Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Pilgrim Tours & Travel, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Pilgrim Tours & Travel, Inc.

  3071 Main St Morgantown, PA 19543-7744

  
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  Pilgrim Tours & Travel, Inc.

  PO Box 268 Morgantown, PA 19543

  

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:12/21/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  DOCUMENT FOR BBB COMPLAINT AGAINST PILGRIM TOURS DECEMBER 21,2023 August 14, 2023 final billing from Pilgrim Tours includes all costs of tours, air fare, cruises, hotels, etc. October 25-November 9 2023 time of tour October 7, 2023 war erupts in Israel October 13, 2023 receive letter informing us that the Israel trip is cancelled due to the war. October 17.2023 another letter saying no refunds for part of the trip due to it being in Greece plus warnings of lost monies of cancelations Pilgrim tours split the package of Israel and Greece and only credited partially the Israel trip (with many fees) and advised that the Greece portion was still on so we would not receive any refunds. We had no need to see Greece when Israel was cancelled and it was designed as one trip. Total costs for trip $9058 Total refund after fees $5378 Total loss $3680 This is in American dollars and for us in Canadian it is multiplied by 37% We have tried to reason with this company to receive our refund in total. We have contacted them by phone and by emails and their tone continually became more threatening that they would only credit the partial trip and penalize us for the rest. They were the ones who cancelled the trip due to the war (which was proper), but not to enforce the less then half of the rest of the tour. It is totally unfair to split the trip up into their advantage so we do not get our trip refund. and the Israel tour was a single trip. Pilgrim tours did not offer any other options for us to use any losses but only gave us the partial refund. We have spent a lot of time in contacting this company regarding all of our concerns of loss of money that we saved for our dream vacation.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/22/2024

  Dear BBB,
  Thank you for forwarding this complaint and allowing us the opportunity to respond.  **. and **** * contacted Pilgrim Tours in June 2023 looking for a combined Israel tour and Greece cruise for certain dates in October.  They were advised that no such tour existed at the time they wanted to travel but that they did have the option of registering for two separate tours back-to-back (first one in Greece and second one in Israel).  In order to join these two tours, they had to submit two separate registrations and two separate deposits.  So, from the outset, Pilgrim Tours made it very clear that these were two separate tours.  Pilgrim then assisted **. and **** * with purchasing their airfare.  In all invoicing, two separate tour codes were listed.    Furthermore, in August **. and **** * contacted Pilgrim Tours multiple times concerned about how the two separate tour schedules would work. We highlight these facts because the complaint filed makes it sound like this was one tour and was only split after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.  This is not the case.  These were clearly two separate tours from the outset (of which we have written documentation and agreement of such).
  Pilgrim Tours is not a travel agent but is instead a Tour Operator who custom plans tours and then negotiates rates and pays deposits to reserve and operate tours at reduced cost to travelers. Part of the registration process for Pilgrim Tours is a step that takes the traveler to our Terms and Conditions.  In order to complete registration, the traveler must check a box acknowledging that they have read and accepted the Terms & Conditions.  At that time, **. and **** * completed two separate registration forms, made/authorized the two separate deposits and checked the “I understand and agree” box acknowledging that they had read and agreed to Pilgrim Tours’ Terms & Conditions as stated. Terms and Conditions are spelled out clearly in the registration process and require review and acceptance at the time of registration.
  Here are some of the relevant Terms & Conditions from the Greece tour which operated on October 25, 2023:
  
  CANCELLATION (Packages that include a Greece Cruise)
  
  Cancellation in writing must be received by Pilgrim Tours 121 days prior to departure for appropriate refund minus the following fees. Air penalties are not part of the percentages below and vary based on the airline policy at the time of ticket issue.
  
  121+ Days Prior: $100 per service fee
  120-91 Days Prior: Deposit Amount of $500 per person lost
  90-46 Days Prior: 40% of tour cost lost
  45-31 Days Prior: 65% of tour cost lost
  30-8 Days Prior: 85% of tour cost lost
  7 Days Prior or less: 100% of tour cost lost
  
  Pilgrim Tours service fee structure:
  
  When signing up for a tour offered by Pilgrim Tours, a deposit is required to confirm your reservation. Part of the deposit for the advertised tour includes a $100 per person service fee assessed by Pilgrim Tours that is non-refundable and non-transferable. The reason for not traveling can be either the traveler canceling or the tour being postponed, suspended or cancelled due to but not limited to acts of God, war, terrorist acts, political unrest, epidemics, pandemics, or government imposed travel restrictions. In registering for a tour, a tour member agrees to the service fee as well as all terms and conditions as outlined on the tour reservation form.
  
  By signing the tour reservation form, travelers understand, acknowledge, and accept for themselves and the travelers included in their party/reservation Pilgrim Tours’ service fee structure and agree to not dispute these fees in the event the tour is cancelled, postponed or suspended.
  
  RESPONSIBILITIES
  These tour programs are operated by Pilgrim Tours and Travel, Inc., 3071 Main Street, Morgantown, Pennsylvania 19543. In common with other companies, Pilgrim acts only as an agent for tour members in arranging vacation services offered on this web site, including transportation, sightseeing, and accommodations through independent contracts. Air carriers, accommodations, and other suppliers (including but not limited to trains, cruises, ferries, motor coaches, hotels, tour guides, and restaurants) providing these services are independent contractors and are not agents, employees, servants, or joint ventures of the Company or its affiliates. All travel documents for services issued by the Company are subject to the terms & conditions specified by the contracted supplier, which are available upon request, and are subject to the laws of the countries in which the services are supplied. Tours postponed, suspended, or cancelled due to but not limited to acts of God, war, terrorist acts, political unrest, epidemics, or pandemics are subject to service fees by Pilgrim Tours. In registering for a tour, tour members agree to the terms and conditions for the tour they have registered for. Pilgrim Tours reserves the right in its sole discretion to make changes in the itinerary and is not responsible for expenses, loss of time, money, or other incidents resulting from a change of tour scheduling made for tour members. Pilgrim Tours is not responsible for any losses or damages of personal property, injuries, thefts, or unforeseen expenses incurred by any tour member.
  
  ***** attacked Israel on 10/7/23.  Pilgrim Tours spent a lot of time evacuating current travelers from Israel.  Once that was complete, Pilgrim Tours contacted passengers who were scheduled to depart on tour in the next month to notify them of our relaxed Terms and Conditions for Israel tours in light of the situation.  **. and **** * were advised on 10/13/23 that Pilgrim was evaluating options for their Israel tour that would start on 11/1/23 and that they could wait for a decision (and potential Israel Tour transfer options) or cancel for $300 per person (out of the $4,442 that they paid for the Israel tour).  They advised that they wanted to cancel from both the Israel tour and the Greece tour.  Pilgrim reminded them that the Greece tour was a separate tour and was still operating and if they chose to cancel off that tour, they would be under 85% cancellation as per the terms and conditions (due to the cruise and vendor penalties that would be charged to Pilgrim).  Pilgrim Tours had multiple conversations with **. and **** * strongly recommending that they still travel on the Greece tour/cruise rather than pay those penalties (and Pilgrim Tours has email documentation that this was communicated in advance).  Pilgrim offered to assist with changing the airfare to make everything work, but **. and **** * were adamant that they didn’t want to travel “just to Greece”.  As such, they cancelled off the Greece tour and were refunded less the 85% cancellation penalty with the promise that Pilgrim Tours would do everything possible to recover some extra funds for them due to the uniqueness of their situation.  Pilgrim Tours worked with our vendors and was able to recover and refund an extra $843.60 that was not due back to **. and **** * per the Terms & Conditions.  The Greece tour and cruise that they cancelled from is a wonderful tour and operated without issue.  We are disappointed that Mr. and **** * chose to cancel off the tour, but Pilgrim Tours Terms & Conditions are clear, and **. and **** * were reminded multiple times by phone and in writing what the penalties would be if they cancelled off the Greece tour and cruise.  We have responded to their many follow-ups and at this point the issue for them is that they don’t like the answer.  It is for situations like this that Pilgrim Tours strongly recommends that travelers purchase the correct travel insurance to protect them in these situations.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/30/2024

  1) We never had the desire to go to a 5 day Mediterranean Cruise alone from Canada paying that much money.
  
  2) We did this tour package only because we saw that it was a 16 day tour together.  This was well known to Pilgrim Tours and it was advertised on their website.  
  
  3) We were offered several other tours to Israel by other companies for less money but we desired to do this ********* tour trip of ****** journey with the Israel trip. 
  
  4) We were very disappointed when it was cancelled as it was our life long desire to see where Jesus walked and Paul's missionary journey.
  
  We understood all their rules about cancellations but they cancelled due to the war and they wanted to force us to take a a portion of the trip which we did not originally want. Again to go that far for 5 days instead of 16 days was not worth it for the money and time and not to see Israel.