Explore Tracking Order Status

Consistently excellent customer service and trips. I am approaching 30 Explore tours having started traveling with them in 2009. As a solo traveller I have been able to explore a large part of the globe knowing that I will be looked after by excellent guides and customer service back in the UK (especially on the rare occasion that things go wrong; which is a real test of a travel company) Highly recommended.

I haven’t even gone on the tour yet, but Explore seems very cold and unhelpful. I asked about arranging transportation from the airport because I was arriving a day early, but they just quoted me $200!!! Did not even tell me about alternatives such as taxis. They just seem very cold and unhelpful, and seem uninformed about the location (Costa Rica). Just profit oriented. I’m very uneasy about my upcoming trip with them. Most tour companies will volunteer advice about how to travel safely form the airport to your hotel. Not Explore! After I asked, they did come back with an estimated price for a taxi and a comment about safety, I just wish I hadn’t had to ask. They suggested I ask the hotel for transportation.

Explore tried to cover their behinds! The trip was good but the logistics were horrific. Tour Radar never told me that I would be with Explore. Consequently, I never found the group at the airport. Where we were staying was a remote part at the top of Lake Como. Because I didn't meet up with the group for transportation, I had to take a taxi, 2 trains and a ferry to get there. It was stressful and a holiday weekend - so very crowded. For the ferry, I had to appeal to the mercy of the ticket agent as it was getting toward the end of the day for ferry operations. I did not even have the name of the Hotel, Trying to cover their - well, bases - Explore sent me the final documents 5 days into the trip on May 3rd. The date on the email for the documents was left off. Everyone else received the documents 3 weeks prior to the trip. Had I received them when I was supposed to have, I wouldn't have started my trip in such a horrific manner.

I have been a regular traveller with Explore for many years and have usually experienced magical times. Sadly, however, it would seem that things have gone downhill quite drastically. In brief, I went on the Malaysia and Singapore holiday in Jan 23 and: 1) The holiday was overbooked. 2) There was no introductory meeting so we could introduce ourselves. 3) Another day or two in Singapore would be better. One day is simply not enough time. 3) Our itinerary, throughout the holiday, was different to that of the tour guide's. This led to a lot of confusion and made it difficult to organise any 'free time' (as it turned out not to be free sometimes). - Meals advertised as included weren't and there were a lot of group lunches that were included, that weren't detailed on our itinerary. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just not what was expected. - The homestay was on a different day, as was the train journey. 4) Other activities, such as helping prepare a meal and some of the optional extras, such as kayaking simply didn't happen. 5) Walking tours expanded from 2 hours to 4.5 hours, with no scheduled toilet breaks or refreshment stops. This in 32°C and high humidity is really not acceptable. 6) An optional excursion including a visit to a fish farm turned out to be quite distressing - some very large fish in extremely small tanks - definitely not an ethical wild life trip that I would expect from Explore. 7) The guides's itinerary was ridiculous at times and one day we went straight from breakfast to a feast at a local home and then straight on to lunch. 8) Explore invited me to send a trip review, which I did, but to date I have received no response apart from an automated acknowledgement, which is concerning and unprofessional. I think that Explore is in danger of losing a lot of repeat custom if this continues. I will be submitting this exact same review to Feefo, but I understand they only publish the 'good stuff'.... Thank you Explore for your response. I have checked my emails (and my Spam folder) and I have not received any reply from you on 22nd March (or any other date for that matter). Please would you kindly resend? Another lady in my holiday group (called Mrs B) received an email from you on 22nd - maybe you are getting us mixed up or think that we're the same person? I look forward to hearing from you.

We have used Explore eight times now and up until recently have been very positive in our feedback. This year after our trip to Singapore and Malaysia which had some issues that needed addressing, we got in touch with customer service. This was the first time the trip had run and there were many “teething problems”. Fortunately the travellers on the trip were a pleasant and tolerant group who when the itinerary went haywire decided to “go with the flow” and not let it spoil the holiday. We were particularly concerned that we were abandoned to the care of a local tour guide for the last three days of the trip rather than an experienced tour Leader. As a group we were able to stay in touch after the trip and compare notes as we had created a Whatsapp group. Some travellers got in touch with Explore to raise concerns and make suggestions. The response was not what we expected. Explore customer services, after a month, came back with a generic response basically suggesting that we had been insufficiently flexible. If we were to travel with them again we should pay more attention to the terms and conditions. The tone of the response was dismissive and suggested that we had as a group been inconsistent in our concerns. All we were hoping for was an acknowledgment that there had been some shortcomings with this trip, a genuine apology and assurance that the issues would be addressed. We would have accepted this and stayed with Explore for future trips. However, because of their attitude, we will be using a different company next time we travel. We were asked for feedback but the only part which was printed was in response to the question about highlights of the trip, therefore ensuring a positive Feefo review. We have requested that the review be taken down as it does not an accurately reflect our opinions. UPDATE - my Feefo review has not yet been removed from the Explore website as requested.