Quark Expeditions

This company cancelled our trip 3 times due to COVID. The most recent cancellation was less than 10 days notice. When we tried to re-book this time for a later date (our fourth reservation with them), they charged us over $10,000 more for the EXACT same itinerary even after their 100% guarantee says they have a voyage-for-voyage exchange on cancelled trips and we would be able to exchange the trip for the same itinerary. Now they've changed their rules to say they only have 1 date available that's approved for "exchanges." So our original booking, which was the week of Christmas, now has to be some random week when conditions are not as good and we won't even see Antarctica in the season we wanted. For the EXACT same itinerary as we already booked and paid for (and they kept the money for over 2 years for, while continuing to cancel our trips) they want 10k+ more to book. This is a scam and these people have kept our money for going on 3 years now with absolutely no intent to honor their "guarantee." This company has been a nightmare from the beginning and I highly recommend you book with someone else.

Terrible company. It has taken me 10 months to finally get the refund from the trip me and my wife had booked (Aberdeen to svalbard). Quark refused to refund for the first 7 months saying they didn't cancel the trip (even though it didn’t run and the boat was at anchor in a different country) i was told that the trip has been re scheduled and not cancelled so legally they do not have to refund me. I hope Andrew white the ceo is proud of his decision to steal hard earned money from customers and make them fight for months to get back what is rightfully there's. After 7 months of me constantly badgering the travel agent i booked through and quark directly they agreed to refund my money but it will take them 90 days to process this refund. Its amazing quark can accept payments automatically but needs 90 days to return payments. If you are booking with quark now on there new refund terms be careful of the wording. It says IF THEY CANCEL THE TRIP which quark will not do, they will re schedule it for another date 12 months or more away, ie next years trip which you will then have to pay the price increases to them as well. Avoid at all costs.

My wife and I recently planned and booked a trip to Antarctica with Quark. We were thrilled about the opportunity and had done the research to ensure we could make it happen. We chose Quark because of there great marketing and reviews and leadership with the expeditions in the area.

Everything was great until we actually went to go book. It started off by experiencing an abnormal 3 week delay in response to our request to book a tour. Then once we did and responded with specifics about what to book and where to send the deposit, another long delay. Eventually Quark made the decision to cancel all of its upcoming trips until March 2021. They presented options on how to reconcile any prepayments. We responded with how we would like to move forward. THREE MONTHS LATER, we get a response that they had a technical error preventing them from being able to provide refunds without having to send over specific bank details. Poor customer service in general. Maybe we will have forgotten by the time we go to book this again in the future, but other travelers should know.

TLDR: Great marketing, terrible service.

Warning
I booked a trip to the Arctic Circle 2021 on 08/28 and paid a deposit.
On 09/10 Quark canceled the trip and informed me today that the repayment will take up to 90 days due to the high workload!
I assume that Quark knew about the cancellation at the End of August and managed to collect my money in 2 days despite the workload.
I would like the money back that fast!
With the cancellation, Quark made a promise that it would be very easy to rebook in 2022, fo the same voyage, the same ship and the same price (or two options for money back).
Well, nothing was easy, because the promise could not be kept, since 2 trips in 2021 will only become one trip in 2022.
First they had a single cabin for me, then suddenly they didn't.
Instead of offering me another shared cabin at the price of the booking period - there was an early bird discount - they offered a single cabin for 34,000.00 and told me that the prices in 2022 were now higher.
Where was the promise?
And now they keep my money up to 90 days. This is really bad style Quark Expeditions!

Do NOT book with Quark. Please please please take your hard earned money elsewhere. Due to Covid, our voyage was cancelled for January 2021 which is totally acceptable. Times are tough and businesses need to make the right decisions for their employees, their investors and their future. However, by not taking care of customers, they have failed miserably. Quark wanted to book us on a future voyage instead (great!) but then proceeds to tell us that all of the options that we have paid for are not available - so a lesser product. Additionally, before the voyage was cancelled, we had friends that we travel with frequently shop for the same trip. The price was lower each time (again, typical business practice and understood by me as someone that works in both marketing and in the travel space), but the issue is that Quark refuses to do a price adjustment (we have screenshots sent from friends of what that price was). Noted here, per Quark's cancellation policy, we could have cancelled and rebooked on that same trip at the lower rate ($3k per person lower rate). However, when we contacted Quark at that time, we received no response as they were clearly deciding how to solve the challenge they created by having a cancellation policy that was in conflict with their pricing strategy. So instead of just making it right for the customer, Quark has lost a customer. Simple price adjustment, date change to the same excursion we booked and decent customer service would have built some loyal customers that can easily influence others to give their product a try. Quark has failed us, do not let them fail you. There are plenty of other options available.

Check the Quark terms and conditions carefully and my guess is you will decide against booking or choose an alternative provider.

Honor the contracts you make with your customers. You don't have the right to keep refunds that are promised. Shame on you! I will spread the word far and wide to warn others of your deceitful practices.

Honor the contracts you make with your customers. You don't have the right to keep refunds that are promised. Shame on you! I will spread the word far and wide to warn others of your deceitful practices.

Quark's administration is very poor. When a trip is canceled they refuse to provide a refund. Our June 9 trip was canceled and our only option was to reschedule for 2021. But that will probably be canceled as well. How long will they hold our money. Furthermore, they will be adding $600 to the trip in 2021. Insult to injury! Trip insurance does not cover pandemics! Stay away from Quark no matter how lovely the trips!

Quark's administration is very poor. When a trip is canceled they refuse to provide a refund. Our June 9 trip was canceled and our only option was to reschedule for 2021. But that will probably be canceled as well. How long will they hold our money. Furthermore, they will be adding $600 to the trip in 2021. Insult to injury! Trip insurance does not cover pandemics! Stay away from Quark no matter how lovely the trips

Quark unfortunately had to cancel the cruise to Antarctica due to COVID19. They did so at the very last minute, 2 days before the cruise. Despite the original policy on their website (please note this has now been changed but many of us have copies), they are not following through with their original policy of offering refunds for cruises cancelled by Quark. I emailed Quark on the days leading up to the cruise, surprised that they had not given more information regarding the status of the cruise due to the rising concerns of COVID19. After many emails sent asking for a refund when the cruise was cancelled, I have not had a single response. This company are expecting its customers to simply keep a credit for a cruise in the future. How unrealistic to expect that customers can pay out for a future trip all the way to the end of the world (Ushuaia) to take one of their cruises (which if cancelled again, we have no protection). Many of the customers had already made the long journey to the far South of Argentina. We have not only lost the money of travelling that distance and back to our home countries, but also, because Quark were so late with cancelling the cruise, many of us then became 'stuck' in Argentina during lock-down and unable to get back to our home countries. Despite this, we are not asking for further support with the costs of getting to the cruise departure point, we are merely asking for our money back for the cost of the cruise that we were never able to take (cancelled by Quark itself). Quark is keeping this money despite not being able to provide the service that we paid for. COVID19 has caused a lot of distress for all parties, but to not even get a reply from Quark shows their total abandonment when things go wrong. There are other tour companies that offer cruises to Antarctica that HAVE given their customers full refunds when their cruise had to be cancelled. I would strongly recommend that people book with the alternative companies in the future.

Quark unfortunately had to cancel the cruise to Antarctica due to COVID19. They did so at the very last minute, 2 days before the cruise. Despite the original policy on their website (please note this has now been changed but many of us have copies), they are not following through with their original policy of offering refunds for cruises cancelled by Quark. I emailed Quark on the days leading up to the cruise, surprised that they had not given more information regarding the status of the cruise due to the rising concerns of COVID19. After many emails sent asking for a refund when the cruise was cancelled, I have not had a single response. This company are expecting its customers to simply keep a credit for a cruise in the future. How unrealistic to expect that customers can pay out for a future trip all the way to the end of the world (Ushuaia) to take one of their cruises (which if cancelled again, we have no protection). Many of the customers had already made the long journey to the far South of Argentina. We have not only lost the money of travelling that distance and back to our home countries, but also, because Quark were so late with cancelling the cruise, many of us then became 'stuck' in Argentina during lock-down and unable to get back to our home countries. Despite this, we are not asking for further support with the costs of getting to the cruise departure point, we are merely asking for our money back for the cost of the cruise that we were never able to take (cancelled by Quark itself). Quark is keeping this money despite not being able to provide the service that we paid for. COVID19 has caused a lot of distress for all parties, but to not even get a reply from Quark shows their total abandonment when things go wrong. There are other tour companies that offer cruises to Antarctica that HAVE given their customers full refunds when their cruise had to be cancelled. I would strongly recommend that people book with the alternative companies in the future.

Quark Expeditions has been such a disappointment and they don't care about their clients. They are refusing to give us a refund even though their terms and conditions clearly state that we are entitled to a refund. They take weeks to respond to emails and they are not being helpful. I tried contacting them prior to the departure date when it became apparent that Covid-19 was becoming a worldwide problem. At that point most cruise companies and other tour companies were cancelling their trips. There had already been a number of Covid infected cruise ships, most of which were under quarantine. Quark said they were still going to do the trip. I voiced my concerns, knowing that many people would be traveling from affected areas and boarding the ship. Quark didn't seem the least bit concerned. It was only when Argentina put very strict entry regulations into place that Quark finally canceled the trip. But then the real nightmare started as they have refused to refund. Terms and conditions are a legally binding document yet Quark is refusing to follow them. It's sickening to see where their priorities lie. Customer service and satisfaction is an unheard of concept at Quark. Instead, it seems they are only after the money (obviously, that is also why they waited until the very last minute to cancel the trip despite knowing there would be many people coming from abroad which would pose a huge health threat to all the passengers and crew onboard). While I understand that this pandemic has hit the travel industry hard, it has also hit us travellers hard. I am now loosing all my money from this trip, not to mention the extra costs of extraordinary expensive flights to get home. Quark on the other hand must be making millions off from the cancellations. At first I didn't want to believe Quark - a company with what looked like a very good reputation - was behaving in such a selfish and non-transparent manner. I booked with Quark because of their apparent "excellent" reputation. But alas, it was all just an illusion and the reality leaves me sad, bitter and disgusted.

Quark Expeditions has been such a disappointment and they don't care about their clients. They are refusing to give us a refund even though their terms and conditions clearly state that we are entitled to a refund. They take weeks to respond to emails and they are not being helpful. I tried contacting them prior to the departure date when it became apparent that Covid-19 was becoming a worldwide problem. At that point most cruise companies and other tour companies were cancelling their trips. There had already been a number of Covid infected cruise ships, most of which were under quarantine. Quark said they were still going to do the trip. I voiced my concerns, knowing that many people would be traveling from affected areas and boarding the ship. Quark didn't seem the least bit concerned. It was only when Argentina put very strict entry regulations into place that Quark finally canceled the trip. But then the real nightmare started as they have refused to refund. Terms and conditions are a legally binding document yet Quark is refusing to follow them. It's sickening to see where their priorities lie. Customer service and satisfaction is an unheard of concept at Quark. Instead, it seems they are only after the money (obviously, that is also why they waited until the very last minute to cancel the trip despite knowing there would be many people coming from abroad which would pose a huge health threat to all the passengers and crew onboard). While I understand that this pandemic has hit the travel industry hard, it has also hit us travellers hard. I am now loosing all my money from this trip, not to mention the extra costs of extraordinary expensive flights to get home. Quark on the other hand must be making millions off from the cancellations. At first I didn't want to believe Quark - a company with what looked like a very good reputation - was behaving in such a selfish and non-transparent manner. I booked with Quark because of their apparent "excellent" reputation. But alas, it was all just an illusion and the reality leaves me sad, bitter and disgusted.

I canceled my cruise 6 weeks ago and they said I would have my refund within 3 weeks. I called 4 days ago and Mary said she would check and get right back to me. Still haven't heard from Mary. I am currently on hold to their accounting department.I have been on hold for over 10 minutes yet every 30 seconds a recording comes on to tell me my wait time is less than 1 minute. Quark is a great name for this outfit.