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Sorry to hear your story,but if considering another Camino and need aid,try MACS in Scotland as I have found them to be fantastic.Hope your experience has not put you off the Camino.I recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
Sorry to hear of your sad experiences.I recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
I’d second this. We used MacsAdventure last year for Sarria to Santiago and found them excellent. Our accommodation was all on the Camino and was of a good standard.Sorry to hear your story,but if considering another Camino and need aid,try MACS in Scotland as I have found them to be fantastic.Hope your experience has not put you off the Camino.
And incredibly cheaper...Booking,com for non Albergue accommodation and the Correos for luggage transfer - used many times and super reliable .
Thank you for letting us know.I recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
A good guidebook like the Brierley or the Wise and a good pair of walking footwear are the best Camino tour companies out there.
The only other thing I would add to that is a phone or pad for when one wants to book private accommodation.
Hello, I have also used Follow the Camino and found them to be an excellent company. First of all I don’t agree with people criticising a company on a forum as this can ruin their reputation; it’s best to deal with them direct. As to being booked into inadequate accommodation, or away from the route, this depends on many variables such as the amount of accommodation on a particular route, time of year and how long you gave the company time to book your accommodation. You can ask for upgraded accommodation but I found most of the accommodation to be correct as this is a pilgrimage not a holiday so the places booked are in hostels, hotels and Casa Rurales. As to notes, you are usually sent a guidebook if you book the whole Camino and if only a stage they will copy part of the guide. I will be using them again as I feel very safe when travelling solo and they will change accommodation if I’m not happy with any of them, if I book early enough. I’m sorry you were not happy with your accommodation but you say you enjoyed your pilgrimage which is good to hear.I recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
Thank goodness I didn’t book with them and chose Portugal Green walks instead ...already received my gpsviewer map with all hotel markedI recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
We walked the Portuguese Central route last June, our first Camino, and used AndaSpain, an excellent company that is based just north of Santiago de Compostela. Their services are probably not for everyone on this forum as they are not inexpensive, but I felt more comfortable having someone who has actually walked the Camino help me plan my first experience, and I was glad I did.I recently finished the Portugese Coastal route. I booked with the company Follow the Camino and was very sorry that I did. While enjoyed my walk, I was sorely disappointed with Follow the Camino. I did not receive what I paid for. They booked me in two hotels that were far far away from the Camino trail. The others were not the quality I expected. Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish directions, plus maps taken from Brierley's commercially available, copy righted guidebooks. The maps made no reference to their source, nor whether they were used by permission (which apparently they were not). Each map page did contain Follow the Camino's copyright sign, indicating they were claimed as FTC's original maps. I have contacted the Camino Guides book company about this issue. I was thanked and told this was not the first time that they have had to deal with copyright infringement issues with Follow the Camino.
The walking note pages did not indicate the starting point or ending point for each day. They did not indicate these points in relation to the hotels that were booked. On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels. When I complained by email to FTC, the response was that I should have called them on the emergency number. To me an emergency is being hit by a car or falling and breaking a bone. If I had called every time I had a problem with their walking notes, I would have had no time to walk. Many times the walking notes contained out and out mistakes. I don't know if it was by carelessness or deliberate misinformation.
I could go on and on with my complaints about Follow the Camino. I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services. They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with. Thank you for your attention.
We are doing our first Camino in September. Since I first researched companies, MacAdventures came through for us. Their advice has been excellent; all information has been clear; accommodations appear to be exactly what we will welcome at the end of the day. And the price was goood.I’d second this. We used MacsAdventure last year for Sarria to Santiago and found them excellent. Our accommodation was all on the Camino and was of a good standard.
I would rather things were aired openly. if you only ever see the positive posts you don't get any balance. That's why i would never trust reviews posted on a company's own site whether they are tour organisers, sellers of washing machines or whatever, you cannot rely on seeing the bad along with the good and may well be getting a false and biased picture. I appeciate that it can be tricky for moderators but I would rather see it than not. Maybe the OP's experience was unusual, maybe not, but her experience was valid nonetheless.Hello, I have also used Follow the Camino and found them to be an excellent company. First of all I don’t agree with people criticising a company on a forum as this can ruin their reputation; it’s best to deal with them direct.
I think that there must be a fair number of unscrupulous companies that seek to take advantage of people nervous about starting out on their first camino. And then the companies wind up providing bad and frequently unnecessary services. One of this forum’s important functions is to show people how easy and freeing it is to just walk, follow the arrows, and maybe make a few advance reservations in crunch time. I know that for some a supported tour is the way to go and I am glad there are people who can point others towards the reputable places, but for many it’s just a lack of understanding about the infrastructure and the joy of just walking.
Hello, I have also used Follow the Camino and found them to be an excellent company. First of all I don’t agree with people criticising a company on a forum as this can ruin their reputation; it’s best to deal with them direct. As to being booked into inadequate accommodation, or away from the route, this depends on many variables such as the amount of accommodation on a particular route, time of year and how long you gave the company time to book your accommodation. You can ask for upgraded accommodation but I found most of the accommodation to be correct as this is a pilgrimage not a holiday so the places booked are in hostels, hotels and Casa Rurales. As to notes, you are usually sent a guidebook if you book the whole Camino and if only a stage they will copy part of the guide. I will be using them again as I feel very safe when travelling solo and they will change accommodation if I’m not happy with any of them, if I book early enough. I’m sorry you were not happy with your accommodation but you say you enjoyed your pilgrimage which is good to hear.
I did not get any kind of refund or even the offer of anything. Each time I had a problem and I contacted them, they argued with me and were very rude. An example of this is the directions said there would be a hotel sign in a certain place showing the direction of the hotel. I sent them photos of the entire area showing no sign and they continued to say there was a sign. I walked an extra 10 km that day trying to find the hotel, then and extra 5 km the next morning with directions from the hotel staff to get back to the camino. They gave me a lot of excuses and arguments but no help and definitely no refund of any kind.Hoping you got some kind of refund, but I am thinking not.
Thank you. I wish I had seen a post like mine before I booked with Follow the Camino.I would rather things were aired openly. if you only ever see the positive posts you don't get any balance. That's why i would never trust reviews posted on a company's own site whether they are tour organisers, sellers of washing machines or whatever, you cannot rely on seeing the bad along with the good and may well be getting a false and biased picture. I appeciate that it can be tricky for moderators but I would rather see it than not. Maybe the OP's experience was unusual, maybe not, but her experience was valid nonetheless.
I wish I had read a review of them before I made plans for my trip.
That is your opinion and I am entitled to mine
I did not do my research and ..., I did not know enough about the Camino before starting out.
I wrote this response earlier off line and had some of those little voices in my head delaying me from sending it…for multiple reasons. But I reached a tipping point with the recent comment from the OP who said, “I definitely feel they are an unscrupulous company and that I was taken advantage of”. That may be true but please tell us why with facts, not feelings.
Written earlier today:
I’ve only walked one Camino and I did not use a tour company and I never will. I have no dog in this fight other than the general principal Juno (post #13) makes about the ease of damaging a company’s reputation online. However, unlike Juno I think negative reviews can be valuable and legitimate but ONLY if they explain factually and specifically the failures of the company to deliver what they promised and very few negative reviews on any service or product do this well. This is a pet peeve of mine so buckle up as I express my concerns about this specific review and in general my concerns about hurting a business with a negative review that is not factual. We are all good at reading headlines and then making judgments without looking deeper. I think the OP’s criticisms could be very valuable if the criticisms are substantiated with details and objectivity. I hope she follows up with that.
It’s obvious the OP is very unhappy with the company and I feel for her but the complaints are neither specific or detailed enough to be actionable by the tour company or for us to know if they are even legitimate. Antonius (post #14) makes an excellent point – “for sure at least there was a lack of communication”. In most cases, a company that has been operating for 12 years (from trip advisor screen shot below) has the “boiler plate” information in their marketing materials and schedules/itineraries/communications nailed down pretty tight…mostly accurate. It is the nature of their business however that hotels & restaurants go out of business and re-open, sell out with new owners, have employee turnover so the desk person doesn’t always know the policy arrangement with Tour Company A, B, C…X, Y & Z. The other side of the communication issue is the customer has a responsibility to both read and understand their contract and itinerary and if there are questions or concerns to contact the company ahead of time (or at the time of the problem) to work it out. Waiting until after the trip to complain about a service that you did not understand does not give the Tour Company a chance to make things right at the moment of your concern. Maybe the OP did this, maybe she did not…she did not give us the details so it is hard for us to make an informed judgment of her criticisms.
Subjective statements like “They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with” is both suspect and meaningless without the honest details and examples. Typically, someone who is upset about a company product or service is unable to give objective, factual criticism due to their emotional involvement. And generally speaking, if they did, it would not support their argument.
The OP says: “On two days I had to walk several hours from the camino trail to reach my hotels”. A friend of mine is taking a Camino Tour using a different company this fall. She sent me a copy of her itinerary (see attachment below). On the bottom of the page is a note about accommodations….”it may be away from the route” but taxis/transfers will be taken care of and then a reference to another page is given to get more details about the process etc… This sounds like a standard practice for the tour companies and there are several reviews in Trip Advisor for this particular company the OP used that mention the use of this practice (see attachments below). Did the OP have this information in her paperwork?...did she read it? was it an option that she declined? If the info was there and she did not fulfill her responsibility to read it or to call the company when she had a problem is it then fair to criticize this company for her negligence? I do think it is appropriate for those exceptional conditions (hotel 2 hour walk off Camino path) to offer some kind of alert or explanation up front in large print bringing this to the customer’s attention. Maybe there was, I don’t know but ultimate responsibility is with the customer to be informed, review the itinerary, get questions answered ahead of time where the instructions and information are fuzzy.
“I did not receive what I paid for” – what hotels, restaurants, bag transfers, services, products, taxis to remote hotels did you not receive that you paid for and why were those services denied to you? Please tell us the specific details. This is useful information that is important to know when picking a tour company.
“They booked me in two hotels far away from the Camino & I had to walk for hours to them” – were they listed in the itinerary they sent you ahead of time? did they communicate if there was free or reimbursable taxi fare to get to the hotel from the trail and back to the trail the next morning? This appears to be the standard practice offered by this company for hotels off the Camino route.
“The hotels were not the quality I expected” – expected based on what? this complaint is subjective. If you looked up all of your hotels on the internet after receiving your itinerary to look at pictures and understand their amenities offered and they were then substantially different you would have a legitimate criticism. Is that what happened in your case? Which ones? What specifically was misrepresented by the old pictures and descriptions relative to the property as you experienced it?
“Their so called "detailed walking notes" turned out to be rubbish” – this is the only criticism you offered that I found partially substantiated in reviews from Trip Advisor. You also made some specific complaints which are helpful. I used the Brierley guide for my Camino and thought it was great. I did not count but of the 20 reviews I read about your tour company where notes/maps were mentioned, maybe half offered some criticism and half said they were great. Sometimes the maps/notes are not so good and sometimes the notes/map readers are not so good.
“Used without permission copy righted Brierley guide material” – are you sure or is this a supposition? Juno (post #13) said his experience was the Guide Company purchased and then gave you the complete Brierley Guide when doing a “full” Brierley route. The Brierley Guide for the Portugese starts in Lisbon and lists 24 stages to Santiago. Eleven of those stages are the route you did, Porto to Santiago. Personally I think they should give you the complete guide instead of copied pages for Porto to Santiago. But you don’t know if this company has a specific arrangement with Brierley & Co. that allows them to use a certain number of copies for the Porto route and label them with their company name as long as they buy a certain number of Brierley guide books each year.
“Didn’t know I could use emergency number to solve my problems with the company at the time they occurred” – was the number described as a “Medical Emergency” number or just “Emergency” number? I guess I can understand how you might have some confusion here. “24 hour customer service number” might be a better label for your language and culture. I think if you travel internationally with the expectation that everything will be labeled to suit your language/culture and each experience will go as expected relative to all your past experiences you will inevitably be disappointed.
“They were very rude and a nightmare to deal with” - does this mean at the end of the trip I asked for a partial refund and they would not give it to me? Or, are there specific examples of their rudeness and was it just one way…unprovoked? You say “I write this to warn future potential clients. Save yourself a lot of time and hassel by not engaging their services” Well thanks for looking out for us but the details matter, the facts matter and not so much the emotion behind them so please let us know the facts and details.
The OP has the latest review on Trip Advisor for this company. The company replies to each review so eventually we will hear their reply.
I’m glad the OP had a good experience while walking the Camino. However, the disappointment of the accommodations must have taken a toll on her. I hope she goes back again and can experience it without those distractions.
Just because others have had a good experience does not negate my bad experience. What is your affiliation with Follow the Camino? I am entitled to my opinion and entitled to tell others about my bad experience with this company.There were over 400 reviews to read about this company on Trip Advisor and 95% are in the Good to Excellent range. Reading reviews was not your issue...a lack of general research about the camino was.
True. But you are not entitled to your own facts.
Thank you. That should have been the title of the thread.
What other facts do you want? Have I not explained my experience? This is not a complaint about the Camino itself, it is about the company I paid to facilitate my Camino experience.I'm sorry your experience with FTC was below your expectations.
I have no affiliation with them. I am passionate about negative online reviews that are high on emotion and low on facts.
It's not my saying but in my research I came across this piece of philosophy many times - The Camino gives you what you need, not what you want.
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