"Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life,
and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence,
is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result
of your loyalty to the achievement of your values."
-- Ayn Rand --
[Not sure I agree, but it's worth thinking about.]
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and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence,
is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result
of your loyalty to the achievement of your values."
-- Ayn Rand --
[Not sure I agree, but it's worth thinking about.]
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On the trip, my roommate and I wondered about the real price of the trip. We had made payments directly to the organizer, hereinafter "Her Royal Bitchess", who refused to give out her phone number, and who ignored any emails she didn't want to answer, and who had given us the wrong start date for the trip, and didn't divulge the name of the tour company until after all payments had been made. Keep all that in mind.
After I got home, now having the tour company name and actual dates, I did some research. Roomie had said she planned to do it, but, having no job to catch up on, I beat her to it. This is the email I subsequently sent her:
L-------,I learned something from this. On future trips, 1) make it clear that changes to itineraries are one thing, shortening of the trip or changes in start date will result in a full refund, and 2) all payments will be made to the tour company, not to the organizer. If the organizer expects to be paid for her efforts, that's ok, but it should be divulged up front.
I don't know if you have checked yet, but if you go to http://www.foreign-independent-tours.com/viewtour.htm?pid=78you'll find our tour. We took the 4-star hotels one starting on 4/3, so click on the red on the left to find the 4-star rates.
The price for the 4/03/10 tour (that's us) is listed as $2099, plus any airline taxes and fees.
We paid $2760, plus the insurance premium.
I sincerely doubt that the airline taxes were $661.
Interesting.
Silk
I am debating whether or not to mention this to others on the tour. I very much want to, but I'm not sure of the social relationships among them and with Her Royal Bitchess, so I hesitate.
.
4 comments:
She'll probably invite you on the next group outing. So, research it in advance, turn her down, and go on the same trip at the same time alone and just keep bumping into them.
You could circulate the info to everyone including the organizer with the inclusion of your note: "If the organizer expects to be paid for her efforts, that's ok, but it should be divulged up front". I doubt she would dare to go on another trip if they knew the details. Why don't you try backpacking alone? You would meet alot of others on the road and you would not be stuck with anyone you did not like. Try this site: www.retiredbackpackers.com
I'd go ahead and email the info to everybody on the tour. Sounds like this lady's got it coming.
I'd love to pass along the link to the tour company listing to everyone - but not yet. We all had early agreed to share photos, that one or two cameras would be used to take group photos, for example, and then we'd share the copies. So if I raise a stink now, I might not get copies of some of the better shots held by her buddies.
I'll take my best shot after I get my best shots, so to speak.
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