WARNING : TOTAL RIP OFF ! I am not the kind to publicly complain about bad service but I want to denounce awful practices by a Koh Kong based tourism agency after being a victim of both their high unprofessionalism and lies. We unfortunately experienced this first rip off in Cambodia with my parents visiting the beautiful region of Koh Kong. If you decide to go there, avoid at any cost the following company: Koh Kong Island Resort Eco-Tour (kohkongisland.net) Please find below the non exhaustive list of unfortunate events we faced staying with them for two days and one night: - unexpected despite a booking confirmed three weeks before arrival. - the brochure announces a boat departing twice a day from the city, one departure being at 2pm. Once arrived, we are told such an option doesn’t exist(without really going into much details)and we have to rent a private boat to get onto the island. This private boat is said to cost 90 dollars one way for three people, when announced 55 dollars in a previous email exchanged with their agency. After a long argument and showing them the mentioned email, the price is decreased back to 55 dollars. - the bungalow has not been cleaned or prepared although there were three hours between our arrival at the agency and on the island. - we want to book a jungle trek as advertised on the brochure to discover the inner depths of the islands, its waterfalls and fishermen village. It is accepted and billed 15 US dollars for a four hours walk through the jungle. The next day we leave late as the staff is not ready on time, and we end up walking by the coastline for 45 minutes altogether, after realizing none of the two staff members accompanying us know what they are doing – they told us themselves – and we go back to the beach taking the exact same path. - the breakfast was billed despite announced as included in the brochure. - renting canoe is an option to discover the lagoon a bit further. One of them happened to be pierced everywhere and turned over, both my parents fell into the water after being hit by the canoe. We were the only customers, however, the staff members reacted after more than twenty minutes while we were two kilometers away from the seashore! Speaking of Eco-tourism: - Non preserved beach filled with plastic bottles, polystyrene, flip flops and beer cans here and there. - All lights from all bungalows were on even though inoccupied. - On the way back we share our “private” boat with a tourist who tells us she only paid 13 dollars return for a one day trip to the island while we paid 110 dollars for three people. A huge difference we are trying to understand discussing with the resort owner who was extremely dishonest and counter saying himself while trying to explain himself. - Eventually, once back on land at the resort agency, we meet and argue with the owner who admits after 3O minutes the resort was not ready to welcome guests. Why then confirming our booking and not cancelling it when we arrived knowing of the wide variety of greatest options in Koh Kong?
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 04:06:23 +0000