SBP Tours. No response. Are they out of business?

[croozen]

I  am freaking out just a bit about SBP Tours, I booked a 7 hour Helsinki tour on their website, three days ago and the charge went immediately on our credit card, but I have received no email confirmation. When I try to contact them through Email addresses they provide, messages are being bounced back as undeliverable. When I call the number provided from Website it directs you to leave a message (I have) or to

fill in their Webform which I have also done. At time of booking it said confirmation would come in one business day. 

I am considering contacting Bank to see if they will reverse CC charge. 
Has anyone booked with SBP recently??

Edited May 12, 2023 by croozen

[hallasm]

I would try to stop the payment until it is confirmed that they are still in business.

Their  current address is in Berlin, but the website only mentions guides living in St. Petersburg/ Russia and the company's registration number is in Russia.

 

Personally, I would not in the current situation use a Russian registered company.

It is possible for Russian tour operators to be hit by sanctions in Europe, depending on the specific sanctions imposed by the European Union or individual European countries.

Edited May 12, 2023 by hallasm

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, hallasm said:

I would try to stop the payment until it is confirmed that they are still in business.

Their  current address is in Berlin, but the website only mentions guides living in St. Petersburg/ Russia and the company's registration number is in Russia.

 

Personally, I would not in the current situation use a Russian registered company.

It is possible for Russian tour operators to be hit by sanctions in Europe, depending on the specific sanctions imposed by the European Union or individual European countries.

As badly as I feel for the Russian tour guides, I would absolutely 100% agree with hallsam - it isn't safe to use a Russian based tour company right now.  Given the geopolitical situation, you should have absolutely no problem getting your credit card to reimburse you for your deposit if you contact them immediately and explain you didn't know that SPB was based in Russia and that the tour has not been confirmed.

[croozen]

On 5/12/2023 at 3:10 PM, kitkat343 said:

As badly as I feel for the Russian tour guides, I would absolutely 100% agree with hallsam - it isn't safe to use a Russian based tour company right now.  Given the geopolitical situation, you should have absolutely no problem getting your credit card to reimburse you for your deposit if you contact them immediately and explain you didn't know that SPB was based in Russia and that the tour has not been confirmed.

It is not just my deposit we are dealing with it is the full tour cost $578 Canadian dollars! there has been a development in that we did on Saturday get a confirmation from the company which looks very official however it indicates no payment has been made and asks for a deposit. I have written to them (3rd or 4th time) to have this corrected but am still considering contacting my CC company to have charge stopped. I have a very bad feeling about this company.

[kitkat343]

4 minutes ago, croozen said:

It is not just my deposit we are dealing with it is the full tour cost $578 Canadian dollars! there has been a development in that we did on Saturday get a confirmation from the company which looks very official however it indicates no payment has been made and asks for a deposit. I have written to them (3rd or 4th time) to have this corrected but am still considering contacting my CC company to have charge stopped. I have a very bad feeling about this company.

What are you planning on doing in Helsinki?   Are there any competing vendors who offer the same service?  I'm assuming given the cost you aren't just visiting the major tourist sites (most of which can be reached by the 2 and 3 tram you can pick up in Market Square).  Contact your credit card company, explain the company is based in Russia and hasn't been very communicative (I don't even know if Canadian credit cards are allowed to send money to support a Russian business at this point) and hopefully they will reverse the charges.

[ontheweb]

Are you sure they are headquartered in Russia? If you go to their website, its says they are headquartered in Berlin.

 

The season before they opened we met Viktoria, the owner. She was then a guide working for Alla tours. She confided to our group that she had done all the paperwork to run her own agency the following year.

 

Though she was in St. Petersburg, I remember her saying her husband was in Berlin.

[hallasm]

44 minutes ago, croozen said:

still considering contacting my CC company to have charge stopped. I have a very bad feeling about this company.

My advice will be to contact your CC company and stop he charge.

38 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Are there any competing vendors who offer the same service?  I'm assuming given the cost you aren't just visiting the major tourist sites

This will be my advice too - I strongly believe that SPB tours is using local vendors - they do not have their own guides and operation in Helsinki.

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Are you sure they are headquartered in Russia? If you go to their website, its says they are headquartered in Berlin

From the web it’s Berlin - but they are licensed in Russia - their web is not updated -still “Welcome to the season 2022”

[ontheweb]

On 5/12/2023 at 11:28 AM, croozen said:

I  am freaking out just a bit about SBP Tours, I booked a 7 hour Helsinki tour on their website, three days ago and the charge went immediately on our credit card, but I have received no email confirmation. When I try to contact them through Email addresses they provide, messages are being bounced back as undeliverable. When I call the number provided from Website it directs you to leave a message (I have) or to

fill in their Webform which I have also done. At time of booking it said confirmation would come in one business day. 

I am considering contacting Bank to see if they will reverse CC charge. 
Has anyone booked with SBP recently??

When you say the charges went immediately to your credit card are you saying you were immediately charged or more likely it was immediately pending? It is now several days past when you charged this, has it gone off pending to a posted charge?

 

Is it possible that if they are out of business, the pending charge would just drop and never become a real charge against your account?

[croozen]

39 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

When you say the charges went immediately to your credit card are you saying you were immediately charged or more likely it was immediately pending? It is now several days past when you charged this, has it gone off pending to a posted charge?

 

Is it possible that if they are out of business, the pending charge would just drop and never become a real charge against your account?

It was authorized for about three days and now is in fact posted. It is about six days now since I made the booking I think. The charge being posted allows me to put in a dispute claim online with my bank. We will see what they say. This is not a typical kind of dispute and I am not certain it is an actual scam. I feel really stupid.

[Meander Ingwa]

This needs to be erased asap.  There are other options with local guides, i am sure.  I encountered this a few months ago booking a private home.  It was like pulling teeth to get accurate information.  That was just based on the bank transfer

 

The fact that they have not sent you a confirmation code or something to show enrollment tells me they are, at least, unorganized at worse, disreputable 

[ontheweb]

28 minutes ago, croozen said:

It was authorized for about three days and now is in fact posted. It is about six days now since I made the booking I think. The charge being posted allows me to put in a dispute claim online with my bank. We will see what they say. This is not a typical kind of dispute and I am not certain it is an actual scam. I feel really stupid.

I now agree that if as you say it is now a posted charge and they are not confirming or answering any queries by you, it is time to dispute and find another vendor.

[ontheweb]

11 minutes ago, Meander Ingwa said:

This needs to be erased asap.  There are other options with local guides, i am sure.  I encountered this a few months ago booking a private home.  It was like pulling teeth to get accurate information.  That was just based on the bank transfer

 

The fact that they have not sent you a confirmation code or something to show enrollment tells me they are, at least, unorganized at worse, disreputable 

We've met the owner the year before they went into business. And prior to St. Petersburg becoming a non-port, they always received excellent reviews. The new world reality with their base in St. Petersburg no longer receiving cruise ships may have changed things, but they were a very respected tour provider.

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, croozen said:

It was authorized for about three days and now is in fact posted. It is about six days now since I made the booking I think. The charge being posted allows me to put in a dispute claim online with my bank. We will see what they say. This is not a typical kind of dispute and I am not certain it is an actual scam. I feel really stupid.

People have done far worse - you used a credit card, instead of a bank or wire transfer. 

 

Another possibility is just sending SBP an email cancelling your tour.  Then  send the following information to your credit card company:

 

https://spb-tours.com/index.php?pageid=6

 

Group tours

 Cancellations can be made for any reason up to 1 week before the tour start time and a full refund can be made. The only exception is regarding the deposit for SAPSAN train tickets in Moscow, as they cannot be refunded once the train tickets are purchased.

 

 

PRIVATE TOURS

• Cancellations can be made for any reason up to 1 month before the tour start date and a full refund can be made. The only exception is regarding the deposit for SAPSAN train tickets in Moscow, as they cannot be refunded once the train tickets are purchased.

 

I know you didn't buy train tickets to Moscow, so as long as you are more than a month out you are eligible for a full refund (1 week out you are eligible for half).  

 

Dispute the charge if you are within  a month, but you can easily cancel the tour if you are more than a month away (the credit card would absolutely refund you if you can document you cancelled in writing within the time allotted in their cancellation policy).

 

If you are less then a month, contact the credit card company to dispute the charge and explain that since it is a Russian based company, you don't know if Canada can even send them money and haven't been able to reach them.

Edited May 16, 2023 by kitkat343

[Nitemare]

No reviews since September in Berlin for SPB:  SPB Tours Berlin - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (tripadvisor.com)

 

No reviews since 2019 for Helsinki:  SPB Tours Helsinki - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (tripadvisor.com)

 

Maybe post on the Helsinki and Berlin forums at TripAdvisor to see if anyone there has been in touch with SPB?