Alabalti Atacama

It's a shame to have to write this because we really enjoyed the tours we got to go on, the guides were passionate and knowledgeable and the food provided was far better than we expected. Unfortunately though, the administrative side of Alabalti Atacama is seriously lacking when it comes to customer services and support. Our astronomical tour got cancelled about 10 minutes in due to cloud cover, which apparently couldn't be anticipated despite rain earlier in the day and the presence of constant clouds. Plus the tour wasn't actually run by Alabalti in the end but by another company which meant we couldn't directly speak with anyone that evening (the office closed before the start of the tour). We were told to contact our tour company for a refund or to rearrange the tour, but because we were leaving the next morning I sent messages that very same night to the numbers I had available explaining what happened and it took several days and several follow up messages before I got a response. Even when I did get a response, it was more important for us to be questioned about why we didn't go into the actual office for a refund than them trying to come up with a solution. We were informed that they couldn't refund the card we had paid with and they refused to incur costs from sending money to an international bank account. It's now reached a point where they won't even respond to our messages despite our trying to be patient and understanding. It's hard to believe that they completely lack contingency plans for when things go wrong, and as a result we've now lost out on close to £60 and who knows how long trying to find a resolution. For context the tour was supposed to take place on 7th March and it is now 26th April.

Venden sin saber lo que es.

Pagamos un tour. Nos cambiaron la fecha y al llegar el nuevo día no había nada organizado. Un desastre. Tuvimos que pedir la devolución.

Never book at this company. We booked a tour to Uyuni for 200€. The payment terminal said the payment did not work the first time, so we tried again. Later our bank account showed that the money is transferred to the company, so I paid double and my friend paid three times. We went back to the office and they told us that we shouldn’t worry and that this happened more often. Why let people pay by card if your device does not work properly? And then don’t do anything to help, except say: go to your own bank. Alabalti keeps saying they did not receive the money, but my bank account shows that the money is transferred. The communication is hard and only in spanish en no one offers a real solution. Above that we paid more than others in our group (all the tours are the same) and we did not have all the documents and information. I doubt if we will get the money back, so this is a warning: never book at this office!

We just returned from SPA, where we booked two tours with Gabriel at the agency. Gabriel was very responsive via WhatsApp, so we met in person to finalize our bookings.The Google reviews were a bit concerning, especially about the card charging part. But we booked both tours with our Amex, and the charges went through without issues.We booked the sandboarding and the astronomical tours - both were fanatic and were the highlights of our visit to SPA.Gabriel was easy to work with and offered discounts for booking two tours. I highly recommend booking with him.