Overland Club - Is this company bad news?
Category: Overland Club | Apr 8th, 2007 By frsydtkeHi.
Can any one share some advice please on overland club. I am 30 just paid a deposit for 6 months travel through Africa and just found several warnings about this company on the web.
Has any one used this company with any advice for me as been burnt before in Oz by poor management?
Thanks in advance.
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They have been receiving some very bad press of late. You may want to check out http://www.overlandingcommunity.com/overland-club/ for more info.
We will try and get some sort of official response from them. Any previous passenger comments would be nice.
I could write alot about this company that would fill a page or two! But to put it bluntly, I would not travel with them again. Choose another company & have a great time.
I agree with that Linda! Check out http://www.overlandwarning.com
We do not know anyone who will recommend this company. We used them in Sept last year and everyone we met had bad experiences with them including us !
They have only responded as a result of all this bad press which is growing and growing. Do not take the chance
Hi,
I was seriously considering doing a south american trip with them but after what I’ve just read in the last 2 hours I think I’ll pass.
Thanks for the heads up guys!
Mike
We have also paid a deposit and now thinking of changing. Any suggestions for another operator greatly welcome. Tip for Michael who is heading to South America - Tucan Travel are really good for an overland trip.
Do not go with Overland Club. I went with them through Africa. The owner Ron tells you one thing and does not follow up.
Marc
Overland Club what can be said??.. a hell of a lot.
If it is shear and total unorganized, unprofessional, penny pinching badly maintained vehicles, chaos and no response to serious complaint letters, that I have sent several times, you are after then go with them.
I could go on and on but really do not bother go with someone else. You will be looking at spending a lot of money on this trip and maybe with this company so do your research, you can look at my web site that is
http://www.mytripjournal.com
Click on find a friends web site and type in the ?trip journal name or title starts with:? ?Jez? search then click on JezTour06. It is my complete diary and pictures of the trip from Cairo to Cape Town and is good reading and writes about everyday. Will give you a really good understanding of how this company works.
If you want a copy of my complaint letter that the company has had well over six months to reply to so think not breaking any agreements as they obviously agree to all what was said, spans 3 pages, regarding drunk drivers, disappearing tour guides (with money) and badly maintained trucks with no back brakes I will be quite happy send it to you if you want a copy email me at jepcurtis@hotmail.com (put overland club in the title). Everything contained in the above is true and can be proved with all passengers, do not believe Overland Club if they say something like ?disgruntled passengers?.
If you want a good company and is really professional then there is a couple called Debs & Thiemo they are awesome, Overland Club sometimes subcontracts to them and to be honest, on the 2 week gorilla part, we had no problems and really enjoyed ourselves. Funny that?s how I stumbled over this site just trying to find them again, you will have no complaints with them.
Don?t get me wrong, you do not want a bottom wiping 5 star trip where nothing goes wrong as the problems (e.g changing tyres, things breaking, getting stuck etc) put the adventure and fun into it and is part the reason you should do it. What you need to look for is a company that looks after the intrests of its passengers / clients first before its pockets. We also flew over Sudan and think most others do or did aswell. Not sure if they put this in the literature but there was no ?truck waiting? for us in Egypt all mini buses and trains, first truck we saw was I think over two weeks after starting and that was Kenya.
?Where no story is ever told twice?, the best slogan and very true from all I have met & heard. Good luck??!!!!!
Hi Jeremy, I saw your post and thought I will let you know I know who Debs and Thiemo are: Africa Expedition Support.
I just finished a Gorilla Trip with these guys and they were awesome. Could not recommend them highly enough.
Their website is not easy to find http://www.AfricaExpeditionSupport.com - I just stumbled over it but really glad I booked with these guys.
I am planning a Trans Africa next year and will definately book with Debs and Thiemo (Africa Expedition Support).
hello- Looking at the Kumuka overland truck treck Vic falls to Nairobi in Januray. Any commets ? Is Kumuka good and what about the extra activities? reading other people’s comments about overland travel- it seems there is a lot of sitting on the truck (obviously) but does one get to actually stop and enjoy the site properly ? also for example - White water rafting in Vic falls- is it white water or just a dingi ride ??
Thanks
I just returned from the Middle East with Overland Club. The first few days were with the owner, Ron, as Group Leader. I found him personable, confident, responsvie, creative and knowledgeable. But then he turned over the remainder of the trip to a guy named “Pikey” and he was a disaster. Though he suffered from an excess of personality his leadership skills were minimal, his customer relations skills abominable and he was the most slovenly person I have ever met.
I wrote Ron that essentially Pikey had to go but he basically ignored what I had to say and continues to promote this hack of a leader….so I let him know that I would never travel with Overland Club again. I suggest you don’t either!
I travelled with overland club in late 2005, it was a complete nightmare of a trip. I would never travel with them again and would never recommend them to anyone. Ron is a con man and a liar. I am shocked and amazed that his trips are still running and the same things seem to be happening to people. I wish i could warn every person that is thinking of going on one of his trips to never travel with his company.
Also, I would also recommend tucan for travel in south america, i traveled with them 2001/02 and they were fantastic.
Hi Michael - what were they crying about?
Hi there. Im sorry to tell you but this is a very dodgy company. Basically my experience was that we paid for our tour and arrived in Nairobi to find out the night before we were to get on the truck that our tour was cancelled. A refund was not offered as Overland Club organised for us to do an alternative tour with another company (not giving us the option) and in-turn kept the profit. They use this company constantly when they do this, as it is one that has lower costs - hence you have paid for a tour with an expectation of level of accomm and food etc and are put on a cheaper tour with not great food, transport OR accomm. We were also sent on a completely different tour so missed out on a number of places that we had expected to visit. When you have been dreaming of going to all of these wonderful places and saved your $$ and researched to have the best possible experience it is an ultimate let-down arriving to this. Do yourself a favour and go with another company. best of luck.
Hi
I’ve just sent my son on one of their trips and it seems that there has been a repeat of the issues outlined above. What I find totally unacceptable is that I’ve asked the company to contact me to explain what’s going on as a matter of urgency to see if the situation is resolvable and have heard NOTHING. Not even an acknowledgement and a ‘we’ll look into it’. It does give me considerable cause for concern, given that my son is still out there and I’m getting at best very garbled information from him about cancellations, changes to schedules, optional trips that become mandatory, coaches and not trucks, etc etc…
As in all these cases make sure you keep a note all all that happens itinerarie changes/reasons and all correspondances - ask for emails or letters.
Make sure to register your complaint formally to the representative whilst you are actually on holiday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/how_to_complain/
If you fail to resolve the complaint with your tour operator then you should contact the relevant trade association. Most tour operators and travel agents belong to an association, details of which should be given in the terms and conditions. ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents), AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators) are the bigger trade associations whose members should abide to their code of practice. ABTA provides an arbitration scheme for reconciliation of complaints between customers and tour operators/agencies. The findings from such an arbitration scheme are usually legally binding.
If that fails try
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/contact_index.shtml
My son is currently on an Overland Club tour and has been well and truly screwed. Cannot say any more at this time due to possible legal proceedings.
I’m going to repeat exactly what I put on the older link on this website to apologies to anyone forced to read this twice:
Please, please do not book a tour with Overland Club. I beg you to reconsider using them as a tour group.
I did a three month tour through Africa with Overland Club during June - Aug 07. It is the single worst experience I’ve ever had.
I’m a seasoned traveller. I spent 16 months from Nov 06 - Feb 08 backpacking through South and Central America and Africa. The majority was spent travelling with friends but I also undertook some tours along the way. All was pleasurable other than the Overland Club tour which was an absolute nightmare.
We went through two trucks, two drivers and two tour guides. Our second truck was constantly breaking down, had a permanent hole in the window, no tread in the tires - you could actually see the wire of the tires through the rubber and no stereo. We spent a lot of the holiday literally sitting by the side of the road waiting for the truck to be repaired. This obviously meant we missed out on sights. The kitty money we contributed was substantial but it ran out and for approximately a week we had no evening meals or lunches provided. The owner of the company refused to give a reason for why our kitty money ran out and stated he was not required to account for it. We later found out from the driver than Ron had instructed him to spent it on the truck repairs. We went two weeks without a tour guide on the tour because one left early and it took them two weeks to bother sending a replacement. Entrance fees for national parks had to be contributed over four weeks early. We later found that this money was being used for truck repairs. Some money we’d contributed for entrance fees into national parks and visa fees also went missing. When we tried to contact Ron to have him respond to various complaints and to answer queries about the kitty money he consistent cut us off and persistently repeated the same few catch phrases. Despite three members of the tour group questioning him we received no answers and only curt responses. When one of the members complained that it was the worst customer service he’d ever received Ron’s response was solely: “Overland Club are not about customer service, they’re about overlanding. That member and his partner were thrown off of the tour that night at 8pm in the middle of Botswana with over two weeks of the tour left to go. They were thrown off without warning and without reason other than they “were causing trouble”. Ron spent the rest of the night phoning the manager of that campsite demanding they also be thrown out of the camp site. Thank goodness the owner refused and only ended up becomming annoyed by Ron’s constant harrassment. We later discovered that our second driver did not end up being paid for his services and this was a worry for Overland Club staff as one reason our first driver did not stand up for the people being thrown off of the tour was a concern he would not be paid for his services. I strongly believe that Overland Club’s trucks are unsafe and that the kitty money is not used for the purpose for which it is contributed. I would strongly recommend against using Overland Club as a company. The company are viewed as a total joke in Africa. When I first arrived in Kenya to join the tour there I had a couple of days before the tour commenced. Employees of other tour companies would either laugh or view me with absolute pity when I told them I was joining Overland Club for a tour. Please reconsider using them. There are other tour groups who cost less who are much better and more reliable.
If you REALLY want to risk your life, go with Overland Club, specially try to hook up with the worst leading couple “Debs & Thiemo”. I could write you pages about our Trans Africa where we had a lot of problems including having to leave our truck in Namibia and renting minivans because OvelrandClub ran out of money for border crossing and fuel (WTF??) Also we had some problems with our tour leader (she didnt get any tip at the end of the journey) and Thiemo was just an xxxxxxx and VERY VERY dangerous (or you tell me how to call a guy who is in the bush in Northern Kenya a month after a massive killing of 80 people in charge of 15 tourist, and he plays with a toy-machingun…..) Our group also got ripped off at the Gorilas in Uganda, we were the ones who paid the most, so I hope xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx …
Pfff.. just pick another company. DONT GO WITH OVERLANDCLUB!
ohh one more thing: I was on the same trip with “Jo” who wrote before me and as you can see, both agree on that. the trip was a nightmare..
One more thing: OVERLANDCLUB = AFRICA EXPEDITION SUPPORT
same people behind, so beware.