Volunteerhq Reviews

Over crowded accommodation Average food Expensive And nil support having my application cancelled while travelling to the destination with no one to pick me up No ph contact no given was out of service Made my own Accommodation arrangements the first night and find my way to the destination Poor supervision with no experience Supervising school kids out of college to carry out trades Consequently to sub standard work manship and inadequate materials A total waste of resources to all parties Except for IVHQ who profit and being a corporation would be no tax and also receive government grants or possibly und a benevolent operation Well done guys for preying on the naive

Lack of communication and put me in another hostel away from anyone else without telling me beforehand - meaning I had to miss meals and social activities Tries to blame everything on local team but it s an IVHQ issue Definitely do volunteering abroad but source from somewhere else

For starters this is volunteerism and do your research on ethical volunteering before doing something like IVHQ these programs require no experience or history - you don t even have to speak the language I realized this before it was too late there is so much that is not disclosed it is really concerning Despite requesting a refund well before my deadline IVHQ would not reimburse me even though I made it clear this was an urgent need as my dog was having life saving surgery A true humanitarian agency would want its volunteers to thrive As a for profit they could ve spared the less than 200 easily Very poor communication throughout my refund process took over a month to resolve and never got my money back Not transparent Failure to communicate FOR PROFIT Help your community instead

The response to this post does a great job of making me look in the wrong But could not be vastly from the truth I was not expelled after not being listened to by local team leader and called a liar for over an hour we decided ON OUR OWN To leave the program due to health concerns and safety concerns I have all messages to prove this Our heath is not a concern or I would have received a response from Kira when I notified her I was sick and been directed to a doctor It took over 7 days from being notified about the ac to have anyone out there after more than my sister and I threatened to leave again I have these messages and would be happy to share them because the CEO who responded is clearly misinformed

They take advantage of young vulnerable people by not refunding large sums of money This company is totally corrupt Kaila specifically a nightmare She would not even allow me to speak with a higher up and just kept going in circles with me Completely unprofessional Do not book with this company They will not help you in foreign country Book directly with main volunteer centers in that country Horrible horrible customer service I am beyond disgusted

I felt discriminated in this organization for my age When you see the money you pay to go in a mission trip Is a wasted of your time They asking for fundraising and the people where you go said they don t give them any money Also a registration fee For what And in my mission the breakfast was included and some days no breakfast Usually somebody have the key and no show out There is no at all organization My recommendation is to go straight forward to and NGO in the country you wanna serve And avoid this organization that ask you for much money for nothing Be away for this

The booking process was very chaotic misleading and unfair We were sent an email confirming our daughter s place on the Lisbon food rescue project IVHQ requested she move to an earlier week starting Oct 6 which she was able to do She was asked to send 250 deposit and then she would be put on the group chat Within 11 hours she sent the money and checked it had been received Silence then descended until a very distressing email 4 days later and less than 4 days before she was due to fly saying the session was full It is important people know that they do not refund the deposit even if they are the ones who cancel your place Also they will do nothing to help with flights so my daughter lost the flight she had booked In the end she went to Porto instead on a new flight Being there was a positive experience but BE WARNED about the booking process

My experience with IVHQ was awful As a parent of a minor volunteer I found their reliance on the young person for communication frustrating The lack of clarity over how much the overall trip would cost felt like a financial trap and the initial lack of clear information was infuriating The terms and conditions are vague making it hard to know what you re actually paying for I thought this would provide a valuable experience for my child but for the amount I was expected to pay overall I could take my whole family on vacation I felt uneasy from the start and wouldn t let my child travel with them Their focus seems to be on making money not providing a true experience I regret my decision and would rather lose the deposit than continue There was 0 information sent with the consent form It s only after the deposit payment was made that I learned about the costs and how many things are NOT included If I have misunderstood or misread something perhaps it s because it s not clear enough for parents of minors Terrible experience

I applied for a project and paid registration fee When I was sent information I realized program was not appropriate for me I contacted intern immediately to cancel with a clear explanation This is 7 weeks before project In two days I emailed her 4 times and received no response I emailed IVHQ with no result Be careful

I recently had a disastrous experience with International Volunteer Headquarters IVHQ and their partners in Kenya NVS The program was advertised as supporting local schools but I discovered that none of the volunteer fees actually benefit the community Instead the money seems to be retained by the organization I was misled about the school schedule and left my 7-week trip early due to unforeseen school closures Mr Boniface promised a refund for 1 week but disappeared and blocked my number I traveled to Nairobi to meet him and he blocked me waste of time Cleo also ignored my messages on WhatsApp The only honest person I encountered was Johnson who no longer works there unsurprisingly I strongly advise against using IVHQ or NVS in Kenya They are SCAMS that EXPLOIT volunteers and local communities If you re considering international volunteering stay far away from IVHQ BEWARE