Pure Exploration
Silence can so easily be misconstrued as acceptance and submission, which is why I have never been one to go down quietly.
As many of you know, I have plans to do an Adventure Guide Program (AGP) in New Zealand end of January 2021 with a company called Pure Exploration. I have had these plans since December 2019. When I first saw the ad for this program, it was 11pm at night and I was about to sleep, but I researched it for three more hours.
This program costs $9,225 USD. With the early bird special, I was able to get 20% off by putting down the 15% deposit before Dec 31. So I did.
No doubt, this is going to be an incredible program. I still believe that.
Then Covid-19 happened. A lot of things got messed up and had to be moved around. We all did the best we could during a pandemic. Concessions were made and we rolled with the punches.
Facts and Timeline
Fast Forward to September 10, 2020. New Zealand’s borders were closed, and I could not get a visa. Pure Exploration advertised via Instagram the same AGP program in a new location, Utah. I asked if I could move my program to Utah, and I was willing to pay the price difference. My program advisor talks to management and we all agree.
At this point in time and moving forward to present day, my program advisor is taking WEEKS to respond to my emails. It gets to a point where I message PureEx on Instagram and ask them to “tap” her because she hasn’t been responding. I’m polite in all my emails.
October 12, 2020: My program advisor emails, “I have moved your registration over and it should be confirmed by management once online. Once that happens, I will send you over an email of transfer.” She’s referring to me transferring the money for the price difference. Cool.
November 15, 2020: I had not heard anything from my advisor. I get an email saying, “we have made the proactive decision to reroute your program to Nepal.”
And
“If you would rather retain your original location as your program destination you can defer your place to a later date. Deferment for 2021 programming is exceptionally limited due to availability and will incur a 15% deferral fee.”
I was thinking: Darn, I wish I was in my country so I wouldn’t have to worry about visas and flights in these perilous and uncertain times. Plus, I’ve already been to Nepal.
This needs to be said: When Covid hit in March 2020, Pure Exploration put up new Covid policies front and center on their website which were up for months (not there anymore). In those materials, FAQ’s, Information, they didn’t mention the 15% deferral fee (It’s in the T&C, but we’ll get to that). They even said they were implementing flexible program terms. I felt like we were all on the same page about being flexible and understanding because…covid.
When I got that email, I messaged back my advisor on November 23 with a lot of questions, such as: I'm fine with going to Nepal but it's dependent on if I can get a visa into the country. I'm getting mixed information based on my search. Do you have concrete information on your end that explicitly states USA citizens can come to Nepal for tourism or any other justifiable criteria? Why is there a 15% fee for people who want to defer? What if they are not able to make their program because of government sanctions?
She didn’t respond until November 30, saying “We have received your questions and have sent them over to management to give you some feedback. Stay tuned and we will be back in touch ASAP.”
My friend from the UK, who I had referred to this program, was originally going to Patagonia. We all got rerouted to Nepal and he inquired about deferring. This is Pure Exploration’s response on December 1: “Unfortunately, in transferring you would lose your early bird position on the Spring 2021 program. This would mean to transfer, you would need to pay the tuition difference plus the deferral administration fee, however we would extend your final payment date to align with your 'new' program.’
FYI: That would be 20% of the program, the whole cost of the program, PLUS the 15% deferral fee.
Pure Exploration sent a document on December 9 with information. Two important bits from this document:
1. “The Mountaineering and Trekking Visa is available for all nationalities, including UK and USA citizens. Visas will be issued upon arrival when accompanied by a letter issued to Nepal Immigration”
2. “we highly recommend getting insurance that covers cancellation for any reason.”
I’m thinking: I can be at ease because it looks like they figured it all out. That’s good.
December 22, 2020: Advisor sends a message saying, “Can you all look at the terms for your citizenship and the visa requirements for Nepal as I understand there was a recent update and some of you will be expected to apply for you visa in your home country's Nepalese Embassy”
I’m thinking: Ok, I’ll figure it out and get a visa after the holidays. FYI, the visa involved me sending in my physical passport as well as a money order for $125 via snail mail and hoping it all works out. The process is still ongoing.
All the participants were put in a Facebook group. I took the initiative and made a group chat for us on December 29.
Sometime around December 31, one of the participants got this email from Pure Exploration:
The Problem
Here’s the problem and I’m going to spell it out for you, so please read carefully. I’m talking to you, Pure Exploration.
First of all, your communication with us, the participants, has been lacking, untimely, sporadic, and sometimes nonexistent:
“I’m on the 12 week program and have not done anything in the way of visa, flights or insurance yet as I’m waiting for PE to send me a letter to beef up my travel exemption application. It’s been a month since I asked for one, with weekly reminders. They’re actually hopeless.”
“Pure Exploration has just been impossible to get to. I still have emails that haven't been answered from weeks ago.”
^Those are quotes from other participants. There are a few more but you get the idea. Also refer to the timeline of events above.
Next, and this is the big one:
Nepal places a travel restriction on the UK and now the people from the UK can’t go. Not only that, but YOU are choosing to enforce and impose a 15% deferral fee on these poor participants.
YOU decided to reroute all of us to Nepal. YOU said there would be a 15% deferral fee if people would rather retain their original location and defer.
So, of course, this deters people from wanting to defer because I certainly can’t afford to give you another $1,384 USD. No one else can either. We have been in the middle of a pandemic for the last year. Some of us lost jobs. A lot of us dug into savings to stay afloat, and some of us are still drowning.
For most of us, this program is the light at the end of the tunnel that we have all been looking forward to. It truly is.
We have given you our TRUST. We have given you our MONEY.
And now, YOU are extorting the UK participants to pay an extra 15% to participate in the program later OR go through their insurance to recoup costs.
You are doing this to young adults struggling through a pandemic.
FYI: “Cancel for Any Reason” Insurance only covers 75% reimbursement max, and most normal insurances do not cover travel restrictions/ boarder closings. If you know of an insurance company that DOES encompass this situation and aids it to the fullest, please let the participants know because they have a lot of unanswered emails on the subject.
UK participants are in this situation because YOU CHOSE to reroute us all to Nepal.
I referred MY FRIEND from the UK to this program and now he can’t go because YOU chose to reroute him from Patagonia to Nepal. And you’re trying to extort more money out of him just so he can participate. I don’t like when people screw over my friends and it was because of my TRUST in YOU that he’s in this situation.
I read the terms and conditions.
Pure Exploration, I acknowledge that you had the right and the power to do everything you have done and are doing. You have your T&Cs and non-refundable deposits.
But just because you CAN does not mean you SHOULD.
Proposed Solution
We are asking you to please let the UK students defer to a later date without the 15% fee.
We ask they do not lose any scholarship or early bird discounts.
We ask you to give the rest of the participants the same if similar travel restrictions are placed on us before the program starts January 29.
We’re asking for flexibility and understanding.
At the very least, can you please make time to talk to us? Answer our questions, provide assistance and give us clarity. Maybe you can even set up a town hall style Zoom call and talk to us all at once. It’ll be more efficient for you since you seem to be short staffed.
The main point if contact is on annual leave until January 11 and the person we’ve been directed to in the interim hasn’t been responsive.
We understand you are doing to make this program run, but we’d be able to empathize with you and the choices you’ve made if you could be more transparent with us. Talk to us and keep us in the loop. Give us some shred of autonomy so we can make choices instead of just dealing with the aftermath of things we had no say in.
Your decision making for our program and the way you’ve communicated with us has not inspired much confidence. If you choose not to work with us, we do not have other options to fix the situation. It is what it is. We’ve learned our lessons: Be careful who you trust. Read the fine print. Business cares more about profit than people.
You have our money. You have the power. We don’t. We know that.
But we can tell everyone.