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Thread: Tell Others Your Travel Traps here!
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[quote=MIRANDAZHAO,244908]Ying did excel at finding what I call "guide stores," overpriced outlets that obviously paid him a commission. He took us to these "factories" first thing in the morning and never rushed us. In fact, our very first stop the very first morning was at a pearl factory where my eager group spent several thousand dollars. He must have been thrilled, as he added in some more factories to our schedule. We were ushered into such a factory at least once a day. By the second pearl factory, the group was ready to rebel, and many resisted even going in. When a few tour members began to buy things from vendors, Ying gave a stern lecture on the street vendors and how they cheat you. He warned us against buying from them. I could understand his concern. The vendor prices were unbelievably cheap—as cheap as everyone had hoped and dreamed they would be. One tour member bought 30 silk ties for $5 total. At the airport, as we left Beijing, Ying passed out a map to each group member. Why, I wondered, had he waited until we left? His parting words were that transfers would be taken care of in each city. But that did not happen. Our transfers involved mostly senior citizens, some with canes, bad backs and knee replacements claiming their luggage and then lugging it downstairs, across airports and then on a few blocks to the bus in the parking lot. Why couldn't the bus at least come to us? Or why didn't a team of baggage handlers handle the baggage as promised? We noticed the baggage of other tour groups pulled and neatly gathered for transport to their hotels. And once we got to our hotels there were often long waits for them to unpack the bus and deliver the bags to the rooms. We once waited over six hours, and had another dinner in sweaty, dirty clothes. The service and amenities actually seemed to decrease as the trip progressed. In the brochures it said that all beverages (water, beer and soft drinks) were included. But by our second city, they began charging if you had more than one glass of water. We were also promised water on all the buses but as we left Shanghi they were out of water, and when we arrived in Guilon they still had not provided water. A total of seven hours without water available. Tough for people who already had upset stomachs and were a little dehydrated. Meals were another issue for most people. The meals were boringly repetitive, as if someone had merely sent the same menu on to each restaurant. And although the brochure said we would eat in local restaurants the tourists did not usually go to, each restaurant had large parking lots for tour buses, and people seemed to enter in groups with tour badges on.[/quote]
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