Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/05/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My wife and I purchased places on a group tour of ******, scheduled to depart at the end of November, 2023. When Israel was invaded all U.S.. airlines withdrew from ******, so The Quest Travel Group, Inc. cancelled the trip. They eventually refunded the airfare portion of the cost which they were reimbursed by ***** Airlines ($2606) having cancelled flights, but none of the lodging and tour costs, even though the trip was cancelled more than 30 days before departure. The directions they provided directed us to file a claim with our travel insurance company. However, our insurance company refused to pay due partially to the fact that the travel interruption was not caused by us, but by the tour provider. The other reason noted was that the U.S **************** had not issued travel alerts for ********, or other cities on our tour.My complaint is that they were quick to suggest to us to obtain travel insurance, but they, evidently, carry no insurance for when the company cannot fulfill the terms of the tour agreement.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2024

  The tour was scheduled to depart for ****** on November 29,2023.   As noted, Delta refunded the airline tickets for the entire group and halted flights into *********   We did not cancel the tour, the war in ****** stopped all tourism into the country. And all land arrangements for the tour were canceled and services were non-refundable.   On our registration form that passengers use to enroll in a tour, it clearly states that all funds paid toward the tour are non-refundable. Each tour member signs and initials the form to state that they have read and accepted the terms and conditions of the tour.  Please find the registration form for this tour attached. 
  

  The tour organizer of the group did not want to postpone the tour and requested to cancel the group. We advise passengers to obtain coverage with whichever travel insurance they use, to purchase the cancel for any reason policy.  As each tour member is responsible for this purchase, we have no control over the decisions the insurance company makes.  Again, the cancellation of the tour was forced upon all of us.  We had no control over the circumstances.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/07/2024

  As can be seen in the attached email from *******************, the tour guide contracted by The Quest Travel Group, the decision to cancel the trip was made by the tour company and their representative.  We were not given the option to reschedule the trip, nor substitute another trip, as suggested in the comapanys response to the BBB.  The decision was entirely made by the company and its contracted tour guide.  Because the tour company was no longer offering the trip, it voided out our travel insurance, which we had obtained per the recommendation of the tour company.  Also attached is the response from Seven Corners Travel Insurance indicating that since the trip was not cancelled at our request, the policy did not require them to cover any lost funds.  

  The Quest Travel Group is rated by BBB as A+, perhaps due to their 40 years of being in business.  Since they have been in business such a long period of time, should not they have known that their cancelling an offered trip, would void any travel insurance purchased by their clients?  Where is their insurance coverage for events that go against what is promised?  Why are they allowed to keep thousands of dollars ($5386 for my wife and me, and similar for the other 34 paid customers for this tour) while the airline is required to refund money for tickets they cannot honor?  They feel they can just say they have no responsibility since the funds were dispersed, and they recommended we obtain travel insurance.  We followed their suggestion because we had never done a tour like this before.  We obtained this coverage prior to Quest recommending a particular insurance company.  And when I forwarded the response from Seven Corners, to Quest, the response was that if we had obtained insurance from their recommended company, we would have been reimbursed already.  However, friends of ours did obtain the recommended coverage, and did not receive any reimbursementeither.

  Since the information issued by Quest was not accurate, and the fact that the  trip was cancelled solely by Quest and its representative, Quest should be obligated to refund the balance of funds they received for the services they did not provide.

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/11/2024

  We previously forwarded to BBB the registration form for this tour which states the Terms and Conditions when enrolling.  As all payments received are non-refundable as stated, tour members are aware of these terms upon enrollment. The tour was scheduled to depart on November 29, 2023.  Payments had already been paid for the arrangements.  Also, in our communications with the Tour Leader of this group, we all were expecting that the war could be settled and the group would be able to depart.  As weeks went by and it got worse, it was determined that the tour could not go.  We did not make the decision to cancel the tour.  **** airlines, including Delta cancelled flights into *********  Now flights into ******** are limited.    We had many tours scheduled to depart from October into this year, and none have been able to go.  *******************, the tour leader may try to take a tour in 2025.   Those on the 2023 tour need to speak with him and get updates if the tour will go in the future.  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 21388144
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I have previously attached the letter from ************** stating that the trip was cancelled by himself in conjunction with The Quest Travel Grooup.  Now they say that they did not cancel the trip, but the airline cancelled the flight, which resulted in the cancellation of the trip.  (I did check the website for ****** Airlines on 11/28/2023, and they were still selling tickets to Tel. Aviv on 11/29/2023.) It seems to me that the story from Quest is now changing.  I notice that they also now say that ************** may lead a group in 2025.  Does that mean that we will only be responsible for the airfare for that future trip?  What if ************** does not lead a trip in 2025?  Would we be able to apply the funds already provided to join another group going with Quest in 2025?

  I apologize for dragging this out, but to me this sounds like money laundering.  They require full payment over 60 days before departure, and none of that is refundable, even when they cancel the  tour.  I purchased the travelI insurance as required by Quest, but my claim was denied because it was not my fault for the trip interruption (as seen in an earlier attachment.)  I do  not know of anyone recovering from the insurance company the lost funds supplied to Quest.  That is some business that can require nearly $4000 from a person two months early, and then only refund $1312 when they cannot provide the contracted tour.

  
  *****************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2024

  Passengers that sign up for a tour sign an enrollment form that states the Terms & Conditions to partake in the trip.  Payments received from passengers is distributed to the airlines and all land arrangements.  All vendors require deposits to hold reservations for the group.  We do not keep passengers' monies.  We have to adhere to the requirements of the airlines and land vendors for services booked.  Because of the war between ****** and ****, the airline did refund the airline ticket.  All other arrangements were non-refundable as stated on the tour enrollment and brochure.   Note, we did not make the call to cancel the tour.  The war stopped all tourism into *******  The Tour Leader wanted to postpone the tour but later decided not to continue with that plan.  Initially, the Tour Leader hoped the war would be over quickly and the tour could go in November.  But as the war is still going on and very few tourists are going to *******  

   Tours to ****** are planned a year or more out as there are many details to arrange. This is an unfortunate situation for all involved.  We have no control over world events and we clearly state this in our Terms & Conditions.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/05/2024

   
  Complaint: 21388144
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have checked with the owner of a travel agency in *****, ******, whose company does Holy Land tours similar to Quest.  Their Israeli partner travel agency informed them that all tour funds must be returned per Israeli law when travel plans are interupted by terrorist activities.  All their deposits and funds were returned by the *************** and then reimbursed to the company clients.  If Israeli law requires this, why are the similar expenses for our tour also reimbursed?  The conclusion by the Jordanian travel agency is that either Quest, or it;s Israeli counterpart,  are pocketing the refunded money from the businesses scheduled to be used by our tour..

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/22/2024

  We have no dealings with a company in ****** and no representation within *******  Rules in ****** and ****** are completely different.  Our Terms and conditions for our tours stand.   We spend over a year organizing each tour for our clients.  Deposits to hold reservations with suppliers are paid out for the arrangements and are non-refundable.  Also, we provide a service and our costs to prepare a tour are high.  We don't understand that people sign up for a tour and expect that we do not have our own service costs to consider.  We hope this concludes this issue. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/21/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In February 2023, my wife and I signed up for a trip to ******. We paid half of our trip cost in August. At the time of signing up, the contract reads that all payments are non-refundable and that trip insurance is mandatory. I planned to buy trip insurance as it got closer to time. It was never required for me to provide proof of insurance. The contract doesn't mention that the trip could be cancelled. It also didn't mention that no credit would be given to future trips. I had no intention of cancelling my trip or backing out and assumed Quest would honor the agreement and follow through on the trip. After war broke out in ******, they cancelled the trip, refused to reschedule and now want to keep all of the money I paid them. All I want is a trip to ******. If they are not willing to follow through on our agreement, then they should give me my money back. Also, insurance does not cover acts of war so all those I know who had insurance have been denied their claim.In the end, Quest Travel has profited off of not taking a trip and is keeping over $50,000 from our group. I would like them to refund my money or at the least, place my funds in an escrow account to be used with them at a later date when travel is allowed.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/11/2024

  We have been communicating with the tour organizer of this group who had advised us he wants to reschedule the tour but has not given us a date.  Everyone is waiting to see if the situation in ****** improves.   At this time, we are notifying tour members that an applicable refund is in process.  Even though our terms and conditions on the enrollment form clearly states that funds received for a tour are non-refundable we are able to process partial refunds.

  Mr. & ********************* are scheduled to receive a total refund of $2,749.00.   

  Each of our group trips has a Tour Leader who is supposed to communicate with his tour members.  He organizes those who want to travel and then sends us the enrollment forms and payments.  It seems that the leader, **************** has not updated his tour members.

  If you need a copy of the brochure and enrollment form we can provide those documents.   We did not cancel the tour. The war prevented the group from traveling.  

   

  Let ** know if you need further information.

   

  Regards,

  ***********************

  The Quest Travel Group, Inc.

  P.O. Box 53419

  *******, **  30355

  **************

  www.questtravelgroup.com

  ***********************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/11/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************