Complaints

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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/29/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 booked a helicopter dog sled combo for ****** when we were in ****** on the ****** wonder week of 6/19/2023. book months prior on my phone. we were only given ONE method to pay. book now (with a deposit) pay later. about 3 weeks prior to our trip on a FB page I follow a person issued a warning about this company saying that unless you pay in full you won't receive your deposit back if the tour gets canceled. I called right away and was lead to believe that they would work with me to finish paying early to avoid and possible issues later getting all of our money back. But I was told it needed to be approved by a supervisor. I waited a few days for a reply and the called back. I got the run around for a few days and then after multiple emails and phone calls I spoke to a supervisor. She said they would NOT budge on their policy and that I checked a box about a non refundable deposit. Which I did...but my gripe was I wasn't given another way to pay. I would have paid in full up front to allow a full refund if the tour canceled out of my control. My brother booked the same day as me with the same company for the same tour and he too WAS NOT given the option to pay in full. The supervisor also said if for some reason our tour did cancel they would work with us to get another tour. We boarded the shuttle and we were part way to the helicopter when they canceled our tour without giving ANY explanation. I called to find out our options about rescheduling but I left a voicemail and they never called back. I tried emailing also about the possibility of booking a different excursion for the next port the next day so we could transfer our deposit and again...zero response!if there was another option to pay so I didn't lose my deposit I should have been made aware at the time of purchase...I shouldn't find out by a post on *********

  Business Response

  Date: 07/05/2023

  We have been in touch with ******************************* and communicated clearly about our 5% non-refundable deposit on her chosen option -- Book Now, Pay Later. Product policies are featured pre-purchase at checkout and the guests confirms their acceptance of this policy prior to purchase. We were also in contact with her prior to her tour further explaining this policy.

  We've since had conversations with ******* after her tour was unfortunately cancelled due to weather. While this was against the policy which ******* accepted at checkout, we elected to refund her remaining 5% amount totaling $132.09. In the attached invoice, you can see confirmation and an updated receipt from our system showing ******************* was 100% refunded, per her wish as described in this complaint. Thus, the complaint should be vacated.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/05/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/21/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  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 company booked and took payment for my Helicopter to Glacier and dog sleed tour months in advance. Recived confirmation from the company on 5/8 at 1:20pm for over $2500.00. The company texted ** on the day of the excursion 30 minutes prior to our tour time 4:45 saying enjoy your glacier tour, 5 minutes after our time we called the company and the company confirmed somone was on the way. Ironically 20 minutes later we recieved a cancellation email from the company. This company did not answer our calls and has not returned our call. The trip to Alaska cost ** over $10,000 and was ruined by this company that has no consideration for its customers.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2023

  On March 13th, 2023 the ******** family booked a Helicopter & Dogsled Glacier Excursions leaving 5/21/23 at 11:30AM. This reservation was created online through our website alaskashoretours.com. Alaska Shore Tours is an online travel agency that sells tours and excursions for guests.

  On May 8th, our agent reach out to the ******** party after several notifications of failed payment for the remaining balance on the tour -- the ******** party had selected Book Now, Pay Later option which is a 5% non-refundable deposit. When our reservationist ******** reached back out to accept payment, our system glitched and did not re-sync in time for the tour, an inadvertent code-based glitch resulting in a missed experience. (Screenshot of the backend of our system attached, along with the customer communication in which I followed up explaining the issue.)

  This unusual code-based error, of which this is the only reservation in the 10 year history of the company impacted, resulted in the accidental deletion of the ******** family reservation in the *** sequence connected with the tour operator's reservation system. (Alaska Shore Tours and the company servicing this tour are two separate, unrelated entities). The tour guides who operate the tour did not have the ******** family's information on file when they arrived to experience their tour.
  
  We have many fail-safes and redundancy protocols in place to catch system issues like this, but this glitch was not caught. Since being notified, we've completed a mass technical audit and re-structured some of our SOPs to deal with this specific code-based issue so it doesn't happen again. 

  Additionally, we have attempted to communicate with the ******** family multiple times, both by email explaining the issue (see attached) as well as publicly via ****** Reviews. On May 23rd I followed up personally with ******************** via email, regarding which you will find my email communication attached, in which I explained the issue and confirmed that we had fully refunded the family, providing a system-provided receipt in addition (also attached). On May 25th, I responded to ********'s 1-star ****** Review asking her to review the email I'd sent and requesting response to confirm receipt in a friendly, professional fashion, to which there was no response.

  We pride ourselves at Alaska Shore Tours on delivering a great customer service experience -- something that has propelled us for over a decade in Alaska and has resulted in a sterling reputation -- but due to a very rare code glitch, we unfortunately missed the ***** However, we have taken action and made every attempt to not only explain the issue to the ******** family but have also fully refunded them. 

  I received a call from **** at the ***** office; please don't hesitate to reach out to me at my email ******************************* or my cell ************. Your previous attempts to send this email went to our Founder; I am your best contact.