Hi Jan.
I have been asked by Ken (Trueways owner) to join BcUK and reply to you.
I will do this in two posts, this one will deal with the most concerning part of your complaint...........
-If you add anything but 5-star review on Trueways page, it will not get published
- If you contact Trueways with your complaints, they will promise to get back to you and ignore you afterwards.
Your course in South-Africa finished on Wed-16th-September, meaning the earliest you can return home is late on the16th, or Thursday 17th September. You did send an email saying you was disappointed, so we asked an instructor to investigate. You and everyone on this course received emails and phone-calls asking for your feedback on Monday 21st of September, that is literally the earliest appropriate opportunity we had to contact you all. You yourself have spoken with one of our instructors twice, he has also contacted South-Africa, Switzerland and the clients from the UK, due to your complaint. we have a copy of these international calls and the emails you have received since.
You have sent some foul mouthed emails to the lady in our office and she is not paid to respond to abuse.
Here is a copy of the email sent out from Trueways survival....
Welcome home, we hope you are well and recovered from your trip.
I have been asked by the owner Ken Plows to contact all course participants and ask for your feedback on the course.
Did you have a good time?
What was your best/worst experience?
Did it meet your expectations?
Do you have any further comments?
We are committed to providing the best service possible and have found in Les Brett a great partner in Africa, if however you feel we can make improvements to the course please do let us know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards.
Trueways.
I will not quote what was said in the phone-calls, but here is 100% complete written feedback, representing four other clients that were on that course with you. The 5th has not yet responded but is booked on another course with us. These were put on our website only after you posted in this thread. Nothing except last names removed, though they did leave full names on our website..
THESE ARE FROM THE OTHER ATTENDEES OF YOUR COURSE ON OCT 7TH-16TH
FIVE STARS
"This course is amazing,I was there in October 2019, you to learn so much about the animals and gain lots of knowledge about staying safe while walking through the bush, Les the instructor is amazing he teaches you in a way that makes you feel comfortable even when your sneaking up on a group of rhino.
There were so many animals around even in camp, we had antelopes, monkeys and even a nightly visit from a African wild cat.
Before going I was wondering what we would be eating thinks we would be cooking a roughly cut slab of meat over the fire but expectations vs reality was a restaurant quality meals every day.
The anti poaching side of the lessons were very interesting and I now have some great knowledge both in how poachers operate and in actively stopping poaching.
This course has inspired me and I can't wait to get back there and take the skills I have learnt to the next level."
James
FIVE STARS
"I completed this course in October 2019. I cant complain one single bit, the course instructor Les made this entire course amazing!! I learnt more in these 10 days than I ever thought was possible, cant wait to get back out there and do his cooking course. The man is an absolute legend and deserves a ton of respect for everything he has done for conservation! Thank you for this life changing course!
Sarah
Just a note following our telephone conversation to say how much my son, James, and I enjoyed our 2 week South Africa Anti-Poaching course. It was really something quite special and unique. Les Brett is not only a genuine larger-than-life character but a fantastic instructor whose enthusiasm for wildlife is infectious. He is clearly extremely experienced and knowledgeable and I felt confident that in his charge my son and I were as safe as it was possible to be walking in the African bush. In fact if you had told me that by the end of the course I would feel confident to do so on my own I would scarce have believed you! We were able to observe the wildlife at close range and developed an understanding of animal behaviour that is just not possible in any other way than being immersed in the environment. To be out after dark with the Rangers and feeding animals from the truck within touching distance and able to hear the communication between young and parent was an amazing privilege.
Les’s stories around the campfire are worth the trip alone and the food he produced from a tented camp kitchen was just astounding! Like probably many who apply for your courses, I am used to ‘roughing it’ but this camp was far from that and actually very comfortable with iron framed beds in traditional safari tents, onsite piped running drinking water and an incredible wood fuel powered shower. Luxurious!
You asked if I could make any recommendations.
1) Some thought might be given to clarifying your description of the course. One person arrived believing this to contain much more bushcraft and survival whereas the course is actually largely conservation and understanding of animals and animal behaviour. On arrival it was made clear to us by Les that this is essential for safe travel in the terrain and before progressing to understanding of antipoaching. We did however pretty much cover the long list of skills in the published itinerary and I was particularly pleased at the weapons handling. Although the course description mentioned an end of course certificate I had thought this simply to be one of those attendance forms that are so often distributed at the end of courses. I was thrilled therefore to learn that we were actually working towards an exam leading to a bone fide qualification.
2) Due to the nature of the environment, it is blisteringly hot between 10am -3pm so activity then by necessity must be limited. No animals venture out at this time and no humans move either! One member didn’t seem to appreciate this and seemed frustrated at the ‘down time’. Personally I was grateful of the rest or time to study and happy to operate in the cool of early morning and late afternoons. Perhaps a more expansive description would clarify. The person involved did seem to want a day hike up to a local mountain top but Im not sure how this would actually fit into the programme.
3) Perhaps revise the kit list as there really was no need for a survival knife on this trip nor a camping mat as we had proper mattresses on beds.
4) Update the published itinerary as it is out of date. The first and last night Game Lodge were apparently necessary some years ago when clients were arriving in Johannesburg at varying times, some in the morning but some later in the day so that direct travel to the centre of operations wasn’t possible. As you now recommend everyone to arrive the day before we were all ready in the morning of day 1 and could therefore transit direct to camp. Similarly on the last day. This was excellent as it gave us two extra nights in camp.
5) Similarly there is a little confusion re dates. Advertised as 10 days 7-17th October, 10 days actually would therefore finish on the 16th October not the 17th.
6) Consider setting up communication between course members before the course for example asking member if they would be happy to share email addresses. The first time we all met was at the train station. All of us had independently booked accommodation in Johannesburg in the same district and for those travelling alone, prior communication would have enabled them to reduce costs by sharing accommodation.
Just a few thoughts.
I would be grateful if you could pass on our thanks and appreciation to Les who worked tirelessly the whole two weeks and also to his team who were friendly and accommodating. I have been fortunate in participating in many short trips and long expeditions over the years, to rainforests, desert, ice and extreme altitude and each has its own special memories. There are countless memories from this trip that will last with us for a long time, the laughter round the campfire, the skills learnt, the animals of course, but I am particularly fond of those of enjoying cold beers on the savannah watching the rhinos silhouetted against the setting sun. Brilliant!
Paul.
These reviews represent the experience of four other people who were with you on your course.
We feel the above information shows we have taken your complaint very seriously. Your review is on our website, you have received international phone-calls and numerous emails. You have been back only three weeks and with six clients from European three counties on a course in Africa, With a South African Instructor, we would hope for enough time to investigate your complaint. We have spoken to Les Brett and await his official response. Both Les and Ken have been/are in hospital and they may respond themselves, or ask me too on their behalf next week.
I would like to take this opportunity to state Trueways Survival, was charged and paid for every activity advertised on our website to be delivered.
Les Brett has said any changes made to the itinerary were based on a group vote, for the betterment of the course.
We hope the good people of this forum understand the difficulty Les has in taking six clients from three European countries, all of varying levels of ability into the African Bush and ensure everyone has a great experience. He does an amazing job under sometimes, some very difficult conditions.
Our customer satisfaction is of the upmost importance to us and we will constantly strive to improve.
Best wishes.
Trueways Survival Team.