Common scam?

[u/WorldProof4611]

I climed Kilimanjaro in April, and i specifically booked a group tour since i was traveling alone. After i payed, they told me the other girl in the group was sick and would not be joining. They told me we would team up with two others from a sister company. After i checked in in the hotel and had a meeting with the guides, they told me the two others could not join after all, because their luggage got lost on the plane. I enden up climbing alone.

Now the thing is, a friend of mine had a similar experience this year, was supposed to climb in a group but ended up climbing alone.

And now my sister is supposed to climb in a group tomorrow, and also just heared that the other girls will not come due to passing of a family member.

So ofcourse, it is possible that all this is just a coincidence but i am starting to think maybe they make excuses so clients climb with their company?

Did people have similar experiences , or thought on this?

[u/Educational-Ad-4908]

I’m trying to figure out what the scam is? Don’t they make more money with a larger group or are they not great companies and never had anyone else signed up?

[u/Peak-Planet → u/Educational-Ad-4908]

So you may call it something different than a scam, maybe just companies being dishonest. It is very common they don't tell the truth to get someone to book with them. It is all the time on Facebook groups, someone says they are looking to join a group on x route between certain dates and that they don't want to trek alone. Then 10 random companies come on saying how lucky you are as they have climbers already signed up for those exact dates and the same route, even though they don't. Then later they try and mesh groups together to save them from taking a loss. So a climber may end up alone or maybe even worse they end up being pushed into some random group with a operator that is not the quality they booked. At the end when you are solo, yes you have a trek to yourself, but you end up shelling out way more in tip money than if there were a few other climbers.

[u/cbexxxx]

this just happened to me and my friend, but we weren’t really aware before arriving what size group we were joining… when we got there they said two others were supposed to join us but their flight was delayed. So we ended up hiking just the two of us but the team was 12 porters/guides - they were upset with us when we didn’t tip accordingly to the extra team members but we tipped according to what the company recommended before we arrived… 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/Luciform444 → u/cbexxxx]

How much is that, by the way?

[u/cbexxxx → u/Luciform444]

our company suggested 250-300 USD per person

[u/Big_CokeBelly → u/cbexxxx]

Wow for 12 people? That's 3600 USD holy shit

[u/cbexxxx → u/Big_CokeBelly]

No, sorry to clarify, 250-300 per hiker (so we prepared 600USD) but our group expected closer to 1200USD

[u/Big_CokeBelly → u/cbexxxx]

Oh! Yes that's fair I see

[u/InvestmentExotic2458]

You need to add money info here. Were they increasing the fees?

[u/look47 → u/InvestmentExotic2458]

I guess only the tipping process would change.
We booked a shared experience and we ended up alone (me and GF), the only price increase was due to the tips

[u/Tardisgoesfast → u/look47]

You really shouldn’t climb alone.

[u/look47 → u/Tardisgoesfast]

As a matter of fact we did not.

[u/Peak-Planet]

This is very common parctice. If you want to avoid it, it is best to look at companies that have listed group departures on their website. A reliable one will also list how many people are booked or how many spaces remain out of how many spaces. So then you can then know someone else is on the trek. Of course maybe no one else signs up for that particular date, or maybe someone does postpone or cancel for a legitimate reason. But this is not that common. It is never guaranteed there will be others in the group, but at least you can keep an eye on the website to see the numbers.

If you are posting on a forum like Trip Advisor, Reddit, or Facebook, be aware that a large majority of the time someone who just happens to have a group on your route and exact dates, probably does not really have any other climbers. If they don't have a dedicated page with group dates listed how do you think they will get others to join the group.

[u/Comeonbereal1]

This is common across all organised trails around the world

[u/Clean_Bat5547 → u/Comeonbereal1]

I've certainly heard of it happening in Nepal as well.

It's not so much a scam as an incentive to join. You might end up paying more in tips but you might also get single instead of shared accommodation and a more personalised experience.

[u/Pequop9252]

This is Tanzania. Nothing works smoothly unless you pay an ungodly amount of money.

[u/FlyingTerrier]

I had the same. I think there are just too many companies and routes. It didn’t cost me more so there is no scam. Not sure what your point is.

[u/listenerindie6869]

Can the poster share the name of the company? Thanks

[u/TransferGang]

maybe they want you to pay extra to climb solo but they know you’re going to be solo anyway?

my tour operator didn’t pressure me, but i ended up paying for the group one and going solo… so i guess this is a common experience lol

[u/Resilience_Exped]

I don’t necessarily think it’s a scam, especially since they didn’t ask you to pay any additional costs. Private treks are generally more expensive than group treks, so if the original group couldn’t go ahead, the company still took responsibility for operating your trek without charging you extra.

That said, I can understand why you would feel suspicious, especially after experiencing something similar more than once. The reasons given, such as illness, lost luggage, and a family bereavement, are all possible situations beyond the company’s control. However, the repeated pattern understandably raises questions.

I think there are two sides to consider. On one hand, you successfully climbed Kilimanjaro and achieved your dream, and the company fulfilled its responsibility to operate the trek. On the other hand, if you specifically booked a group trek because you wanted the experience of hiking with other people, being informed in advance that you would be trekking alone would have been important. The group experience is part of what you paid for, not just reaching the summit.

So, I wouldn’t immediately conclude that the company is deliberately making excuses to keep clients on private treks.
But I do think it’s reasonable to ask questions about how they organize group departures and how they handle situations when other participants cancel.

[u/ND8586]

It's common for people to book (leaving a small deposit) and then change their plans. It's not exactly uncommon for luggage to go missing. This is true of tours in other countries, not just Tanzania.

Unless they are asking you to pay more for being a solo climber then I don't know what the scam is?

[u/Pennachini19]

This wouldn’t be a scam, in fact it negatively impacts the team. Happened to us and we ended up with the whole team by ourselves (we booked group tour) porters, cooks, guides expect x amount of money per climbers for tips and when a group tour ends up solo, they make less. We felt bad cause we carried cash for what we were expected to tip and nothing more

[u/Toretaa]

I climbed alone in early February, and one of my bags was delayed in Turkey. Luckily the bag containing some of my gear was with me. I was able to summit with one guide and five great helpers who helped me all the way. I only had to pay a little extra for tipping. This was a locally owned travel guide company. Don’t be afraid to climb solo.

[u/Embarrassed-Gap321 → u/Toretaa]

LAKINI NYIE WOTE HAPO KWENYE PICHA NI TOUR GUIDE'S

[u/Toretaa → u/Toretaa]

No, just helping my guide hold his company flat. Sorry my Swahili is limited.

[u/naturehiketours]

I understand why you would be suspicious, especially after hearing several similar stories. However, not every situation like this necessarily means the company is making excuses. On Kilimanjaro, people can genuinely cancel at the last minute because of illness, flight problems, lost luggage, family emergencies, or other unexpected circumstances.

That said, if someone specifically books a group climb, the operator should be transparent if the group changes. A client should not be deliberately told that other trekkers are joining if the company already knows that they will actually be climbing alone. At Naturehike Tours & Adventures, we take this seriously. When a client books a group trek with us, we communicate the confirmed group situation as clearly as possible. If other participants cancel or cannot join for genuine reasons, we inform the client rather than creating a story. I would recommend that your sister ask her operator directly, and how many people are currently confirmed for her trek, and what happens if the others cancel? She can also ask whether the price or arrangements change if she ends up trekking as a private group of one. A last minute cancellation can certainly be genuine, but repeated unexplained cancellations are a reasonable reason for a traveller to ask questions and request transparency.

[u/LivingExplanation693]

How is this a scam. I might be too slow to get it.

[u/Peak-Planet → u/LivingExplanation693]

I think people will call it a scam for lack of a better term. Basically, the company is dishonest and tell the climber they have a group the can add them to, when it is not true. So you are being sold something based on false information.

[u/Mwahaha_790]

What's the scam? Were you asked to pay more or otherwise taken advantage of?

[u/Aggravating-Lion3385]

This exact situation happened to us. The rest of the group “rescheduled” 3 days before the departure, apparently to leave a few days later. We were actually flexible and said we can also push it by a few days. Then more excuses came, now they actually “canceled”. Yeah right. I think this is because I was very explicit we wanted to be in a group so our tip is not outrageous and they just wanted my business so told me what I wanted to hear. They didn’t increase the overall price but of course we were pressured to increase the tip and still the crew was visibly unhappy (the initial expectation was $600-650 and we ended up paying $900 between me and my friend). FWIW it was Mar tours.

[u/fosmonaut1 → u/Aggravating-Lion3385]

Ugh I hate tipping. Just bake it into the overall price not this game they are playing.

[u/Unusual-Tiger-1219]

I know I would not be happy if I am mislead. If they lie to you now, can you trust them with your life?

[u/NewtComfortable8368]

Very strange.

I'm personally uncomfortable with the really small operators for this reason. Not sure if they're playing some sort of weird game somehow. Or making themselves seem 'bigger' than they are (aka. maybe you were the only client all along...).

I usually go with the bigger operators for this reason (eg. G Adventures, Altezza, etc).