TourCompass Reviews 

Unfortunately, our Tanzania and Zanzibar holiday with TourCompass was a very disappointing experience, particularly given the cost and the expectations we had for what was supposed to be a special family holiday.

There were several issues throughout the trip. Firstly, The Highview Hotel was extremely basic, with tiny rooms that were not suitable or comfortable for three people. There was no
Space to move at all. The accommodation did not feel in keeping with what we expected from the holiday we had booked. Secondly, we were not given adequate information about our internal flights. When there were delays, we were not properly informed, and we were taken to the airport far too early despite the circumstances. This resulted in unnecessary waiting and considerable inconvenience.Most importantly, during the organised Maasai village visit, I experienced what I consider to be coercive and intimidating demands for money. I was repeatedly pressured to give money, and the Masai leading the visit asked me to give more and more. In total, approximately $70 was obtained from me, but I had to say no to more money on various occasions. The situation was particularly distressing because an inappropriate comment was also made concerning my daughters. I found the whole experience intimidating and completely unacceptable.

What makes this even more concerning is TourCompass’s response. Rather than properly acknowledging the seriousness of what happened, they have stated that the individual was an “outside person” who had entered the village. I find this explanation difficult to understand and why an outsider would lead the tour of the village. If he genuinely had no connection with the excursion, why was he allowed to accompany us, guide us through the village and interact with TourCompass customers in the first place?

I have asked TourCompass to provide evidence supporting their claim that he was completely unrelated to the organised excursion, but I do not feel that they have properly addressed the substance of my concerns.

I am particularly disappointed that TourCompass has treated this simply as an unfortunate incident involving an outsider, rather than properly addressing whether an incident involving coercive demands for money during an excursion included in the package raises responsibilities for the package organiser and the potential legm implications this might have.

I appreciate that problems can occasionally happen on holidays. What has been most disappointing, however, is how TourCompass dealt with the problems afterwards. I expected the company to take the concerns seriously, investigate properly and provide a meaningful response. Instead, I feel that the most serious incident has effectively been dismissed. They local company took me back to the Masai village so that they could return 30 dollars, which made it very uncomfortable as I was pressurised to say that I was happy with this resolution, when in fact I felt intimated, shaken and upset by the experience. As I solo woman traveller with two young teenager daughters, felt rather unsafe. This knocked my confidence in being out of the hotel alone with my girls for the rest of the holidays. It’s a shame, as this could have been a great holiday.

The tour they presented online, seemed just the trip I wanted to make. They sent me and offer, and I had to pay 8000kr upfront, witch was not retrievable. This was a reservation I made in May for traveling in November. The price they gave me was pretty steep! I know no that the hole trip could have been half the price. They advertised the trip later for 20000 less. I confronted them with that, and got no answer. It made me feel cheated. A lot of other incomplete answers as well. Too much to write!
Everything is cheap in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The guides told me that the amount of touristed are not very high, so the competition among the hotels and guides are though, hence possible to achieve lower prices for tour companies.
I was lucky, I had the tour for myself, no-one else was booked on this tour, a little strange I thought.
I traveled alone as a woman, and I had to go through a lot of extra discussions to get the room category I had paid for, at each hotel, except for mye hotel in Hue.
What helped a bit for TourCompass, was the guides! They were helpful and exceptional. Except for the guide in Hanoi, wast of time, no information.
The cruise boat in Halong Bay, was not the bout I had booked in my itinerary, this I discovered when I was there, no information.
On my flight from Hanoi to Dubai, I almost missed the flight, because the transfer time was too tight. No information from TourCompass that i only could to check in luggage from Danang to Hanoi.The flight was also delayed to Hanoi. I called TourCompass at the airport, they were not willing to help. It is enough time they said. Yes, if my luggage had been sendt all the way to my final destination! I almost made it, with 2 minutes margin. Next flight in 24 hours. Also I had a reservation number, not visible before, at Emirates. When I called them with my reservation number, they could not fint my reservation. stress added. I paid money for the call to Tour Compass, they have not refunded the amount.
All and all, TourCompass as tour operator, I found not trustworthy. The guides and staff at the hotels very helpful and kind.
The cruise and also and expensive exclusion was not at all as they described it. Expensive journey, because I unfortunately excepted the amount that was presented to me, with no return!
Due to my experience with TourCompass, I would have canceled beforehand it it had been an option.
After I returned home, I have send them sms conversations I had with the local tour operator, no answer

I am very disappointed with TourCompas services. I bought a safari package in Tanzania and 6 days in Zanzibar. If it were possible, I would give them minus stars. Below I leave you a few words about my experience.
I’ am very disappointed with the tourist package you sold me. I knew that things would go badly from the moment you changed the hotel I had already paid for (Ocean Paradise). And not only did you come up with a cheap excuse - there are no more rooms available at Ocean Paradise - but the first offer you made me was miserable. I didn't want to comment too much, I was preparing for vacation and I didn't want to induce negative thoughts. So the hotel in Karatu, Tanzania, which you sell as 4*, is 2*. The restaurant of the hotel 2* . I had an understanding for them because the conditions there do not allow them a cleaning service like in Europe. I really appreciated their work and effort to make us feel good. But why are you selling services that you cannot provide? Your package description was in Norwegian for me. Of course, I translated everything into English, but I had a small error in understanding how much the safari guide's tip is. I mistakenly understood that it is 10 dollars for all 6 days of safari. (I was actually thinking to myself that it is a bit little , but anyway it is a tip and since tips are not mandatory, I thought that your suggestion of 10 dollars is really welcome). When the safari week ended and your guide took us to the airport, together with the other 5 safari colleagues we thanked the guide for his services and one by one we started tipping him. When it was my turn, I handed him $10. The guide with an unimaginable toupee pushed my money back telling me to keep it for myself to buy chocolate. The other tourists told me that I misunderstood and that it is $10 per day. At the moment I was PARALYZED by the words of the guide. But because I'm an educated person, I restrained myself, apologized to the guide (I APOLOGIZED TO HIM!!!!😂 AT LEAST FIVE TIMES) and gave him $60 as written in your recommendation . Do you think it was right for the guide to offend me in this way? What kind of people do you collaborate with in Tanzania? Do you ever test them? Why was he so upset that he didn't get the tip you promised? Is tipping mandatory in Tanzania? If so, why don't you write in the package offer? Let me also tell you that the hotel in Zanzibar, Sultan Sands, is hardly, hardly 4* and the restaurant miserable. All restaurant employees don't move a finger if you don't tip them FIRST . I had all inclusive and when I was at breakfast, lunch, dinner and asked for a water at the table, the waiters didn't want to bring me water because I don't have water included. I told them to bring me water because I want to pay for it at the reception (that's the rule there: what you order extra to the all inclusive menu you can find the payment note at the reception). I received the water, but I didn't find any payment note for the water at the reception. Conclusion: the waiters lied to get me to tip them. Dear tourist company, you don't know anything about me, but I am an educated person and I know a little more than the average population about public services and tourism. The tip is a sum of money, most often, that you receive for a service that you provided impeccably, in a particularly pleasant way, above the standards. So please tell the people at the hotel restaurant to stop harassing tourists for tips. That's how I felt, harassed. And at the bar on the beach when at 10 o'clock in the morning I asked them for drinks from the all-inclusive menu and they didn't have anything. NOTHING. Maybe you think I'm a stingy person and I don't like to leave tips. Then ask the people at the hotel reception how much I tipped them, ask the SPA and manicure girls. My dears, your services are far below the level of your advertisement and the price I paid. I am very disappointed with you (I know you don't care) and I was really wondering who will rate you in Trustpilot with 5 stars? Me in no case.

PS: the only good thing in the package bought from you was the organization of the safari. But I think it is more the merit of your partner Zara.

From 14-29.02.2020 I visited Costa Rica through Lamatours.no (Tom Søndergaard). I had a very bad experience with them. Its not to be trusted and reliable agency.
1. Lamatours.no is using not reliable local agency. In Costa Rica the local egency was Ecole Travel Their emergency phone was not answering I tried to get in-touch with them without any results many times through WhatsApp. So they knew my phone but never rang me back.
2. Manipulations with hotels.
a. I was proposed nice hotels in Costa Rica (by Tom) before I booked a trip and payed non refundable sum,
b. I payed non refundable sum.
c. All hotels were changed after I payed non refundable sum. For the same class as Tom said. Maybe they had same amount of stars but they were having much lower rating in Trip Adviser. You can ask for better hotels but all better hotels are going to be of cause all luxury and are more expensive. So the price for your trip grows.
3. Badly organised excursion. We were changing boat to the bus on the way from Tortoguero to La Fortuna. We dragged our luggage by ourselves up a steep, muddy, slippery slope. I still have pains in my arm. Then we waited for the bus standing under heavy tropical rain. Other agencies were using local people who carried tourist’s luggage in the trucks to the already waiting busses.
4. Lamatours.no is not paying any attention to your wishes. I asked for a beach hotel with 0 m to the beach, snorkeling, safe sea. I got a road hotel (Costa Verde), 40 minutes down steep slope to the sea (6 min by bus up the hill), surfing, rip currents. The agency never told me the truth about the hotel location and unfriendly environment around it. Whats more they gave me false assurance about my accomodation in the hotel which according to the hotel policy could not be carried out. There are plenty of hotels situated on the beach, some of them door to door with National Park where I had to go each day by taxi both ways.You really can't use bus because then some part of the way you have to walk under sun, wait for the bus on the bus stop without shadow perhaps for 30 min. I am absolutely sure that Tom didn't have such experience
I am tremendously disappointed by the agency.The public beach is dirty, there are no toilets for free
I am really travelling a lot and first time i ran into such awful service, hopefully for the last

To Our friends in Asiatours and Buffalotours.

Our Holidays i Cambodia were a very good experience, particularly in Seam Reap and Battambang area. Our guide, Mr Sokly Phok and our driver Mr Smey, from Buffalotours, give us excellent service. Sokly Phok was full of interesting information about the different places we visited and Smey drive us reasonable and carefully around. We are very pleased how they did their job for us. It was a pleasure for us to have them representing your companies, and we will recommend them as strong as we can for other tourists travelling with you.
Best regards
May Elisabeth Gjelstad and Tom Amundsen

The trip was a dream. The package offered by Afrikasafari was fully delivered. All expectations were met. The Safari tour followed by the 6 days in a resort in Zanzibar was well complemented. Things to improve: ensure all safari drivers have knowledge and can tell the group about what is happening! our driver either didnt know much or was too quite. We got to know that other drivers were extremely talkative and this makes the tour even more interesting and fun. The lunch boxes were good at the beginning and turned bad at the end. Thanks!

Great trip! We have seen a lot of amazing things during our travel. Highlights: "Gyldne pagode og Huazang Si" in Emeishan, the monestary where we spend two nights, the lunch at a local family, the waterfights in Huanglongxi, the panda centre in Chendu, the "Jiuzhaigou nasjonalpark" and Mu Ni Gou near Songpan, and of course the great wall, forbidden city and temple of heaven in Beijing.

Our guides in Congqing, Chendu and Bejing were amazing.
Our suitcases did not arrive with us at the airport of Congqing. We reported this and gave them the hotel name and address where we were supposed to stay. In the arrival hall we met the guide, and she told us we were actually going to stay in a different hotel. But then she made sure that our suitcases were delivered there, instead of the hotel we registered earlier. Note: the reason our suitcases did not arrive with us, was because the transfer time at Guangzhou airport was less than 2 hours. Second comment: having a full day schedule directly after arrival is tough.

The guide in Leshan/Chendu was really good and friendly. She really made an effort to give us a good time and we had some wonderful meals with here. We fell in love the with the Sichuan cuisine :)

The guide in Songpan was a big disappointment. The paperworks say that he would come and pick us up at the busstation of Songpan. Instead, when we arrived we were jumped on by locals with hotel flyers, and who did not speak English. Because of this we almost forgot our suitcases that were still in the bus. We tried calling the guide, and he did not pick up. Then an old man came to us holding a cellphone and it turned out to be the guide. He told us to follow that man, and join him in his riksha. In the riksha, we could not take the suitcases with us. So we had to leave those unattended, and he would pick them up later. We were not comfortable with this arrangement.
We switched the two tours Mu Ni Gou and Jiuzhaigou nasjonalpark because of the weather. When we went to the Jiuzhaigou nasjonalpark the guide gave us two options to enter the park: with our without him. We said "with" and after that he was just complaining that he really didn't want to, and that he thought it was boring, because he had already seen it so many times. Also while we were there, he did not explain anything about the things we were seeing. In the busses in the park, there was a video during which a lot was explained, but he could not reproduce. Also the lunch there was horrible - he just booked the cheapest buffet option available (we saw that on the receipt), while we asked for the medium priced one (and he said he actually booked that). Also if we asked what the different foods were, he acted annoyed, probably because he just did not realize that we can't read the signs.
Next day was rain, so we postponed the Mu Ni Gou trip to the day after. This meant we had to spend the entire day in Songpan doing nothing. You're done exploring this village in 2-3 hours time, which we already did on the day of arrival there. The guide also said he would not join us on that trip, because he was very very ill. He had to go to the hospital, because he had a blister......
So, the chauffeur (who did not speak english) brought us to Mu Ni Gou and we were left wandering around on our own. After our visit there, we left for the airport. Ad quite frankly we were relieved to leave this place.
Over the course of these three days, the guide only said that the tibetan culture in this part of China is very important. But he never explained us more about that culture than just that. Furthermore, he only spoke to my husband. Even if I asked a question, he would give the answer to my husband. We experienced this guide as very rude and unmotivated. We actually had the impression that he was not an official guide. We just happened to stay in his hotel, and he is maybe one of the few people there that speaks English. He also had to pay normal entrance fees for himself and did not have a badge.
Note: the stay in Songpan is too long. We would rather have spend an extra day in Beijing or Chendu, instead of doing nothing for a whole day in Songpan. The nature in the parks around Songpan is amazing, but there is not enough to do in town.

In Beijing, we again had an excellent guide.
Only glitch, was that the driver who was picking us up at the airport was waiting for us at the wrong exit. So, we had to call our contact person in Beijing to fix this.
The guide in Beijing was very enthusiastic and was very eager to give us a good time. She explained a lot about the different places we visited. Thumbs up!

So, overall we have had a really exciting and interesting holiday. And we are very happy that we have had the opportunity to visit China and see both the cities and the countryside. We will definitely recommend this trip, except for the Songpan-part of the trip.