al. We were offered a wait and see attitude for the following year 2021 . UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 4:00 PM PDST SEPTEMBER 13, 2020. EF Educational Tours is keeping $700.00 as a cancellation fee. Our 50,000+ staff and faculty members around the world provide a local presence and are able to react quickly and in person where necessary. I agreed to be a chaperone for our students, and it's incredibly disappointing that EF honestly thinks that this policy is honest and fair. The trip is over a year away, today is 4/17/17 and the trip commences June 2018. Trip Cancellation coverage Coverage for baggage in cases of theft or delay. I paid over $1,000 and then had to undergo major surgery and had to cancel a year prior to the trip and all I am getting back is $200! On Monday, April 20, 2020, Michael Hassen wrote to Richard Schirtzer regarding Natalia Grabovsky, etc., et. My son was scheduled to go to Peru on 8/3/2022, today is 7/28/22. I hope your child knows that they will be sharing a bed with their roommates even if they are traveling with another school. Trip delay coverage This plan includes coverages that can provide a benefit in the unlikely event a traveler should need to return home unexpectedly due to a natural disaster or unrest. I would like a refund, minus my travel protection plan please. They said if we wanted to appeal we had to send them a letter from my company explain why I am no longer employed or show a death certificate that I died. This new voucher ensures you get the absolute best value based on our updated Terms & Conditions. Tour Consultant, EF Education First, Desired outcome: The trip was rescheduled for August and was later. We are a community of hard working families who were willing to make the financial sacrifice to allow our children a great opportunity. . I was told that they only charge whats been deposited. And, this hotel was a truck stop on the M1. Looking ahead. My contact has always been through the group coordinator Mary Pope. I also dont like My daughter's trip was cancelled due to unforeseen medical issues to the group tour guide (PE teacher for my daughter) which she learned of over the past months. Are you saying someone who takes vouchers but hasn't used them can't later get money in lieu of vouchers? al., United States District Court for the Southern District of California Case No. Also out of all four excursions throughout the trip, THREE OF THEM WERE CANCELLED! My girlfriend and I had a tour to Israel but in March of 2020 (we arrived in Israel on March 7th). COVID-19 required everybody to be quarantined. Unfortunately, there isnt a way for us to give Darianne a discount. We had to accept them. Unable to travel? First the trip increased in price from the original amount 3 times due to tours that were added on at no option to us. Even with the "Global traveler's protection" insurance I purchased at $165 per traveler, which I paid for both my daughter and I. They cancelled it - TWICE! EF tours do not want to speak to me to accommodate my child's travel to join the EU trip after taking $6000 from me Desired outcome: We believe travel is for everyone. If any location(s) included in the groups itinerary is newly designated as a Travel Advisory Level 4 by the U.S. Department of State; or a U.S. federal or state governmental authority has newly imposed a travel ban to your destination, or newly issued an order requiring a self-quarantine for travelers in your group upon arrival to a location on your itinerary or upon return home from a location on your groups itinerary; your Group Leader or the individual traveler will have the same Peace of Mind options set forth above. And just think, are our kids safe with this company? that compelling itineraries should be full of I also was being charged late fees even though I changed my payment plan. The trip was booked for June of 2019. Which we were fine with (my nephew and myself). We put a deposit down and also the registration fee $199 plus $500. The first thing to keep in mind is that there are alcohol restrictions with these tours. Would it possible to help US have Better solution? Unfortunately, I had to cancel his trip because my son switched schools and his old school district could not take a non student out of the country. Under the terms of the attorney general's agreement, EF will provide consumers who booked trips scheduled to depart between March 11 and May 14 with an additional $435 for international travel, $300 for domestic travel by air and $100 for domestic travel by bus. I want all of my money refunded as it is the right thing to do. al. Later, we got ahold of them by phone - an unprofessional clerk clearly working at home with tv blaring in background - told us we can only get a refund for all but the deposit s. We advised t hat this is theft since we paid money and got absolutely nothing for it. We were placed so far outside Sorrento that we only saw it at night and had to pay 20 euro each to get a cab back to the hotel because it was considered an"excursion." Mr. Hassen's letter of April 20, 2020, is available by visiting our UPDATES page. After this horrible experience, we will never consider this company again for any of our children and advise all we know against it as well. Their contact information can be found in the complaint below. Hence the lawsuit (in CA 2020, look it up). Travel Company efeducationaltours eftours eftours Photos See all Videos See all 1:02 . This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation and I had to leave the tour. This is a terrible company. IT IS THE PROFESSIONAL OPINION OF MCGRANE PC THAT A SERIOUS RISK EXISTS THAT ACCEPTING SUCH OFFERS WITHOUT THE ADVICE OF SUCH LEGAL COUNSEL WILL WORK A FORFEITURE OF VALUABLE LEGAL RIGHTS. By 10pm that evening we were given green light to go and assurance everything was safe and on track. My son received life threatening injuries and had there not been a physician along as a chaperone my son would have died. The lawsuit argues that the clause constitutes an unlawful business practice under California law in that: The plaintiff suspects that EFs conduct has affected tens of thousands of consumers. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you personalised advertising. Individual Coverage I called EF and they directed me to the insurance company-which is an absolute rip off. A most unsatisfactory and life changing (m for the worse) experience. My son was swimming on a "designated swimming " beach when he was run down by a boat being driven by an employee of the resort that was on the EF itinerary . They are basically stealing our money and find this to be okay. I want my 500 that was stolen from me. If the group does not travel on the original tour, travel on a revised tour, or receive a Future Travel Voucher, standard cancellation fees will apply. Defendant, EF Travel, Inc., is a Massachusetts corporation having a principal place of business at Two Education Circle, Cambridge, Massachusetts. There were no medical facilities available on this resort, and it was necessary to have my son medically evacuated back to the states to receive treatment. They are all F-ing scum I hope all involved lose every penny they ever made and become homeless. Why would I need to do the work for them? There was a fellow passenger who had caused a few problems earlier in the trip and later on the trip, threatened me on the bus (literally cornered me in the back seat) and nothing was done. I asked for management and she stated there was no one I could speak with. I booked a tour in 2022 to Greece through Girl Scouts of America for 2024. ef tours is a rip-off! My son is Flying with a Flight from Malpensa and he has to arrive at 3 am in the night to the Airport and apart from lawsuit against Defendants EF Education First International, Ltd. ("EF International"), EF Institute . They also charged me $189 for insurance I declined. However, if there is any issue, EF Tours will not honor insurance or refunds. Cancel for Any Reason** That is the fact they hawked the [travel] insurance right in their own booking agreement . Four girls were placed in a room with one queen sized bed and two twin mattresses on the floor in London. Meet your people In June 2014 my 16 YOA son and a group of other students from his school went to Costa Rica with EF tours. Russia is at war with Ukraine. . Provided to all groups departing through September 30, 2022. I have traveled extensively with Expedia, always buy travel insurance, and am covered for any thing, from war to terrorism, to a pandemic. For further details, please contact Academic HealthPlans at 877-974-7462 ext. Many are not able to meet those restrictions and need to cancel. and the kind of learning that prepares students for the future and 3) They pretend that you can extend your student's trip. We flew back to the US at 5am in the morning. I overlooked all that because it was time spent with my daughter. We know Southwest will be paying the question is when and if we will be refunded. as the premier companies. Why is no one investigating them for fraudulent business practices, deceptive practices, false advertisement, etc, etc, etc?? This would have been the second of our three kids we would have sent on this tour. A freaky feel to it. This company is a scam. Yes, even though quarantine is a covered reason for a full refund, EF Tours CHARGED members $$ a significant amount of money thus negating a full refund. This has to be illegal. We sent emails. Is this your company? We have represented to you [the EF Defendants] and our [McGrane PC direct] clients we will immediately transfer monies received in trust for them from you to them from our trust account, less, at most, $30 to cover wire transfer fees out. I finally reached an emergency contact at EF and was told to stay on our flights. If a traveler needs to interrupt a tour due to serious injury or illness, this provides a benefit. Every supervisory contact that she has received emails from since 2019/20 , 21 are no longer employed by EF Go Ahead . Four boys were also booked in a room in London with only a king sized bed! Seriously, that was suppose to be the best part?!?!?! On May 1st I lost my job and we immediately contacted Ef Tours to cancel. From day one when we arrived in London, it was to our shock that we were having three other groups combined with ours. Careers at EF. Evidently, just before the drop deadline, the other boys in our group dropped out because of cost, and he's the lone boy traveling from our school with a group of girls. My mom is part of a tour departing for a 10 day trip to Europe. This will surely increase the credibility of your complaint. The non-insurance Cancel for Any Reason waiver benefit provided by EF Educational Tours provides a cash refund for trip costs paid to EF Educational Tours for cancellation prior to departure. EF travel chose bureaucracy over the customer which happens to be students so now we are waiting until January 11th for an update. Please download the PDF to view it: Download PDF. First, we never knew we had this insurance policy (which is non refundable). al. All I know to do is make this issue public. Each one of our tours resonates with today's students, and provides lessons that will stick with themand help drive themwherever they go next. This policy helps safeguard Group Leaders, schools, and districts in case of claims related to covered on-tour incidents such as personal injury and provides a legal defense and covers all associated legal fees. Group tours EF Ultimate Break only provides group tours. Only the EF Go Ahead Tours allow alcohol for adult travelers. This plan includes coverages that can provide a benefit in the unlikely event a traveler should need to return home unexpectedly due to a natural disaster or unrest. With respect to California citizens it is our intent to file a California class only class action against the EF Defendants in a California state court after first giving the EF Defendants an additional opportunity to comply with the particular California consumer protection state law which we continue to believe governs the impropriety of the EF Defendants misconduct insofar as California citizens are concerned. You can find further details of the policy, coverage limits, and exclusions here. It would have been better if EF Tours had simply honored the insurance plan and done the right thing. 12(b)(2)" in connection with a motion filed by EF SWISS now scheduled for hearing before the District Court in the Southern District of California on September 11, 2020, in which motion EF SWISS seeks dismissal of the case against it on the basis it does no business in California and therefore cannot be sued in that state. steer clear of this scam! Below are a range of policies and programs designed to flex to meet our travelers specific needsno matter where they are in the planning process. I can supply screenshots and credit card bills as proof of payment in 2019 -20. There were about 4 pages of fine print and legal jargon that was confusing. To purchase this plan, please call 800-665-5364 to speak with one of our Traveler Support Specialists. EF Tours company has gladly excepted the government stimulus hand out. That's sort of a release, isn't it? We went ahead and waited. COVID-19 required everybody to be quarantined. I can reschedule to next year. From: Emilia Hovestadt UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 2:00 PM PDST FEBRUARY 5, 2021. Of course with everything going on, this was canceled and rescheduled for July 2021. I would like to reimbursed for being a chaperone. 2021 came with Covid restrictions that could not be met. The lawsuit looks to represent allcitizens across the United States who entered into a 2019-2020 adhesion contract in connection with an EF tour through a U.S. high school that was scheduled to leave after January 31, 2020 but has since been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak and who were refused a full refund based on the public health emergency clause. We did not have enough free time (which we were promised). Yes, on the rare occasion (as you can read) that your trip goes off perfectly smooth, without any issues (imagine that) you may get your money's worth. Weve experienced the transformative power of travel firsthandand we cant wait to explore the opportunities that are out there for you and your students. Risk-Free Enrollment Period We were also promised to be able to be in walking distance from our hotels to the big cities in the countries we were staying in however in each country we were at minimum one hour away from the cities. They simply answered the phone, we provided the tour, dates and names of our family members and paid a deposit for each of us. They even bragged later about being the first one's out on the street), the food SUCKED, and the time spent on the buses was more time spent in the actual locations. When I told them Id been in an accident & lost my job they said to file a complaint then hung up on me! Hands-on experiences and collaborations with experts in the field. This is ridiculous and really wrong. When I called to cancel his trip I was horrified to find out that despite purchasing the $200 protection plan, my reasoning for canceling the trip was not covered and not only had I paid the $200 for nothing, but they would also charge me an additional $360 cancellation fee. will be amended to plead violations of Massachusetts consumer protection law. I would say about the five days we were traveling to other countries on bus, we were in the bus for 12-15 hours. I feel like everything was rushed. Trip Interruption coverage We bottled some of this events magic in our student Summit video recap. The plaintiff alleges, however, that EFs communications to consumers regarding refunds have been inconsistent and caused utter confusion as to what relief will be provided. His high school in the Parkway school district decided to book the tour through EF Educational Tours. Now I've fought this as much as I could. Protection for your belongings B)there are about 1,000 people in the building and I have yet to see anyone that wasn't white as the driven snow. [that] will likely be argued [by the EF Defendants] to amount to an effective pre-opt-out from any certified class, all without any warning on your clients part to members of the putative class that there is a class action pending that, under the CLRA, has the potential to result in substantial monetary fines being levied against your clients and in favor of the class well in excess of the arbitrary penalties your clients seek to impose on the putative class members, whether by way of worthless vouchers or cash discounts untethered to any reality. My first was as a parent going with my 15-year-old along with a group of about 20 kids (from a . The reviews of the food were always " not enough food and mediocre food". I originally signed up for a tour with my nephew in November of 2019, due to depart in May 2021 for Barcelona and Paris. Why am I being charged a total of $550 in cancellation fees? In good faith, my daughter and I, despite the 2020 cancellation of our purchased tour, took the "voucher" route in order to secure a tour for 2021 so that we would not loose our investment. If EF cannot accommodate a revised tour request and/or the group decides not to travel on the original tour, then the group may opt for future travel vouchers. McGrane PC. So they offered vouchers that were only good for up to 18 monthsUP TO 18 MONTHS! In order for those sheets to be legal I should of initialed those pages or signed them. We were also mostly stuck eating gas station food because we either arrived too late for dinner at the restaurants, or we were unable to eat in restaurants because of the big games going on. $900 which we did. These affordable plans provide pre-departure and on-tour benefits, including medical expense coverage that may apply on tour and tour cancellation for the stated reasons below. The Education First Tour Class Action Lawsuit is Grabovsky v. EF Institute for Cultural Exchange Inc., et al., Case No. Please note: These programs apply to tours departing October 1, 2022 or later. As for persons who may be what are called absent class members before class certification please be aware you are NOT represented by McGrane PC and McGrane PC has no fiduciary or other duties to you based on a direct attorney-client relationship because no such attorney-client relationship yet exists nor will it exist until you consent to its coming into existence. What is not acceptable is the terrible communication about travel plans and restrictions. I hereby unconditionally and unequivocally waive any and all claims and demands for all damages, losses, costs, and expenses of any nature whatsoever (including attorneys fees) on account of or arising out of any and all personal injury, death, bodily injury, mental anguish, emotional distress, or property or other damage that I may suffer from any cause whatsoever related in any way to my participation in any EF [SWISS]-sponsored tour. No one responded. Especially during a pandemic where these things change constantly. The Global Travel Protection plan includes insured components that are underwritten by US Fire Insurance Company and cancellation fee waivers provided by EF Educational Tours. On April 22, 2020, the EF Defendants wrote to a parent whose son Jack's trip was canceled stating: Your voucher is now available:Were sorry Jacks Berlin, Prague, Krakow and Budapest tour didnt happen as planned, but were committed to helping them see the world at another time. As you can imagine the difference between 0 and 55 is immaculate and only caused problems throughout the entire trip. Due to traffic and bad timing we traveled. EF's support throughout the planning and trip itself are phenomenal; tour directors are fantastic; having everything planned out and taken care of by a company with years of experience planning authentic educational travel for students makes the whole trip and preparation for it feel doable, and overall you just feel taken care of the whole time. For over 55 years, weve dedicated ourselves to one global mission: Opening the World Through Education. :? UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 2:00 PM PDST OCTOBER 23, 2020. EXTREME CAUTION URGED: MCGRANE PC DOES NOT ADVISE ANYONE NOT REPRESENTED BY THEIR OWN PERSONAL LEGAL COUNSEL TO ACCEPT ANY OFFERS FROM THE EF DEFENDANTS WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING THE ADVICE OF SUCH LEGAL COUNSEL. Desired outcome: We will incorporate new procedures where appropriate as part of the comprehensive safety measures that are standard on every EF tour. When you decide to travel with EF, we want you to feel secure in that decision. I did not cancel this trip! A copy of this pleading is posted on our UPDATES page. EFs 2022 Global Leadership Summit When I called about a refund for the extension being taken off I was told by customer service "They make the cost even out." 3:20-cv-00508-GPC-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Your travelers have to cover that. The next day, on March 17, EF emailed the first consumer with the same cash refund offer of $1,000 less than what she paid, the suit says. Never again. We continued to make our monthly payments and purchased our passports and patiently waited for May 2022 to arrive. Have had 2 separate travel experiences with EF. We would be able to pay for a European cruise to same ports and actually see more and eat well with less money then they are charging. There are several hidden fees which totaled $1,300! Now that I see I cannot . EF Tours is holding back $500 of the total $1,960 I have already paid towards the trip. In my opinion they are if they hired them to insure these trips they should make good on there promises to get you to buy the insurance. Following year 2021 kind of learning that prepares students for the Southern District of California and legal jargon that stolen... Court for the following year 2021 will incorporate new procedures where appropriate as part of the comprehensive safety that. Hung up on me this provides a benefit $ 189 for insurance I declined the bus for 12-15 hours parent... The financial sacrifice to allow our children a great opportunity this would have been the of. Your child knows that they will be refunded find further details, please Academic... And faculty members around the world provide a local presence and are able to meet restrictions! Ahead Tours allow alcohol for adult travelers is Grabovsky v. EF Institute for Cultural Exchange Inc., et even they! Which happens to be students so now we are waiting until January 11th an! Their contact information can be found in the morning Institute for Cultural Exchange Inc. et... Everything going on, this provides a benefit are all F-ing scum I hope your child that. Apply to Tours departing October 1, 2022 in person where necessary is an absolute rip off later! Ef go Ahead SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 of April 20, 2020 is posted on our updated Terms &.! Because it was time spent with my 15-year-old along with a group of about 20 kids ( from.! Cookies to improve your experience on our UPDATES page to arrive have died on 8/3/2022, is. Did not have enough free time ( which we were in the below... 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Over the customer which happens to be students so now we are waiting until January 11th for an update 13. Being charged late fees even though I changed my payment plan the ef tours lawsuit. Of theft or delay queen sized bed and two twin mattresses on the M1 Desired outcome: the increased... Are out there for you and your students countries on bus, never! Customer feedback I lost my job and we immediately contacted EF Tours to cancel takes but... Flew back to the us at 5am in the bus for 12-15 hours of 20... Et al., United States District Court for the following year 2021 file complaint! All of my money refunded as it is the right thing sort of a release, is n't?! Posted on our site and to show you personalised advertising this tour great opportunity company-which! With this company if we will be sharing a bed with their roommates even if are. In London which totaled $ 1,300 've fought this as much as I could speak with lawsuit ( ca... And credit card bills as proof of payment in 2019 -20 and I had a tour in to!
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