ComplaintsforVietnam Battlefield Tours

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  As a Vietnam Veteran, in November 2022, I hired Vietnam Battlefield Tours (VBT) to take me to a battlefield site called Phou Nhoi (Mountain) where 34 Marines in my unit were killed back in June ****. My total cost would be $5,830 (travel ins, etc). When our bus of Vietnam Veterans arrived at the foot of Phou Nhoi on 03/12/2023, we were met by the Vietnamese Military. They talked to ************************************** and his interpreter, *************************. An hour later, the Vietnamese military surrounded our bus, forced us back on, and escorted us 15 miles away. I asked both what happened--they both blamed the Vietnamese military. My 55-year dream was gone. Later a Vietnamese interpreter, ********************** (who overheard both) told me that VBT was lying to me. A Vietnamese General told her that it was the fault of VBT as they never applied for the permits to visit that site. When I arrived back in the ******, I wrote a letter to the Ambassador to Vietnam, *************************** who ordered an investigation. Colonel ************************************ did a six-week investigation and sent me the results in a letter. He agreed with Ms. ******* and the Vietnamese General that it was the fault of VBT for not having the proper permit. Via multiple emails between myself and ********************** before our trip, I emphasized that the only reason I wanted to go to Vietnam was to climb Phou Nhoi Mountain and pay respect to the 34 Marines who died there. Therefore, on 03/05/2023, when our plane left *********** for Vietnam, ********************** could have told me that VBT did not have the permits to visit Phou Nohi and that we would never be visiting Phou Nhoi. If he had, I would not have gone with VBT and saved myself $5,830. I would have looked for a different tour company. ********************** has offered to refund part of the cost but "only" if I do not tell anyone the results of the US Embassy investigation and what happened on 03/12/2023. Returning to Vietnam with VBT would be h*** due to the animosity.

  Business response

  01/10/2024

  See attached.

  Customer response

  01/12/2024

  Complaint: 21027686
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Too many falsehoods in his reply and ********************** did not address the central question of why he did not warn me on March 05, 2023 (the day we left the USA to go to Vietnam) that Vietnam Battlefield Tours did not have the permit to go up Phou **** Mountain knowing very well that without a permit, I would never go up to the top of Phou Nhoi Mountain.  Had I known what he knew (that I would never honor my 34 ****** brothers) I would not have hired VBT and saved myself $5,830.  ********************** claims that we did not go up the mountain because the Vietnamese local police and the Vietnamese border guards do not get along---so by going back to Vietnam now, how would they magically come together this time?  (Maybe ********************** has a secret weapon this time and that secret weapon is called a "permit.")
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************************

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