Contiki Reviews 143

I don't know what these bad reviews are from, I've just been on the Grand Southern in the USA the first since COVID and it was excellent. Incredible trip with passionate guides, a great atmosphere and itinerary, I have made some amazing friends, met amazing people and grown so much as a person.

Some things to note are that they are expensive! I spent way more money than I was expecting, they're quite pricey to begin with so I thought that it would cut the cost with some included meals and activities however the majority of the "optionals" are not included. This is fine as hey it was well worth it, activities like a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is something that will stay with me forever. You do also have to tip the guides or are expected to like all other services in the US, so it can be unexpectedly expensive but even with this in mind it was 110% worth it the most fun I have ever had abroad.

Booked a trip while they had to cancel the trip due to Corona. I was promised a full refund in the general terms and conditions for a case like that.

It took me over 3 months which only got me a voucher out of it. After I threaten to involve my credit card company and / or a lawyer i eventually got a partial refund.

At this point I was sick and tired and contact my credit card company and received a full refund.

I've travelled with them with well over 20 trips and for myself and my friends they have destroyed their brand during Corona.

I was a loyal customer of Contiki for many years, but recently am disgusted with their customer service after booking me onto a trip and reserving my spot, then cancelling my spot as I hadn't paid despite calling them countless times all week. Told me they had tried calling me only to have received 0 missed calls or contact, emails ignored, etc. nobody seemed interested in booking me onto the trip and it's their loss entirely

Criminals.
Received a call and voicemail from someone at Contiki .

The voicemail stated that I had previously booked a trip to Croatia with Contiki and would I be interested in a new trip departing in August.

This is a criminal offence to have received this call under the GDPR laws passed in May 2019. I did NOT consent for Contiki to hold my details for this purpose. I did NOT consent to receive marketing or sales calls.

I am deeply disappointed in Contiki and am seriously considering cancelling my upcoming trip to New Zealand with them as I am appalled to have been treated in this way.

I am sharing my poor experience with others on TrustPilot and Facebook so that other users can understand this is what Contiki practice.

They also insist on retaining a £60 deposit regardless of whether a trip was cancelled at your fault or not, which is outrageous considering I’ve paid for something and have not received it.

I gave one star as you can't continue but i would not have given them one star. DO NOT book anything with this company. I booked a surf and yoga event in Devon which was advertised as a 3 day event, however i was told to arrive on the Friday at 4pm.. which means it was only Sat and Sun til 3pm. They also said that no one would share a tent due to Covid rules BUT 2 women were told to share. I complained to the rep Emma McMahon who assured me i would get a refund so i left just after arriving.. since then i have received emails retracting the refund so i now did not have my holiday and they are keeping nearly £500 of my money. Avoid these people like the plague

I had an amazing first trip with them pre-COVID. I was so excited to take another trip with them, that I did so as soon as vaccines were being issued. Unfortunately, they decided to “postpone” the trip and instead of issuing a refund, they gave me future credit. At this point, I don’t think I will ever take another trip with them. It was them who decided to continue booking trips, why should I be punished for their actions.

My daughters trip was just canceled (by Contiki) and Contiki is telling her that they won’t refund her money.
This was a once in a lifetime trip for her and her friend. They won’t be able to go anytime soon.
This is terrible, a public relation nightmare and it’s crazy to me that they wouldn’t refund their customers money when the company cancels the trip.

Shame on you Contiki.
You don’t deserve to stay in business with this type of customer service.

They are currently holding my money hostage for a trip I booked in June of 2018 that was to begin March 31 2019. 10 days before it was supposed to begin they cancelled due to coronavirus but said they wont even give a partial refund if you rebook a trip that is less expensive. Extremely disappointing.

I requested a refund due to trips being cancelled. The full trip amount was initially transferred to a Travel Fund however I wanted a cash refund. Once I raised this with Contiki, they were super helpful and organised a refund to my bank account without any drama.

You cancelled the trip- no I can’t go next year! Your contract says if you cancel you will refund- but you are refusing to refund! Seriously! Lying thieves.

I have maybe written 2 reviews for anything in my life, and if I could give this company 0 stars I would. I purchased insurance for my honeymoon which was cancelled due to COVID-19 in May. They require you to reschedule rather than giving your money back, which we did. However I still do not feel safe going. I also have been furloughed, which ironically insurance doesn't cover pandemic OR furloughs. I will never be traveling with Contiki again and would seriously consider travel with any other company. Terrible customer service and business model by keeping your money and demanding you reschedule years in advance.

This company is completely unreliable. they do not honor their booking conditions. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
They cancelled a trip and did not want to give a refund for a trip THEY cancelled. Completely unreasonable options. They do not care about their customers.

Thieves. Contiki promised me a refund in accordance with their policy. They issued cancellation invoices for a full refund, however they only refunded me partially. I have been contacting them for 3 months to no avail, they keep promising to refund me the rest of the amount but do not transfer to money into my bank account. This company lies and exploits young people, many of whom are students like myself. Do not travel with this company, you’re better off with one of their competitors such as G-adventures, who have not stolen their customers’ money during the Covid pandemic. Contiki’s tour “managers” (really guides) do not have work visas for the countries they are working in. Contiki’s parent company has faced charges for tax evasion in the past. I wonder, has Contiki paid tax on the money they stole from me? They are definitely involved in some dodgy business practices and I hope they are investigated by the IRS this year.

Our trip was cancelled due to COVID-19 and despite the policy position taken by Contiki to issue credits or rebook trips rather than to refund the monies paid, Contiki was sympathetic to our situation and allowed us to submit a request for refund based on our circumstances and valid case for a refund.

We really appreciate how Contiki has acted with transparency, empathy and understanding towards our situation. Contiki has been a stand out in how it has dealt with us as customers throughout the booking process and in response to the impacts of COVID-19. We have felt like our concerns and questions have been answered with clarity and respect and this is something we highly value from Contiki.

Other companies that we have dealt with in the midst of COVID-19 that we had other bookings with (i.e. STA Travel) have treated us with misleading and vague information and refused to respond to valid questions or escalate reasonable requests, which in turn caused a great deal of stress and concern.

We are so impressed with Contiki's values as a company and commend how Contiki has continued to put customers first and act with integrity despite the significant challenges that the travel industry is currently experiencing.

When we do have the opportunity to travel again, Contiki will be our first choice as our experience with the company has been positive and forthright.

Wish I could give 0 stars to these thieves. Won’t honour their cancellation policy after telling me they would. Took 3500 dollars months before my trip and refuse to give it back.

Contiki is not honoring the booking contract, stating that they provide a full refund in the event of an epidemic. I would not recommend this company. I am losing $1,700 because a voucher is of no use to me. Please don't book with them.

Contiki was recommended to me by a couple of friends who had previously completed an Australian tour with them and felt it was one of the best experiences of their lives! I was extremely excited to depart of my tour with them this year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 my tour had to be cancelled by Contiki. This information was communicated to me ASAP and Emilia was great in her speedy responses and support. I will definitely be travelling with Contiki in the future when it is safe to do so. I am extremely pleased with the service! Thank you team Contiki!

Scammed after following Contiki's recommendation to get travel insurance with World Nomads. World Nomads turned out to be a scam insurance company as they do not reply to emails and claim that they never received and emails for documentation that they asked in order to commence the claim. They just keep asking for the email and documents and you have no choice but to keep sending them the same things until probably you just give up.

As a Contiki user, shame on you Contiki.
And avoid World Nomads at all costs.

Contiki has thee worst costumer service I ever dealt with. They cancelled our tour after taking our full payment. It cost lots of extra money to rearrange my flights to do a different tour. No formal apology, compensation or voucher were given to retain our loyal business. They refunded the trip but it still cost extra money for this inconvenience. There are other tour company's who's policy is to still run the tour no matter the situation. It doesn't feel like they care or value their customers.

Horrible customer service. Everyone is polite and nice on the phone, yes, but they make no effort at all to compensate their customers when CONTIKI is the one who has to cancel.

They cancelled my tour and supposedly it was "made very clear" that all tour dates aren't definite. I have a copy of the invoice and receipt I was sent and no where on the email does it say that the tour dates are not definite.

Tried to call customer service to get my deposit back and was put on hold for 15+ minutes. I'm also abroad right now so this call used all my international minutes...so I ended up paying over 20 euro for a call and I wasn't even assisted!

These tours are not cheap. I have been saving and rearranged my entire work/school schedule to go on this tour. I get that things happen and sometimes things need to be cancelled but the least Contiki could do would be to give their customers a credit towards a future tour as an apology for the MAJOR inconvenience.

I now have to change my schedule and am out $300+ to change my flight.

I have held many jobs in customer service before and none of the companies I have worked for would ever treat a customer like this. Horrible experience and I will not be recommending this service to anyone.