DENRUS Question for people booking them this year.

[TomAndJane]

Has anyone booking Denrus for Spring/Summer 2010 in St. Petersburg been asked to pay in full by the end of January? I received an e-mail today requesting that I pay in full by the end of the month to keep the price I booked them for (i.e. 2009 Prices). I responded stating the request was unusual.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do? If not, should I refuse to pay by the end of the month? It just seems odd they want paid now because they state payment isn't due until 15 to 30 days prior.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[LADodger99]

I received the same response. Not quite sure I'm interested in using their services at this point.

[sbhdmh]

This seems very unusual for a tour in St Petersburg. When someone posts that they have been asked for a deposit I think it is odd but in all I have read on these boards I don't recall anyone asking for payment in full before the tour. Did they warn you of this before? Was it a condition of being offered 2009 prices? If not I would run! Everyone thinks that the guide/company they worked with was the best in St P so you have a lot of other options that will fit the standard of no deposit and payment in full sometime on the last day. As I recall from doing my own research last year you will probably match or beat their 2009 price anyway. Good luck and please post again so we know what happens with this odd sounding request.

[TLCOhio]

Has anyone booking Denrus for Spring/Summer 2010 in St. Petersburg been asked to pay in full by the end of January? I received an e-mail today requesting that I pay in full by the end of the month to keep the price I booked them for (i.e. 2009 Prices). I responded stating the request was unusual. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do? If not, should I refuse to pay by the end of the month? It just seems odd they want paid now because they state payment isn't due until 15 to 30 days prior. Thanks, Tom

 

For my Central Ohio neighbor, I would strongly urge holding very, very tight to your wallet and credit card. Why give them ALL OF YOUR MONEY now??? Doesn't make any sense, nor offer an advantage to you. There are other, just as good or better options, than locking in with that one company which plays these types of "bait & switch" games.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[dfwguy62]

Without committing to whether I would do it, and without knowing what was advertised when you signed up for them, or what was in any price quote you obtained from them.... I will note that their website indicates that people who are booking for 2010 dates are doing so without their 2010 website being complete yet or pricing being complete yet (although the website doesn't appear to be updated since October of last year). But it does say that people who are booking now (October??) are doing so to lock in 2009 pricing. Because they...

 

"...wanted to pay in advance the 2009 prices, which are guaranteed for 2010, provided you book and pay in full, not later than the 31st of December, 2009;"

 

I suspect this is there they are basing their desire to be paid by end of January. I seem to recall that they did this in previous years. But I certainly would look at any correspondence or quote that I had from them to be sure what they said to you prior to your order.

[sbhdmh]

Without committing to whether I would do it, and without knowing what was advertised when you signed up for them, or what was in any price quote you obtained from them.... I will note that their website indicates that people who are booking for 2010 dates are doing so without their 2010 website being complete yet or pricing being complete yet (although the website doesn't appear to be updated since October of last year). But it does say that people who are booking now (October??) are doing so to lock in 2009 pricing. Because they...

 

"...wanted to pay in advance the 2009 prices, which are guaranteed for 2010, provided you book and pay in full, not later than the 31st of December, 2009;"

 

I suspect this is there they are basing their desire to be paid by end of January. I seem to recall that they did this in previous years. But I certainly would look at any correspondence or quote that I had from them to be sure what they said to you prior to your order.

 

At least this explains the request... thanks for posting that quote.

[TomAndJane]

Yep, I went back to the website and found the quote. Now I know. Thanks. Still not sure what I should do... Decisions, decisions...

[TLCOhio]

Yep, I went back to the website and found the quote. Now I know. Thanks. Still not sure what I should do... Decisions, decisions...

 

It should be an easy decision! If in doubt, I can help our nearby neighbor understand what's at risk and the limited, potential advantage, maybe, legally.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[3KiwiFlyers]

Hi there, we have also requested a price from DenRus for our cruise which gets into St Petersburg in mid June. We got the same reply from DenRus as to holding their price if we pay the full amount by a date in January.

 

All of the questions aside, we got a similar quote from Optima which worked out a heck of a lot cheaper for the same things, so it might be worth you looking at them too. Granted, we have a child with us and we aren't being charged for him through Optima which makes a huge difference, but even on a per person basis, DenRus was more expensive.

 

Not sure if there is any difference in tour quality between the two but from what I have seen on other posts, they are all very similar.

 

Worth looking into anyway....

[Giantfan13]

As was said, basically all the tour companies in St Petersburg are really about the same. One may offer you something the others don't, but they all cover the same itinerary and they all charge basically the same price, give or take a few rubles.

I would not even want to give a deposit, let alone the full amount. What happens if you have to cancel for some reason, how do you go about getting your money back from Russia, 6 months alter???

Since you asked for advice, here's mine. I would check with some of the other major tour agencies, SPB, Alla etc and see what their policy is. I seriously doubt they are all asking for money in advance. They never have and that's what makes it so attractive for us,a s prospective clients.

 

As I said, good luck trying to get back your money 6,7, even 8 months from now, from a company in Russia. I don't doubt that they would, or else their name would be mud over here, but why even have to worry about it. Just go to some one else. Email Viktoria at SPB. This time of year she will respond the next day.

[ericosmith]

As I recall, they did the same thing last year. That was one of the reasons we booked with Alla. Saved a few dollars by paying in cash too but didn't have to do that until the second day.

 

I don't believe any of the tour prices have changed in several years. There wouldn't seem much benefit in locking in a price if that's still going to be the case.

[famfam]

you actually book and pay for the Denrus excursions through an American company

[TLCOhio]

you actually book and pay for the Denrus excursions through an American company

 

It's a little better that you are paying an "American company", but does that really provide the consumer with true and complete protection? Why pay in advance and take those risks?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Matymoo]

We have a two day tour of St Petersburg book with Anastasia for August 2010 and no monies need to be paid until day two.

 

I would not want to be parting with this amount of money so far in advance, especially if I wasn't sure of that country's legal system should I need to get it back.

 

But maybe that is because I am a Credit Manager and that bit more cautious.....

[Cheesi]

Has anyone booking Denrus for Spring/Summer 2010 in St. Petersburg been asked to pay in full by the end of January? I received an e-mail today requesting that I pay in full by the end of the month to keep the price I booked them for (i.e. 2009 Prices). I responded stating the request was unusual.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do? If not, should I refuse to pay by the end of the month? It just seems odd they want paid now because they state payment isn't due until 15 to 30 days prior.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

Tom, Denrus gave us this same option last year on our cruise in July 09. We just declined and said while we realized their prices might be slighter higher, we would prefer to wait. We got quotes from several companies and went with DenRus after all. We paid by credit card 30 days prior to our tour. The tour was great!!!! Can't speak highly enough of the service we received via e-mail both before and during our trip. I highly recommend the company.

[Cheesi]

We have a two day tour of St Petersburg book with Anastasia for August 2010 and no monies need to be paid until day two.

 

I would not want to be parting with this amount of money so far in advance, especially if I wasn't sure of that country's legal system should I need to get it back.

 

But maybe that is because I am a Credit Manager and that bit more cautious.....

 

I want to add that while I generally agree with Matymoo - we like the protection of paying by credit card (through a U.S. company - as previously stated by another poster) that, if necessary, could be disputed if service was not provided and didn't have to have the currency at the time of the tour. Plus, the price quoted ended up being better than the other quotes we were given anyway.

[LADodger99]

I cancelled my reservation with DenRus and booked with Anastasia. Beware..it took more than one email to Denrus for them to confirm my cancellation of my tour with them.