Western tourists demand refund because Ha Giang tour guide doesn't know English

Swedish tourists asked a Vietnamese travel company to refund their money for "providing incorrect services", including a tour guide in Ha Giang who did not know English.

Answering VnExpress , Swedish tourist Alva White said that she and her husband had just finished a trip to Ha Giang with a tour of S Vietnam company in Hang Dao, Hanoi. Before that, they booked a tour to Ha Long of this company and found the quality good, so they decided to book another tour "Ha Giang loop" for 4 days and 3 nights, departing on November 18.

According to the agreement, the tour would have an English-speaking tour guide and the Whites would be “in a private room.” However, the woman said the company “failed to provide proper service” as the tour guide barely understood English and they had to stay in a dorm room. In addition, they were also grouped with a 3-day, 2-night group, which White said was an unreasonable arrangement.

Private rooms are located on the same floor. Photo: Nguyen Minh Tan — The beds are individually enclosed in the stilt house on the Ha Giang tour. Photo: *Nguyen Minh Tan*

"The tour guide didn't speak English so we were pretty much clueless throughout the trip. The tour guide didn't even show us how to drive a motorbike safely," White said.

As the group began to move, White and her husband could not keep up with the rest of the group. They were fined by traffic police for several violations. White said the risks of participating in traffic were something she and her husband had anticipated, but reputable tours would teach their guests how to avoid breaking the law. The Swedish tourist commented that the way the company organized the tour was "very chaotic."

Unsatisfied with the tour service, the couple decided to cancel their schedule and requested to return to Hanoi with the group for 3 days and 2 nights. On the morning of November 20, White went to the company and asked to receive 4 million VND back because of the poor service. After the two sides reached an agreement, the amount they received back was 1.5 million VND.

"This number doesn't satisfy me, but it's better than nothing. We are middle-aged tourists, and we don't forgive them as easily as younger tourists," White said. Although both sides agreed not to share the story on social media, the foreign couple still decided to post it on a group for foreign tourists in Vietnam.

A group of Western tourists in Ha Giang in October. Photo: Lina — A group of Western tourists in Ha Giang in October. Photo: *Lina*

Ms. Nguyen Minh Tan, the company's director, said she was "very angry" with the couple's behavior in breaking the original agreement. According to Ms. Tan, the company's acceptance of compensation does not mean "admitting to providing poor quality services."

Regarding the dorm room issue, Ms. Tan explained that this group going to Ha Giang was arranged to sleep in a stilt house and the stilt house was divided into separate spaces with curtains, which is "a characteristic of stilt house rooms in Ha Giang". At the company's office, this unit provided pictures of the stilt house in the tour introduction for guests.

Regarding tour guides, Ms. Tan said this is the common situation of local tour guides in Ha Giang. They can only speak English at a "very basic" level and cannot provide in-depth information about each destination like professional tour guides. However, she affirmed that they have a good grasp of Ha Giang's terrain so "they can completely ensure the safety of tourists". "Everything is an unfortunate misunderstanding", Ms. Tan said.

"Ha Giang loop" is known as "golden route", which is becoming more and more famous among foreign tourists. The route is about 350 km long, starting from Quan Ba, passing Yen Minh, up to Dong Van, to Meo Vac and then back to the starting point, crossing high passes, deep ravines, requiring a good driver to face the curves like an endless loop.

Tour guides who do not know English is a big problem that the Ha Giang authorities are concerned about, especially when more and more Western backpackers come here to travel. Normally, for a group of 12 people, with 12 drivers, only one person knows basic English.

Mr. Minh Hoang, who has worked in tourism in Ha Giang for more than 10 years, commented that this "golden route" has a lot of potential but has not really developed.

Tu Nguyen

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