Mariden U S A

This resoundingly negative review of Mariden USA of Alexandria, VA USA will be posted on every single travel website which asks for reviews of travel companies.



DO NOT USE MARIDEN USA FOR YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS.



From the very beginning of the process (October, 2011) Mariden USA has continuously failed in producing information regarding their advertised educational group travel tours. My family has invested $6800.00 total, which we may not be able to get back.



The optional insurance that was purchased by me does not cover the gross ineptitude of Mariden USA itself. The policy was for personal changes that caused loss of travel, not the changes of the travel agency.



After booking in October, 2011, it was nearly the end of May before we knew exactly which dates the group was flying. And that was a scant month later at the end of June. June 25th to be precise.



On Monday, June 18th, we received word that the Air France flight to Paris on June 25th, had been OVERBOOKED by TWENTY PERCENT!!!!! 20%!!!! and that the ENTIRE GROUP had been bumped from the flight with NO SOLID DATE FOR A RESCHEDULE.



MARIDEN USA stated that it was NOT their fault that the flight had been

overbooked. Three other groups had been booked for that day, and ALL of them were bumped. I believe it was gross negligence by Mariden USA that this occurred.



This incident was the last straw in a lengthy list of oversights and poor policies in play at Mariden USA. Unfortunately, I m not allowed enough space here to list them all.



Our group leader has since contacted the Attorney General and a lawyer and was told by the lawyer that it would be lengthy and expensive to try and get our money back from Mariden USA, so instead they were trying to get Mariden USA to offer a secondary date to travel later on in the summer, the departure date being anywhere from July 21st to August 3rd!!!



This sort of business practice is absurd and wrong.

I fully intent to pursue this in a court of law, and bring charges against Mariden USA for fradulent practices and demand that they reimburse every penny spent. I have already contacted the New York State Attorney General, as the group leader has, and am currently writing to the Virgina State Attorney General as well as to my New York State Federal Senator and Representatives.



MARIDEN USA ENGAGES IN FRAUDULENT AND MISLEADING ADVERTISING AND BUSINESS PRACTICES. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.



Again, this resoundingly negative review will be posted on EVERY SINGLE TRAVEL WEBSITE THAT REQUESTS A REVIEW FOR MARIDEN USA. THESE REVIEWS ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND ARE THEREFORE IMMUNE FROM LEGAL RECOURSE.



DO NOT USE MARIDEN USA FOR YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS.

Lest reviewers think Shrewsbury High School was the only victim of Mariden USA's unscrupulous business practices, I received this correspondence today from Maud Birney, a French teacher who works in Cecil County, Maryland.



"My name is Maud Birney. I teach French in a small high school in Cecil County Maryland. I am emailing regarding the comments you made in diverse web venues regarding Mariden USA.



I am also a very dissatisfied and heart broken costumer of Mariden Usa. We were supposed to leave on June 27 and they announced me today that they were not able to secure airplane seats for our group on this date...



Two weeks before the trip, they are moving the dates of the trip and offering us a similar trip on July 11. Some of the parents cannot travel during these dates and we have been offered callously a voucher for next year trip.



You seemed on your blog as irate as I am right now and I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to go about this situation."



Again, I urge extreme caution when considering travel with Mariden USA.