Deep Dissatisfaction with Zaman Tours

Jordan | May 12 - May 26, 2023

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with the local tour company, Zaman Tours, which was selected for us during our recent trip to Jordan. Our disappointment with Zaman Tours was significant as we had previously experienced an excellent trip to Peru last year with Peruvian Tours, also arranged through Kim Kim. As a result, we placed our trust in Kim Kim again to find us a reliable tour company for our trip to Jordan and Israel. Unfortunately, our experience with Zaman Tours was far from satisfactory, leaving us feeling let down by the quality of service provided.

During the booking process, we were impressed by the website claim that Zaman Tours creates tailor-made tours with local experts. Regrettably, our experience did not meet this promise. The itinerary provided was inadequate and lacked details such as local contact information and a clear timetable. When we asked for a more detailed itinerary, we were told that it was all that could be provided. We specifically requested a thorough schedule, but instead, we were given a vague response and told we had total flexibility to change it ourselves. We were hoping to have an expert guide us through the best schedule so that we didn't have to worry about the logistics ourselves.

During the first two days of our trip in Amman, we were disappointed to be guided by an inexperienced tour guide who had only joined the tourism industry for a month. Despite informing Zaman Tours before our trip that we were interested in history, our guide didn't seem to know the city or its history well enough to provide us with any meaningful information. He clearly did not do enough research beforehand and left us feeling frustrated and underwhelmed by the experience.

To make matters worse, we had to pick him up and drop him off at his home before heading back to the hotel as apparently it was "on the way." However, we later realized that we actually made a detour just to send him home, which was very unprofessional and a waste of our travel time. We could have planned the sites and booked separate tour guides ourselves, which made us regret paying a premium for an "expert" when we could have done a better job ourselves.

It was disappointing that Zaman Tours linked us up with an inexperienced, young guide and claimed that he was an expert. We expected to receive professional and expert guidance from a tailor-made tour company, but instead, we received the opposite. The lack of attention to detail throughout our trip caused us stress and frustration, which is not something we would expect from a professional tour operator.

Another example of poor service we encountered was when Zaman Tours planned Petra by Night for us on a Tuesday when it only runs every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Despite being informed that it was a must-see attraction, we were not told about its opening dates and hours, which was quite disappointing. As Zaman Tours claims to provide local experts, we were expecting them to have this information readily available. Instead, we found ourselves having to navigate our itinerary and communicate with the driver, who was not a tour guide and did not have the necessary information. We feel let down that we missed Petra by Night, which was the most important highlight of our visit to Petra.

When we contacted Zaman Tours to complain about this issue, their response was dismissive. They seemed to think we were making a big deal out of it as we could just visit it the next day, Wednesday, when Petra by Night would be open. However, what they didn't take into consideration was that we had also planned to stay at a Bedouin Camp and participate in their nighttime activities, so we had to choose between the two activities. By going to Petra by Night, we would have missed the Bedouin Camp activities and vice versa. Unfortunately, Zaman Tours did not take our dilemma seriously and suggested we skip the Bedouin Camp if Petra by Night was more important to us. We felt disappointed that they did not understand the significance of missing out on an activity that we had been looking forward to, especially since it was one of the highlights of our visit to Petra.

On the night of the Petra by Night incident, we were informed that our agent had quit Zaman tours for personal reasons. This left us feeling even more helpless and worried. We were essentially left on our own with the driver. The lack of communication and professionalism during this situation added to our disappointment with the overall service provided by Zaman Tours.

Despite our attempts to reflect our discontent to Zaman Tours directly, we were met with an unsatisfactory response from even the CEO. His reply was "We have successfully handled thousands of clients this month, and we have not received any negative feedback thus far. All of our clients have utilized the same services, stayed at the same hotels, engaged in the same activities, and been driven by the same drivers." This response is frustrating as it is clear that they claim to provide a tailor-made trip, yet all of their clients have apparently been provided with the same services, itinerary, and experience. It begs the question: what is the point of paying for a tailor-made service if it is the same as everyone else's?

Furthermore, their unwillingness to acknowledge and address our concerns shows a lack of professionalism and customer service skills. We feel that Zaman Tours does not take constructive criticism well, leaving us dissatisfied with the entire experience. If we wanted a generic itinerary, we could have easily found one online at a lower cost and without the unnecessary stress and trouble of dealing with a tour operator.

In conclusion, we were disappointed to be linked with this local tour company. We expected better from a company that claims to provide tailor-made trips. Instead, we found a lack of communication, professionalism, and local knowledge. We hope that Kim Kim will take steps to ensure that clients are only connected with reputable and reliable tour operators to avoid similar experiences in the future.