BootsnAll Travel Community

... consider booking with Viva Safaris (www.toursaa.com/viva/index.htm). We signed up for the 4-day microbus safari, and had a great time. The group was small (6 guests plus the guide/driver), the accommodations were really nice (A/C!), and the food was pretty good, too. They picked us up and dropped us off in Joberg, so we didn't have to worry about transportation. We saw tons of animals, including elephants and lions, hippos, crocs, hyena, jackels, and more.

And it's definitely a good bargain: For the 4-day tour, it costs about R2700 (R6 ~ US$1), which includes the $500/pp nonrefundable deposit. The price includes most meals, transport, a guide, accommodations, guided walk, and game drives.

*** HOWEVER*** If you're lucky like we were, you will only be charged the $500/pp deposit, and the tour operator will FORGET to charge the balance to your credit card! So, in essence, we went on a terrific 4-day Kruger safari for only... R1000 (or, about $167) TOTAL!!

If I read you correctly - you ripped off this tour operator for 1700 Rand after he showed you a great time. And you are bragging about it. Go to hell, asshole.

Get a grip! This tour company obviously has it's head up its ass if it can't even figure out how to charge someone for their trip.

Assuming that they ever take a look at their books, all it would take is one glance to see the oversight. If and when they do charge my credit card (they have it on file), of course I will accept and not contest the charges. I never said I wouldn't pay it! But if they can't even be organised enough to charge someone for a safari, that's not my fault!

Believe it or not, I actually wanted to pay in full before we got to South Africa, but they wouldn't let me -- they said I could only pay the nonrefundable deposit, then they would charge the balance to my credit card once we went on the safari. They assured me that this was how they did it, it was done all the time and that I didn't have to worry about anything -- they would handle everything. So what was I supposed to do?

As far as I knew, they were going to handle everything -- that's what they told me. I forgot all about it until a couple of months later when I noticed the balance on my credit card bill didn't include the remainder of the safari.

Should I have notified them? Maybe. But as callous as this may sound, it's not my job to make sure they do THEIR job. If that makes me an asshole, so be it.

You go Jenney! Tell honestperson what's up. I am sure he won't be so mad at you now.

Peace

I agree with the honestguy there (though I might not have phrased it quite so harshly): if they screwed up and _overcharged_ you, you'd damn well speak up and say something if you caught the mistake, wouldn't you?

And if you didn't catch the mistake, wouldn't you appreciate it if they caught it and refunded the overcharge?

C'mon - if you got your money's worth out of them then pay for it. Ultimately they're a group of ordinary joes paying for a roof over their heads and groceries on the table.