EF Educational Tours
Reviews and Complaints

We are having similar problems with EFtours right now. Our daughter was recruited and sold this tour by her teacher. Our daughter was very hesitant because the other students were all from a school in another state, the teachers former place of employment. But the teacher reassured both our daughter and us that she would be with her every step of the tour and available 24/7 if need be. So we signed up for the trip in the fall of 2015, for a trip to Italy and Greece June 2016. Yesterday our daughter came home and told us the teacher was no longer going due to "personal issues." With the conditions of the trip now radically changed, namely the teacher who had personally assured us she would be there for our daughter no longer participating, leaving our 15 year old daughter to travel with people she has never met before, we felt we should get a refund. Come to find out that all fees are non-refundable as is 50% of the actual fee cost. EFtours are citing their rules and treating this as a cancellation even though they changed the conditions of the contract, they say that they do not deal with oral agreements, we're unsure of how a company can just say that we don't agree with parts of contract law and therefore are not bound by it. They also claim that the teacher, who was the sole soliciting and sales agent for this tour, have no affiliation to them or there company. Again that seems impossible since she solicits and recruits students for their company in return for which she receives benefits. If she acts as an agent for them they also have to be responsible for her actions.

We are in the same mess with my daughters trip. Even the teacher going as a guide has dropped out!

Did they ever response to you? I am receiving the same treatment.

This company probably makes tons of money so why even think about keeping a single penney off your daughter's money. DESPICABLE..
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This company probably makes tons of money so why even think about keeping a single penney off your daughter's money. DESPICABLE..

I went through the same thing. My Daughter invested $1500. We canceled over 6 months in advance due to an unforeseen problem. However, it didn't fall into the "house burning down" category, and they stole my child's hard-earned money. They were heartless when I tried to explain the situation to them. My Daughter got an education in big business scams.

I agree with your frustration. I too cancelled the trip for my son to France. It is unacceptable that I stand to lose in excess of $1500.00. If you do not cancel within 24 hours of enrollment, you are pretty much unable to retrieve anything or nothing. This is a complete rip-off. They have no consideration for hard-working parents. However, I am a believer and the good lord above will handle this company accordingly. KARMA is worst than any post we could have put here!

My daughter signed up for a school trip with EF. Unfortunately the trip did not have the minimum number of travelers and was cancelled. I called the company to get a refund and I was told they were keeping $274 ($95 as a deposit and another $179 for the cancellation). I did not cancel the trip yet EF will not give me a refund and will not let my apply this money toward another trip. This (based on other reviews posted) seems to be very common with this company -- BEWARE! In fact, I discovered that EF continued to take money directly from my account AFTER the school notified them that the trip was canceled. EF was told the trip was not happening yet they continued to take money directly from my account. Seems like there should be a class action lawsuit against this company for all of this stolen money.

My grand daughter and I also scheduled a tour to Europe in June of 2016. We paid for the entire trip, plus the insurance and one time $95 registration fee. When the terror attacks in Paris happened, we were concerned, then the bombing at the airport and subway in Brussels and we decided that we did not feel comfortable or safe about going. The State Department has issued an ALERT, for American traveling to Europe between March 2015 and June 2015.
I emailed EF on March 24, 2015 and told them of our concerns and asked what would happen if we were to cancel at that time we were 73 days away from the start of our trip . I got no respondS! I sent an email to our group leader who is a teacher at Eaton High School, expressing our concerns. She was still waiting to hear back from someone named Maria for EF Tours, and promised to get back with me promptly. I then called EF Tours, where I was informed, that we would only get back 50% of the tour cost, less the non-refundable insurance fee, registration fee and the extras that we were charged. We paid almost $8, 500 for this trip and they will refund us at total of $4, 295 ! I too mentioned the safety of children traveling to that region, they went on to say it was just an Alert, not a Warning ... they said it was like a tornado warning verses a tornado watch ! They told me they wouldn't send children to places that had a Warning, but that an Alert just means that travelers should be alert of their surrounding while traveling. THIS COMPANY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE WELL BEING TO THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THEIR TOURS! THEY DO NOT CARE HOW HARD THE STUDENTS OR THEIR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS WORK TO EARN MONEY FOR THESE TOURS, ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IT THE ALMIGHTY $$$$$. Perhaps it time someone starts a Class Action Suit against EF Tours. With the current situation in Europe and the threats for more bombings from ISIS, who would want to have their child in that region of the world!

My daughter was booked for March 2016, but after reading more on Costa Rica and the travel alert that came out March 2015, we decided not to send our daughter and cancel. We are the first of 4 families to cancel but kicker is, we were all told by guide teacher that we can cancel at anytime and receive all but our $95 registration fee. So we call eftours and to our surprise, with over 100 days left before travel, we were being charged $750 cancellation fee. The $95, the $155 insurance, and $500 cancellation fee. So we immediately call our guide teacher who once again says, "that's not right, you gonna get a full refund minus the $95." She calls who she booked trip with, EF tour rep Lindsey, and calls us back and breaks the bad news. Yeah, with over a 100 days before trip, we will lose $750 of the $1300 we paid. So that was yesterday. Today we get a call from eftours rep Leo, asking us if we wanna cancel because if we wait another 4 days, we lose all $1300. Lesson learned about EF tour companies, and guides.

I had a similar situation. My daughter enrolled to go to Italy June 2016. We paid the initial $250, which included a non-refundable $95 booking fee and the $155 travel insurance fee which was required. I signed up for the flexible payment plan option which came with no stipulations when we signed up online. I then receive a statement for another $500 and s $95 late fee. I called the 800 number and a gentleman told me that he would waive the $95 late fee, but that I needed to pay the $500 in two days. Reluctantly, I made the payment. Three weeks later my daughter started getting very nervous to travel abroad and told me to cancel. Again, I called the 800 number and the lady told me that I lost the original $250, which I understand, but she was also going to keep another $300 for canceling. Becoming furious, I asked her to show me proof my daughter actually had plane and hotel reservations booked, and she couldn't verify anything. She just assured me they put in a lot of hours of work on her reservation. Now I know why they pushed me to pay the additional $500 because right then, that covered the $300 cancellation fee that they will never return. There are stories of successful trips, but once they get your money they want to keep it all no matter what. I'm sure I am not the only parent whose teen at first thinks international travel is a great idea, and then becomes afraid of actually leaving the country. They count on this and make no provisions for this type of occurrence.

Yes, EF charges a cancellation fee. All the other companies do, as far as I know. You also lose the $95 enrollment fee, which is nonrefundable from the moment you enroll. But all of these terms are clearly spelled out in the Enrollment Handbook your son/daughter should bring home, and it's all clearly set forth on the EF Tours website when you enroll. If you or the teacher are able to find a student to serve as a replacement, you are not charged the $250 cancellation fee. As always, it's important to read the terms of any agreement if you're entering into a financial relationship with a company.

I just returned from a 8 day Costa Rica tour and had the worse experience of my life! The accommodations and meals were disgusting! We went to park after park because they were free. In the hotels, there were roaches, ants, animal feces, and cold water. The food was minimal and the choices were non-existent. For example, we were offered spaghetti with two toppings. No fruit, no vegetables, no bread. The server made fun of an overweight boy who asked for another helping. The tour guide offered "additional" excursions like a "walk to town" for $20 each. He also brought in his friend to teach us salsa dancing and told us we needed to pay his friend. I have lived in Turkey and taken 6 trips to underdeveloped countries. This was unreal. EF Tours is a BUSINESS! They are in the business of maximizing profits and minimizing costs. I saw it every single day that I was on that trip with my son, niece, and nephew. I will NEVER use them again and will tell everyone to research and choose a better tour company. I could go on an on about the trip, but feel that there is no need.

I'm not sure how recently you took this tour with EF but I have been taking tours for many years with my students and have never experienced anything like what you have mentioned. It seems that you may not have informed your tour director about your concerns so that your representatives could help you solve these problems, or you may be fabricating the depth of what you experienced. This is a company that caters to middle and high school students, and I'm confident in saying that you did not prepare yourself or your group well enough for the intricacies involved with traveling internationally. If this is your first time out of the country I would understand slightly, but if you have ever traveled before you should be aware of the need to go with the flow in the event that every mode of transport does not arrive on time.

My daughter is having the same experience! So disappointing! Tour group leaders go for free so they evidently don't care about a quality experience- ever! I love Paris, so I knew when this thing published the itinerary, the highlight would be the walking tour of Pigalle! Getting pics on FaceTime in real time. Absolutely despicable for the inexperienced or first-timers. Go to disney-Paris and move on to areas so isolated, they can't ruin it...unless u have issues with spending 1/3 of your vacation in an uncomfortable bus with kids who don't bathe? Ugh!

Hi Eric -

The original quote that you were provided with of $3, 146 is the correct price for the 13 day tour to Germany, Italy and Switzerland with Kristen Mackenzie. I sincerely apologize for the frustration you have experienced by being affected by the unfortunate system glitch we experienced last week. As Jean-Paul in our Customer Service Department explained, the issue that we experienced with our pricing system caused the total charges of your account to temporarily show as $2, 576 ($570 less than the total charges for Kristen Mackenzie’s tour). Once identified, this mistake was quickly fixed and your account immediately updated with the correct pricing. All individuals enrolling in this tour are subject to the current cost of $3, 146, therefore, while I understand your frustration with this temporary system issue, unfortunately we cannot offer you the $570 discount that you are requesting.

However, in an effort to keep your good faith with our company, I have increased your daughters Repeat Traveler discount to $100. I understand that this is not the resolution you have requested, but I hope that this gesture will reassure your confidence in our company. Please contact our Customer Service Department with any additional concerns or questions. -Katie from EF Tours

We paid in full and were sold a cancellation insurance policy for my son's trip through EF Explore who canceled the trips twice despite other people still traveling during this time. 2 years later my son no longer attends the school and EF only wants to offer a voucher for the full amount. They refunded all but $350 and told me directly that I would need to file a claim for all but the registration I paid them from Seven Corners and the policy amount for trip insurance for the $150. I filed a claim in early October. On October 20 I finally received a response they needed more information which was sent immediately. I did not get a response until I reached out on their Facebook post about their family game room with a ping pong table in mid January. They said Covid made things busy to promptly respond to claims (I think ping pong was the culprit) and they promptly denied they claim as fast as they took my money stating that the child no longer at the school qualified as a cancellation covered. They did not respond for months and when a review was left they responded with a denied claim and money not refunded is for work that we never received the benefits from. What I was told by EF was not what was sold to me. Between the coordinated effort between the two companies, they make the process as difficult as possible so you will give up. Do not use this company and save your money on the insurance.

I received the standard response back to a review requesting I send my info so they can explain the policy. They are ignoring that I was told one thing was covered when it is not. Both companies have received money for "work" and I have received ZERO benefit from it. We did not cancel the trip and this whole thing feels like a scam the Attorney General should review.

I have had a terrible experience with both Seven Corners and EF Tours. I have received the standard response for you to provide information for review and have already done that. I have already done that a couple of times and I will NOT be doing it again. I was sold a policy that was useless. We didn't cancel the trip. I will not be using either EF Tours or Seven Corners ever again.

This company is a RIP-OFF. My daughter's trip was cancelled to Puerto Rico, due to the situation going on. They are refusing to refund all of the money, they are keeping $750.00 dollars. Some parents and I, paid the insurance in which I don't mind losing but why keep $750.00 dollars. It's disgusting. I just read there's a Class Action Suit against this company. How can I get more information? Thank you.

Has anyone had any success via the legal arena against this company? Looking at small claims court need to know where to have them served. Thanks

Has anyone had any suggest via the legal arena against this company? Small claims court? Attorney Generals? Please let me know.

My Daughter worked hard and saved her own money, had $1500 already invested in the company. Due to an issue with our immigration, she was unable to go. We let them know way in advance. In spite of this, they only returned $200 of my daughter's money. She had an educational tour in how big business can freely rip you off, and feel nothing in doing so. I tried to talk to them, explain that my child was already broken-hearted for missing the event, begging them to at least give her back half of her money. They claimed the tickets for the plane were already purchased, but would not tell me what airline. We found out they had not purchased the tickets yet. Do NOT get taken in by these people. Save your cash and just take your child on an educational trip.

I will add my name to the list of scammed families by EF Tours. We booked our daughter's trip to Italy through EF Tours in November. The tour leader, teacher who seems to be disorganized at best, sent an email in January that they would need to get additional students to go or the price would go up. We said what happens if we are unwilling to pay additional cost? He said not to worry, we would surely get the students. Then just a few weeks ago we were sent an email with the "opportunity" to switch to a different tour with additional days for less money except different dates which our daughter was unavailable. We emailed the tour leader to tell him this. He changed to that tour anyway with EF Tours. When we called to tell them we had to cancel since the dates changed, we were told we still had to pay the cancellation fee because the tour leader is allowed to change the dates at will. We feel defrauded. We have traveled extensively and have never experienced a tour company with such unscrupulous ethics. We have filed a complaint with the BBB. I wish I had found this page before we booked this trip for our daughter, it would have saved us a ton of money and aggravation.. Do Not Use EF Tours!

I have traveled with EF Tours years ago and absolutely loved my trip to Egypt. Back in January my husband and I booked the Grand Tour of Ireland trip for this July. I can do nothing, but rave about EF tours customer service and how helpful they were, along with how amazing my past experience had been with them. Due to an unforeseen circumstance we had to cancel our trip. We were really disappointed and were looking forward to traveling with Ef tours in the future, however based upon the travel protection that is provided by Seven Corners we will no longer travel with EF Tours. We bought travel protection for nothing! The travel agency will not refund what we paid for the trip even though it is listed under what it "protects" you from. I am very disappointed, as I spoke very highly of Ef Tours and have recommended it to many people. Now our opinions have changed and that's a shame.

My son was schedule to go to Italy, Greece and France for his senior class trip and needless to say we feel it isn't safe for him to go anymore. I called today to cancel his trip and see about getting a refund for the money we've already invested (we used their payment plan) and they are penalizing us almost $1000! This company is excellent at scamming you out of your money and nothing else!

There seem to be a myriad or complaints on this forum about EF Tours. What many travelers do not realize is that the majority of the money you pay is for the flight. Flights to Europe are not cheap. Also, this is one of the cheapest companies to travel with to Europe. I took a trip last summer. There was a delay, but the company provided us with a hotel, breakfast, and transportation. We even got a $250 travel voucher from the airline. The meal were good and breakfast was always a buffet, unless we were traveling early to a different country. These trips are not designed for four star travel. You will pay much more for that kind of service in Europe. These trips are designed to be a gateway for travel. Once you become comfortable with travel abroad, pay more and go on your own. There are a number of travel companies who cater to traveling families and adults. These trips are for high school students and poor college students. You get what you pay for.

This tour company is a RIP　OFF ! Im going on the Europe tour and they originally said it was 3, 700 dollars and so i originally thought, okay not the worst they could charge us for but then the economic situation in Europe happened. 1 dollar US dollars used to convert to about .70 euros BUT NOW ONE DOLLAR IS EQUAL TO 0.97 EUROS AND YET THE TRIP IS STILL 3700! AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT MY HISTORY TEACHER IS COLLECTING AN EXTRA 200 DOLLARS TO PAY FOR "TIPS". 4000 DOLLARS FOR CRAPPY 2-3 STAR HOTELS, SUB PAR FOOD, AND THE TRIP IS SO RUSHED I CANT ENJOY ANYTHING! IF THATS NOT A RIP OFF I DONT KNOW WHAT IS! I ACTUALLY CALCULATED ALL THE THINGS THEY ARE PAYING FOR, AND GUESS WHAT, BASED ON WHAT THEY SAID THEY ARE GOING TO "GIVE " US IT WOULD ONLY COST 2, 132 DOLLARS. HOW MUCH ARE THEY SCAMMING OFF OF US. ALSO ALL THE PLACES THEY ARE GOING TO PAY FOR GUESS WHAT, IT FREE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 18. IM REALLY DISSAPOINTED AT EF TOURS

I completely agree with the hidden fees complaint and am planning to report EF tours to better business organizations myself. Hidden fees; unexplained increases due to ‘departure fees’ without any supporting evidence form the airlines; evasive, non-committal customer service; fees to change my childes name; ‘late payment’ fees posted BEFORE a late payment e-mail is sent; website updates not functioning… I am very disappointed with the entire experience as a parent. All about misrepresenting services and charging hidden unexplained (or vaguely explained and fees).

Hi there, I completely understand why you're upset. The price of fuel has continued to increase dramatically over recent weeks and is now approaching record highs. We cannot lock-in departure fees until 30 days before you leave for your tour. The airlines have just informed us that they are once again passing these additional charges on to travelers through increased departure fees. EF does not profit from these fees, and in the event that we experience a decrease in departure fees from the airlines, we will refund our travelers. If you have any other concerns, please reach out to our customer service department 800.665.5364. -Katie from EF Tours

Scam artists extorted $12K from our family please beware!

All parents must aware of EF cancellation policy is the worst I ever encountered and DO NOT let your kids go with them even school special education tour program. They will find a way not to give full refund even they cancelled the trip. They are excellent in business at all level to lure schools or educational institutes in their so called best in class tour programs and hold different non-refundable fees in their policy from the parents hard earn money. Do you get it, we are as a parent does not have a choice which tour agency best fit and no competition in pricing?
I believed I don't (or anyone) have any issue with their cancellation policy if the tour when as planned until COVID-19. My kid Germany trip was original scheduled in summer 2020 and rescheduled for summer 2021 if anyone not able to make for 2021 EF will give voucher for any trip within EF or suffered $500 cancellation fees. Now April 2021, we are informed the Germany trip is cancelled and our option is voucher or $350 cancellation fees. EF is multi-millions dollars company and due to COVID-19 government provided aids from taxes payers to support the tour industry to keep them afloat. Does it make sense we have to pay $350 for them to cancel the trip? (I agree to pay the fee if I need to cancel the trip due to personal reason and I know what I signed up.) They will response no fees if you use voucher for other trip and cancellation fees stated in the policy - oh wait they have changed from $500 to $350 of the cancellation fees due to COVID-19 impact. We signed up the trip that go with specific group tour with her friends and teachers but their policy force you with no other option with cancellation fees. This is worst business model and practice to rip off consumers even their goal to drive lower cost tour for the students that is BS in my opinion. I hope no school and education institutes no longer used their services and parents DO NOT support EF period. I paid $350 for this lesson learned and others may suffered lost more then me. No one will fight for each of us with different cancellation fees against multi-millions company. No platforms or media to expose EF business model and their cancellation policy, many parents spending money and time to deal this ordeal. I am mentally exhausted dealing with them on top of day work. Good luck and stay healthy.

I booked tour in October 2019 for Europe 2021. Everything was fine the pandemic hit. I had 29 travelers. Down to 25. I’m the group leader. My charges were supposed to be zero. About two weeks ago in early June 2020, my charges changed to $2050. Just one day, it changed. No heads up, no justification, no nothing. I’m the only one that changed. No one else. Was supposedly to be free. I still have 25 travelers scheduled. They said If we
Cancel, each person will be charged $560 cancellation fee. We tried to changed to a domestic. Itinerary, domestic, they charging way more than a 10 day Europe trip for a 8 day Hawaii trip. The only thing the will do is give a two year travel voucher for money already paid. For two years to use and must be with EF Tours. Or we can extend our current tour to 2022 and not lose anything. But still, issue with the sudden charge of $2050 again my account. I will seek legal counsel, contact newspapers and Today Show for national coverage and call my legal aid attorney for guides. I also plan to call state corporation commission to file complaint. I’m not paying $2050 or any fees when I was supposed to be free.

My sons trip was cancelled due to corona virus in Italy. Same experience, no refunds even though the school cancelled the trip. Will be plastering this experience far and wide in facebook groups all over central Florida.

I agree with y'all. I got back from a tour last week and there were two incidents in Germany and one in France. I was going to post a review on EF Tours' we site and in the information it severely limits what can be posted. I went to fill out the forms to be reimbursed for medical and it specifically asks about my health insurance and have I submitted to them first? That is why I paid for this insurance. I had a crazy notion that if I paid $155 insurance I would be taken care of in case of an emergency. The tour we were supposed to go on changed and the only heads up I got was from the group leader. Also the departure date changed. They try to get as big a group as possible. I agree on the tipping. These guys were doing their job. Our bus driver did go out of his way to help and I had planned to tip him well anyway. He almost lost the big tip by talking about how both he and his wife have to work because of the economy. I know people working three jobs to make ends meet, so that was a turn off. I let him know America is not any different. I later found out from one of our group members that the tour guide said he really doesn't like doing tours of Europe since lives there and has seen it all. Really?! Here's the review I didn't get to post:
I'm writing this from the perspective of Murphy's Law - what can go wrong will go wrong. We arrived at the Vienna airport to no tour guide. He was a block and a half away waiting with the bus. Nobody was there to greet us or the other groups arriving for the tour. After traveling all day we did not get a chance for a restroom break, it was off sight seeing, only we did not get to actually see the inside of things it was all, here is this building, there is that building and a few miles down the road here is our meeting point and you have all of this free time and can go back and see what you just passed or shop at all of these lovely stores. The majority of free time was centered on a tourist shopping district. That night I asked what the usual vegetarian meal was because the tour guide said this was his sixth same tour this summer. He informed me it would be vegetables and noodles each dinner. I let him know this wouldn't work. Would anyone besides a toddler want to eat the same meal each day? They did have a variety of dinners for the vegetarians, but they usually arrived after all of the other meals because they forgot to make them. They actually provided protein in the form of a little cheese with one of the dinners, but other than that they were very nutritionally deficient. One of the meals was two spears of broccoli and two spears of cauliflower that had been boiled to death and mounds of dry overcooked rice. The meat dishes included no vegetables that I ever noticed, other than the time they had spaghetti. Tomato sauce is a vegetable...

Don't think that just because something is listed as a point on the tour you will actually see and visit it. Due to traffic we missed several stops along the tour and there was one place I was looking forward to visiting that the guide decided was not worth visiting and took the group somewhere else.

Reconsider if you have mobility issues or other problems. I had ankle surgery last year and have just started getting around again. As a former 5ker and someone who has trained for a 10k I thought I would have no problems and I didn't after I got over the initial jet lag. But I was slower than the rest and after I got sick I would have to get started before everyone else when possible just to "keep up".

Let's talk getting sick on this tour. About 4-5 days in I started having the sniffles and noticed I was having trouble catching my breath. I told the tour guide constantly that when he took us on the long walks I felt like I couldn't breathe because we walked without pause at a fast pace. On the next to last night of the tour I felt so bad I called my insurance's nurse in the middle of the night to see if there was something I could do. She wanted me to go to a hospital or barring that see a doctor first thing in the morning. I let our guide know I wanted to see a doctor and his first inclination was can this wait. He finally found me a doctor that would see me at 3:00 on the tour - rather than finding me a doctor that was near the hotel. I was led to the doctor's office and dropped off while everyone enjoyed their free time. Then after getting the diagnosis of bacterial bronchitis and sinusitis and a blood pressure of 210/120 I was told to go get the medicines and take the blood pressure medicine right away. The pharmacy in the square did not have the blood pressure medicine and the guide wanted me to wait until the next day to get the medicine at the airport the next day. I had to get the group leader to express to him the urgency of me getting the new blood pressure medicine before he would agree to try to find a pharmacy that had it. That night I went by myself in a cab with a cab driver that spoke no English, only Turkish and German for the 15 mile trip to the pharmacy. Imagine my surprise when we did not immediately come back to the hotel but stopped back at his house to drop of the medicine he picked up for his wife. Anything could have been going on and I would have no idea. I have the insurance coverage, but guess what I had no way of getting a receipt from the cab driver for the 60 euro cab ride. Nothing is paid in advance by the Global insurance, you get reimbursed for what you have receipts for. I have seen the forms but haven't filled them out yet. They are unnecessarily long and ask questions such as have you made a claim under your own insurance yet which makes me think they won't pay anyway. All in all I spent about 165 euros on six medicines 46 for the doctor and 60 for the cab ride. Bring more money than you think you need and be prepared for emergencies.

All in all, the memories of that time are a blur and I have only been back a week. Too many places in too short a time. For having paid on this trip for such a long period of time and put out such a large amount of money it was not necessarily worth it. I had planned to do the Go Ahead tour next time as my family wants to go to Ireland, but if forced marches is the thing then I think we can figure it out on our own.

I totally agree this company is a rip-off I paid full price for my daughter to go on a trip with her class after the attack in Paris she had panic attacks so bad the doctor recommended her not to go and sent letters and I was told unless she was admitted to the hospital and that this was a mental illness that they would not refund any of the money. She works all the time and I matched her money which was a very hard ship on our family. But i was her senior year so she could go. now we're out all the money and when I call they lie and say they will call back they also told me they would send some information for me to dispute it on my email and they will not send any information have called 5 times.

I am having problems similar to what others have described on this site. About a year ago we paid 95.00 deposit and so far and additional $1000.00 of my 16 year old's hard-earned dollars for a Europe trip in July 2017. They will not refund 395.00 dollars of the monies, stating that they will return 700.00, but we need to call after February 28th to see if there is a replacement for my daughter to get the 300.00. I talked to Kelcey and asked to speak to her supervisor; she claims that she does not have a supervisor or anyone above her with whom I can speak, because she is the supervisor. Ridiculous! They claim they need to leave deposits to plan for this travel. It is more than a year in advance of the trip at this time. I will be online speaking out against this repeatedly as I promised them when I got off the phone, and will do so at every opportunity. Would never recommend, promote, or otherwise steer anyone to this company.

I STRONGLY agree that EF Tours is highly unethical regarding its business practices! My daughter was scheduled to travel to Europe this coming August. When I signed her up, I paid for the Global Insurance policy and was assured that if we needed or decided to cancel her trip for ANY reason, that we would only lose the $95 deposit and $155 insurance fee. Given the terrorist attacks over the past months, my daughter does not want to go on the trip and I do not want to send her, therefore we canceled and I am now out not only the fees but $500 as well. Fraud is the word that comes to mind. I have gotten nowhere with them. It is impossible to find any information regarding these additional large cancellation fees on the site, nor are they mentioned in the Global Insurance section. When I brought up the State Department advisories regarding travel to Europe, EF told me that no warnings had been issued so concern was not warranted at this point. I intend to file a complain with the NYS Attorney Generals Office.

That is horrible. That company EF Tours should be put out of business!

I was injured during an EF trip in 2010. I fell in a shower where there was no mat and hurt my hip and lower back. I told the tour guide but she refused to take me to urgent care. Instead, she said I would feel better once I was back on the bus. All I was offered was a tube of German "Bengay" ointment. When I returned home I went to my doctor who said that I had a contusion of the hip but thankfully, no broken bones. I was a 56 years old at the time. I was so disappointed and disgusted that they showed so little concern for my well-being that i will never travel with them again!

Seems EF has a lot of unhappy people. These complaints need to be on their FB page.

Hi, I’m sorry to hear about your daughter having to cancel and the trouble she had trying to reach us. Our refund policy depends on how far in advance a traveler cancels. You can read about it on the 4th page of our booking conditions here: http://www.eftours.com/bc. I’m unable to find your account but if you’d like to discuss further please call us at [protected] or send me a message with your contact info and we'll reach out to you. Thanks, Katie from EF Tours

This company is horrible. I don’t know how they stay in business. I am assuming they give the teachers free travel as an incentive to pick them. The students and parents certainly do not. $5,000 to stay at Travel lodge when we were told 4 star hotels.

READ THE FINE PRINT (and the stuff in RED) if you plan to deviate at all from the tour it is a frickin nightmare. I was told as long as my son flew out of a certain airport on a certain day we could arrange it so he could ride back with my family. EFTours booked him without calling and without letting us know dates or times. We thought they would book on our flight and we would pay the difference however i was then told they book what they want and have certain airlines they use. They never disclosed that when i asked for details about how it would worked. They also have him flying from the States to Europe by himself. This is his first time ever flying, and it will be internationally and alone? They said it is in the fine print that it could happen. Well i did not realize they did not even try to keep them together they just went for the cheapest combo of the days picked. now my child will arrive in Paris 3 hours later than everyone else. EFTours response when i asked what he is suppose to do when he gets there if they have a 3 hour head start, i was told he would have to "figure it out"! That was infuriating to me. Now i am trying to book tickets to get him there and home because EFTours wants to charge me $2780 to change the tickets, not to what i want but what i can live with. I can buy round trip tickets for $1400 at the moment, they are just making changes and all airlines are changing. i am furious. I was also told if i buy my own tickets i am not covered by the insurance we were required to buy and i had to pay a cancellation fee on the tickets i am not going to use. OMG! I am so over it and it has not even begun. Praying my son can handle the stress of Atlanta airport by himself and Paris too. i am very disappointed in the responses i received during this matter and the response from the manager pool was the worst. atleast the customer service reps were kind and talked on the phone. The manager would only email and that seemed rude. Just be carful if you go off the beaten path because you may just get more than you bargain for.

my brother wanted to go on one of the tour paid $3, 600 he didnt get his visa in time...now we call and they said no refund ...so he's losing all his saving...some one advice me on what to do?.plesas help!

Something else that parents or students should consider is how much the host families are paid. EF pays half the amount that other language schools pay to the families. Consequently many students are fed cheap food and can end up in crowded rooms or in houses where 6 students are sharing one bathroom. In the UK during the winter months they pay £9 per day. You try keeping a student on that. On the plus side my students have been lovely but were horrified to discover what I was being paid after they paid so much for their courses. Needless to say I won't be hosting EF students again. My first and last time.

EF always rewards you when you enroll early. The earlier, the better. It helps for advance planning with flights, restaurants, hotels, etc. as the teacher and group leader I ALWAYS let me parents and students know that they need to enroll super-early to get the lowest price. And I make it clef that if they wait and enroll later the price will be higher. The closer you get to the departure date, the higher the price. I is 100% my responsibility as the teacher and group leader - and liaison between parents and EF tours - to make students and parents aware of deadlines and dates when prices increase.

I have students who have paid $200-$400 LESS by enrolling so early and qualifying for "Earlybird" discounts. It's great that EF really rewards you for enrolling early.

I agree with complaints above. As each situation is different, I did pay approximately 764.00 more for my daughter than all the youth going on the same trip, as the "Basic Program Fee" increased as of October 31, 2012. If this information was made available to me as a parent, I can assure you that I would have registered my daughter prior to the significant rate increase. EF Tours had rate change dates. If you register by this date, it is this price, etc. All prices were subject to increase at any time and the only one that they really explained was the departure fees. Also there were added fees for additional excursions that were not explained by Tour Director until after registration. I felt that both the Tour Director and EF Tours had a special understanding and some parents were left outside of the loop. There was a true lack of communication. I was very disappointed that the teacher did not update the parents on the possibility of rate changes and point out date specifics, especially for first time parents as she has sponsored the trip for 3 years. The customer service representatives at EF Tours, leave a lot to be desired in the area of customer service. It feels like if you are requesting anything outside of making a payment, that you are an inconvenience to their day. They appear young and inexperienced. I am disappointed with the services provide and it is my hope that my daughter has a wonderful time. I work with non profit organizations that sponsor 1-2 week trips for 50 to 100 youth each year, usually to the caribbean and they were considering EF Tours as a host for 2015 based on initial information I provided, however based on my experience, we will continue to explore other options.

$800 per day? Where do you come up with a number like that? We're doing an 18 day tour of France and Spain this summer for $3850. That's $214 per day.

I absolutely agree. EF hit me with a hidden fee for a "private tour" because EF couldn't find another group, not because we asked for it. In addition, they put this fee on without notifying me. I had agreed on the first price, not the increase. When I decided this was too much to pay for this particular trip and tried to cancel, they told me they were going to keep 50% of my money. This company is a scam and I will be telling everybody I know and posting on ever site I can find to stay as far away from EF Tours as possible. We're considering civil and criminal actions as well.

I too have been outraged by the "hidden" cost and changes to the price. as well as changes to schedules. Any school that is interested in student tours needs to find a good travel agent and work with them. Of course then the "Group Leader" would have to pay their own way. Even with the cheap food, hotels miles out of town center, two people to the room, grouping multiple groups together, these trips still run about $800.00 per day with two of the days being spent on an airplane. You can schedule a luxury trip for less and these tours are everything but luxury. This is a racket and I don't care what excuses EF has for their actions.I have been in the tour business for 30 years and I can tell each and every parent that they are being scammed. When my child was first told about the trip, his teacher (who is the Group Leader as it turns out) told him that we would need to book the trip by the next day in order to not have to pay the $100 membership fee. So, like a fool I bought that hook, line, and sinker. OF COURSE we paid the fee and EF didn't know anything about our being told that. Three months later we get an up-charge of $160 in departure fees.( The airline had no increase and actually had a decrease) When I confronted EF with this, I was told that the fees were an estimate and any overcharge would be refunded. When pressed EF admitted that they had not booked the flight and probably would not for several months. Now, our dates have been changed and instead of this trip being in spring break, it departs in the middle of a school week and returns in the middle of spring break. Instead of being in Dublin on Saint Patrick's Day as we were suppose to be and the main reason we were taking this trip, we will be back home by March 15. When I questioned this, I was told that the leader had always known that the dates might change. Too bad she didn't bother to tell the people on the trip and the people actually paying for it! This company is not and I repeat NOT to be trusted.

cseymore, you blatanty are paid by EF. How can you lead 12 tours and be satisfied? Hotel always in the city center? Yeah riiiiight! Culturally representative food? Yeah riiiight!

@jiffytraveler I'm sorry to hear that! Our top priority is to make sure every group that wants to travel gets that opportunity. If something ever stands in that way, we always try to offer alternative options. I've sent you a private message to get your contact details so that we can discuss what happened with your group. -Katie from EF Tours

They have ripped us off too! I had a tour of fifteen people going this summer and suddenly they pulled the rug out from under us and cancelled our tour. I think they were afraid they would lose money on the group. Perhaps the EF tours is ready to go belly up!

BethOcomplaints, I am sorry for the confusion. As cseymore said, 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. None of the travelers in your daughter’s group are paying $1000 less than you. In addition, 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

OK. Well maybe you're right and they can look back at the website. If it stated that on the website I am SURE they will give you the discount. This company sent $121 refund checks to 49 of my students 30 days after their tour ended because airline fees and surcharges went down a couple of weeks before we departed. I wasn't expecting the refund and neither were ANY of my parents. A number of them were shocked, saying things like "Why are we getting $121 in the mail from EF?" and "I had no idea. EF Tours could have kept that money and wouldn't have known the difference."

Point is, that's the way the company does business. The cost of airline security fees, airport surcharges and fuel costs went down and instead of padding their profits, they got that money back into the hands of the parents. They easily could have pocketed that money, but didn't. My parents were shocked and surprised, and extremely appreciative. And I know teachers in other states, friends of mine who take kids on tours, and they told me similar stories. In my experience, that's the way EF does business.

I had a number of parents enroll their students over the last 5 months for my 2011 tour and none of them expected or received the Early Bird discount. I'm on their website nearly every day and all I've seen is that the $150 discount is for 2012 tours. I'm literally on the site every day keeping track of my students and the multiple trips I am running for my students. If the teacher told you that you would get a $150 Early Bird discount if you enrolled recently for a 2011 tour then you were misinformed, unfortunately. I think it's great that EF gives out Early Bird discounts to parents who enroll their kids early; if they were forced to give the discount to everyone who enrolled they would probably have to stop doing the discount altogether. Again, it's the teacher's responsibility to be the liaison between the parents and the company. Did your teacher tell you that you would be receiving a $150 discount if you signed up recently? If he didn't, then that should tell you something, because when there's an actual discount that my students are eligible for, I make sure the parents know about it well in advance so that they can take advantage of it. EF Tours does a great job by providing the lowest prices in the educational travel industry, and they provide additional Early Bird discounts ON TOP of already low prices as an incentive for parents to enroll their kids early ... 15-24 months in advance of the trip's departure date.

Yeah, if you look at the advertisement on the website, it's very clear. The $150 Early Bird discount requires that you enroll prior to Feb. 28, 2011, and is for 2012 tours. So if the tour you enrolled on is a 2011 tour, I doubt there is anything Ms. Gerlach or anyone else will be able to do.

It's clear on the website that this discount applies to 2012 tours and not 2011 tours.

OK. It's not my website, and I don't work for EF. But I'll call my contact at EF and see if they can't get this sorted out for you. They're very good about making things right for students traveling on their tours and for the parents, especially when it comes to payments and discounts.

Again, if this was advertised by EF you need to call customer service and speak with the right people. Did the teacher at your child's school speak w/ you about this? Have him/her contact his tour consultant and EF and they will take care of this.