Birdmi Reviews

Disappointed in how we were treated by Birdmi

I was looking forward to giving Birdmi a 5 star review Unfortunately even before having a chance to experience the tour we booked with them Birdmi left us disappointed and frustrated Rather than being understanding and accommodating Birdmi s customer service chose to be insulting and in the end hostile in their words and actions Meanwhile I am not sure whether it was due to a language barrier inflexible policies or just one customer service representative but all I was seeking from them was some clarifications about tour details and timing so that we could figure out whether we could get back to our ship on time I understand Birdmi was hesitant to keep our already paid for reservation after informing them our current ship schedule indicated a 4pm departure tour was scheduled to end at 4pm At the same time I also just wanted an opportunity to see if I could find out some additional information from Birdmi and the cruise company After speaking to our ship s travel coordinator and noticing the ship s tour itself which has already sold out arrived back at 4 15 the coordinator said there might be a chance the ship would wait for us or even have a later departure once we were onboard She even said the ship often bends over backwards whenever they are able to in order to accommodate passengers Once I received this message I contacted Birdmi to please keep us booked on the tour we already paid for due to the chance the ship would be flexible about us returning at 4pm I thought this was a reasonable request especially since Birdmi indicates that guests can cancel up to 24 hours before an excursion for a full refund Our booking is for August 4th and it is now only April 25th Once we boarded the ship on July 26th we would have immediately spoken to guest services about whether coming back to the ship at 4pm on August 4th would be acceptable or not If yes then great If it wasn t recommended by the ship then we would have cancelled more than a week before BIrdmi s excursion Birdmi understandably wanted us to take another tour that was shorter but it did not meet what we really wanted to see while at our destination We asked them more than a couple times to please keep us on the other preferred booking until we confirmed whether our arrival time at the ship would be ok We even thanked them for their patience and understanding It was at this time their tone of communication changed They used condescending phrases like I don t think you understand The operator refused to take this order as your ship leaves at 4pm We have already told you many times They could have phrased and clarified their communication very differently They also became impatient in answering any additional questions we had and even started using all cap letters like we CAN T guarantee In the end without even asking us Birdmi simply cancelled our reservation refunded our money and as a closing note wrote the following We don t want to accept your orders anymore The language and attitude they chose to use to address a customer who only wanted to see whether it was possible to keep her tour booking by finding a solution was not acceptable Birdmi didn t even take the time to acknowledge and consider my message that there was a possibility the ship would be flexible about us arriving back at 4pm They had already made up their minds early on that their tour didn t match our schedule end of discussion Birdmi really could have handled this in a very different manner but instead they chose to burn a bridge in a most unprofessional way especially with that last sentence After receiving Birdmi s response I am very disappointed but not surprised by their attitude and the language they chose to use Not even an attempt to apologize for the tone of their language or how we were treated I never ignored their communication I simply asked they please give us some time and to consider the possibility that the ship would be flexible in letting us join the tour since they might even leave later than scheduled We were recently informed that the official arrival and departure of the ships are finalized 2 weeks before the actual trip which means early July Birdmi refused to at least acknowledge or indicate they understood this possibility and information They could have at least indicated that they were open to this possibility and that they could wait for the ship s answer Instead they completely ignored it and chose to berate and blame the customer for any problems This review is about my experience with Birdmi One s experience with a brand involves many touchpoints and starts from the very beginning not just when a tour is joined or finished It is not defamation because I am not communicating false information