Intrepid Travel receives consistently positive reviews. Customers particularly appreciate service and professional, though some mention concerns about customer service and communication.
Our tour was amazing. Houssin our guide was inspiring, passionate about his country and friendly, sensitive to the different personalities in the group. He was approachable and helped with all inquiries, no matter how small. Houssin also facilitated our dinners and different requirements. He developed a real rapport with our group. Local guides were articulate and informative.
We had a great tour with 'Seen' our Tour Leader who made everyone feel so welcome. 'Seen' continued this throughout our Trip giving us so much information on all destinations and looking after our welfare. Additionally all the Support Team worked hard to keep us safe, well feed and hydrated always with a smile. So many wonderful memories, good laughs with other Team bike members and new friendships forged. Thank you Intrepid, Dave
Having never been to Turkey previously and as a first time user of Intrepid, we had an amazing tour. We did the Turkey Encompassed tour which was led by Mali who was so knowledgable, a great tour leader and gave us a fantastic insight into the country. Being in a small group was great and so many highlights, would recommend this tour and Intrepid.
Fantastic trip, I have lifelong wonderful memories. Beautiful places, brilliant captain, a great band of fellow travellers all add up to a great week.
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I seem to have had the same horrendous experience as everyone else... I am living abroad in Australia so I booked myself on a trip a to Western Australia - one that I had always dreamed off! I booked and decided to pay in full to secure my spot (BAD MOVE) as I had the savings and was so excited to go I thought why not. This trip was cancelled at the end of March due to Covid 19. Long before the 56 days that THEY stated in THEIR booking conditions are needed to confirm you are attending and pay the remainder of the trip so they can organise it. I was told I would get 110% as a travel credit however this goes against the cancelation policy that was in place when I booked the trip. Not only is it impossible for me to ever be able to afford to fly to Australia from home in the future I am now stuck in Australia having lost my job with no financial help while they hold onto MY MONEY. I can not afford to fly home and am struggling to support myself. It is discussing how they are taking advantage of people who are at the lowest point in their lives. It has been 12 weeks back and fourth with customer service and getting no where. They say there are busy although they have no tours running until the end of the year and I am sure they are supporting their staff with the Australian job seeker allowance. I see in the other comments some people have been able to get a partial refund. HOW?!?! It has been 12 weeks and I still have not got that far?!
I booked a trip in December 2019 to depart late April 2020. They canceled on me a month before departure in March. They quoted everything from a 150% credit to a 110% credit. Then, they turned around and changed their booking conditions. Their original ToC states that if they cancel, customers receive a full refund, now they included an 'unrecoverable costs' (which is not clearly defined). It turns out that based on where customers are booking from, they have a range of refund policies: Full refund in the UK, and 'unrecoverable costs' anywhere else- which may be anywhere from 30% to 10%. Customer service is rude, and a joke. I had to initiate contact through my Attorney General's office (submit a public records request to the Washington State AG's office if you want to see how Intrepid Travel really treats people). Abhorent. I used to enjoy my tours with them, but after how they treated me, and hearing that they left the local guides out to dry during the pandemic- I'll be choosing a real ethical company in the future, not a company that pretends to be ethical.
We joined an Intrepid trip taking in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The tour was cancelled mid way through, company policy and not a govt directive. As such we were abandoned in Ho Chi Minh, left to make alternative arrangements and our planned arrangements in tatters. Intrepid have offered a coupon, fellow travellers have secured cash and for sums greater than ourselves. The coupon is insufficient to cover a rebook of the Cambodia/Thailand element of the tour at the same time in 2021.As such I just want a cash refund so I can make alternative arrangements. I have sent e mails, tried to speak to Intrepid but am told to write, which as said I have done, but no response months later. Additionally I have asked my agent Flight Centre to follow up with Intrepid but they similarly will not reply/communicate. Whilst these are challenging times the courtesy of communicating would not seem unreasonable. The two stars reflect that part of the tour we were able to enjoy which was excellent. The removal of three stars reflects the absence of customer focus by the back office. Come on Intrepid, see the bigger picture and look after your customers if you want them to return in the future. In response to reply. Thank you for responding. It is disappointing that nothing is done in months until I write on this site. If I hadn’t gone public I wonder if there would have been a response?
I went on a Galapagos cruise last February and it was truly wonderful. Of course the scenery is incredible, but Intrepid surely added to the fact that this was the trip of a lifetime. With a knowledgable guide and friendly crew that was always there for us, they made sure we never had to worry about a single thing. Currently I have no trips planned, but when the world opens back up I will definitely travel with Intrepid again. My experiences have always been great.
My first Intrepid trip was to Tasmania in Dec 2019. This was my last holiday before COVID-19 hit and I'm really grateful I was able to experience it! Tassie has an abundance of beautiful nature trails of all difficulty levels. We did a range of short 30min to 3-5 hour trails. Our group had a wide range of ages but everyone was catered for with alternative activities if needed. Accommodation throughout the trip was simple but clean. The guide was friendly and knowledgable and it was nice having someone else take care of all the things like transport, accommodation and park fees etc.
We went to Costa Rica at the beginning of March with Intrepid. Three days before the end of our trip they cancelled it and tried to get us to go back to the airport and wait for a flight to the UK. They told us the borders and airport were closing. This in fact was not true and there was no need to abandon us before the trip was due to end. Intrepid were adamant that our tour had only been 'suspended' and tried to get us to accept a voucher. When we got home we insisted on a cash refund and wouldn't accept a voucher. They tried to guilt trip us saying that the local companies in Costa Rica relied on Intrepid and we should accept the voucher. All of our group insisted on a cash refund and I think we have all received this now. However, we were given varying amounts - we for example were offered £200 less than another couple, even though we had paid more for the tour. Intrepid would not tell me how the refunds were calculated and that it was confidential information. I pointed out that the other people on the tour had told me how much they had paid and how much the refund was. I felt that they treated me unfairly. I would never use Intrepid again, rather use Exodus who have been excellent in the past.
Intrepid has done everything they could to keep our money and deny our consumer rights during the COVID-19 crisis, causing both my partner and I undue stress, when we should have been off enjoying the holiday of a lifetime! Don't be guilted into accepting 110% in credit that you may never be able to use. You are entitled to a refund under their booking conditions, less unrecoverable costs (which I will touch on soon). It's disgusting that they have since 'updated' these conditions and are attempting to pull the wool over unsuspecting people's eyes by retroactively applying them (which the ACCC should be taking them to town for!) We're now at the stage where Intrepid have offered us a refund, minus 15% in 'unrecoverable costs'. Given that Intrepid cancelled our tour over 2 months before it was due to commence, we asked them to itemize these costs, explaining why each item was unrecoverable. They would not do this. This is the latest advice we got from the ACCC: "Your rights: itemised bill for services You can ask a service provider for an itemised bill or account for up to 30 days after receiving the bill. The service provider must give you an itemised bill within seven days of you asking for it. The service provider cannot charge you for providing an itemised bill. An itemised bill must show: • how the price was worked out • the number of labour hours and hourly rate (if relevant) • a list of materials used and the amount charged for them (if relevant)." I hope this helps those of you in the same boat. UPDATE: Please see Intrepid's stock standard response below, which doesn't actually address the illegal practices they have been using to deny consumer's their rights and keep their money. In the end, my partner and I agreed to forfeit our deposit in lieu of them failing to provide an itemised list of unrecoverable costs (which they again refused to provide). We've simply had enough stress dealing with them, and decided it wasn't worth pursuing any further. Unfortunately I think that's exactly what Intrepid were counting on. I hope it was worth the bad publicity!
I have received all but my deposit of $400 back - with the help of FlightCentre NZ and Visa. This was to be my fourth trip with Intrepid, and I paid nearly $7000 in September 2019 . A $400 deposit was due with the booking and the balance was to be paid 56 days before departure. The trip was scheduled for July 2020 and I cancelled 104 days before the trip was to begin. At first, I was told they had changed their conditions (hello Intrepid, we had a contract), and I no longer had the right to cancel and get a refund. Instead they would keep my money as a credit to travel with them sometime in the future. Then with pressure from reviews, their conditions changed again,and I could rely on the conditions of my original booking. But they had by then cancelled the trip and were going to charge $1000 to cover costs. ( Remember that only $400 was due when I cancelled my booking.) I was about to take the company to the disputes tribunal here in NZ, where they would have to stop all this mumbo jumbo and behave according to NZ law. I suggest you all do the same if you are getting nowhere- and never pay more than necessary in advance to any company in the future- and never deal with the likes of Intrepid.
Do not trust this company!!!! Trying to get my deposit back after they cancelled the trip. It is impossible, you send email after email and you only get the same canned response. There is no way to talk to an actual person about it they just give you the song and dance about using email. According to their Terms and Conditions they will refund your deposit if they cancel the trip. Yah right good luck with that. As your can see from all the comments on here they don't follow their own Terms and conditions. This is breach of contact. An honorable company would have refunded the money right away after canceling. This is not acceptable to take peoples money and not return it when they are suppose to. This is just outright theft.
I have traveled with Intrepid 5 times to 4 different continents and they have never disappointed me! From sleeping under the stars in the Sahara Desert to polar plunging the freezing waters of Antarctica, I have loved every minute of my trips. When looking back on all my adventures during this pandemic, and talking to friends and family, my experiences have stood out from the rest because of Intrepid. The leaders, the authentic local experiences, the like-minded travelers - this is all because of Intrepid. I took the 110% travel credit as my sixth trip was canceled. I am one of many who did take it. Although I am currently temporarily unemployed, when the world opens up again, I know I will be traveling with Intrepid! Counting down the days...
