Super Long Complaint Letter (st Forum)

[MaCe 3]

Dec 13, 2007

Clueless tour guide left us to fend for ourselves in Taiwan

ON DEC 3, I went on a tour to Taiwan. I booked the tour from one of the biggest and reputable travel agencies in Singapore, Chan Brothers. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst tour packages I had ever been on.

On the first day of our arrival in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, our Taiwanese tour guide arrived late. When we queried him, he became defensive and insisted that he was already at the arrival gate waiting for us, and was even holding a sign to indicate that he was from Chan Brothers agency. However, we did not recall seeing him at all.

Following that bad start, things became worse. The tour guide did not know much about the tourist spots we visited. He spent most of the time telling us his life story, how many girlfriends he had, ghostly incidents he had encountered, etc. That was how we know that he was a chicken seller and only did a favour for a friend when he came to lead our group.

He also did not brief us on what to look out for at these tourist spots. The worst was when we went to visit a cultural village in Taichung. He gave us a map, and left us on our own. We were excited to visit some of the tribal attractions there. Unfortunately, we figured out how to get to the tribal attractions only 15 minutes before our time was up. We did not know that we could take a cable car to reach the tribal attractions. Another family in our group did not know too. They had to walk to these attractions, and it was a 15- to 20-minute walk to and fro.

The tour guide was also aggressive. Very often, when we had some questions about the attractions we visited, he would brush us off with some insignificant remarks. A classic example was when we visited the museum in Taupe. One of my group members asked him about an artifact on display. He told her to read the signed, and if she still did not understand, to just use her imagination. Later on, my group member overheard him telling the driver sarcastically that if he knew everything in this world, he would not be there as a tour guide.

Furthermore, whenever he had to lead us to our destination, he would walk quickly in front, and not turn around to check if we were following him. Many a time, we had to walk briskly to catch up with him. And that was not easy, considering that my friend's 80-year-old father was travelling with us.

There were two very unpleasant incidents. The first happened at the cultural village we were visiting. My friend, her father and her niece were the last to alight from the bus. Before they could do so, the bus driver drove off to the carport, with the three of them still inside. The tour guide and the driver did not even bother to check or take a head count to ensure that the group had alighted.

Then at the Fanjet night market in Taiwan, my friend and her 84-year-old father were stuck at a traffic light. The rest of the group had already crossed over, and our tour guide did not even bother to turn around and check if everyone was with him. He carried on walking quickly. I had to chase and shout at him before he bothered to turn back and wait for my friend and her father.

Another time was when he brought us to Cementing in Taupe. He dropped us there and told us that he was going off to meet his girlfriend. He did not even bother to introduce or show us a little more about Cementing.

That was not all. He, a local Taiwanese tour guide, actually became lost among the streets in Taiwan. He led us around in circles and was asking passes-by for directions. Once, he became lost while leading us at night. We were trying to find our way along narrow, dimly lit streets with motorcycles zipping quickly by. We were scared out of our wits.

To top it all off, the tour guide did not take care of our luggage and did not know details of our stay at the hotel.

A classic example happened on the last day of our tour. First, he did not inform us that we had to check out from the hotel at noon. He merely told us to be at the lobby by 3pm. As a result, most of us were out doing last-minute shopping. The hotel staff started calling our rooms and hurried us to check out on time. A family in our group was even locked out of their rooms as they had returned only at about 2pm to the hotel.

When we told the tour guide what had happened, again he became defensive, and scolded the hotel staff at the lobby. He blamed them for not informing him, and told us that we should have just ignored the hotel staff and listened to his instructions instead.

That was not all. The tour guide did not inform us about checking-in procedures at the airport on our departure day. He told us that we could check in on our own. But to our surprise, when we tried doing so, the counter staff informed us that the travel agency had already confirmed our seats as a group. Thus, we could not check in individually. We ended up scampering around to collect our boarding pass and to ensure that we were checking in at the right counter. The tour guide was not with us. He just dropped us off at the entrance and left us to fend for ourselves.

In my years of travelling, this was the worst tour guide I ever had.

What is Notes doing to ensure that the tour packages sold in Singapore are of certain standards and quality?

To King View (MS)

[Air 0]

What is Notes doing to ensure that the tour packages sold in Singapore are of certain standards and quality?

To King View (MS)

What is Notes?!?!

[MaCe 3]

What is Notes?!?!

[raincole 0]

Not notes, it is NATAS. Then it make sense right.

Edited December 13, 2007 by raincole

[gumbokins 5]

notes. heh. must be spellcheck gone wrong.

nvr been to taiwan before, but what/where is "Cementing in Taupe"?

i hv a love/hate r/s with tour guides...usually becoz they talk too much.

[MaCe 3]

notes. heh. must be spellcheck gone wrong.

nvr been to taiwan before, but what/where is "Cementing in Taupe"?

i hv a love/hate r/s with tour guides...usually becoz they talk too much.

the writer's angmoh too bestest....

cementing.... should be 西门町

[JS21 0]

In my recent trip to Taiwan, there were only 2 of us, my husband and I in the tour group. The good thing is no waiting time for others. The bad thing is because there're only the 3 of us, inclusive of the guide, we did not have nice restaurant meals as our tour guide has difficulties catering to only 3 people. Also, we had to entertain him and listen to his stories and boasting about how great the Taiwanese are, with many great inventions....blah blah blah

[cherlyn 0]

Dec 13, 2007

Clueless tour guide left us to fend for ourselves in Taiwan

ON DEC 3, I went on a tour to Taiwan. I booked the tour from one of the biggest and reputable travel agencies in Singapore, Chan Brothers. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst tour packages I had ever been on.

On the first day of our arrival in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, our Taiwanese tour guide arrived late. When we queried him, he became defensive and insisted that he was already at the arrival gate waiting for us, and was even holding a sign to indicate that he was from Chan Brothers agency. However, we did not recall seeing him at all.

Following that bad start, things became worse. The tour guide did not know much about the tourist spots we visited. He spent most of the time telling us his life story, how many girlfriends he had, ghostly incidents he had encountered, etc. That was how we know that he was a chicken seller and only did a favour for a friend when he came to lead our group.

He also did not brief us on what to look out for at these tourist spots. The worst was when we went to visit a cultural village in Taichung. He gave us a map, and left us on our own. We were excited to visit some of the tribal attractions there. Unfortunately, we figured out how to get to the tribal attractions only 15 minutes before our time was up. We did not know that we could take a cable car to reach the tribal attractions. Another family in our group did not know too. They had to walk to these attractions, and it was a 15- to 20-minute walk to and fro.

The tour guide was also aggressive. Very often, when we had some questions about the attractions we visited, he would brush us off with some insignificant remarks. A classic example was when we visited the museum in Taupe. One of my group members asked him about an artifact on display. He told her to read the signed, and if she still did not understand, to just use her imagination. Later on, my group member overheard him telling the driver sarcastically that if he knew everything in this world, he would not be there as a tour guide.

Furthermore, whenever he had to lead us to our destination, he would walk quickly in front, and not turn around to check if we were following him. Many a time, we had to walk briskly to catch up with him. And that was not easy, considering that my friend's 80-year-old father was travelling with us.

There were two very unpleasant incidents. The first happened at the cultural village we were visiting. My friend, her father and her niece were the last to alight from the bus. Before they could do so, the bus driver drove off to the carport, with the three of them still inside. The tour guide and the driver did not even bother to check or take a head count to ensure that the group had alighted.

Then at the Fanjet night market in Taiwan, my friend and her 84-year-old father were stuck at a traffic light. The rest of the group had already crossed over, and our tour guide did not even bother to turn around and check if everyone was with him. He carried on walking quickly. I had to chase and shout at him before he bothered to turn back and wait for my friend and her father.

Another time was when he brought us to Cementing in Taupe. He dropped us there and told us that he was going off to meet his girlfriend. He did not even bother to introduce or show us a little more about Cementing.

That was not all. He, a local Taiwanese tour guide, actually became lost among the streets in Taiwan. He led us around in circles and was asking passes-by for directions. Once, he became lost while leading us at night. We were trying to find our way along narrow, dimly lit streets with motorcycles zipping quickly by. We were scared out of our wits.

To top it all off, the tour guide did not take care of our luggage and did not know details of our stay at the hotel.

A classic example happened on the last day of our tour. First, he did not inform us that we had to check out from the hotel at noon. He merely told us to be at the lobby by 3pm. As a result, most of us were out doing last-minute shopping. The hotel staff started calling our rooms and hurried us to check out on time. A family in our group was even locked out of their rooms as they had returned only at about 2pm to the hotel.

When we told the tour guide what had happened, again he became defensive, and scolded the hotel staff at the lobby. He blamed them for not informing him, and told us that we should have just ignored the hotel staff and listened to his instructions instead.

That was not all. The tour guide did not inform us about checking-in procedures at the airport on our departure day. He told us that we could check in on our own. But to our surprise, when we tried doing so, the counter staff informed us that the travel agency had already confirmed our seats as a group. Thus, we could not check in individually. We ended up scampering around to collect our boarding pass and to ensure that we were checking in at the right counter. The tour guide was not with us. He just dropped us off at the entrance and left us to fend for ourselves.

In my years of travelling, this was the worst tour guide I ever had.

What is Notes doing to ensure that the tour packages sold in Singapore are of certain standards and quality?

To King View (MS)

MaCe, did u make a complaint with Chan Bros then? whats their reply and response?

[MaCe 3]

MaCe, did u make a complaint with Chan Bros then? whats their reply and response?

not me lah......if it's me, you will see the tour guide writing a complaint letter instead.

why this singapore tourist kick my *** huh?

[Air 0]

the writer's angmoh too bestest....

cementing.... should be 西门町

haha...ya he neber double spelling before sending hor

And some more, the writer's name is Miss To King View?!?! oh....sorry, cannot lubb at ppl's name

Initially I thought the writer referring to clementi...then i realised cannot be clementi becos it's taiwan

Edited December 13, 2007 by Air

[raincole 0]

Air, u so funny. But hor, singapore has little india, maybe got little taiwan somewhere too.

Edited December 13, 2007 by raincole

[MaCe 3]

haha...ya he neber double spelling before sending hor

And some more, the writer's name is Miss To King View?!?! oh....sorry, cannot lubb at ppl's name

Initially I thought the writer referring to clementi...then i realised cannot be clementi becos it's taiwan

sounds malaysian, Toh, To, Took = 杜

[Air 0]

sounds malaysian, Toh, To, Took = 杜

OK.....sounds logical....but KING?!? and VIEW?!?!

[MaCe 3]

OK.....sounds logical....but KING?!? and VIEW?!?!

King = kim = 金

view = dunno liao...use your imagination...a lady name ...hmmm

[Air 0]

King = kim = 金

view = dunno liao...use your imagination...a lady name ...hmmm

Muahahaha.....thank you Mace.....i jus curious...

"To" seems like from malaysia, "king" seems like from hong kong, "View" (?!?!) seems like from outer space....I so bad....but couldn't resist... :P