Our tour guide (Marcia) and driver (Mateo) were fantastic, knowledgeable, professional, and always on time. They were genuinely the highlight of the trip and deserve top marks. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the agency (particularly represented by Jeff) itself. We paid more than $3,000 USD for this package (booked through TripAdvisor), which included hotels, airport pickup, and drop-off. Here's what went wrong: Poaching attempt: Shortly after booking, the agency contacted us directly and suggested we cancel our TripAdvisor booking and rebook with them privately for a lower price. We declined, since this felt unethical toward the platform we booked through. Hotel bait-and-switch: For our first night, we were offered a choice between Palacio de Sal and Luna Salada, and told Palacio de Sal (the nicer option) was subject to availability. We were later told it wasn't available and were placed in Luna Salada instead. Itinerary never delivered: A team member promised to send our personalized itinerary. It never arrived. When we followed up days later, worried, we were told that person no longer worked for the agency and to contact them directly with no further help offered. Data privacy breach: When the itinerary finally showed up, it wasn't ours, it belonged to a different couple who had also booked with the agency, complete with their phone number, passport number, and email address. We would never misuse that information, but it's alarming that our own personal details could be sent so carelessly to a stranger. Confirmed dishonesty about availability: Separately, we discovered that Palacio de Sal did have availability on our first night after all — they simply hadn't booked us there. Given we'd paid nearly $3,000, it's hard not to conclude we were placed in the cheaper hotel under a false "availability" excuse to pad their margin. Surprise fee for a drop-off: Our last night's hotel in Uyuni was meant to be booked independently by us, as is standard — and the tour still included the drop-off to it regardless of which hotel we picked, at no extra cost. Had we simply told them our choice upfront, there would have been no charge. But because we changed our hotel selection after initially discussing a different one, the agency suddenly wanted to charge us an extra $30 for the same drop-off service. We compared prices with local taxi drivers and found their rate was significantly higher than the going rate, confirming this was an upsell attempt rather than a genuine added cost. Poor customer service when we pushed back: When I called about the $30 fee, the agency was reluctant to even respond, only picking up after I said it was urgent. I was then told it was "extremely rude" of me to call since my issue wasn't urgent, and that everything should go through email — despite them not responding to our emails. A representative also implied that complaining about $30 was strange, as if the amount was too small to matter. It's my money, regardless of the amount. He also claimed I had to pay because I'd booked through a third party (TripAdvisor), and that they had to give 35% of the booking to TripAdvisor — which makes little sense as a justification, and honestly raises the question of why they advertise through TripAdvisor at all if they resent the cut that much. They eventually agreed to do the drop-off at no extra charge. Airport transfer runaround: The tour was also supposed to include a drop-off at the airport the next morning, but the agency initially said this would cost extra too, then backtracked and said it wasn't part of the tour at all. We accepted that and arranged our own transport through the hotel for $15. Then, at 9pm the night before our flight, the agency reached out saying they'd actually do the airport drop-off for free after all. We declined, since we already had transport booked.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and especially for your kind words about our local team. Delivering great service on the ground is what we focus on most, and we genuinely appreciate that you highlighted this even within a negative review. We would like to add some context on the points you raised. Hotel Palacio de Sal: We did check availability, and unfortunately there was a misunderstanding. Palacio de Sal operates its own tour agency and gives it booking priority, which means many dates show as unavailable and can change as the travel date approaches. Because of this, and because of previous issues with the same hotel, we always present two alternatives in the same category: Palacio de Sal, which is beautiful but offers a more limited service, and Luna Salada, which has a viewpoint and, based on our guests' feedback and our own experience, stronger service. When we sent availability updates, we were only on a waiting list at Palacio de Sal, which is why we suggested Luna Salada and consulted you before confirming. The 10% discount: Between May and July, Bolivia experienced nationwide road blockades that paralyzed the country for around 60 days. All tours in that period were cancelled, and as part of the reopening, a 10% discount was offered on incoming bookings. We never forced but suggest the alternative. We mentioned that the discount existed and that you could let us know if you wished to consider it, and our WhatsApp messages explaining the situation in Bolivia are on record. If this came across differently, we sincerely apologize for the confusion. The USD 3,000: When we mentioned that TripAdvisor charges a commission, it was only to clarify that we did not receive the full amount you paid. Booking through an intermediary platform always carries an additional cost, and you will find different prices for the same product across platforms because each one is entitled to charge for the extra services and policies it provides. The personalized itinerary: You are right, and this was entirely our error. We normally prepare custom itineraries for trips of 7 to 30 days, and in your case a previous itinerary was sent by mistake or irresponsibility in our end. We have taken internal action on this. Transfers: Pick-up is included whether from your hotel, the airport, or the bus terminal in Uyuni. However, an airport drop-off, including one on a later day, and transfers to hotels outside Uyuni were never part of the booking. For reference, local taxis in Uyuni charge 180 to 250 Bs (USD 18 to 25) per leg, and the Land Cruisers (bigger car and engine) we work with charge USD 35 to 60. Your stay was changed at the last minute from Uyuni to Colchani (Luna Salada), which is 28 km each way, and you also requested an airport transfer from there, a further 56 km, for over 100 km in total. We explained that these longer distances have an additional cost, and what we quoted was a fair price for services not included in the package. We want to be transparent about one more thing. In many cases we would have included one or both of these transfers as a courtesy, something we do often, had the request come through in writing so we could justify it to our administration. Unfortunately, the phone call we received was tense from the outset, with a firm insistence that we had received the full USD 3,000 and had to resolve it on those terms, raising one's voice or imposing conditions is not a valid alternative either and that made it difficult to find a solution together. We have internal procedures, and we handle requests by message or email precisely so there is a record that allows us to act quickly. We sincerely apologize for not meeting your expectations, for the errors on our side, and for the poor communication regarding your itinerary. Your honest feedback is a clear signal that we need to verify information on third-party platforms more carefully and improve our communication, and we are grateful for it 🙏🏽 The Visit South America team
