7Day Sanjiang+ZhaoXing+Huangguoshu Waterfall private Tour

Horrible

This guy is a total scammer. I booked 7day private tour with him and contacted him before I arrive to China. We would visit minority villages and the price was 1000USD. I accepted the price because accomodation and food was included as he stated in his e-mail. Then, during the third day of our tour, he asked me to pay for my dinner and I said but it is included in the tour and he said no (even though he paid for it for 2 days). We were in the middle of nowhere in a village during New Year's Eve and he knew I had no other choice but to accept. He told me the food price is for the driver (he was the driver and the guide) so basically I would pay for his dinner and not mine with 1000USD price. I would also pay for his accomodation and my accomodation separately and it makes sense. However, we were discussing this over wechat, this is what he wrote me and I think all female travellers need to he aware of this: "I have good ideas, maybe, we can 2 people share one double room, we can save money for lunch and dinner😁" So basically he offered to share a room with me for the private tour. After this I felt totally uncomfortable and decided not to continue the tour. If you think that is enough, it is not. He kept it more challenging and unprofessional. He told me he would leave with his car in the morning as the driver and I had to figure out a way to go to airport by myself. I told him that my luggage is in his car and I cannot find a driver in the next morning of the new year in a remote village in China. Then, he asked for more money to drive me there!!! I was already scammed by paying him 1000USD without food. After an hour of discussion, he agreed to pay 700 USD back as we would not continue the tour after he asked to share the room. He transfered the money to Alipay and for international card users, this money cannot be cashed out. I explained him the situation and he basically told me buy food and things with scanning instead of giving it directly. I then told him 700 USD is too much to use for online payment as they do it in China because I would be leaving in 4 days and I need the money in my bank not in Alipay (only used in China). It took another hour of struggle to get him pay me back my money. It was like hell!! oh and he is not even a guide. We would go to the villages around 12.00, check in and he would write me to meet at 17.00. So basically it was all dark and I would be walking around on my own for 5 hours. I was lucky enough that there were some Chinese girls who would take me around the Dong village and introduce their culture. Overall, it was a horrible experience!

Response from the operator: Dear GozdeH Thank you very much for your comment. We will answer the question that you are concerned about from three aspects: First of all, you contacted us through email, and we finally confirmed the itinerary and quotation after several communications with you. You said that the price of 1000 US dollars (approximately 7300 RMB) may be expensive for you (Because, You are traveling alone and you are a student), but we believe it is a very fair and reasonable price. Because you need to use the car for 7 days, during which we need to pay driver's salary, rental fees, parking fees, fuel costs, driver's accommodation and meal, as well as your accommodation and all entrance tickets. Moreover you choose to travel during the Spring Festival holiday, hotel prices is higher and drivers requires 2-3 times the salary. To sum up，our quotation is very low. Secondly, we have confirmed in the email that 1000 dollars includes the driver's accommodation and his meals. Your meal is not included at all.But you think that 1000 dollars includes your meal. On the first day of your trip, the driver paid for the dinner. The next day, he asked you to meet him at 5 pm to discuss the evening event. You agreed, but after 3 pm, you sent a WeChat message saying you would meet him at 6 pm,However, you participated in the event with hotel other people at before the 6pm. You sent a WeChat message asking the driver to come over and join in the event together. You told him some hotel staff gave you two free tickets, but when the event ended, you and driver met the hotel owner on our way back. She said the event was not free and we had to pay, which made the driver very embarrassed and sad. In the end, there was no other way. The driver had to pay 80 yuan for himself and ask you to pay 80 yuan for yourself, but you were very angry and said the expenses should be included. Then you decide to terminate the trip and ask for refund. After both sides reached a agreement, you will be refunded 5000 yuan and will no longer continue the trip. But we only charged a total of 2300 RMB for parking, oil fuel, driver's salary of 3 days of using the car (from Guilin to Longsheng, the second day from Longsheng to Sanjiang, and the third day from Sanjiang to Guilin Airport) and both accommodation, driver's meal of 2 days, which is a fair and reasonable price. (but you still think it's too expensive) Thirdly:in terms of refunding your money with Alipay, the driver has returned the fee to your （Alipay）balance.Because you can only consumed in China with Alipay balance. The money cannot be returned to foreign bank cards directly. Finally, we can only refund your money through PayPal, and you also return money of Alipay balance to us. At first, you didn't know how to conduct the transaction and always use your bank card to return money to the driver. Moreover, you have failed many times and the driver is not allowed to help you. In the end，the driver teached you how to use it successfully. Last but not least, I have some advices for you: when you travel abroad, please do not believe in free things, as it may cost you in another way!

via Tripadvisor