Camps International Reviews

Name: Camps International
Address: Unit 10 Kingfisher Park Headlands Business ParkSalisbury Road, Ringwood
Rating: 3.98

4.0 Rating 515 Reviews

76 %

of reviewers recommend Camps International

Company Reviews

Metrics

Info

4.0

Based on 515 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	3.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

About Camps International:

Camps International are experts in sustainable student travel, offering life-changing school expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Visit Website

Phone:

01425 485390

Email:

info@campsinternational.com

Location:

Unit 10 Kingfisher Park Headlands Business ParkSalisbury Road
Ringwood
BH24 3NX

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Camps International 5 star review on 27th November 2023

Darran Tunnah

Camps International 5 star review on 31st October 2023

Noah Clarke

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Really not even one star. My granddaughter has paid over four thousand pounds and spent time preparing for this She is sixteen and was told two weeks ago that she can’t go! She had gone through the ordeal and cost of vaccinations. Worse still she has now been told you will be refunding 50% as a goodwill gesture! Goodwill? Where is her money going? Disgusting behaviour from a charity.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

Dear Dawn We can see from previous correspondence between your granddaughter’s parents and the school that this has been a complex and private matter and we share in your granddaughter’s disappointment that she was unable to go on the school expedition as planned. It was due to the circumstances and it being so close to the eminent departure of the expedition that we made this gesture of goodwill. All the best The Camps Crew

Posted 8 months ago

“To all parents, please read the small print and reviews. Talk to your child if they really want to go on this trip. For personal reasons my son is unable to go to cambodia next year. We contacted camps international explaining everything and we will not be getting any refund. The money he has raised we will not be seeing, so where is this money going. You will not be getting recommended.”

Helpful Report

Posted 10 months ago

Dear Iain We are sorry to hear that you are looking to cancel your son’s place. We can see from our records that our team have requested more information to understand your position and to see how we can support you further. A member of the team will be touch again shortly. All the best The Camps Crew

Posted 10 months ago

“Having travelled with Camps before and being really pleased with the organisation, I was shocked with how everything went this year. Our pre-departure information was not all correct, for example-students were told they would get a mixture of western, and Thai food-this was not the case-the food was all Thai and many students struggled with this. Food preferences were not provided for very well, I had to speak to every restaurant we went to to ensure we had the appropriate food for one child (vegetarian nd no egg). Information such as how many people were in a room could have been given to us beforehand and saved an hour on arrival - after travelling for a whole day, this would have made a massive difference. We were not given enough staff bedrooms, after being promised that we would have our own room, and some ended up sharing. At one point on the trip all 9 members of staff/leaders were sharing one room. The leaders did not have much involvement with our students, on previous trips they have basically run the trip and we have been there as behaviour management and student wellbeing, however we, as staff felt like a lot of it was falling on us, which we were not expecting. Students did not feel any connection with the Camps staff at all. It would have been a lot easier if the group had not been travelling and doing activities as a group of 60 every day-this was hard to manage and created issues which would not have been there had we been in the original groups we had assumed we would be in. The activities we did were really fun and the kids really enjoyed them (especially Cooking School), it was just a shame that we felt we were "winging it" on a daily basis.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“The children greatly enjoyed the activities. There were many complaints about the cleanliness of the bathrooms and the camp in general. The food was too spicy.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“This company is an absolute disgrace. They have no values, morals or ethics. I paid £2,290 towards a dream expedition for my daughter to attend with her school that couldn’t go ahead due to covid. This was deferred to the following year and as my daughter was no longer at her school she was not allowed to go on the trip. Camps International have a clever legal team that somehow manage to get out of paying any refunds for trips that through no fault of the customer couldn’t go ahead. If you cannot trust a company with your money you certainly cannot trust them with your child!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Dear Parent We were just as disappointed that your daughter was not able to travel with her school on Expedition and as such worked to provide alternative options. Based on ongoing correspondence and the contract with the school, we are confident that we have fully complied with the Package Travel and Linked Air Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 at all times and that no breach of our contractual duties has occurred. Kind regards The Camps Team

Posted 1 year ago

“Incredibly unethical business selling their idea to poor unsuspecting teenagers looking for a great experience. However if anything goes wrong all they do is refer to their terms and conditions. My daughter was due to go to Cambodia in the Summer of 2021 and began her fundraising in ernest in 2020, then Covid hit and it took a toll on my daughters mental health and on our family financially. My daughter decided to cancel in October 2020 more than 6 months before said trip and was told that the £800 already paid would not be refunded however as a "goodwill gesture" they wouldn't charge us the cancellation fee. What are they talking about, COVID has hit many people in many ways and even the smaller tour operators are understanding and willing to refund as much as possible. No flights had been booked nothing had been organised, no service received for the £800 paid, essentially we were paying to line Camp International's pockets! We kept getting the same reply from them referring to their terms and conditions and we subsequently found out the trip in Summer of 2021 had been cancelled, all participants had been fully refunded, except us. So our £800 was taken but everyone else refunded? How does that even work, what have we paid for. At a time where people needed to be a little flexible, a term clearly NOT in Camp International's terms and conditions, I find this company who claim they are a "Charity" morally lacking and incredibly unscrupulous. I will be taking my claim for £800 to court and I sincerely hope that people think twice before even booking with them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I’m really shocked at the unethical practices of this organisation. A once in a lifetime trip to Borneo was booked for my son and he fundraiser for it. When Borneo went on the red list, the school cancelled the trip. Incredibly Camps flatly refused to refund. After much legal wranglings they have offered a settlement of about one third of what has been paid. Camps even cancelled the trip themselves anyway about two weeks after the school did, but used the school’s sensible cancellation decision as a reason not to refund. To keep funds raised for charity by children is not just unethical, it is downright wrong.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Like others I have had to resort to the small claims service for a refund. I was advised in writing that it would take 4 weeks, this became 5 and now it’s 6. The package travel terms and conditions that they have relied upon not to cancel before June states they refunds must be in 14 days. I am not wasting any more time with them, a county court judgement can deal with it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“All many parents can say NEVER, NEVER use this company. Will not refund any money paid for a trip THEY cancelled to COSTA RICA. hiding being legal statements however refuse to state which parts and laws. The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk) however refuse to state which parts and laws. How many days did the refund take .. THERE IS NOT OPTION FOR NEVER.. Camps refuse to refund any money ..”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Like many of the parents completing reviews, we share Camps International's disappointment that this year's trips are unable to go ahead. We understand the challenges that the pandemic has provided to many companies, families and individuals and have taken a reasoned approach regarding a refund. However, despite many emails, Camps International have continued to indicate only that a refund will be made 'as soon as possible'. In essence, they are sitting on our £4000 and have provided no firm indication of when we might expect our money back, despite it now being 1 month since the request was made. 'As soon as possible' is not an acceptable or reasonable response. I have this evening commenced a claim through the small claims court to recover the money and would suggest that others who have received similar poor service do the same.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Alison, thank you for getting in contact. We can assure you that our accounts department are working as hard as they can to process refunds in chronological order. All recipients due refunds were informed in writing that the refund may take up to 8 weeks to process dependant on your departure date. As you can imagine, we are currently processing a huge number of refunds and our team is working as fast as they can to get through them efficiently and diligently. We understand that a member of our team has been in touch regarding your refund and the date it is expected to be processed, however if you need any further help please don’t hesitate to contact us again. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“My daughter like many others was due on a trip to uganda this year, we set up the direct debit to pay monthly. Then covid hit, communication from camps has been shocking always passing the buck to someone else. Our school cancelled the trip because of our concerns and camps ridiculous advise to carry on paying as trips still planned to go ahead!! We have now lost over £2000 and now being advised by the school that the insurance does not cover covid and will have to try and get the money through the county courts”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for getting in contact. We are sorry to hear that you have been unhappy with our communication. We can assure you that the safety of our travellers is our number one priority and we have been closely following the advice of the Government and FCDO. Our objectives remain to put safety first, mitigate financial exposure to everyone and ensure that all who wish to travel with Camps are given the opportunity to do so. We have been working with schools to create several different options for our 2021 expeditions and each school will have made their decisions. We recommend contacting them for an update on any outstanding monies, otherwise please email us at operations@campsinternational.co.uk and we'll do out best to help. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“We delayed a Cambodia trip for our then 16 year old in 2020 for year. Total lack of meaningful information from the company, just waffly emails now and again with no options or substance. The school has formally cancelled the trip as there's no chance of the trip going ahead as it's clearly not safe or practical but despite this camps international won't budge their position or compromise in anyway. We are trying to claim from the school's insurance but potentially we'll lose the 50% we paid upfront, (in the order of £2500) which camps international will keep. Very dodgy unethical company. Avoid.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“AVOID AVOID AVOID! This company are thieves!!! They are refusing to refund hiding behind whatever legislation and terms and conditions they can refusing to cancel a trip to a red list country putting the onus on school to cancel then pulling the terms and condition card. The communication has been appalling, what I find really strange is they are too scared to work from there office or answer phones because of Covid but more than happy to take your children to a red list country. They do not care about your childs safety they are only interested in your money, ethical company!!! They don't even know the meaning of it absolute cowards!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Disgusting service from camps international. Signed my son up to costa rica trip 2021 at a cost of £4500. Then global pandemic hit. Camps international refused to cancel even though it was obviously unsafe to travel. Their small print allows them to keep 50%of your payments and oh boy do they keep to their small print... They have made thousands of pounds including £2250 of my money, leaving kids and parents in limbo. I couldn't be more disgusted by this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Julia, thanks for getting in contact. We understand that this matter has now been resolved and you have already received a refund. If there is anything further we can do to help, please contact operations@campsinternational.co.uk. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“Reading these reviews and the subsequent responses from CI should be a warning to all potential future travellers to avoid this company like the plague. I have tried on many occasions to have a sensible conversation with CI and have even involved my local MP however, they are only interested in their revenue and not the interests or more importantly the safety of our children. The latest saga is the travel insurance that I have been assured includes cover for Covid-19 however, when you read the documentation it is explicitly excludes cover for Covid-19. The fact they are now resulting to lies tells you everything you need to know about the organisation. Book at your own risk.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for getting in contact. We can assure you that the safety of our travellers is our number one priority and we are closely following the advice of the Government and FCDO. Our objectives remain to put safety first, mitigate financial exposure to everyone and ensure that all who wish to travel with Camps are given the opportunity to do so. We have been working with schools to create several different options for our 2021 expeditions and the final decision is with each individual school. We recommend contacting them for an update, otherwise please email us at operations@campsinternational.co.uk and we'll do out best to help. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“Totally unethical business. Lies, smoke and mirrors at every turn to keep the money rolling in. Zero customer service, vague communication and ignorant of valid travel concerns. Lots of accreditation’s that when you check are not worth the paper they are written on. Miss selling with a glossy sales pitch from the start. Do not believe their blurb. Continually ignore government advice and common sense. They have behaved terribly during the pandemic and shown no duty of care to the children due to travel with them. I wouldn’t trust them to organise a trip to the corner shop. Have cruelly taken my Grandaughters fundraising of over £2000 by using their unfair contractual terms and conditions to show no flexibility at all.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, thanks for getting in touch. We're sorry to hear that you think our terms and conditions are unfair. We are continuing our efforts to be fair and consistent and adhere to our legal responsibilities under the PTR’s. We understand that your grandaughter and her parents are currently in communication with a member of our team regarding their cancelled expedition. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at operations@campsinternational.co.uk and we'll do our best to help. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“Do not even want to give one star ! Appalling behaviour !! School have been advised by government guidelines to cancel the trip to Peru as it’s on the red list. Camps international refusing to give a refund saying flights have already been booked, when another parent asked for flight details they were given flight numbers that don’t even exist !! Will never recommend anyone to go with this company as they clearly have no consideration for the safety of our children. They cannot offer the trip that we booked and paid for, so because of that we should be given a full refund!!! And trying to get a response from anyone that works there has been near on impossible!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Nicola, thanks for getting in contact. We can assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our travellers is our number one priority and we have been working with schools on several different expedition options that minimise the financial impact on families and eliminate the need for further planning by travellers. This decision to cancel or defer is currently sitting with the school and we encourage you to contact them for an update on where the expedition currently stands. If you feel we are better placed to help, please contact us at operations@campsinternational.co.uk and we will be able to update you. Kind Regards, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“Do not waste your money!! This company is refusing to repay all the children who can’t travel this year. There is no guarantee that any further trips will go ahead this year or next and if you do sign up and the trip doesn’t goes ahead you could find yourself loosing everything you contributed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi James, thank you for getting in contact. The absence of clear guidance has created an extremely challenging operating environment for us and a worrying and stressful time for some of our travellers. We will continue in our efforts to be fair and consistent and adhere to our legal responsibilities under the PTR’s whilst also ensuring that we can continue to deliver exceptional experiences to the thousands of young people still booked on future expeditions with us. If you have any further queries please email operations@campsinternational.co.uk. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“No insurance for Covid 19, no adherence to Dept for Education official guidance, no care for the safety and well being of the students involved, no care for the mental health of the parents. They want your money and will lie every step of the way to squeeze every last penny out of you. The government are saying no foreign trips without very good reason. The DfE are saying no school trips, but Camps are calling it a “disinclination to travel” and are refusing to refund. Do NOT trust this conpany.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, thank you for getting in touch. We can assure you that we are following guidance from the Government and the FCDO for the proposed expedition dates and we will not be sending our travellers on expedition if it is deemed unsafe by either of these bodies. We have also been working with schools to eliminate any need for further planning and the decision to cancel or defer the expedition is currently with the school. We hope this help clears up any confusion but if you would like more clarification, please contact operations@campsinternational.co.uk and we will be able to explain our process further. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

“A genuinely careless attitude to our children. No regard for their safety. Willing to send unvaccinated teenagers to Peru, a red flagged country with one of the lowest vaccination rates in South America, even against current DfE advice. When this was discussed with the company few weeks ago in a meeting organised by the school, they choose to ignore all parents and steamed rolled with their plans, booking flights and demanding further payments or all money last. Appalling behaviour, callous and careless, only one thing in their mind. Your Money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Jon, thanks for getting in contact. We would like to assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our travellers is our number one priority and we have been following the guidance from the Government and the FCDO throughout the pandemic. We have been in close contact with all schools to give them the opportunity to cancel or defer the trip, and alleviate any need for further payments and planning. If you haven't heard the decision already, please contact your school for an update. If you feel we are better placed to help, please email operations@campsinternational.co.uk and one of our team will be available to help. All the best, The Camps Crew

Posted 2 years ago

Camps International is rated 4.0 based on 515 reviews