Volunteerhq Reviews

I was very excited to book my first volunteer trip and did lots of research before doing so to try and ensure I was going through the correct company for me - IVHQ appeared to be this I credit IVHQ for excellent communication leading up to the trip as I found this very helpful when preparing and any sudden queries or concerns were responded to swiftly However the company IVHQ worked with to facilitate the programmes in Guatemala Maximo Nivel I believe to be a very poor choice After arranging my trip through IVHQ I felt confident knowing I have local volunteer offices in Antigua as I assumed the same level of professionalism It quickly became apparent from an organisational and moral standpoint that Maximo Nivel were not up to par - individuals not only myself were not valued and when it came to safety concerns they were little help with any queries Upon arrival at my host family it was as if i was not expected I arrived at airport and traveled with the driver as scheduled national holidays that meant we could not attend our volunteer programmes were not communicated at all even when enquired about only apparent after traveled to this and at every opportunity we found they were quick to try and make a profit Even shuttles to the airport available to purchase were 4 times the price of companies offering the EXACT same service in the area - not a way to treat volunteers I was already certain i would never book through IVHQ again because altough I am sure they may also partner with some reliable companies - Maximo Nivel was not one of them - they also should have been clear about the company you would be attached to when abroad so you can do some research BEFORE booking and paying for your trip which is the fault of IVHQ I paid for spanish classes prior to my trip and made it clear that I was a new beginner upon arrival I was scheduled unknowingly for an intermediate level class after an embarassing class that was clearly a nuissance to the teacher as well as myself I enquired about this reasonably as I had assumed this was just a mistake I was told I had to remain in this class because due to my scheduling with volunteer programme of which they choose and arrange for each individual there are many childcare programmes at different timings this was all that was available as there were no other volunteers at beginner level to faciliate the small group classes I had paid for After dissapointingly returning to accomodation these classes were not cheap and I was excited to learn the language as i was due to be there for 10 weeks I decided to return back before my morning class and inform them that this was not good enough i have paid for a service that they are going to have to find a way to offer me they had the staff however they often shoved classes together of completely different levels to keep costs down in paying less staff The staff were very rude to me and reluctant to help me this continued as later in the trip I requested to change my 4 hour small group classes to 2 hour one to ones which were priced the same and when I had booked before the trip i was explicitly told not to worry and that these could be changed during my trip obviously just trying to push a sale Although this was a reasonable request and i allowed a weeks notice to occur i was spoken to very curtly and was made to feel very small even though this was to benefit my learning Upon the sudden passing of my father no previous health conditions 6 weeks into my 10 week programme I unfortunately had to arrange emergency travel home which understandably is a personal expense just as the flights I had previously booked were Management at the Antigua branch informed me there was no way of refunding the following 4 weeks of spanish classes and 4 weeks vontuneer programme costs that I was now unable to use - this cost covers accomodation with host family this was advertised and confirmed to be host family but was not - was simply a large volunteer accomodation dorm breakfast and dinner at the accomodation and use of volunteer offices and emergency contacts So even though I left leaving space in the house to allow another volunteer to be accomodated no food needed to be bought or prepared for me for the following four weeks shopping is done very regularly here and cannt be bought far in advance so i know this could not have been an issue and I would not be using the volunteer services in Antigua anymore I was told there was no way this could happen Rose management informed me that she would check this for me - to no avail I left the following morning I contacted IVHQ upon return and they informed me there was nothing they could do and to look into a travel insurance claim In short - I lost a lot of money that I had saved so long for and did not want to finish early This was the most disappointing outcome and I felt they were extremely inconsiderate and by not offering a refund for this are essentially taking the money from those who wished to do good for no good reason Due to the circumstances of my fathers passing I have not been in the position to write this review for many months over which they have not reached out even after an internal review and now I have felt it was necessary I explained the problems of the trip in Summer 2019 however regardless of all the issues surrounding the company I made sure to use my time wisely out there and enjoy it as best as I could outside of these circumstances As per the Reply - I have never been offered credit upon return and seeking this whilst spanish classes eventually were refunded following months of follow ups personally I believe this to be unacceptable - this us without response to all general disorganization of the organisation

Sri Lankan Rural development that didn t happen The IVHQ Programme guide website although pretty turned out to be misleading providing an incorrect information resulting in me leaving the programme on arrival and losing most of the money I paid to IVHQ After changing flights to arrive for the start of the 1 week programme flying 14h and being driven for 3h from Colombo to Kandy I was brought to an empty house which was simple but okay However shortly after my arrival the local programme coordinator told me that I was not allowed to leave the house unsupervised at any point for the duration of the programme and if I were to do so I would be reported in breach of the rules and expelled or whatever that threat implied I asked if someone could take me out to show me the city I have just arrived to as this was an early Sunday afternoon and there were no volunteering activities expected until the next day I was simply told a No December 2021 was still a challenging time but nevertheless this stay-in requirement had to be made clear to me prior to booking which it was not This prison arrangement obviously frightened me IVHQ website very clearly stated there was free time for sightseeing shopping etc Being made felt imprisoned was not acceptable to me especially after all the lockdowns we went through and I obviously wanted to get acquainted with the area I have travelled to Local programme organisers took covid rules beyond what their country required Sri Lanka was open for vaccinated tourists with a negative test and there was no movement restriction Another thing was the uncommunicated change on dropping the rural aspect of the programme which was not too much of an issue for me provided I could do what I wish in my free time Instead I was told a few children a 20yo who needs help with her IELTS was mentioned would come to that house and we would teach them something Then we were meant to do some construction work in the nearby building and then go back to the house where we were meant to stay all the time I have not seen any other volunteers though and have been told they were arriving later The above activities were described to me verbally and I of course cannot confirm them as I left when I was told about the stay-in arrangement After negotiations with IVHQ representative I have been offered half of my programme fee therefore 2 and not 1 star however no agreement has been reached on the registration fee which is the money that goes to IVHQ that is responsible for providing volunteers with the correct information via their Programme Guide I am a 32 yo professional and I could afford getting myself a hotel making other plans while I imagine someone on a tight budget forced into this situation would be greatly and unfairly traumatised I absolutely wouldn t recommend this organisation for the lack of care they put in their programme description

I don t really recommend IVHQ in general but on this review I write specifically towards not going to Guatemala with the IVHQ Right now especially This company has not planned a lot of activities to do here which is strange and pretty disappointing with how much they hyped it up to be The most disappointing part is how incredibly expensive it was for no reason IVHQ really does rob you One should not be paying that much while we haven t done much here not worth the price And they don t even help in any way with the local childcare project by that I mean they don t send a penny towards them Seriously It s an unnecessary amount for not doing hardly anything and not even aiding the projects In fact I would like a little bit of my money back There was little to no support in this process I don t recommend IVHQ Edit 2022 - Look at how rude they are in their response I m a bit shocked with how professional they seem to be it makes me almost want to change my review to one star Obviously I m going to say positive things in person to their face but you re paying WAY too much money for what you re getting - I talked with many people who said they were disappointed with the Guatemala project so this person is saying so to try and make you look bad Look at their responses to other people s legit concerns A bit sad I promise they rob you it s 30 a night but it s 800 for like a week there hmm where are the other fees going It s way too expensive Trust me it s fraud

I did the Reef CI marine conservation program in Belize I was unaware that I could join this program DIRECTLY through Reef CI and save hundreds of dollars on fees and a background check I was really surprised once I got there to find out half the people there had paid about 500 less than I did No matter what experience you choose make sure that you can t go directly through whomever they are partnering with I feel as though I paid fees for them to simply pass my name on to another organization Very disappointed

I had a great time with IVHQ doing the Marine Conservation in Croatia Everyone was lovely I have made some great friends and my overall experience was amazing However I think that I was given an unfairly reduced amount of scuba diving time compared to not only how it is advertised on the website but also when compared with other volunteers Though when you book it seems like its a week 7 days of scuba diving marine conservation it is actually much more like 4 days if you are lucky Weekends there is no diving at all and Fridays are not actually spent scuba diving usually but instead processing retrieved litter from the seabed Furthermore it is hardly consistent how many dives you get per day I might have had a uniquely unlucky experience because the Calypso diving team were moving their warehouse that week which made them busy but I only got 3 dives total for a week of marine conservation The Monday of your first week is spent doing a useless induction presentation in Split followed by a tour of Split which I also missed out on during my week So no diving on Monday I was unlucky in terms of weather to be fair to the team One of my days had strong thunderstorms such that it would be unsafe to dive However they say that they try to make up the lost time on another of the days in the week but again this was not forthcoming So with Monday not diving and Wednesday rained off it was only 3 days of actual diving And unlike almost every other week where it is very common to have 2 dives a day the previous week s volunteers have personally told me that they got 2 dives on most days I only got 1 dive on the days I was actually free Basically Though you will undoubtedly have a wonderful time on that course it is not at all guaranteed that you get as much diving as is advertised on the website or promised by the local team

Overpriced Did a turtle conservation program in Costa Rica Was joined by Volunteers who were volunteering by contacting the local organisation itself and was doing the same activities for free You should never have to pay such an amount to volunteer just backpacking hostels is a far better experience

Very poor quality programming little to do with land conservation and ecology The accomodation was also very drab I would not recommend them for Mexico or Costa Rica

incredible experiencebutlocal staff were not friendly made me and other volunteers feel uncomfortable and when feedback was given nothing was done excuses which didn t make sense were made

Not very transparent about where the funds go and how the schedule looks like It was weird that they have to have you go on either the 1st or 15th of the month which didnt work well for me because the first 4 days I was there it was for touring since it fell near a weekend and I only did 3 days of clinic since I only had a week I could get off Also when asking multiple times the location of the accommodations it was never clear and they couldn t give me an exact address the program manager would always direct me to the local team

The guidelines for how to write a review say not to write just what I want to express I will just say that in my experience I found IVHQ to be a scam They do not help make your volunteering cheaper and the support does not go to help those who need it most My host their program and organization are magnificent they do a great job with dedication and honesty and the experience was incredibly good I m just displeased with how IVHQ handles things They are just the recruiting company and they charge for it it s not bad but if you really want to help the money you give to IVHQ is better to give to save a life Many people don t say anything because they are only going to get the photo for their social networks and others who if they do it with a real cause prefer to keep quiet to avoid problems not me I do raise my voice