Critique of service

Germany | May 15 - Jun 8, 2022

Once, after months of mild discussion, I was tossed to an employee, Zala, things improved greatly, but the couple who own this agency don't speak English well enough to adequately communicate with Americans or British. There is a lack of cross-cultural awareness. Even though working with English as a Second Language folk is a part of my profession, I struggled. Their concept of service may be great for the eastern world but does not reach the expectations of the west. That's great for the folks in the east but it left me highly frustrated. I have worked with two Kim Kim people in Great Britain and a guy in Greece with whom I spent hours and days planning a trip that COVID canceled. He got up in the middle of the night so that he could communicate with me during my daytime. That was over wifi. These folks let me know from day one that they worked M - F, 8 - 5, their time, and that was when I could contact them. We spent loads of extra time on emails that could have been prevented with a brief verbal conversation. While I was not startled at the final bill, I was disturbed when, for example, in Istanbul, they charged $300 a piece for PCR tests when the hotel would have provided them for $120 with results while we waited. The next day we still had no results. They were sent by Whatsapp. No one told me I needed that app and neither I nor my children had it. When the hotel called the agency Tomaz could not communicate in English or other languages attempted. They missed some things that created drama for us, like needing to pay for a visa to enter Turkey and that that had to be done in dollars. A similar thing occurred in France. My kids had to go out on the street and find COVID tests that Zala had said they would not need. They were asked for them when they left France but not when we entered Germany. They had to be tested in every city. Had they been additionally boosted prior to leaving the states (which I had suggested) we could have prevented that. We were scalped on exchange rates at customs to change our lira into dollars for the visa in Istanbul. They told me I did not need a COVID test to enter Turkey but I did. Fortunately, I had gotten one just in case. I paid $25 for it. Obviously, problems happened on weekends and they made it very difficult to get assistance on weekends. Zala made an effort. While repeatedly saying to take a taxi to the hotel in Prague, they failed to tell me that there were no taxis, Ubers, etc. at the train station. They have to be called and ordered. I had no clue who to call or a number. We were scalped. With all of that off my chest, there were many good things. The drivers and guides in every city were outstanding. All went out of their way to accommodate and were cordial and knowledgeable. The hotel booking in Prague was outstanding and the service super. The final documents were well organized. I travel frequently and loved finding Kim Kim but was frustrated a lot of the time working with these folks. I am certain they are great for people from other places. I called my contact in Gt Britain to see how to contact Kim Kim and be changed to other agents early one. She just said all were independent agents. While I certainly received assistance and some good planning in the long run, I could have saved some grey hair had I been dealing with someone who is used to dealing with native English speakers and folks from the spoiled US.