Cape Town – Poorly Structured Tour with LG Tours

Cape Town – Poorly Structured Tour with LG Tours

Tour organisers from Durban – Vani *** and Lazarus ***

My family of 4 (3 adults and a child) embarked on a bus trip from Pietermaritzburg to Cape Town on 27 December 2019 at approximately 10:45 and returned on 3 January 2020 at 04:00 We had approximately 53 passengers on board the bus. First problem we encountered is that we unable to obtain an itinerary from the organisers – this was to provide us with an idea of the journey and obviously not cast in stone. Next we were informed that we could not use the toilet onboard as this would cause a stink on the bus – instead the bus would stop every two hours at a suitable stop in order to purchase food, use the toilets or refuel the bus. These stops caused many delays as people do not respect another person’s time. Why can’t the bus sludge be removed timeously? We arrived in Cape Town on Saturday, 28 December 2019 at approximately 10:45 to be informed that we were early and could not check into our lodgings until 14:00. We were then taken to Seal Island where Vani requested that we pay her cash of R110.00 per adult in order to view the seals. I protested and told Vani this is unprofessional as many of us, for safety reasons, did not carry much cash and opted to pay using our debit card but this did not happen. After the ride many travellers complained to Vani as the boat next to where we boarded cost R85.00 per adult instead of R110.00. Before we went to our lodging we were taken to a small shopping mall at 12:30 in order to buy our necessities but at no point was it communicated to us that we need to buy supper so early and where would you store your food as we found out later our lodging had a bar fridge which was mostly filled with alcohol. We arrived at our lodge at approximately 13:05 and Vani arranged for us to wait around the poolside whilst our rooms were being finalised. At 14:05 our rooms were not ready and after numerous complaints we managed to get our rooms. We then read the lodge rules and was not allowed to order supper at 14:05 as the kitchen closed at 14:00 and the manager informed us that it was the duty of the organisers to inform us about this. We had to order supper externally and pay delivery charges. On the morning of 29 December 2019, we were taken to Table Mountain as the weather was behaving – I booked our tickets online after confirmation by our organisers in order to avoid the long queues at the pay point. We waited for approximately 45 minutes in the queue until one of the staff at Table Mountain announced that tickets were sold out. Vani phoned us and instructed us to come back to the bus – we queried whether she is going to refund us for the cost incurred and she said she would bring us back to Table Mountain. When back at the bus Vani phones Table Mountain call centre and a lady came to the bus and promises that the visitors can book online with her help. We were then instructed by Vani to re-join the queue. Initially we were approximately 45 minutes from boarding the cable car and now we were sent to the back of the line which was approximately 3.5 hours from boarding the cable car. After joining the queue and standing in the sun for 10 minutes, Vani sends one of our fellow commuters to tell us that we must return to the bus again as the other commuters cannot buy tickets online. Our tour operators claim that they have been operating these tours for 17 years BUT cannot advise their commuters to book online knowing full well that tickets sell out very early. On the 31 December 2019, we left our lodge at 08:00 and retuned at 02:12 the next morning as we went to Robben Island, visited the V & A Waterfront and waited for the firework show which started at midnight. Vani said we would be back by at our Lodge by 01:00 as long as we were waiting at our bus by 11:45 that evening otherwise she would leave behind any stragglers. Vani promised that we would leave to Table Mountain on the 1 January 2020 at 05:30 and requested that I wake the driver at 04:00. I acknowledged I would. We had over an hour delay in reaching our lodge and our driver got lost s well so I messaged Vani and advised her that I would not be able to meet the bus at 05:30. I only went to sleep at 04:00 after all the drama and having a bath. At approximately 12:35 on the way back at from V & A Waterfront, Lazarus had the microphone on and the entire bus could hear him swear someone at the front and telling the person he must not touch the bus otherwise he will come out and “f**k the person up”. There are a number of kids on the bus however, Lazarus did not consider this. On the 1 January 2020, at 09:00 Lazarus arranged for an Uber to fetch us from the lodge and take us to Table Mountain. Lazarus asked me to pay the R375.00 and he would sort this out when we met the next day as we did not see both Vani and Lazarus for the 1 January 2020 after we came back from V & A Waterfront. Lazarus said I would have to pay at least one taxi fare and I told him I would not as Vani was at fault when we had our ticket and was in line to board the cable car and she called us back. Lazarus told me that the bus would wait for us till 13:30 at Table Mountain as other commuters had went up to the mountain earlier. We messaged Lazarus whilst we were waiting for the cable car to descend the mountain. We came down the mountain before 13:30 and we called Lazarus as the bus was not there. Lazarus told me to catch a taxi from Table Mountain to Canal Walk which we did at a cost of R300.00. At Canal Walk we were instructed to liaise with one of the commuters as our tour organises were not available. On the 2 January 2020 I gave the R300.00 receipt for the taxi to Lazarus and he then says he is not going to pay the entire taxi fare of R675.00 (R375.00 + R300.00). He gets Vani to message my wife and she states that they will pay the R375.00 and queries who do we think we are. They owe me R305.00. We had a verbal altercation with both Vani and Lazarus in full view of all commuters and on arrival in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, 4 January 2020 I queried payment again with Lazarus and he gave me R370.00. At Cape point we were told about the Funicular travel costs that amounted to approximately R45.00 per adult but we ended up paying R85.00 per adult – they have no intention of keeping their clients happy. We have discussed with many commuters onboard and none would support them again – I mentioned this to Lazarus during the altercation and his response was “I don’t care, there will be many other passengers” We were taken to visit the Castle of Good Hope but this place in the CBD is a haven for ********* which our operator did not warn us about – and before we boarded our bus a lady from another tour group was ******. On the 3 January 2020, we were dropped at 04:00 in Pietermaritzburg and this timing is due to Vani needing to go to work. The adverti*****t said we would be going for wine tasting, Charlies bakery and the **** carnival which we never did and was never compensated for this. Yes, the commuters opted not to go for wine tasting and the **** Carnival had been rescheduled but we were not given options of going elsewhere – instead we were rushed back so that Vani could attend work. In closing I would not advise anybody to use LG Tours whether to Cape Town, Sun City or anywhere else. You will end up very dissatisfied. We have requested their business registration number, Letter of Good Standing and a copy of the video recording on the bus but they refuse to provide this information.