WARNING....Glory Tours

[cammie10]

:mad: Hi there:

 

We booked with Sarah(Glory Tours) in March of this year. We had a great tour but.....when I gave my Visa card there was a double charge on it. We were supposed to be charged for one fare before the travel date and then pay cash for the other fare while on the trip. We paid cash while on the trip and then they took the second fare off of the card again. So we wound up paying for three fares. I have been asking for a reversal since I got back and Sarah has promised to do it but she has never followed through with it. It was a great trip but not worth the amount of money we paid. I would give a second thought to giving up your credit card number to Glory Tours. If you require more information please email me at g.casquenette@rogers.com I would be happy to reply.

Debbie

[pholter]

Debbie- Sorry for your misunderstanding with Sarah at Glory Tours.... I, personally have nothing but great things to say about how she handled us before, during, and after our tour including my credit card charges... I know in any business mistakes will be made and it's a shame that the correction hasn't occurred yet. Did you dispute the charge?? It would have been corrected immediately by your CC company- well, mine would have done that at least.

 

I'm sure Sarah will be in touch with you as she is very customer service oriented.

 

Once again, sorry you had this problem...

[Sarah T]

Hi everyone

As some of you may well know we have had a few problems recently we originally had 3 which made me decide that the system had to change as even 3 is to many for me so we changed the system and in the in between period we had a few more :mad: for this I am truly apologetic.



The new system is up now finally and there will be no more problems we now take payment in full so the card information can be removed from the system preventing any problems in addition to this you will notice from next week on when you visit our site on the booking forms there will be certificates the page showing that we are a secure site.



We are taking every step to protect our customers and will continue to do so.



I did wake up this morning and saw an email from Debbie to whom I do apologize to publicly as well as I did in my email to her I had not herd from her in over one month and I myself thought the credit had gone through.

I have offered to fax a copy of both returns the one I had previously done and one that I ran this morning just to save time rater than having to wait until Monday to speak to my Bank.



Thankfully I expect a end to this problem and thankfully I am 100% positive that it will not affect any new passengers.



Best Regards

& Happy Cruising



Sarah

Hi everyone

 

As some of you may well know we have had a few problems recently we originally had 3 which made me decide that the system had to change as even 3 is to many for me so we changed the system and in the in between period we had a few more :mad: for this I am truly apologetic.

 

The new system is up now finally and there will be no more problems we now take payment in full so the card information can be removed from the system preventing any problems in addition to this you will notice from next week on when you visit our site on the booking forms there will be certificates on the page showing that we are a secure site.

 

We are taking every step to protect our customers and will continue to do so.

 

I did wake up this morning and saw an email from Debbie to whom I do apologize to publicly as well as I did in my email to her I had not herd from her in over one month and I myself thought the credit had gone through.

I have offered to fax a copy of both returns the one I had previously done and one that I ran this morning just to save time rater than having to wait until Monday to speak to my Bank.

 

Thankfully I expect a end to this problem and thankfully I am 100% positive that it will not affect any new passengers.

 

Best Regards

& Happy Cruising

 

Sarah

[seastar2]

I was on the same tour as Debbie and also had the same problem with an addtional charge to my CC account I emailed Sarah twice and was told both times that a credit was issued and would show on my card within three days..after 3 weeks of this I filed a fraud report with my CC company.

 

They resolved the issue.

 

I never was given an explaination by Sarah as to the reason for the extra charges. IF as she claims it was the new system then I sincerely hope for her sake that things are corrected, as we really did enjoy her tour and the guide was great but finding extra charges on our cards upon our return did leave a bad feeling.:(

 

Just an fyi..the additional charges were posted to my account while on the ship but before I actually took the tour. The deposit was posted when we booked( several months before we sailed) and the balance was to be paid upon completion of the tour.

[Sarah T]

As I mentioned there where several of them again I appologize as I have mentioned from this week on our site will have secure site certificates and a new system has been put in place so we expect no new problems.

[cammie10]

I have now received a fax of the reversal on my Visa. I am now waiting on my credit card company to show a reversal. I would highly recommend the tour offered by Glory Tours as it is the best, I would however advice watching your credit card.

 

Debbie

[wentworth]

We too have been charged twice for our tour. We paid the day of the tour

 

with our credit card on March 10, 2005. When I received our May, 2005

credit card statement we were charged again!!! I contacted credit card

company and they are investigating. I called Glory Tours and left message

last week. I also wrote email using the address on web site. Had not heard

back. Today I found another email address for sarah@glorytours.org and tried

to contact her again. We will see what happens. I'M NOT HAPPY.

[missyal]

As I noted in another post, we were triple charged for our tour in full( not just 1 fare) and we were also charged 3 times for a currency exchange charge for US dollares to Barbados $. Many e-mails and broken promises, reported it to credit card co. Very frustrating. We are still waiting for the final correction that was promised. Meanwhile our account is being chrged interest too.

 

Missyal

[cammie10]

Hmmmmmm....sounds to me like there might be a scam at work here folks. Just so everyone knows, I have finally gotten the reversal on my credit card. But, I had to do a lot of waiting and calling and emailing. Is it worth it? I think the trip is definitely worth it, but being a member of Cruise Critic...I have my concerns about Glory Tours. It was stated that this was an error that happened with a few people back in February and March. We are now looking at June and still seeing reports that this is happening. I wonder how many people have not checked their bills and were double billed or triple billed. This definitely is not good. Consider this fair warning to all that book with Glory Tours, after my ordeal and others from this board....DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER!!!!

 

 

Sorry Sarah...I am telling it how I see it!!!!!

[MAGNUM PI]

I had considered booking with Glory Tours, but I am reluctant, after reading some of the recent posts.

 

I had sent various emails, without receiving any response.

 

Last week, I heard back from Sarah, who explained that she has had major health problems. As a result she has not been able to repond to a barrage of emails.

 

She indicated that she would contact me-today-to arrange for a tour.

However, that did not happen.

 

It is sad to apparently watch the deterioration of the Glory Tours. Previous postings had always raved about the quality/value of her tours.

 

Only recently, has Sarah's credibility, come under question. Concerning multiple credit card charges, to a number of different people.

 

I guess I'll wait and see what happens, in the next few weeks?

[wentworth]

STILL WAITING FOR CREDIT

 

It's now been 5 weeks and no credit forthcoming!!! Have put in a dispute with

 

our credit card company and written several emails since leaving phone messages does not work. I too am wondering how many people just automatically paid their credit card bills without realizing they too may have

 

been charged double. We were happy with the excursion but now I wish we

 

never had gotten involved with Glory Tours. It should not take this long to

 

get this mess straightened out!!

[cammie10]

I totally agree and whole heartedly agree with getting involved with them at all. I hope other Cruise Critic people heed our warnings!!!

[danfiveoh]

Thanks for all of the info. I'll be in Barbados in October and was looking for an excursion. I could understand one or maybe two mistakes but this is looking like a pattern, so I'll stay clear of Glory Tours!

[cruise freak]

I too had the same problem and I sent a number of e-mails to Sarah and always received a response with some excuse or the other. I disputed the charges as well with my credit card company. Sarah finally did get it straightened out with my credits but it sure took a long time. She did offer me a free excursion if I came to Barbados again. I am not sure I would go or not.

Good luck.

[pholter]

This tour was probably the biggest highlight of our cruise... It's such a shame! If you're considering booking with Glory/Sarah, then possibly ask her if you can pay in cash only with no credit card deposit because of the message board postings until she can figure out a way to stop these mistakes with her processing company or computer. I would book this tour again in a flash regardless if she required my CC or not. Although unfortunate, 5-10 mistakes for the hundreds/thousands of visitors on this tour annually is a very small number. I'm glad to hear that those folks effected have been receiving their credits due to them.

[wentworth]

Booking an excursion w/Glory Tours

 

This excursion was one of the highlights of our vacation also. However, I

would NOT book thru them again unless they would accept cash. It has been

such a hassle getting in contact with them and having them answer my e-mails

as I only get a message machine when I phone them. I only wished they had

the common courtesy to return my emails within an acceptable amount of time,

and 5 weeks later is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!! It has been a very frustrating

experience. I was given two reasons why credit had not been issued yet;

one being a computer problem and the other a health issue. When I see proof

of my credit I will thank them for fixing the problem. I just dont think the

situation is being handled in a timely manner and I would warn others of giving

out their credit card numbers to book this tour.

[cammie10]

I am in total agreement with Wentworth. I would book with them again in a minute if they would accept payment in cash at time of service. However, that is not how they operate and I don't mean to ruin Sarah's business on these boards. This is a warning about the credit card issue not the tour. I cannot dispute the fact that I had the best trip ever in Barbados as we have all mentioned. It really was the best. I just wish she would change her payment plan. I would endorse her whole heartedly if she was not asking for the credit cards. I would like to mention that before the actual trip I had no problem getting in touch with Sarah at all. In fact, even when I emailed her after the credit card double charge she did email me back with reasons but no reversals on the credit cards. This has been rectified now but it took a couple of months.

 

 

Sarah...cash is the way to go...I know you are reading this and I am not on a mission to ruin your business. You supply a great service to your island, I would like others to enjoy it. Please consider dropping the credit card deposits.

[Smooth Sailing]

Sarah - we have a fairly large group that will be in Babados in March - we may be interested in booking your tour - however, we now have some concern. We would appreciate it if you could come back on this thread and address these concerns one more time.

[wentworth]

When I awoke on Wednesday morning at 5 am, I had an email message from

Sarah saying that she had issued a credit to my account and would fax me

a copy of the credit slip if I would email her my fax number. I emailed her

the number around 6 am est. That evening Wednesday 7/6/05 I called my

credit card company at 5:15 pm and they had NOT received the credit.

I still have not received the copy of the credit from Sarah either. I am now

emailing her daily with no results thus far.

 

It is very frustrating and my credit card now shows a PAST DUE balance.

I am disputing the charge with the credit card company and waiting for

a decision. Actually, I am more than frustrated I am pi-----ed off!!!

 

So people, before you book an excursion with Glory Tours be prepared to

have a problem if you give them your credit card number.

 

It's too bad because we had a ball on this tour and everything went fine

until almost three months later we get double charged.

[missyal]

I'm still waiting for the credit that was faxed to me. This is really getting out of hand. I have to respectfully disagree with the post from pholter. I do not think she takes hundreds and thousands of guests on tours. Maybe a couple hundred tops each year. I do think that even with those numbhers, there are too many of us that have experienced this problem. And what we are having to go through to resolve it is insane. Sarah is ruining my credit account. Even though we notified the credit card company, they only give 30 days to resolve the problem, so now that amount is collecting interest every day.

 

BIG MISTAKE TO USE GLORY TOURS.

 

Missyal

[wentworth]

I too received a copy of a credit slip by fax today. However, I called my

credit card company and they still have not received it. They did say it

could take up to 5 business days to post. The copy of the credit was dated

7/7/05 (it was also a very blurrred copy). I will check daily with my credit

card company for the credit. Something is not right here and I do not feel

good about the way this situation is being handled.

[poppabear]

I just got off the phone with Glory Tours.

 

We are travelling to Barbados in September and I would like to condiser Glory Tours based on all of the positive reviews of the actual tour experience but I'm very hestiant based on all of the problems with the credit cards.

 

According to the woman I just spoke with (might have been Sarah but I didn't ask) ALL OF THE CREDITS WERE ISSUED AS OF YESTERDAY. Now is this another story of have they finally got their act together?

I'll wait for an update from the people who have actually been through hell with this issue before I book. I really hope everyone is able to respond back that they've finally received their credits. I would love to do this tour but I don't want to spoil the experience with months of follow-up torture.

 

poppabear

[cammie10]

Read all the posts poppabear. Cash is the way to go. Great tour, but costs alot more the way it is done on the credit card. It's a shame Sarah doesn't reply.

[wentworth]

Hi Everyone

 

Just wanted to let you all know that I finally received my credit from Glory

Tours after being double charged for our 3/10 tour. It took almost seven

weeks of frustration but my credit card company confirmed that the credit

was issued and posted.

 

I am very happy that this matter was taken care of. I do want to stress

that the Best of Barbados Tour that we took with Glory Tours was the

HIGHLIGHT of our cruise. However, I feel I must caution others about

how they pay for this tour. I wish Sarah and the tour company the best

in their business and hope all their problems are now solved.

[cammie10]

Wentworth....So glad to hear your ordeal is over too. I too, hope that Glory Tours has been able to rectify their credit card system.