EF Educational Tours
reviews and complaints

My child recently went on a tour with EF tours to Dublin France and London. Her purse was stolen or lost at the NY airport and she did not know until she arrived in Dublin. She is only 15. She told her teacher that her purse was gone and the teacher acted as though she were lying. She had about $1000 in it along with her ID. We have yet to be notified about her purse being lost or stolen either from EF tours or her teacher. The teacher did not contact us. I was in Germany myself at the time. I did manage to get a message that the child contacted her Uncle and he contacted me. I wired her money. The teacher was notified at 7:00
AM to take her to Western Union in London. The teacher forgot to tell the tour guide. So when the child asked him if he would take her to Western Union he yelled at her and denied her request as they were too busy? She had 0 money over there on another continent and no one cared. The teacher lent her $10 for dinner one night. She had no lunch. She was afraid to complain. Her phone wasn't working. My son in law again wired her money in France. Again, the teacher or tour guide would not take her. Some friends of a friend in Europe came and took her to Western Union. She got some money on the day before they left for the US. Nobody notified the airlines of the missing bag. The teacher collected about $4000 dollars from the kids for extra tip money for the guide and bus drivers. That would be about $500 per day? Could they not have given her at least $100 of her money back that was collected for extra tips? Could EF tours have taken some action? The girl is quiet and was afraid as they yelled at her twice about it. I called EF tours and they told me to call her principal. I called the principal and she said to call EF tours. I will never recommend EF tours to anyone.

I booked a trip thru EF Tours for my son's graduation in Jan 2014. In April my son was brutally attacked and ended up being treated by both an MD and mental health professional. I had to withdraw my child from school, he had to give up his job, and was basically scared to leave our house. We notified EF Tours that we would need to cancel his trip and were told we did have the cancellation insurance and to file the claim it would be paid. Well guess what it was denied. They do not consider this a serious enough injury. Well just so happen my husband had a major heart attack the end of March. He was hospitalized and still undergoing treatment. Filed the cancellation claim based on this, denied. To top things off I was laid off from my job the first of May was actually called on Fri. morning telling me not to report to work that evening my contract had been cancelled. No fault of my own but guess what, Aetna the insurance co. ef tours has insurance thru says I was given too much notice and again claim denied. What they have done is stolen $2500 from my child. We followed all their guidelines, we met the reasons fro cancellation and still they refuse to refund our money. This company is a scam and their insurance is a scam. I advise all parents to fins another company. I am talking with all the parents I know and my son's school to let people know what crooks these people are. I wish someone would respond and try to work this out because all I get when I call is the run around. Never been offered any assistance or refunds or even credit voucher. I have contacted the Better Business Bureau and am filling complaints on both companies. I have also contacted my attorney generals office and the NC Insurance Commission both of which I will also be filling complaints. Should you want to reach me my number is [protected]. I would love for you to post how you'd like to look into this for me.
Brenda Lockamon

So sorry to read that these people had a negative experience with EF Tours. My daughter travelled to Egypt in 2012 with a group from Laredo, Texas and the experience was wonderful! Her group leader (Ricardo Aguilar) met several times with the students and their parents during the year before the trip. Questions & concerns were always addressed promptly & he made himself easily before, during, & after the trip. I'm sure not all group leaders are the same - but as for us, we got a great one. My daughter is even considering a second trip next Summer!

When a parent signs up for EF Tours, they are not given all the facts. The booklet comes via USPS some time much later.

I haven't met the tour leader at Del Norte HS in San Diego. He is busy with finals at Del Norte HS in San Diego. He didn't make EF tours website up. If he did, I am sure he and anyone else at Del Norte HS in San Diego would honor what they list on their website. Any good company does that. It is so sad that EF Tours had no mention of conditions apply when I signed up my child. Lots of bad press on here about EF tours.

EF's website has had the cancellation policy available for quite some time. And the ads for the discount always mention "conditions apply".

Your tour leader sounds inept.

I really don't agree with your decison at all. If you put on your website that you will get $150 off if you sign up before Feb 28th which I clearly did. I should get that $150 off. Any good company stands by what they have on their website. What other things do you have for other people that are stated when you read an offer? You are misleading and wrong and a bad example for a company that takes high schoolers from Del Norte in San Diego on a tour that the parents are paying much money for!

@BethOcomplaints, Again, I am sorry for the confusion. The discount you saw was for early bird enrollments on our 2012 tours. If you clicked through to read about the offer it clearly states that it is only valid for 2012 tours. We offer these discounts to travelers enrolling over a year in advance so that we can save them money by planning early. This specific discount is not being offered to anyone in your daughter’s group, as EF representatives have explained to you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to give us a call at [protected]. -Katie from EF Tours

It did not say on EF tours website when I signed up that it applies to 2012 tours. It just said $150 off if you signed up before Feb 28th. Now the website states that. I think that EF Tours should stand by what they say on their website. An honest and reliable company does that! The teacher of this trip at Del Norte HS told me to sign up with eftours and gave me their phone number and the tour number. He was right, he works for Poway Unified and not EF tours. I followed his instructions and I think that EF tours should credit me $150 and do what was on the website when I signed up. Maybe some of the complaints on this complaintsboard for EF tours is really true?

Dear aaj89,

I'm sorry to see that you are canceling your tour, and I'm disappointed to read your comments. All of our travelers agree to the Booking Conditions, including the cancellation fees, when they enroll on tour. However, we're always willing to work with our travelers when situations arise. The best option usually is to find a replacement traveler, and you should have been given the proper deadline when you called. I'd be happy to help look into your situation, if you want to message me your name and/or customer number.

Eric from EF

They do not call you back, they don't cancel and they don't refund.

I booked an educational tour with EF as part of a school sponsored trip. The tour was to go to Paris. I purchased trip insurance as part of the package. Due to the terror attacks in Paris, I cancelled the trip and was told that I would lose 50% of the cost of the trip for cancelling and that the trip insurance did not cover the terror attacks. Never again!

I agree this company is a ripoff. Their contracts are 1-sided (they win, you lose) with variable pricing. They expect you to pay for price increases (surcharges) and to pay $85 for cancellation insurance (which is not refunded) and say your price includes insurance but yet say they're not liable for any injuries. They're charging $1000 for a bus ride & 2 night stay in Chicago...they're only a 6 hr drive from here! You'd think we're traveling to Abu Dhabi. I'm sure they're laughing all the way to the bank.

EF Tours is not upfront with their ALL INCLUSIVE INSURANCE! I lost $700 due to un for seen job lost and because of things not advertised when they try to sell it to you, I lost my money. They just lost a customer.

EF Miami Beach is not a school but it is a night club.There is no control in the school.Nobody checks whether students attend the class or not.In most of the rooms students smoke cigarettes and the air condition takes that smoke to others rooms.It is not allowed to drink alchol in the school building but most of the students are drunk after midnight.I came to this school to improve my english but because of noise I could not study in my room.Students are running and screaming in the coridors and no one cares about it.There are some people in the school who makes fake id for the students under 21 and they charge 20-30 usd from teenagers.Stuff knows this because they go to club with 16-17 years old girls most of the nights.
If you want to study english never go to EF Miami Beach.

You should contact the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students: www.csfes.org.

Best of luck to you and your sons.

CSFES Volunteer