Good and bad experience with Gns Leisure tour. Review on GnS Leisure Travels, Cochin

Good things first:

1. Their representative was waiting for us in the airport to give us final instructions and see us off.

2. The hotel rooms that had been booked were decent in Singapore as well as Malaysia.

3. There were drivers waiting for us at Singapore airport as well as Bus stand in Malaysia on arrival. We did not have to wait, and did not have difficulty in finding them.

4. Timely pick-ups had been arranged to go to different places.

5. The drivers were helpful and gave us tickets and instructions to go around in different places.

6. Breakfasts at hotels (included with hotel stays) were good.

Bad things:

1. The main issue was lack of communication at the time of booking and until departure.

2. The operator said the tour was all inclusive, including accommodation, food and entry tickets. (We had been looking for such an operator and this is why we went with GnS even though there had been other tour operators who were cheaper).

3. They advertised a 7 day trip and emailed me a PDF brochure for the same. But the brochure had further conditions and we noticed that lunch was not included like how we were told in the telephonic conversation. The brochure said it was an opportunity given to us to taste the local food. Then when we asked about it, the operator said that it's because we reach at an odd time and we would be having a brunch (breakfast+lunch) instead and didn't mention about the remaining days. Many things in the brochure were optional which meant we had to go on our own if we wish and there was not enough time though.

4. I had called them up initially on April 2nd and they said there was a team leaving on April 24th, 2013 (actually 25th early morning). So I gave advance quickly and booked (4 pax.) for it. They said they would come and collect passport and photos etc. for Visa application the following day and no one turned up. We called them up the next week and the response was that they would come soon, still no one turned up. They collected the documents very late so that it became a high risk that we would be left without Visas but booked air tickets which couldn't be rescheduled/cancelled leaving us in a tensed situation for several days.

5. Two weeks before departure, I got a call asking if they could cancel A'Famosa (a resort in Malaysia which was included in the tour for 1 day) and refund 80 USD. The reason they said was that the previous team who went for the same tour reported that A'Famosa was very boring. I said I'll discuss with family and let them know. I googled and found that A'Famosa was interesting. So I discussed with others and called them back immediately and told them we needed it included in the trip and it shall not be cancelled. Just a few days before departure, they called up again and said that A'Famosa was cancelled because of the same reason. When we insisted that it should be included, they said that there was no flight ticket available on the intended day of return (30th April), so I'll have to pay for one extra night stay in Malaysia. We were willing to give it but still they cancelled giving us no option.

6. They said other members in our team were not willing to go to A'Famosa. Incidentally the only other members of the team were a friend of mine and his family. When I came to know about it, I called him up and he said they had never said so. They had told him that we weren't interested in going to A'Famosa. They were trying to trick both of us by falsely quoting each other. It seems this is a common trick played by all tour operators to cut many items from the advertised itinerary. My mother has similar experience in her trip to Kashmir recently with Riya Tours.

7. There were no other communication from their side. They had said our whole team would have a class about the tour. When we called 3 days before the tour, they said they would call us. We were not told the team is only a few members and hence there wouldn't be a guide with us and dinner also would be cut from our package. And there was no meeting or class.

8. There were a lot of uncertainty and we were forced to take an extra leave from work and visit their office to figure out the situation. I called my friend also with us so that they can't play tic-tac tricks any more. When we visited their office, there was no one authorised to give us proper answers.

We were there in their office from morning after struggling through heavy traffic. They offered coffee initially but the person who went for it came back saying it was not available. They kept us waiting in their office till 3pm without lunch or even a glass of water. Then we had to dash in to the Manager's office to get things moving.

There was a manager who was himself new (he said it was his 10th day since joining GnS) who was blaming their operators that they were newer (1 or 2 days since joining GnS) and had no good idea about things which is why this confusion. And the older operators were blaming the manager saying that he doesn't know anything because he was new. The owner who was the sole authorised person was on a tour to US. They called up the owner and she refused to talk to us and gave instructions to the staff to set the tour as per their new itinerary irrespective of what was advertised to us initially.

When we said we wish to cancel if they are not giving us what we were promised, they said they wouldn't refund any of the more than half of total advance paid. They treated us like cattle. They had our money and they steered us in their way. They did nothing to compensate their own mistakes which all of them admitted themselves.

Once we are committed and they have our advance money (which is significant enough to be not discarded), they play all tricks to cut the itinerary. For example, they said it is not worth going to Jurong bird park because people who have gone there before said that artificial birds where hung there. But we found out ourselves that it was a really good place not to be missed. All birds were very real and alive. The bird show was magnificent. We went there on our own because they refused to include it even if we paid for it.

That was a really bad experience booking and going for our first conducted tour. So bad that we decided to never go with any tour operator any more. Most things can be booked online and if needed take the help of local tour operators in the region. It may cost more or less, but anyway we have peace of mind and control on where we are going and what we will do.

Anyways the tour was good, no one had any illness and we enjoyed even though time was really constrained and we could not go to many places that were on their original brochure.

These tour operators capitalise on our attitude that we keep mum after the enjoyment and tiring of the tour that they treat us like this despite the worst customer service they deliver.

Hope this help someone deciding on going on a tour with GnS or other tour operators in general.