the glacier.

4. There were no seat belts on the bus, which tourists at least had to fasten while traveling through the longest tunnel in Norway (24.5 km). This was revealed when the leader of the group urged everyone to buckle up at the entrance to the tunnel, otherwise they could allegedly simply turn the bus around. I was surprised by the strange reaction of drivers like “well, who needs belts here?”.

5. Separately, about the information vacuum along the route. The leader of the group really perked up and told something only on the territory of Germany and Poland, which we passed in transit on the way back. Why??? I wanted to hear at least something about the countries of Scandinavia, but alas ... Well, literate, we will read it on the Internet ourselves)))

6. A few little things, maybe not worth attention and not affecting the trip, but nonetheless. The drivers washed the windows in the bus only after the group leader remarked; They put everything in the trunk of the bus themselves as best they could (for 6 years I have met this for the first time).

And at the end a little honey in a barrel of tar.

The hotels along the route are quite decent.

Thanks to the guides for interesting excursions.

Thanks to the beautiful weather that accompanied us along the route.

Be that as it may, thanks to the drivers for their professionalism, for taking everyone safe and sound along the steep mountain roads.

Dear tourists, be careful when choosing a tour operator when planning your vacation, if you do not want to spoil it. Read real reviews of tourists on free sites, and not just laudatory odes on the official Accord Tour website.

Who and for what assigns this tour operator a victory in the nomination "Choice of the Year"??? In the face of fierce competition, in order not to lose the last gullible tourists, it may be worth reconsidering your attitude towards people.

Does the company have effective management? Why put an unrealistic number of excursions in the tour programs? For several years it is quite possible to explore the most sought after by tourists and honestly!!! only offer them.

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