Warning: Wildlife Tours / Autopia Deceptive Practices
Apr 2, 2014, 5:00 pm
#1
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Warning: Wildlife Tours / Autopia Deceptive Practices
Just a warning to those coming to Melbourne and booking tours with the various touring companies.
I had a very unfortunate experience with Wildlife / Autopia which others should be aware of. I booked a Mornington Peninsula winery tour which was to include 3 wineries, a stop at a cheese place, and a stop at a chocolate place.
When I showed up this morning unbeknownst to me they offloaded me to another tour company (Bunyip) and did not notify me.
While this tour is perfectly suitable to tour the peninsula, it is not in any way a wine tour (the only wine aspect is stopping for lunch at a winery) nor does it include any chocolate or cheese stops.
I chose this over Yarra bc it's a little more off the beaten path but I regret that deeply now since I've cost myself any wine tasting opportunity since today was the only free day before I depart for Sydney on Saturday. Thus far they have refused to refund me but I am researching my options.
Take this with a grain of salt of course but worth warning others about the possible bait and switch this company employs (apparently wildlife and autopia are the same company which is also not really obvious while Bunyip - where I was offloaded - is apparently a different company)
I had a very unfortunate experience with Wildlife / Autopia which others should be aware of. I booked a Mornington Peninsula winery tour which was to include 3 wineries, a stop at a cheese place, and a stop at a chocolate place.
When I showed up this morning unbeknownst to me they offloaded me to another tour company (Bunyip) and did not notify me.
While this tour is perfectly suitable to tour the peninsula, it is not in any way a wine tour (the only wine aspect is stopping for lunch at a winery) nor does it include any chocolate or cheese stops.
I chose this over Yarra bc it's a little more off the beaten path but I regret that deeply now since I've cost myself any wine tasting opportunity since today was the only free day before I depart for Sydney on Saturday. Thus far they have refused to refund me but I am researching my options.
Take this with a grain of salt of course but worth warning others about the possible bait and switch this company employs (apparently wildlife and autopia are the same company which is also not really obvious while Bunyip - where I was offloaded - is apparently a different company)
Apr 4, 2014, 4:56 pm
#3
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Get in contact with these people...
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/
As a first step, I would suggest telling the tour company that you plan to contact Consumer Affairs, that will usually be enough to get you your refund. It's up to you then whether or not you want to report them. Dodgy operators like that give all the good guys a bad name too.
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/
As a first step, I would suggest telling the tour company that you plan to contact Consumer Affairs, that will usually be enough to get you your refund. It's up to you then whether or not you want to report them. Dodgy operators like that give all the good guys a bad name too.
Last edited by bensyd; Apr 4, 2014 at 5:01 pm
Apr 6, 2014, 5:26 am
#4
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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Posts: 10,130
To update (sorry for the delay - lots of touristing has prevented me from spending much time on FT) - I was able to finally get the number of the managing director and after a few minutes of chatting he agreed to a refund. Since I had paid in cash and was leaving Melb that day we agreed to PayPal and he promptly sent the money upon me sending it.
In sum resolved successfully but I stand by my warning to others of a couple things. First Autopia/Wildlife are owned by the same company. I specifically booked the Wildlife Mornington Winery tour yet even if nothing else had changed the tour was actually being run by Autopia.
Second is to be aware that this offloading does happen when they can't fill their tour buses and it may occur without warning or notification (heck my Bunyip tour guide didn't have a clue and had to confirm the situation with dispatch prior to our departure).
In sum resolved successfully but I stand by my warning to others of a couple things. First Autopia/Wildlife are owned by the same company. I specifically booked the Wildlife Mornington Winery tour yet even if nothing else had changed the tour was actually being run by Autopia.
Second is to be aware that this offloading does happen when they can't fill their tour buses and it may occur without warning or notification (heck my Bunyip tour guide didn't have a clue and had to confirm the situation with dispatch prior to our departure).