I won't go into detail about our trip except to say our tour guide left half the group on several occasions, got us lost, left us in a hotel that's fire alarm system was going off in (our group leader also left us behind. Also, in the long run, you actually pay the same or more (with all the added fees.) The company has had my money for almost three years, because I fairly adopted a wait and see to travel. Cost: $490* UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 3:30 PM PDST MARCH 30, 2020, On Friday, March 27, 2020, William McGrane wrote to Richard Schirtzer regarding Natalia Grabovsky, etc., et. Three weeks after enrolling, our circumstances changed so I called to cancel, expecting to pay the $95 cancellation fee x2. Liability Coverage. They had the nerve to tell me if I find a replacement that they will waive $300 of the cancellation fees. Further, the defendants have relied on the public health emergency clause in consumers contracts to offer an alternative travel voucher option in addition to the cash offer, the case says. Other EF tour brands. Look at all the one star reviews. We were told we would receive the balance of $1692 from Aetna insurance company in approx. EF Tours, however, did not want to refund all the money during the quarantine. Many are not able to meet those restrictions and need to cancel. On October 22, 2020, Boston-based co-counsel for McGrane PC send a demand letter to the EF Defendants (including EF Explore America Inc., which runs domestic tours) demanding a full refund under Massachusetts consumer protection law which Massachusetts consumer protection law appears to more directly address the requirement that such full refunds be offered than does California consumer protection law. 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. By using this website you agree to our Cookies Policy. However, EF Tours will override the plan and refuse your refund. I also was being charged late fees even though I changed my payment plan. That's when we found out it would be around $800 to cancel. Emilia Hovestadt This complaint was posted by a verified customer. We're within 95 days of the trip so I'm not even sure I can get a refund, but if he wants his own room it's almost $1000 extra. Company is stealing 500.00 saying that is the cancelation policy. They are in trouble financially and that is ok with me!!! I am beyond disappointed and want to make sure that other families looking to book a trip with them in the future reconsiders and finds another company with fairer policy to make travel plans with. Want class action news sent to your inbox? I have traveled with EF Tours on three different trips: a high school tour, a training tour, and a college tour. It is nothing but a money grab from unsuspecting parents! Trip delay coverage Group tours EF Ultimate Break only provides group tours. They should be ashamed of themselves. On Thursday, March 26, 2020, at 5:59 PM PDST you [previously] wrote to Michael Hassen as follows: Michael, per our earlier conversation, I can confirm that my client is not requiring anyone to sign a release to obtain any of the offered options, including the cash refund option. The purpose of this letter is to confirm the accuracy of the above-quoted written representation before I undertake to advise McGrane PCs multiple individual clients (as well as putative class members in general) that, absent further advice from you to the contrary, they are now free to accept whatever consideration may be tendered them by either or both EFCAL or EFSWISS without prejudice to their future rights to participate in the referenced matter either as absent putative class members or as additional named putative class representative plaintiffs. I signed on in 201920 when no restrictions were in force. Weve experienced the transformative power of travel firsthandand we cant wait to explore the opportunities that are out there for you and your students. Along with others from our tour, in Quite we were then shuttled to a holding room near the airport terminal , no water, no food, one bathroom, Their local guide had no information. EF Tours was contacted today also and there response was they aren't responsible for the insurance company. They make go in circles and have excuse after excuse. Why is no one investigating them for fraudulent business practices, deceptive practices, false advertisement, etc, etc, etc?? On February 5, 2021, defendants EF Institute for Cultural Exchange, Inc. (EF Institute), EF Education First International, Ltd. (EF International), and EF Explore America, Inc. (EF America) filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint (Dec 7, 2020). Per the cancellation policy, there is a $95 non-refundable charge and a $300 cancellation fee. They knew well in advance Southwest was having troubles other arrangements should have been made instead of having these kids waiting at the gate. By 10pm that evening we were given green light to go and assurance everything was safe and on track. With this voucher, they can rebook on a new tour with their Group Leader or school. The defendants placed the clause in their 2019-2020 adhesion contracts despite being aware of the potentially calamitous effects of global public health emergencies that have long been predicted as very likely to occur; The contract was presented to consumers on a take it or leave it basis; Consumers were lulled into a false sense of security since trusted teachers acted as the middlemen between the students and EF, leading consumers to believe that EF had their best interest in mind; A public health emergency would likely result in EF not being able to schedule any future tours and could hinder the defendants ability to honor the travel vouchers; and. We did not have enough free time (which we were promised). Our people are your people. Here is what you need to know: 1) they refuse to give an itemized list of what they spend the money on 2) what you pay them does not cover lunch or tips. This would have been the second of our three kids we would have sent on this tour. I will never, ever even consider sending any of my other kids on one of these trips. (Just this year I found out our group leader got something for a refund, but she never mentioned it or even helped me get my money back in 2018.thanks for that.) We design our class trips to go way beyond the experiences you could have with anyone else. ", Even later on April 24, 2020, William McGrane wrote to Richard Schirtzer:"Are you actually going to offer to pay our clients some money through us and are we going to have a problem with a signed agreement that their accepting cash is without prejudice etc.? Here's my EFTours experience: 1.I have been on 3 EFTours and have another planned for next summer. When something goes wrong, you thing you are covered. Desired outcome: Tour # 2130465UX - London, Paris, and The Alps There are so many good tour companies out there, you would be wasting valuable time and money booking with this one. Company never sent update on requirements for product and refuse to provide full refund. UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 3:00 PM PDST May 15, 2020. Find out more details today at 1-800-438-7672. Which btw the ticket was $100!!! as the premier companies. EF Go Ahead Tours is a brand under the EF Tours group that offers both guided and fully customizable tours to destinations worldwide. Defendant, EF Educational Exchange, Inc., is a Delaware corporation having a This will surely increase the credibility of your complaint. This is meant to help provide a safer tour experience for all travelers, and is a similar process to what many school districts implement for adults who volunteer in schools or chaperone school activities. Joining the EF family means youll have the support of our community of educators, tour architects, operations wizards, and ever-curious explorers. If a traveler needs to interrupt a tour due to serious injury or illness, this provides a benefit. release my refund and return $500 cancelation fee. Due to several life altering disasters I had to cancel the trip 18 months in advance. EF told me that I could pay roughly $400 ish to come home earlier-this is on top of the $5,100 fee for the trip OR lose half my money and cancel. I called to see if they would at least just do $1000 for both kids and they told me no. UPDATE ON EF CASES AS OF 4:00 PM PDST SEPTEMBER 13, 2020. Customer service is the WORST! In addition to our standard Peace of Mind program, EF provides an exclusive COVID-19 Peace of Mind program for tours scheduled to depart between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022, to account for situations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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! It seemed cool at the time however most countries either had the shops and food places shut down early or be completely closed due to the big games. If you'd like to learn more and find out if you are eligible to participate in a lawsuit against Education First, please visit our FAQ page. I booked a tour in 2022 to Greece through Girl Scouts of America for 2024. I have reached out our tour consultant, Emilia Hovestadt and received the response below. Refusal to refund refund after they cancelled tours! 15.06(1 . On August 9, 2020, William McGrane filed and served a "PLAINTIFFS SUR-REPLY TO DEFENDANT EF EDUCATION FIRST INTERNATIONAL, AGS MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION UNDER F.R.C.P. The first thing to keep in mind is that there are alcohol restrictions with these tours. I don't understand how they can keep any of our money, let a lone $500 each. WE never want to travel with EF again and this is not acceptable. When you decide to travel with EF, we want you to feel secure in that decision. On June 20th we called them to verify and were told our claim was denied and we wouldn't be receiving anything back from them. What can we do with this company? When we ask to escalate our concern, managers have decided to refuse to accept or return our calls. Your ultimate motive for trying to deprive customers of the other options being offered is transparent. We will promptly associate local counsel who are licensed to practice law in the District of Massachusetts and thereafter continue to pursue this case under Massachusetts state law for the benefit of everyone we represent except California citizens. She signed up October 1 and we had to cancel Oct 14 due to conflicts with my work schedule. . et. Payments made should be made to McGrane PC as trustee. . I was told to call EF to see what my options are. EF travel chose bureaucracy over the customer which happens to be students so now we are waiting until January 11th for an update. Travelers can choose to enroll in one of the Global Travel Protection plans, both of which are designed specifically with EF travelers in mind. Perhaps you and [Michael Hassen, plaintiffs co-counsel] could discuss this next week and come up with a stipulation we could jointly present to the judge and then refer putative class members to?. al., United States District Court for the Southern District of California Case No. var dt = new Date(); Our only hope now is that our kids have a great time with their class. Especially during a pandemic where these things change constantly. I struggled to pay for this trip and now after paying for travel insurance also they are denying full refund. I was so angry but nothing was done about it. Future Travel Vouchers are transferrable at the face value of the voucher to members of the travelers immediate family or school community. Chosen by our travelers, these tried-and-true favorites bring destinations to life through culturally immersive activities. A copy of the demand letter can be viewed by visiting our UPDATES page. If a traveler is diagnosed with COVID-19 while on tour, EF will provide or arrange for the following, consistent with local requirements, at no additional expense to the traveler throughout the duration of any on-tour quarantine period: If a traveler or group is not diagnosed with, yet is required to quarantine on account of, COVID-19 while on tour, EF will provide or arrange for the following, consistent with local requirements, at no additional expense to the travelers throughout the duration of any on-tour quarantine period: The COVID Care Promise applies to tours departing on September 30, 2023 or earlier. A copy of this pleading is posted on our UPDATES page. Get connected We're here to help. When we called to cancel, they refuse to give us our full refund and claim to keep $500 despite their poor communication, COVID restrictions, and the paid insurance plan which has turned out to be a scam too. I called EF and they directed me to the insurance company-which is an absolute rip off. We ended up in Quito, and learned the Houston group was now cancelled due to civil unrest. Coverage for baggage in cases of theft or delay. 3) They pretend that you can extend your student's trip. SCUMBAGS!!!!! EF provides an exclusive Peace of Mind program to account for such situations. A freaky feel to it. I was told the person would be kicked off the tour but they werent. 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. I also asked if I could speak to someone else about it she told me I could but I would be wasting my time because they would tell me the same thing. if this is how they treat us before the trip? Read those reviews. Four girls were placed in a room with one queen sized bed and two twin mattresses on the floor in London. International education company EF Institute for Cultural Exchange Inc. was hit with a proposed class action by students who received only a partial refund for tours . I have been saving up my own money for the past three years just to go on this "life changing" experience. All Rights Reserved | Website Design by LunaGraphica, California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.3(c). Never again. But now I see that if I had done a quick search I would have seen all the bad reviews. My mom had to put hotel rooms for 30 students in her credit card. This has happened all over the US and people are not standing down. lawsuit against Defendants EF Education First International, Ltd. ("EF International"), EF Institute . Cancelled tour Tampa to DC December 28 2023, Student and Chaperone cancelled trip w/o reasonable compensation, I would like a refund, minus my travel protection plan please, I would like to reimbursed for being a chaperone. If you're concerned about your rights, you can try reaching out to the law firms handling the case. These programs apply to tours departing October 1, 2022 or later. What a waste of time and money. Yet I received a check in the mail for $300 before I could talk to someone. Protection for your belongings Please be advised that each of my clients hereby withdraws any possible agreements they may have entered into with either of the two defendants in the referenced matters. 321. This, of course, was never brought up until it was too late to change the reservation. I will not let this go if need be I will take them to court and sue there asses. Our school will be traveling with three other schools from different parts of the country. 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. 1. Erin works primarily on ClassAction.orgs newswire, reporting on cases as they happen. ?we were then offered a tour of a castle which was supposedly a make up gift from ef tours for the bus situation however, once we got there we only had about 45 mins- an hour to tour the entire castle. According to the complaint, the defendants have made no effort to explain why the $1,000 penalty is at all reasonable, regardless of how much each customer paid. There was no due diligence conducted by EF tours as to the hazards associated with this location. Best Day Ever: Tokyo My daughter's peers in Houston were sent home. I have requested my money back. Imagine being in London not able to tour anything because you don't have the proper tour bus that you were promised?? With 600 schools and offices in 50 countries worldwide, including regional offices dedicated to on-tour support, our global presence is truly unmatched. Before we will give you [the EF Defendants] wire transfer instructions and thereafter accept any monies on behalf of any of our clients, however, we [McGrane PC] will insist on a clear written agreement that our acceptance of such payments on their behalf is without prejudice to their rights to seek further legal recourse against the EF Defendants on any theory available to them in law, equity or by virtue of statute. The trip was rescheduled for August and was later. If not for her, 30 of your kids would be sleeping in the airport for two nights in a row since their new flight to London has a huge 13 hour layover. I have spent $10,000 for two kids' trips and I can't get the most basic customer support from them. Disappointingly, EF Educational Tours cancelled our summer 2021 tour about a month before our tentative departure date. Subject: RE: Darianne Hicks reimbursement Please note that at this point, theres nothing you need to do to join the lawsuit. Some of it was just bad luck however I feel like most of it was EF tours being lazy and not trying to help make the experience the best that it could have been. Pursuant to California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.3(c) please take note that this webpage constitutes a paid advertisement for legal services. Spring break trip with the school for my two boys to go to Greece and Italy this year. EF Go Ahead Tours Call 800-590-1161 . We've experienced the transformative power of travel firsthandand we can't wait to explore the opportunities that are out there for you and your students. Background checks on adult travelers ", Later on April 22, 2020, Mr. Schirtzer responded: "[T]hese vouchers that offer customers several different ways to utilize 100% of value of their previous payments can hardly be described as 'worthless.' I don't even know how it is legal to have these moron bastards do business. Joining the EF family means you'll have the support of our community of educators, tour architects, operations wizards, and ever-curious explorers. local tour guides including Blanca, Roseanna and others were so kind and polite. I called EF to try to stay behind with them or re-book, as this was a science expedition they saved for together as a an 8th grade graduation trip. EF never notified the trip leader or travelers of this cancellation. This program was created to provide the safest possible tour experience for our customers. EF Ultimate Break Enroll online or call 800-766-2645. All of the complains are legit and yet school districts still send their kids on these tours with EF. No materials from this website may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way. First, we never knew we had this insurance policy (which is non refundable). Seriously, that was suppose to be the best part?!?!?! We were offered a wait and see attitude for the following year 2021 . They won't tell you your kid's return flight so that you can try to book a return on the same flight (except maybe 10 days before the return). COVID-19 required everybody to be quarantined. al., United States District Court for the Southern District of California Case No. The plan lists "quarantine" as a covered reason for a refund - no extra parameters. Of course our trip was rescheduled for another year due to COVID. EF representatives available to support the traveler and to coordinate with local authorities on their behalf where necessary, Assistance connecting with local health care providers, Communication between the traveler and the travelers family back home, EF-arranged flights home, based on existing itinerary, for the traveler once cleared to return, If the diagnosed traveler is a minor, flights for their parent or guardian to join them at the tour location, EF representatives available to support the traveler or group and to coordinate with local authorities on their behalf where necessary, Communication between the traveler or group and their family back home, EF-arranged flights home for the traveler or group once cleared to return. Law firms handling the Case my two boys to go way beyond the experiences you could have with else!, tour architects, operations wizards, and a college tour on this `` life changing experience! 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Demand letter can be viewed by visiting our UPDATES page etc, etc, etc? erin works primarily ClassAction.orgs... Ef Educational Tours cancelled our summer 2021 tour about a month before tentative... Rule 7.3 ( c ) Aetna insurance company chose bureaucracy over the us and people are not able to anything! During the quarantine in the long run, you actually pay the same or more ( with all the fees... This tour own money for almost three years, because i fairly adopted a wait see. Pleading is posted on our UPDATES page, our circumstances changed so i called EF and they me! Again and this is how they can rebook on a new tour with their group Leader or travelers this... To escalate our concern, managers have decided to refuse to provide full refund that offers guided.