This review is being sent on behalf of the group that travelled to Spain from 9th-19th May with WOW. All members of the group have seen this and approved the content.
We feel cheated with respect to the 1) itinerary, 2) food, 3) transport 4) WOW buddy 5) accommodation. Given below pointwise are the details.
Itinerary
We should get what we paid for, how can you change the programme and send us a revised programme after we have paid? What we paid for was not delivered. There was no local guide escorting the group in Spain and the wow buddy spoke no Spanish and was clueless and disinterested. Some of us did not even realize the final itinerary had changes as compared to the original. No version numbers or details to inform us about deletions/additions. Serious lapse after we had paid.
When places and monuments are mentioned on the itinerary we expect we are seeing all this from the inside not drive by and be told if you want to see it from the inside you come back and pay for it or come when it is free? NO EFFORT was made to get us tickets into the Alhambra, WHY GO TO SPAIN? It’s like going to Agra and not seeing the TAJ. No effort was made to take the group to see Alhambra gardens and other monuments for which tickets were easily available, (except for Red Palace, which has limited tickets) even though a message regarding this had been sent to the wow buddy. The price included in the costing should be refunded.
Problems started on our first day, when we reached Prado Museum and were asked to stand in a Queue in the rain, cold and wind from 4.30 to 6 pm to get free entry, so we bought our own tickets as the wow buddy refused to pay. In Madrid we were not taken to see the Palace, and a few of us who saw it had to get back to the hotel on our own. How are we to judge from your itinerary, what we were entitled to see, and what is free? ALL entry tickets bought by us should be refunded
In Toledo we were asked to pay for Cathedral entry as local guide said price was not included.
In Córdoba the guide was to take us to see the gardens of houses that are opened up, but she left after the mosque so we had to miss that, because we had no time to find the Houses that she had pointed out on a rushed walk through the Jewish area.
In Seville too we did not see the palace. The departure from Seville was not timed properly. With the result that we reached late for the wine tasting, and were not able to see the vineyards or the process, or even enjoy a leisurely tasting. She had another group visiting so we had to leave.
The prehistoric caves we were to visit in Nerja, as per our itinerary, were not in the schedule given to the wow buddy so we were not taken there.
We reached Granada well before check in time and it was a Sunday. We could have easily been taken to the Nerja caves en route to Granada. This was in the original plan but not adhered to. The day at Granada was now’free’ However considering that it was a Sunday all shops were closed and hence most of the day was wasted.
Some of us rushed to the Alhambra to check on tickets etc., as by then we had discovered that no arrangement had been made to visit. On the second day, we had to check out early and most of us had to wait in the lobby since there was no plan to do anything.
Food
Did you sell us a vegetarian tour? Spain is a sea food delight. To get sautéed mushrooms and Vegetarian Paella is not what we paid for and that to just three meals on the tour? Food was inedible, even for the vegetarians. We got two extra meals, one worse than the other as compensation. Compensation for what? Can an inedible meal compensate?
When we were asked to fill in our meal preference before the trip, what was the point if we were all to get only Veg? We are sure you would understand that sampling the local flavours of the place visited is one of the most interesting aspects on a holiday trip. So why were the Non vegetarians, who incidentally were 50% on the trip subjected to only veg salads etc? No imagination was used to plan the meals. Plenty of vegetarian Tapas platters are available and many of us had those when we ate on our own.
We were constantly told by the wow buddy that in Spain they either serve all vegetarian or all non veg meals. This was an absolute lie. In Granada, they had no problem giving us both veg. and nonveg. meals. The problem was that wow had paid for only vegetarian meals, as per an email we were shown. On making a huge fuss we got nonveg dinner.
The farewell dinner ended up being a big surprise where we did not have to fight for food and got a variety. Both veg and nonveg.
Transport
Initially there was a mix up on our internal tickets, as the earlier itinerary had 18th morning flight given. Confusion could have been avoided by incorporating the price into your quote. As a result some of us had to pay for our suitcase at an added cost.
In Granada our airport pickup came one hour late, so many took taxis and had to pay between 20/25 € per cab, this should be refunded. The bus that was with us from Madrid went back to Madrid from Granada, so even that continuity was lost. We knew the way things were going that if we missed the flight we would be in a mess as wow would have done nothing and our tickets were not refundable.
On reaching Barcelona after midnight we were made to wait at the airport for over an hour as the buddy was unable to locate the bus and the driver. Finally after waking up someone in Portugal she was told the bus has been at the bus bay and she had the wrong number. The stress and mental torture caused by this needs to be compensated.
WOW Buddy
Not interested At all in the group or her duties.
Not interested right from departure in Bangalore when others on the flight tried to contact her, no response to the day we left it was the same. She had never been to Spain and had no idea of what should be done, SHE WAS ON HER OWN HOLIDAY. WHY an Indian who knows nothing, why not a local guide who knows the area, language and the ropes.
Why did we get local guides for just two hours at a time? they always seemed to be in a hurry to get to their next assignment. And gave us a drive by tour, this is this; this is that if you want to see it come back and get your tickets or come back when it is free! This made us go around in circles and waste precious time, and not see many areas like the open houses and their gardens in Cordoba.
Thanks to no effort of our buddy but a few from the group who went and stood in line at 5.30 am they managed to get 6 tickets to see the Red Palace. Our guide did not lift a finger or bother to take the rest of the group to see the Alhambra gardens and remaining monuments, apart from the Red Palace.
Our buddy made no effort to check on the menu or change it to NV, giving us some bull about they do not understand the concept of some being VEJ and some NV, ever heard of that?
Accommodation
This we must admit was the only saving grace, good and centrally located till we reached Barcelona. This was in the Boon dogs! 6/7 metro stops away from the centre.
You owe us a response, refund and apology for this waste of time; a few of us are on the wrong side of 60 and may not be able to return to see things we wanted to.
You have such a wonderful concept but obviously not interested. And then you go and delete what we posted on your page about the trip and did not bother to reply to our personal mail and messages to you. No traveller got any response from wow Delhi or you during the trip to comfort us or let us know something was being done about our issues, despite various attempts from us in Spain. We were left to our own devices. We aren’t cribbers or too demanding and can understand minor hiccups but this was way beyond that. no one likes to complain or be unhappy or have to do planning on our own if we have gone thru an accomplished professional tour operator. This shows you do not have good intentions, and are certainly not customer focussed.
We would like WOW to refund us the extra costs we had to bear and also compensate us for the mental torture and stress that was caused on a holiday we were all looking forward to and paid a lot for.
We are restraining ourselves from writing on social media till we know what your response is.
The Spain travellers