We signed up online with a man named Duncan Hollands and paid through PayPal. We have attempted to get a hold of him for quite some time and have not heard anything from him. Has anyone used him? We have requested through paypal a refund thinking this would get him to respond. No luck.
Any suggestions on how to get another tour guide? Our tour is in May.
wendie,
It's possible that Duncan is on holiday, which would explain why you haven't been able to contact him. He seems like a reputable tour operator, so I'd suggest waiting a bit longer as it's still over a month until May.
I am trying to get a hold of this guide too and just saw that their website said no longer in business! Did he ever respond? Any advice?
You can find plenty of guides and their reviews at www.toursbylocals.com
We got our money back from PayPal. We are here now. We found out that person is a real person but we think someone has made a false account using his information.
We booked Igor Rosen through Tours by local. He only asks for 1/2 before the trip and remaining balance right before. I would HIGHLY recommend him.
He tailors your visor around your request! Tell him we recommend him
Glad to hear that you got your money back and found a replacement guide!
Tim, thanks for the link!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I will look into your suggested guide, Igor Rosen. Enjoy your stay!
This is my experience with Airborne 44 Tours.
I spent a great deal of time researching who I would use as a private guide on a bucket list trip to Normandy. He seemed to have the credentials I was seeking. I was excited to secure email confirmation in November of 2018 of him touring my family and I on 20 May 2019. After sending him an email the day prior to our scheduled tour, Duncan Hollands claimed I never paid him and he had scheduled another tour over mine. After thirty-one hours of travel from the US to France, he failed to keep his part of the agreement. In his final email of that evening, he expressed his frustrated after having wasted his evening going back and forth with me over this. Ironic, in that I had traveled thousands of miles at great expense with my family and he was frustrated after two hours of back and forth fruitless conversation. He did not show up for my scheduled tour the next morning, as promised in November when I paid for his services.
Mr. Hollands did not provide the services for which he was paid in full in November of 2018. After receiving emails confirming both the receipt of my payment in full and a meeting place in our hotel, Mr. Holland claimed he was never paid and, at the eleventh hour, would not be touring my family as promised.
I provided the following to him that night to no avail:
Original email chain between Mr. Hollands and myself in which the transaction was confirmed and the event calendared including the meeting location in Bayeux.
PayPal account information from November of 2018 confirming payment to Mr. Hollands.
Bank of America confirmation that the funds were transferred to PayPal to Mr. Hollands.
My case was clear and is unambiguous. Mr. Hollands owed me a refund in full and apology to my family and me for not providing the services to which he agreed. We traveled thousands of miles at great expense based on his word to find out the day before the tour he would not be providing services based on his claim that wasn't true.
I have since filed a claim with PayPal and received a full refund. This in no way gives me back the time and expenses wasted on his lack of honesty and lack of professionalism. Touring in a taxi with no guide, as we were forced to do, is a far cry from what he promised and did not provide.
Incredibly unprofessional.
I participated in a National WW2 Museum tour of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy this past May. The 6-day tour was guided by Christophe Gosselin. His grandfather was in the French Resistance and he is a native of Bayeux. Christophe is a font of knowledge, has a very nice personality, and speaks excellent English. Among the places we visited were Utah Beach and Museum, Brecourt Manor, St. Mere Eglise and the Airborne Musuem, Chateau de Bernaville, La Fiere Bridge, Point du Hoc, Vierville-sur-Mer, WN-61 sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy American Cemetery, British Commonwealth Cemetery in Bayeux, Pegasus Bridge, Ouistreham Grand Bunker Museum, Arromanches and Cinema Circulaire, German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer, Bayeux Museum (Bayeux Tapestry), Bayeux Cathedral, Le Memorial de Caen, and a full day in the Falaise Gap. I highly recommend Christophe. His contact info is: christophe.gosselin0437@orange.fr; cell phone is: 00 33-663-294-598
