Hidden costs and bad customer sevice
There were a lot of hidden costs that was not well advertized (450 000 rupiah or 1/3 extra on top of the advertized price).
When I complained and said that that was not a fair way of informing about the real costs (I did not ask for any refund, just wanted to tell them it was generally not ok), the cancelled my booking for four people the night before departure, and put us in a very difficult position.
I asked if they wouldn't rather have complaints directed to them, instead of publicly on internet.
They replied that they didn't need my money.
Only possible conclusion: These people don't want to improve. They don't want feedback. And they most definitivly don't want satisfied customers.
Stay away.
Regarding reply:
This is totalt bs. They collect the extra on the boat, so they might as well do it up front.
We went on another tour (same prising scheme there, but they were honest about it up front). I paid 315k in taxes and fees. So the 450k Bintang asks is 135k extra on top of this.
If they found me to be unreasonable, they could have tried a more humble approach and said they would look into other possibilities for the prising in the future, but no such signal was sent.
My conclusion is still the same.
Besvarelse fra Bintangkomodotours
Dear Mr. ErikFaa,
This is not hidden cost, it is government tax and you need to pay it to harbour master when boarding on the boat. It is standard procedure in Labuan Bajo and it is also written on Viator under Exclusions.
You were informed about this today right after you made the booking. We tried to explain many times, but you were not prepared to agree with this and you said you feel cheated. Since you booked the tour today for tomorrow, the only solution for you to get your money back, was to cancel your booking and that is what we did.
We just could not find a solution to satisfy your needs. This is government tax and not something we can charge. Every visitor to Komodo national park has to pay it directly to harbour master. As I told you, the entrance fee is not paid to us, but to the the government. So, when you paid less then 315k instead of 450k that means you can still have the rest of your money. So, the rest of the money from your entrance did not come to our pocket. I already informed you in front about the entrance fee. I was mentioned it clearly. That is why we cancelled your tour just 1 hour after your booking time. This the only way we can refund all your money. So, we did not take any of your money. Again, that the entrance fee is not our business. We just provide you the information about the amount of entrance fee that you need to pay in the island. So, by that way we prepare you, because there is no ATM in island and they can not received the payment by card. The entrence fee should be paid in cash of IDR.
If you still want to join us tomorrow, we would be more than happy to have you on board.