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Business Profile

Travel Agency

UTOvacation

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Travel Agency.

Important information

  • Customer Complaint:
    Due to the volume of complaints received, BBB is publishing the details (text) of 25% of complaints as a representative sample.

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 571 total complaints in the last 3 years.
  • 98 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

If you've experienced an issue

Submit a Complaint

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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Complaint status

Complaint type

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:19/09/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    This company took about 800.00 from me for a trip that was then cancelled by them. They refuse to refund my money

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:13/09/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    Two China trips booked through UTO Vacation for travel in 2022 and 2023. Both trips were canceled by UTO. They only offered travel credit for the deposits, totaling $2440.00, assuring that similar trips would be available to rebook.
    The 2022 trip total was around $1000
    The 2023 trip total was around $7000
    Now those same trips are $10,299.00 and $11,499.00
    They offer no trips on their website that are less than $10,000.
    Since I cannot afford to spend thousands more in order to use the travel credit, I would simply like it to be refunded.
    Over the last 2 years there have been numerous similar complaints on ********.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:12/09/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    My wife and I traveled to Italy in March of 2024 with UTO Vacations. The first indication that something was wrong was when we were left stranded at the airport in Rome, after having prepaid for a ride to our hotel. The contact person told us to take a taxi and UTO would reimburse us. After that, UTO kept canceling excursions that we had already paid for. The cost of the taxi plus the canceled excursions came up to $442.00. They refused to reimburse anything and ended up giving us a $50 credit, which we can't use.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:06/09/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I am a retired US travel professional from NC. I have a 40-year career in the travel industry; as a Travel Agent, a Travel Agency Owner, a Tour Planner, and an International Tour Guide. I have traveled widely on international tour packages sponsored by *********, and have had many superlative experiences. UNTIL - I recently booked with UTO VACATIONS based in Toronto, Canada. We placed a $5908 USD deposit on a 5-star Egyptian “Touch of the Exotic Tour” and were attempting to call in our final payment of $8698 USD, when things went south. The final payment deadline was still about 14 days in the future, and when we called to give them the payment, we were thrown into a telephone recording loop that advised that we would be disconnected if no one answered in 3 minutes. After about 12 tries and disconnects, in desperation we even tried their phone prompt that would direct us to the “book a new tour” line (thinking surely they would prioritize incoming money), only to have the same results - no answer and then disconnected after 3 minutes. We tried this over and over again throughout the next 2 business days during their opening hours with the same result. This was unprecedented and worrisome and therefore we began to look for reviews on line. There was an exhaustive list of scathing reviews on each site we investigated, ******** *** ******* *** * ****, not delivering on parts of tours or quality of hotels that were promised, not giving refunds that were due, cancelling tours at the last minute and only providing a credit for a similar future tour, which turned out to have hyper-inflated pricing - sometimes triple the cost of the first trip. When we checked the Better Business Bureau site, UTO Vacations rating had a big “REVOKED” banner stamped on it. So we canceled our trip by email, 10 days prior to the final payment deadline, requesting a full refund on our deposit, and to date they have returned only $1654 USD of our deposit, refusing the rest requested.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/09/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    We purchased a travel deal to China and were not able to travel as there was no way to get a VISA, UTO had not book, airfare or any of the agreed upon travel plans. We were issued a credit, however the company stopped posting reasonable deals. We paid 999.00 per person and all their packages every time we have logged in to try to book something are 7000.00 or more. I tried to reach out to ask if we can at least use to to book airfare but I held for over 4 hours and there was no answer. When looking them up on ******** I noticed many people posted they have been ******* by UTO and they never actually make the reservations for the trip people book.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:31/08/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I booked a tour back in 2022 and was cancelled by UTOI citing Covid restriction, I was given choice of taking a chance just incase restrictions are lifted or take a credit. Wouldn't provide a full refund and only provide travel credit with a due date. But I was told I could request extension if I can't book a tour I want before the credit expired. Fast forward to 2024, I have tried to contact them many times via e-mail phone or chat but haven't been able to get any response. Others who have contacted them for extension have reported they told them travel credit cannot be extended.

    We were supposed to go to China with; however, because of COVID our vacation package was canceled. We ended up with a credit, which turns out to be worthless as the same trip is 10x more expensive now. They do not let you extend your credit and what's more important, even if you wanted to rebook the 10x more expensive trip, the deals are permanently sold out/unavailable.

    there are hundreds of review like this online with others having same / similar experience. **** ** * **** *******, I wish I had checked reviews before booking

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:29/08/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I booked a trip for my family (8 people) - trip got cancelled due to COVID travel restrictions. UTO Vacation did not refund us but gave us a credit to use within 36 months. At that time, I thought that should be fine to rebook later. But within that 3 yrs, prices skyrocketed. The exact trip that I booked for $500 went up to $7000 - which is unreasonable. All of their trips are unreasonable prices or "sold out" - so there was no way to book another trip with my travel credit. They refuse to refund my money. There are many other people in the same situation. **** ******* ** ******** ****** ** **** **** *** **** *** *** *****. Please help!

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:28/08/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    My husband and I purchased a 10 day trip to China with UTO in 2019 for 2020. We paid the full $698 each and did all the necessary steps to also pay for and get our China visas in time. When the time for our trip was approaching Covid was preventing travel so we understood when that trip had to be "postponed", they said they would get back to us when it was rescheduled. Over a year later we were told that the trip itself would not necessarily be rescheduled but that we could either wait for that trip or choose to use our credit toward a completely different trip and pay the difference. At that time all the other trips were 10 times the cost and there were zero options for Asia which is why we planned the trip, so we decided to wait and watch for an Asia trip. We returned to the UTO website hundreds of times waiting for a comparable trip to use our credit on. Occasionally there would be a trips listed but when you went to select it, no dates would be available. Finally I called to ask or a refund since it was clear they were not going to actually have that trip again. The agent I spoke with would not issue the refund and stated we had just missed the dates for those trips. We were never given an option for that trip. She said I would just have to continue to watch the website for when that trip became available again as she said it often did. I checked the site every day for 3 months and every day those trips would show as no dates available. I tried to called again and was told no to a refund. Now when I try and call, the phone disconnects as soon as I choose what extension. I have tried all of them and the call drops each time. It is beyond frustrating. It is clear that UTO is not offering a comparable trip for the one we booked, it was their cancelation and they owe the refund. I was not surprised to find several complaints against them, including a class action lawsuit for the same trip I had purchased.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:22/08/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    The date of the transaction was 05/04/2022. I paid UTOVacation $894. The business was committed to provide me with a Thailand and China 12 days vacation all included. The nature of my dispute is that I want a refund because UTOVacation fell to provide me with the vacation I paid for. The business is refusing to resolve the problem. They advertised they have the best travel deals but they are actually a ****.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:22/08/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Unanswered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I purchased a China Adventure trip for my husband and I in 2023. As our trip was approaching, China was still not granting travel for pleasure/foreigners entering the country. We paid to date $796. Our balance was converted to travel credits with an expiration date. We waited and checked regularly to purchase something similar. Of course all travel packages are nearly the price of a car. I have reached out numerous times to the company with no luck, no price matching, no flexibility. After UTO's lack of help and after reading other peoples similar experiences, I definitely felt like we(along with many others) were taken advantage of. I just want a refund, nothing more.

UTOvacation is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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