Vacation failed with Ilves Tour

Vacation failed...

Good afternoon everyone!

My husband and I travel a lot and this time we decided to use the services of the Ilves Tour tour operator, which we regretted very much ... My parents also went on the trip with us, who completely and completely share our opinion about the tour.

I emphasize right away that the tour operator "Ilves Tour" has a very big problem with the organization and with the guides.

Upon arrival in Thailand, we realized that it turns out that we did not buy a group tour, as was meant, under the name "Super Tour from Ilves Tour", but simply a tour package (flights, transfers, hotels, excursions). A group tour implies the existence of a single group from start to finish and single excursions, transfers for all members of this group. You cannot call a tour a group tour when there is no single group. With the same success, we could form our own individual tour and save time and money on organizing excursions and transfers. But we wanted to avoid what we got already on the spot. Which made us very upset from the very beginning. The transfer bus from the airport began to deliver people to the hotels of Pattaya, which took a lot of time. Naturally, we spent more than an hour each time to gather everyone in the hotels for a tour. And we had excursions planned for every day for 2 weeks. The same thing on the way back to get everyone back ... I believe that the company "Ilves Tour" wasted a lot of our vacation, free time for nothing because of their own disorganization.

A note on the dress code of Russian-speaking guides. The lack of a uniform from the Ilves Tour company and, as a result, it is not clear what clothes the guides - representatives of the company are wearing (mini skirts, tops, multi-colored T-shirts, etc.). It was very difficult to find a guide in the crowd of tourists while at the site of the excursion program.

It was not registered anywhere and no one informed us in advance about the duration of the excursions. We went out, thought for half a day, but it turned out all day. Naturally, they didn’t take anything with them except water, because. we planned to return for dinner, but it turned out that the whole day I had to eat incomprehensibly what (snickers, chips, etc.).

Not on all excursions we were accompanied by a guide, which did not correspond to the signed agreement with the Ilves Tour company. Also, the agreement promised us Russian-speaking guides, but for some reason in Bangkok on the tour “Golden Ring of Bangkok + Royal Palace + Temples” we were accompanied by a Thai guide Pasha, who spoke Russian, but with such an accent that the tourists simply did not understand anything. It was strange that only on the bus with Pasha there was a Russian guide, who, by the way, did not even introduce himself, and who gave little information about excursions, but she did not leave the bus. By the way, a very unpleasant woman, she does not know how to talk to tourists at all. We all got the impression that we were her students, and she was an evil teacher who was ready to put everyone in a corner.

For safety, I generally keep quiet. The trip to the River Kwai turned out to be very rich in different emotions. The program included rafting on the River Kwai. You were given a life jacket, taken out on a big raft against the current of the river for a distance of a couple of kilometers from the hotel, and you had to jump out of the raft and row along the river to the hotel. It was also meant that in the event of a problem, the raft would go along and pick you up. But as soon as we were in the water, the raft sailed back to the hotel and we were all alone in the middle of a wide river. My mother became ill, she couldn’t breathe normally for a while, someone’s life jacket came undone and he couldn’t put it back on, one man didn’t know how to swim at all and relied on a life jacket and the promised raft nearby ... And There was no one. Mom is relieved, thank God. The unbuttoned vest was removed and floated on it. The whole group swam faster, and we decided to stay close to the man who couldn't swim, just in case. Tourists were very indignant about safety, but the guide Andrei did not find an explanation.

The next day, we all went with a guide Andrey to a 7-level waterfall. Andrei immediately warned us that he would not stop at each level, that he would immediately go to the 7th level and from there he would gradually descend. But not everyone could keep up with him, everyone has their own speed. Naturally, people are lagging behind, and so are we. The road after the 4th level is very dangerous, you constantly climb uphill over the abyss without any fences and handrails, and due to humidity and proximity to the waterfall, the clay earth is very wet and very slippery ... On the way back, my husband and I went down alone and I stumbled and twisted my leg, and there was no one around to call for help ... And what should I do? I couldn't walk, they thought it was a fracture. And after only some time, I was again able to walk limping, leaning on my husband. Arrived almost an hour later than scheduled. Nobody even looked for us. Well, at least there were my parents who came before us and felt something was wrong and started walking back to find us.

Of course, the landscapes are very beautiful, we can even say that this is the only excursion, no matter what, which we really liked, it was the best excursion among all that we had. And also, if we omit some moments of the organization, we were also pleased with the guide Andrei, who has a very competent and well-delivered speech, it is clear that a very well-read young man tells - you just listen, in a very accessible language for tourists.

In the excursion "Kaleidoscope of Pattaya", practically visiting only one store (Thai latex, Jewelry and souvenir center, Cobra medicine). It turns out that you pay money for visiting stores that do not interest you at all. Very little time is given to visit the observation deck and the hill of the big Buddha. I practically had to run around and quickly take pictures in order to get back to the bus before departure. There is no exotic at the cobra farm, as promised by the tour. Don't expect to see a lot of different types of cobras, you will only see 2 enclosures with 3 medium sized cobras and a 5 minute show with a cobra and a cobra tamer followed by an hour of cobra medicine for sale. "Discovery" in a cave - I warn you right away, this is not a cave, as many people think, these are just well-mounted scenery in a building. There were no complaints about the guide Katya. Tells well. The only thing is that it gives very little time for a review, but, probably, this does not depend on her.

A visit to the "Garden of million stones and a crocodile farm" was held with a guide Alexei. Well, somebody, stop this "locomotive" !!! It was simply impossible to be with him, he smoked without interruption during the entire excursion. So it was hot, not a breeze, and there was nothing to breathe. I think it's not civilized, not presentable and not competent to conduct a tour with a cigarette in your mouth. He met us already on the spot, when we were brought, again, to the Korean ginseng and cosmetics store. Met with a reproach, they say, we were late for the transfer, when we were sitting and waiting for the bus for half an hour. And he says, well, it’s not very interesting ... Well, this tour operator “Ilves Tour” has some kind of problem with guides ...

After visiting the Nong Nooch tropical garden, the bus driver who was supposed to take everyone to the hotels refused to take us to ours. He stopped us a few blocks (15 minutes walk) from the hotel and said that he would not take us further ... We started asking him to take us to the hotel, as expected, and he said that for the sake of two people, he would not will go. Guide Katya (yes, yes, the same Katya as on the Pattaya Kaleidoscope) left us immediately after the tour, there was no one to ask for help. As soon as we got off the bus, I called the guide Natalia, who met our family upon arrival at the hotel. She agreed that this was not normal and promised that they would sort it out. I haven't heard from her since...

No adventures on the island of Koh Chang, too, could not do. We were already met at the hotel by the guide Maxim. He immediately warned us that there are jellyfish in the sea and that if jellyfish sting you, then you need to smear the stung place with lemon, and if it doesn’t help, then immediately go to the hospital. Well, what normal person will stick himself into the water after such words, you tell me!!?? But we still decided to go into the water. How is it to finally come to the sea and not swim!? And there is an impenetrable wall in the water of jellyfish ... I remained on the shore, ankle-deep in water, and my parents took a chance and were stung. It hurts, itches and leaves red spots for the whole day, and no lemon helps ... No one else dipped into the water. Everyone swam in the hotel's 3x4 size pool ... I was very surprised that such a large hotel had such a small pool. The name of the hotel is Klong Prao Resort.

All in the same place, on the island of Koh Chang, we had an hour-long elephant ride. Guide Maxim said to tip 40 baht to the elephant driver during the tour, which we did. So, upon returning to the base, the cab driver began to demand 100 baht from us and in such a tone !!! He arranged a whole story, began to tell his fellow cabbies about us in his own language and point his fingers at us... It's very unpleasant... We wanted it right, in a good way... If they knew, they wouldn't have given us anything at all. In any case, we did not like this tour, we did not see anything remarkable. Again, thanks to the "good organization" of the company "Ilves Tour", which provided this tour and "special thanks" to Maxim, who provided inaccurate information...

We realized that the best elephant ride was on the trip to the River Kwai. Let them ride you for 20-30 minutes, but you get much more pleasure and the cabs are much nicer.

The tour program attached to our contract clearly states that ALL transfers under the program will be carried out on comfortable, air-conditioned minibuses. But for some reason, we had problems on a tour of the 4 islands. A tuk-tuk (pickup) arrived in the luggage department of which, where there were only 2 places left, the four of us had to somehow fit. Disgrace! We are not talking about comfort and air conditioning. We called the guide Maxim (it would be better not to call), explained the situation to him normally, said that apparently there was a mistake, so he began to argue, saying that, they say, what you wanted, what cheap tour you bought, what you paid for, then you get ! Is this the normal answer of the guide, the representative of the company? So we don’t even know how much this tour cost, because. Everything was bought in a package. We asked him to drive up to the hotel after our return from the tour to draw up an act of complaint, to which he replied that he would come when he had time. He didn't come, of course. The next day, I saw him on the territory of the hotel, approached him, asked if he could give us time now, to which he replied that he was busy now and that he would arrive at 6 pm, but he never arrived. And the next morning we were already evicted and moved to Bangkok.

According to the contract, it is said that all issues must be resolved on the spot (eg, drawing up acts with a guide, if something suddenly goes wrong). But how was it possible to solve the problem with such a representative of the Ilves Tour company as Maxim, when he never came to the appointed meeting and constantly avoided us!??? We immediately felt cheated...

Our family considers this guide (Maxim) to be incompetent, not fulfilling his official duties and deserving of recertification.

As for this 4 island tour, don't expect to be taken to some beautiful, landscaped islands. Two of the 4 islands were generally 5 meters in size (a solid stone), which cannot even be called an island. The last island was KOHWAI - very dirty water due to the large accumulation of ships. And somehow I didn’t want to swim in fuel oil. There was only one small island, on the sandy shore of which one could swim, but due to the accumulation of a large number of tourists, who, like us, were brought to it, it was not possible at all to enjoy it and, what can I say, take pictures. Fed on the ship 2 times and not bad. Again, the Ilves Tour representative was not present during the entire excursion, so get ready for the fact that you yourself will have to read in books which island you visited and look for your own tuk-tuk on your way back. Another deception.

On the day when we were supposed to leave Koh Chang, the transfer was scheduled for 12 noon. Already at 9 pm before departure, the guide Maxim called and said that the departure was at 9 am. We asked why there was such a big difference with the time that the company gave us, to which he replied that we should not believe everything that is written ...

The guide is the face of the company. Judging by Maxim and all the existing problems, Ilves Tour did not satisfy us in their services and did not provide us with quality service.

At first, after returning from Thailand, on October 28, 2012, we wanted to write a letter of complaint to the Ilves Tour travel company, but being afraid to run into the same incompetent Maxim again, as on the island of Koh Chang, and sparing our time and our nerves, we decided to just share our experience with tourists like us, with you, dear readers of this review.

Everyone has their own opinion, maybe it’s just that the four of us were so unlucky with the trip from this Ilves Tour company, maybe everything went just at the highest level for someone, but having considerable experience in traveling abroad and having heard a lot of negative reviews about company "Ilves Tour" during this tour from various tourists who, like us, also decided to use their services, we believe that by paying such a decent amount of money, at least we should have been provided with experienced and courteous guides, and quality service.

Personally, we will never use the services of Ilves Tour again and will never recommend this company to our family and friends.

Thailand is an amazingly beautiful place. You have to go there at least once. Therefore, please avoid our mistakes, choose quality services to make your holiday much better than ours.

Have a great holiday for you all!

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