Does Tauck ever respond to emails sent via their contact form?

About 2 weeks ago, I sent Tauck an email via their contact form with a question about a 2019 trip. I received their auto-response quickly, but nothing after that.

I recall sending them an email some time last year, and this was a more timely issue, so I called them after about a week of non-response.

Is not responding to emails their usual behavior?

Comments

  • Coincidentally, I recently did that for the first time, I was asking about the app for my upcoming trip. I got the automatic reply and then maybe a week after that I got a reply... no app ready yet for our trip. If it was an urgent thing I would have called them. Tauck just gets bigger and bigger and I guess they get many people emailing and asking questions these days. I rarely call them unless it is to make a booking because I almost always have a list of questions when I book and generally do not have to call again.
  • I call them quite frequently. I just called them yesterday to find out who our tour director is for our July 14 K&T. I was hoping for Susan Wahlen who was our director on our Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa tour two years ago. We have two other I’m sure excellent tour directors. Tauck has a computer phone system that identifies who you are and what you have booked so they know who you are before you even say anything. They knew I had three active bookings before I had said anything but my name. They even knew that Susan was our tour director in South Africa. If you have a question, just call them. They are more than happy to talk to you about anything. Their ‘post tour’ people even steered me to the outfit (Bushtracks) that could set up a ‘walk with the lions’ tour in Zambia.
  • edited May 2018
    Wow Sealord, more than once when we have called to book a trip and the person on the other end of the phone has no clue who we are. It’s only when we have been on the line a few minutes and the Tauck rep is treating us like new customers that we point out we should be in their system and then they turn on the charm and can’t do enough for us. We have six trips booked with them at present. Earlier in the month we had to call Tauck urgently because good friends of our who came on a tour with us a couple of years ago, their first Tauck Tour, were supposed to go to Iceland with us this July. So our booking was linked, even though I asked Tauck not to link us because this couple often change their mind about things. Sure enough they called to cancel and Tauck cancelled our booking too. We booked the tour eighteen months ago. We just managed to call in time to sort it out before they gave our booking away to someone else, after we got an email from Tauck saying how sorry they were we cancelled our tour and giving us our deposit back minus the insurance payment. It took three phone calls before written confirmation was given to us that we still had a place on the tour. Really our only bad experience with Tauck that we hope is never repeated.
  • edited May 2018
    That is puzzling. Perhaps it’s your ‘screen name’. (;-). They don’t mess with ‘Sealord’. (;-). Perhaps you should change your screen name to “Churchill” ... of course he was half ‘American’. (;-))

    I didn’t know that could happen with ‘linked’ reservations. We are ‘linked’ with our friends for our Portugal and Spain trip next year.

    Six trips booked ... wow .... that makes me a bit envious. But, we are getting a new puppy in late July or early August ... right after we return from our K&T in Africa. That will keep us close to home for a while.
  • British: From re-reading your post it does sound like you book directly with Tauck. I do also. But, on one trip I used a TA and Tauck would not talk to me. They would only deal with my TA. I prefer to deal directly with Tauck, and I found any benefits of using an ‘agent’ simply were not worth being unable to deal directly with Tauck. That being said, all Tauck agents are not equal. They do have ‘new’ people at times who are not as expert as the ‘old’ people. I have found that if you dial the choice that says something about reporting on a past tour, those people are far more experienced than the ‘book a new tour’ people. I have their direct dial number in my ‘contact’ list.
  • Sealord wrote:
    British: From re-reading your post it does sound like you book directly with Tauck. I do also. But, on one trip I used a TA and Tauck would not talk to me. They would only deal with my TA. I prefer to deal directly with Tauck, and I found any benefits of using an ‘agent’ simply were not worth being unable to deal directly with Tauck. That being said, all Tauck agents are not equal. They do have ‘new’ people at times who are not as expert as the ‘old’ people. I have found that if you dial the choice that says something about reporting on a past tour, those people are far more experienced than the ‘book a new tour’ people. I have their direct dial number in my ‘contact’ list.

    Yes Sealord, we have always booked directly with Tauck. And yes, they clearly have a lot more staff who lack experience.
    The cancelled booking--our friends made it clear we were not cancelling but we got cancelled anyway. We will never link a booking again.
    I don't think I have heard an option like reporting on a past tour, I'll listen to all the choices next time.
    I would love to change my user name, but I do not think it is that easy. I must admit I am fed up of the British label, but it is a little less annoying than people making assumptions and asking where I come from and then talking about London as I am not from London, and when I say that it confuses people. When I say I come from the North of England. I can't tell you how many people think London is a country! Yes really, even the so called sophisticated clients that reviewers of Tauck as a company say they attract. But these last two points are another story.
    Glad you are enjoying all your tours, addictive aren't they, and the forum.
  • edited May 2018
    For the record, I will be on my 37th Tauck tour (Washington, D.C. Events) later this month (May 2018) and I have four more Tauck tours booked (2 domestic U.S. and 2 international (Europe riverboat cruising)) for the rest of 2018. I have used my local TA for booking all of my Tauck tours and I have been extremely satisfied with her service. Never had any problem and I believe by using her she has saved me a lot of money with my air fares over the years. I can not speak for other TAs, but if one is lucky enough to have a good one, they can not be beat IMHO.
  • tomh - 37 - Wow! Is that a record?

    Getting back to my question, guess I'll give them a call.

    The on-trip experience has always been great. However, it seems anything related to technology is lagging quite a bit (like having to sign out and back in to post anything here). They've added a number of new trips lately and I wonder if they're expanding faster than their infrastructure supports. That can be a recipe for disaster. Hopefully, not the case.
  • Just called and got my question answwered.

    P.S. to British - they knew who I was and knew I had 2 scheduled trips before I said anything. Perhaps you have caller ID blocking set?
  • BKMD. No, not by a long shot. LOL. :-). I have met some folks who had been on 60 or more Tauck tours. :-)
  • edited May 2018
    Hey BKMD,

    I'm sorry to hear that happened! That's very unusual. There's sometimes a delay in response depending on how busy we are or if the email has to get routed a few times internally (like what British mentioned up above — sorry for the delay!), but not responding is surprising. Could you shoot me a line at esupport@tauck.com? I'd like to try to figure out what happened. I'm glad you got your question answered though! Thanks!

    -Tim
  • I am still waiting for a response to an email question I sent about the Paradors trip in April, 2016. And -- yes -- I did call after not hearing back.
  • judy05 wrote:
    I am still waiting for a response to an email question I sent about the Paradors trip in April, 2016. And -- yes -- I did call after not hearing back.
    ???? Is this a record!
  • British -- LOL! I doubt it! I have heard the same story from other Tauck friends.
  • We have been with Tauck for eight tours and book always by email direct from the UK without any problems at all. In fact, their efficiency has always amazed us. We had an unfortunate experience some years ago with a TD who was new and not up to standard and they dealt with that very quickly and sympathetically.
  • TauckTim - email sent. Thanks for your attention.
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