I want to add to my thoughts on Quark Expeditions. They are an unethical company that no traveler should ever consider booking with.
After COVID-19 they changed their terms and conditions to exclude pandemics and are trying to say that they retroactively apply to customers who booked prior to the change (they don't). They told me as recently as early April that they would refund my money if they cancelled our June 6th cruise (which is inline with their t&cs when I booked the cruise). However since they cancelled the cruise in late April they have refused to return any of my phone calls and e-mails requesting a refund. So I filed a dispute with AmEx to get my money back (I do not want a travel voucher for a future cruise). Late last week they sent AmEx a clause from Section 9,
Itinerary, which applies to cruises already in progress, or that have travelers have gotten themselves to the port for, that need to be cancelled due to
force majeure (a term which isn't included in the t&cs that I have). Obviously we never made our way to Oslo in June
.
I have had to send AmEx the proper clause that applies to the cancellation,
Section 8, TRIP CANCELLATION BY QUARK EXPEDITIONS, PRIOR TO ITINERARY START DATE, Quark Expeditions begins planning our land and sea trips many months in advance of departure. Occasionally, we have to make changes both before and after bookings have been confirmed.
Quark reserves the right to cancel or change any service prior to departure. For any affected passengers on any cancelled trip, Quark Expeditions will first offer affected passengers an alternate trip to re-book on. If the affected passenger is not able to participate in
the alternative trip, Quark Expeditions will refund to such passenger any payments made to Quark without further obligation on our part. Please note that in the event of cancellation, Quark Expeditions will not be responsible for the cost of any additional travel arrangements or any other items not purchased through Quark Expeditions.
I wanted to share with fellow travelers how slimy Quark is. They obviously know they owe me a full refund, but are trying every which way to get out of returning my money. We are talking about just shy of $13,000.00, so not a small sum of money. They have had many negative comments on their Facebook page as well as people who filed with the BBB (which I will also do so consumers can be aware of what kind of company they are); they are trying their best to refuse refunds even though it's written out in their terms and conditions. Avoid Quark Expeditions at all costs. I get that this situation has had a negative impact on their financials, but they are bound by the terms and conditions in effect when I booked my cruise on October 9th.