Azas Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- UTB, UWA & YUTO
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $867 to $17,345 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Jenny | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unethical
I booked a 12 day safari in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in September 2023 for a trip scheduled the end of June 2024 (fully paid for April 2024). At the time of booking I was promised all confirmations of lodges, flights. The beginning of June, I reached out to their office to request the promised confirmations 3 times. When I did finally receive the confirmations, they were only for the Uganda portion. I repeatedly requested the confirmations for Kenya and Tanzania and was repeatedly told “everything is reserved.” This turned out to be the first of many lies made by the head of the company, Simon. The day before my flight to Kenya, with no evidence of a flight from Entebbe to Nairobi, I contacted the lodge in Kenya to confirm my reservation. I discovered the reservation had been made but was not paid for, so they had not released the confirmation. Additionally, I was informed the Kenya agent they outsourced (they contacted her the DAY I ARRIVED to organize that portion!!) had not been paid for the additional 7 nights (lodging, flights, activities) in Kenya and Tanzania. My flight from Uganda to Kenya, which I was also told conflicting lies and excuses about, was purchased by an office worker 6 hours before scheduled departure. As of this time, the payment (which is significant) to the agent in Kenya (who is beyond superb) is unpaid by Azas. Avoid this company at all costs.
Reply from Azas Safaris
Posted on Jun 28, 2024hello jennifer , thank you so much for your review and we take your concern so serious , From the start, Jennifer you booked with azas safaris Uganda , its true . you came to Uganda and did all you ware supposed to do( for 5 days) , on the day you were supposed to go to Kenya there was an issue with your flight we had booked before which needed immediate amendment, we are sorry if we amended it the way you never liked . you were coming from Bwindi on 22nd June 2024 in the mid morning with Aerlolink airline(a domestic flight). it was arriving Entebbe at 11:00AM , then your flight to kenya that you wanted was at 8:00am the same day with Uganda airlines which we had paid earlier but it was interrupted by change in program by aerlolink from Bwindi to Kampala this was an error by an airline but we own it .
What we did was , we paid for another flight on the same date with the Ugandan airline arriving in Kenya at 9pm.
To help jennifer our client pass a day without boredom, we paid K hotels in Entebbe for her to rest and also we paid for her tour to Mabamba swamp for birding so she can be busy and later go to Kenya . Of which she accepted.
Where did the problem come from?
When she(Jennifer) was in Bwindi at mahogany hotel we sent to her a contact of Teresa , a kenyan operator , of which they started talking and revising the program , Teresa convinced her and gave her another plan , on reaching Entebbe (on 22nd June 2024) , she met with azas safaris personnel , they convinced her to follow the program so that her trip in kenya and Tanzania is a success, she refused , she blocked us on whatsapp ,she refused to go to Khotels and chose to board to kenya and meet Teresa, it hurt us because we wanted to make her trip a success , on 23rd June 2024 , she never talked to us , we never blamed her because we understood her argument , on 24th morning Through Teresa number on whatsapp she texted us back and told us to pay Teresa both Kenya trip and Tanzania Trip. We told her(our client) that Teresa was only to do a Kenya trip and Tanzania trip was supposed to be done by Daniel of a company called moving sand Africa of which he was already paid, Jennifer turned this down, we have the invoice and proof of payment to Daniel. She(Jennifer) said that she wants Teresa to do both, we kindly understand it was a business opportunity for Teresa , so we never wanted to spoil both side, we let Teresa go on with a client.
Why did we pay Daniel and never pay Teresa earlier ?
We have worked with Daniel for many trips in Tanzania , and it was our first time to work in Kenya with Teresa, so we wanted to pay for a trip when Teresa has received a client because Kenya is near, we can pay instantly . Teresa used that advantage to take over our client because a client talked to her more than she talked to us. But we are glad a client continued and completed a trip with Teresa.
SOLUTION
When all that came about , I told Jennifer we can refund your money , and she promised to send bank details to us, we are willing to refund her all her money and we shall improve next time.
We are very sorry where we went wrong , next time we shall do better.