ComplaintsforA Plus Tours, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  05/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I wish to express the displeasure with the way A Plus Tours treated our students on an overnight field trip recently on Wednesday April 12 - 14. While traveling from ***************************, leaving the school at 7 am, a bus broke down around 10:30 or 11 am in ******, **. The bus did not arrive to it's lunch location until close to 4 pm. The kids were not fed between 7 am and 4 pm and were held on the buses for 3 hours with no walking around or food. I find this disgraceful. I can't believe their contingency plan was to not feed them for that long and make them sit on hot buses. I feel they acted irresponsibly and disrespected our children. Deeply disappointed. We paid $450 for them to take our kids on this field trip and to feed them.

  Business response

  05/10/2023

  We received an email from this customer on 4/27/2023 and spoke to her on the phone in an attempt to explain her misunderstanding of the events.  She was not a traveler on this trip, so her inaccurate recounting of the details came second hand.  This was an 8th grade field trip,and the school was so happy with ** that they have already rebooked for this same trip next year, so we thought the best explanation for why she misunderstood the events that took place came as a result of inaccurate story-telling from her middle school aged student.  As a parent of a current 8th grader myself, we didnt want her sole information base to be her student, so we spoke with her over the phone.  Unfortunately, it seemed like as we explained what happened and the multiple steps we took to make the best of the situation,she turned to more and more, inaccurate, insensitive, emotionally-based complaints.  Her final complaint even included that she didnt think it was fair that the diabetic students (we had two diabetic travelers, and ensuring their blood sugar stayed within range was a priority for teachers) were given the snacks over her child.  We realized at this point that the customer was probably not looking for a real conversation and would be unsatisfied at whatever she heard.
  
  One of our buses on this three day field trip did have a mechanical issue on the groups trip to ********, ******* on its morning of departure.    Because of this breakdown, lunch was delayed from its scheduled 12:15pm time to 2:51pm. The first bus began unloading in ******** at lunch at 2:51, as I was personally on site in ******** waiting to meet the group when they arrived.  By the time the last student on the fifth bus stepped off the bus and was in the food line, it was just after 3pm.  I do not remember the exact minute this student got their food, because I was already getting the first group of students (who had already finished their lunch) started on their tour.  Because lunch had to be delayed by 2 hours and 35 minutes, we knew some kids would not be as hungry for their scheduled 5:30 dinner.  Because of this, we provided 125 pizzas to the group that evening upon arriving at their hotel.  This added meal was above and beyond our contracted number of meals, but we wanted to ensure the students were offered an extra meal in the event they werent hungry for dinner because of how late lunch was.  There were several students who turned down the pizza when I personally tried to hand them their box because they had eaten enough that day. We ended up throwing pizza away that night.  Additionally, *************************************** the bus company who we contracted with for this trip, refunded the full cost of the one charter bus back to **.  We returned the $4,200 refund directly back to the school administration.  While we were able to get the trip back on schedule, and each site and contracted meal was still included, ************************************** wanted to offer this to the school to make up for the inconvenience of the buses being stopped for so long.  Not only did this group get everything they had been told they would get when they signed up for the trip, they were provided with an extra meal and the school was refunded over $4,000 to be used for an end-of-year party for the grade level who was on the trip.  The customers complaint that this is a contract dispute is not just reckless, but because she had to sign off on what she would receive at registration, and we explained to her that her student received everything that she paid for and also received an additional meal that hadnt been contracted, her complaint should be considered libel.  I request her complaint to be withdrawn and will happily provide any necessary documentation to show,clearly, that she is either wrong, intentionally misleading, or both.  

  
  While I know this was a complaint of contract, I would like to explain the steps that both the bus company, *************************************** and the student travel operator, A Plus Tours, took. We are the only Certified *************************** in *******, and one of only a handful in North *******, and because of this we have an extensive  emergency response plan for any conceivable issue that could arise on a field trip.  We go through annual self-audits, and have a detailed emergency plan for instances such as this one.  When the bus experienced a mechanical issue, the bus was stopped and students were off the bus at a rest stop.  The driver called the company, who then called ** to let ** know about the issue.  We relayed the information to the lead teacher who we had worked with in planning this trip.  We notified her that the bus would be undrivable and that the bus company was sending two separate replacement buses from two separate cities to see which one would arrive first and allow ** to continue the field trip. While we waited for the new bus to arrive, we took multiple actions.  First, the bus company began making phone calls to local restaurants and catering companies in the area to see if providing food to the students, while they were stopped, was an option.  Unfortunately, we were in a very rural area that couldnt feed 250 people on short notice. I began rescheduling the 3 day tour, all of the activities, and each of the meals, so that the students would still get the trip they were promised.  I was able to successfully reschedule each of the activities and was able to get a catered lunch, at a much higher price than the originally planned lunch, scheduled for when the group arrived in ********.  This, of course, was at a cost incurred by A Plus Tours to ensure the best path forward.  We kept in constant communication with the teachers and students, and students remained on the air conditioned charter buses, as they were pulled over on the side of the road and remaining on the buses was part of our safety plan to ensure students were safe, accounted for,and out of the heat. 
  
  Again, I ask that her complaint is withdrawn, as it is full of factually inaccurate information, wording that has nothing to do with our contracted obligations, and could be damaging to our business.  I am happy to provide any receipts, contracts,or anything else deemed necessary for a resolution in our favor.  

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