May 27, 2016 10:31 AM
9818 Views
Cox & Kings - NEVER NEVER AGAIN.HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE.GROUP WAS TALKING ABOUT PUTTING A CONSUMER COURT COMPLAINT ALSO.
I sent my 70 years old parents and brother for Europe Advitiya tour from Mumbai 8th May to 22nd May 2016.
On 2nd day I received a call from my mother that they want to come back as they feared manhandling by the tour manager because of his unfriendly behavior towards elderly people and over commitment towards some people who were continuously drinking and using abusive language in the coach. I was shocked as I spent Rs 7.5 lacs on assurance of Pune Cox & Kings office that elderly people will be taken care of and now I have to spend Rs 1.25 lacs to get them back! I convinced my parents to approach police whenever they feel unsafe.
Other examples of the cheap / unprofessional / selfish / money oriented attitude of the tour manager -
He was interested only in commissions he got from shopping by the group. He used to change itinerary in order to promote shopping. He used to give unlimited time to rich families for shopping but restricted time for sight seeing. There were 8 incidences wherein 36 people were standing for more than 45 mins(each time) in rain but the tour manager was busy shopping - BECAUSE HE GOT COMMISSIONS.
One elderly person needed a medicine but the tour manager never stopped the bus at a medical store! He wasted time in shopping but not for buying medicine for the older people. He was heartless - two people fell on tram track when tram was approaching in Amsterdam but the tour manager kept on rushing for his food.
The tour manager was a LIER - he used to tell lies about distances of historical places, so that the group will agree to remove the spot from itinerary. Ex in Paris he said that Palace of Versailles is 75 kms away and there were only torn carpets, dirty curtains, old sofa sets to see there and insisted to skip it in order to go to Fragonard for perfumes shopping.(Actually this palace is a UNESCO heritage site!) When we went there it was not even 5 kms away! - WHO IS HE TO CHANGE ITINERARY PROMISED IN INDIA! He gave 45 mins for Palace of Versilles and 1hr 45 mins for perfume shopping at Fragonard(which was actually not in itinerary).
He used to provoke people against each other and create internal drift in the group because of his intentions to change itinerary. He was heard telling that XYZ family is not ready to change the itinerary and commented cheap words about XYZ family, so that others in the group have negative feelings towards XYZ family.
He was selfish to the core. Once his lunch/dinner/toilet was over, he used to force others to leave their food in between and rush. He never gave fixed time slots for activities - it was all as per his convenience. My parents didn't have food on 3 occasions because there was 1 toilet in the restaurant for 44 people! Now if 1 person takes 1 minute for toilet, definitely someone will be the last one. By that time the tour manager will finish his food(as he is friend of the owner and gets special seating/service) and start shouting'chalo chalo chalo.'. People with BP, diabetes had to suffer because of their urination problems.
Tour manager had no knowledge of spots / routes - he used to take at wrong gates / wrong paths and then to hide his fault say'this place has totally changed'. Ex People had to walk 2 km in rain at glacier 3000 entry point just because of his lack of knowledge and over confidence about the entry gate. Ex In palace of Versilles he took the group to the exit hall as first point even though a guard told him where to start the tour but his ego was too high to listen to a guard. Later my parents realized that he has no knowledge of the palace and they went alone to see the same.
Tour manager never controlled drinking and abusive language in coach. He used to talk of Amsterdam sex museum / Paris table dancers / Sex shows more than other historical / geographical places inspite of kids and elderly members present in the coach. In Venice when other tour operators came to know of this by my parents, they were shocked.
Tour manager never carried the company flag with him even in crowded places leading some member of the group to be misplaced from the rest. My parents requested him many times that he has to carry the Cox & Kings flag but it seems that he was ashamed of carrying the flag.
Tour manager left the group on second last day! He was given a tip by the group to share with the coach driver but he ran away with the entire tip! The driver was angry and started misbehaving with the group members on last day.
Cox & Kings - the group had no tour manager on last day! Disney tickets were handed to one group member. No parking charges were paid to the coach driver - he collected parking money from the group for parking! All this resulted in the group reaching Disney at 11.30 am and left Disney at 2 pm - 2.5 hrs for Disney Paris! - Joke by Cox & Kings! My parents didn't get lunch that day as there was no tour manager and they remained hungry till 5 pm and had a sandwich at airport by self payment.
After crying daily on phone and having 15 sleepless nights finally my family came back only to find that there was no transport arrangement at Mumbai airport! I arranged a cab for their transfer - Cox & Kings attitude is after getting full money who cares of customer service!
Please.please.please do not send anyone by Cox & Kings.we never know our loved ones will come back alive or not.If something would have happened to my parents, the tour manager would definitely have run away as he did on last day!
God saved my parents.It was mental harassment for 15 days by Cox & Kings tour manager.
