I had been a member of Somans Leisure Tours - China/HongKong Macau tour of 12th April 2025
In general, a well planned itinerary, comfortable transportation, cosy accommodation, adaptable food, and good local guides made the entire team satisfied. Our tour manager, Mr.Danish was professional, friendly and passionate. He sincerely tried to bring a good overall experience to the team, even to the extent of taking care of us like a primary school teacher. This industrious young man often helped the senior members when they felt physically uneasy. He only needs some advise to listen to the suggestions and requests(that do not affect the itinerary and timing) of the team members.
The entire team became well-knit as a family from the very first day itself, since almost everyone was easy and outgoing. So far, So good.
Now, for some unwelcome pre-tour experiences we had, and for some observations and suggestions I have to offer:
1) I regret to say that the general pre-tour communications were unsatisfactory.
Most of the times we ourselves had to call and enquire about doubts and there was no single allotted individual to talk to us about our specific tour. Only communications we received were about payment, which we obeyed dutifully.
2) A WhatsApp group was created by the company for this tour. Even at the last day of the tour, not everyone was included in it. Of the 39 members, there is one tour manager and 12 other staff members(!) with only 26 members out of 31. Excluding two minors, where are the remaining three? To start with, the group did not even include the wives. Some were included after our request. One lady member was included on the 7th day of the 9-day tour. Arent the wives entitled to be informed? This attitude, I regret to say, is highly unprofessional and deplorable, going even to the extent of being misogynistic.
Is it a tough task to prepare an XLS sheet with the details(including phone numbers) of all members and to post it in your local official network so that any staff member can access it to form a proper group, or for any other useful purpose?
3) On 31st March Monday, your staff member called me up and said that an online meeting to discuss about the tour will be held on the next day at 11.30 am. I protested saying that this is unethical and improper since everyone will be busy (the team had five doctors, and some 15 businessmen) at that time of a working day, especially after two holidays. Usually such meetings are conducted at evenings, say after 7.00 pm. The caller told me that superior officer will be contacted and I will be intimated later. Nothing happened. Next day evening, when I came to know that a meeting was conducted with a measly number of participants, I called up the number of the staff member for further enquiries. The phone was deliberately kept unanswered even after four attempts. This was a very disappointing experience to me. Please advise your staff members that a phone call coming to a business phone number on working time should always be answered.
Such dismissive and unapologetic staff members unaware of corporate manners will do no good to the company.
4) Resting on laurels is not wisdom for any establishment. It should be stressed upon the staff that customer satisfaction is the launchpad to success. No customer should be taken for granted.
This was my third tour with Somans. I will be willing to go on a fourth one, if it is ensured that more professionalism, especially in the pre-tour formalities, is brought in the future.
-Dr.V.P.Surendrababu, Thalassery
xxxxxxx@gmail.com
26th April 2025