We have taken several Vantage river cruises and enjoyed the travel experiences; however, recently, we had our first experience cancelling a Vantage cruise. We had scheduled Vantage's "Eastern Mediterranean Crossing," with pre-trip extension, post-trip extension, all available excursions, upgraded cabin aboard ship, upgraded air travel -- if it was available, we included it. And, as we had done with previous engagements with Vantage, we paid everything in advance in order to secure whatever discounts were available. Then, along came Omicron and we had to decide in December 2021 whether or not to proceed with our trip in May 2022 because Vantage required 120+ days cancellation notice for a full refund. So, not knowing in December 2021 what the situation with Omicron (or other COVID variants) would be in May 2022, we cancelled our participation in this cruise in December 2021, more than 120 days prior to the departure date of the cruise, thereby entitling us to a full refund, minus a small cancellation fee. It is now late February 2022 and not only do we still not have our refund, but Vantage tells us it is not even able to predict when our refund might be processed! Vantage has $48,932 of our money, some of it since June 2019 (deposits) and all of it interest-free. Note that we cancelled in accordance with Vantage's Terms and Conditions outlined in their Tour Participation Agreement and Vantage confirmed receipt of our cancellation notice. Vantage has also confirmed that we are due a refund. But no refund has occurred and no refund is in sight. So I started reading online reviews about Vantage at TripAdvisor, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Attorney General's Office, etc., and learned very quickly that Vantage has a long, long history of holding on to customers' money. This constitutes an interest-free loan, from us (the customers) to Vantage. By now, we have filed our own formal BBB complaint and our own formal Attorney General's Office complaint. The next step for us will be litigation. In the meantime, and in the future, we will not recommend Vantage to anyone. I also learned from online reviews that Vantage competitors Viking and Tauck issue refunds promptly, thereby retaining their loyal customers and generating new customers from the referrals their customer base passes along. It boggles the mind why Vantage would want to poison its own customer base over a shoddy refund policy/practice, thereby losing not only existing customers but also all the referrals those existing customers could have generated. There is a simple fix to all of this that would improve their business and their reputation! In the meantime, Vantage will get no more business from these previously satisfied customers, and no more referrals either. And we recommend you, too, do business with some other company if there is any chance you might someday want your money back!
