Ramblers Holidays, www.ramblersholidays.co.uk

Dear Mrs Rayner

Further to our previous and protracted correspondence, we note your comments above and attached to the review from WendyLamb161 below.

For those seeking an greater overview of the experience of our holidays, a high volume of reviews, positive and negative, can be found on the independent review site Feefo.

At the current time we have no further comment to make on this complaint.

Angus Russell

Planning Manager, RWH Travel Ltd

Totally agree. The grading is questionable,. I had a fall on a Beautiful Barbados holiday where we were taken over some large rocks along the coast in 32C temperature. The leader didn't have a clue about the area and took us for a long trek along a beach to see a swamp that dries up in March. This was supposed to be an easy walk!

The lack of local knowledge put the group at risk. I broke my arm and they deny responsibility when we shouldn't have been on rocks in the first place especially when the rocks are below the high water mark.

Beware!

LR

Totally agree. The grading is questionable,. I had a fall on a Beautiful Barbados holiday where we were taken over some large rocks along the coast in 32C temperature. The leader didn't have a clue about the area and took us for a long trek along a beach to see a swamp that dries up in March. This was supposed to be an easy walk!

The lack of local knowledge put the group at risk. I broke my arm and they deny responsibility when we shouldn't have been on rocks in the first place especially when the rocks are below the high water mark.

Beware!

LR

My sentiments exactly! I have done two Ramblers trips, the first a walking holiday in Cornwall in 2014 which was fantastic in every aspect - a lovely hotel used as a base for day walks, fabulous choice of meals at the hotel restaurant with all dietary preferences catered for, an experienced and energetic leader who knew the area well and had led this trip countless times previously, and with varied and challenging walks so that I felt thoroughly exercised at the end of each day.

My second Ramblers trip was one of their worldwide holidays in October 2015 to Andalusia and this was the polar opposite of the Cornish walking holiday - appalling food (to the extent that I had to eat out several times as the almost inedible evening meal was usually from a freezer, battered and fried with chips, a leader from the UK in his 70s who had been dropped in to lead at the last minute and wasn't familiar with the cities we were visiting, so I learned nothing of Spanish culture, history, politics, day-to-day life, etc. from him apart from what he read to us from his trip notes on the orientation tour of each of the 3 cities. As you mention, the grading of the walks was not accurate - or perhaps they were being scaled back to accommodate the level of ability of the group who were largely in their 60s and 70s. I constantly had to put the brakes on as we were told to keep behind the leader. I work up more of a sweat walking around one of the lakes near my home than I did on this holiday!

I have been in frequent touch with Ramblers staff since Day 1 of the trip to voice my disappointment, especially as I could hardly eat the dreadful meals, 98% of which involved no choice at all. On my return, I wrote to the Managing Directors of the Ramblers, and am awaiting a reply. I have been told by their Customer Relations Controller that they have received very few complaints - and other people I know who complained about different trips have been told this too! However, the reviews on the independent Feefo site tell a different story, so possibly no-one at the Ramblers is reading these reviews in detail. I noticed that a huge number of "Good" ratings contain one or morel complaints, often very detailed. So the ratings results of 95% "Excellent" or "Good" is not an accurate reflection at all! The bad reviews are certainly not making it over to the trip review pages on the Ramblers' website - mine certainly hasn't, and nor have those of two others on the same trip which I see are also now on the Feefo site.

This inconsistent hit and miss attitude as you so accurately describe it spoiled my most recent holiday. I got the feeling that everything was being done to keep costs down, despite this being a not inexpensive holiday. Apart from the poor quality food and shabby hotels, the leader was an unpaid volunteer, and there were also quite a few add-on costs, such as transport to and from the beginning of the walks, entrance fees, etc. It certainly wasn't value for money. I won't be travelling with the Ramblers again.

Apologies for not responding earlier, we haven't been monitoring this particular review site up until now, most of our clients now post reviews of Ramblers Worldwide Holidays on Feefo or respond to online questionnaires on their return home.

We do not appear to have received any direct feedback from you following your holiday, however after 20 holidays with us, something has clearly frustrated you. We think we've identified your most recent holiday with us and all the other feedback we have received seems to be positive.

We would very much appreciate it if you were to get in touch with us so that we can investigate and respond to your complaint. We need and welcome feedback and criticism; it's the only way we can adapt and thrive into the future.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With thanks and best regards

Angus Russell

Planning Manager, Ramblers Worldwide Holidays