penguincj

I didn't do much researching of other companies because I saw such great reviews about Memphis Tours on Trip Advisor. I think the great reviews were mostly from people who had so much extra money to spend that they weren't bothered by the "extras" and "add-ons" that the tour threw in. Personally, when I book an 8 day 7 night tour I plan to have my day filled with included activities. I was very disappointed with Memphis because we paid over $1000 USD/person for a tour and we ended up spending almost double that amount when we arrived. For example, our first day in Cairo we were taken by a freelance tour guide named Navid to the Giza Pyramids. When we arrived the ticket included was only to see the outside of the 3 large pyramids. We were told if we wanted to see the inside of the pyramids it was extra...and expensive, I don't remember exactly the amount, but more than $20 USD/person. Then we were taken by Navid to an area for camel and horse carriage rides to see the best view of all 9 pyramids and to do this we had to bargain with Navid's friend while Navid stood back and watched. The man with the horse carriage told us 400 egyptian pounds (that's$40/person!!!!! a ridiculous amount). After bargaining we agreed on $25/person (later we complained to Memphis and found out that we were ripped off and the absolute MAXIMUM to pay is $20/person, Memphis refunded us $10). It is unacceptable that we were pulled into a tourist trap by a Memphis Representative. Needless to say that was the theme of our trip...tourist traps and add-ons. The rest of our first day was structured around tourist traps and "Museums" a papyrus "museum" and a perfume factory...which were actually just stores where we were given a demonstration then hassled to buy something. Very irritating. A long story short we were dissatisfied with Memphis Tours because the money we paid did not give us a full tour...another example: we were taken the see the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the most famous tomb being that of King Tut...when we arrived the ticket did not include his tomb, but we were told we could pay an extra $20/person to see his tomb. We also decided to go on the optional day trip to Abu Simbel because if we didn't go we had an entire day in our tour that had no plans...who has heard of an 8 day tour which gives you nothing to do day 3?? So we paid the $100/person to go to Abu Simbel and were COMPLETELY unsatisfied. We were not giving any food for an 8 hour trip. We were 2 of 5 people...meaning Memphis made $500 for this trip to Abu Simbel, we found out the tour guide makes $10 for the whole day trip, gas costs $40 total and there was a driver who I am sure made less than the tour guide. The entrance to Abu Simbel was $8...so where did the $500 go?? Complete rip-off...no food, 45 minutes at Abu Simbel, and 6 hours in a car for $100/person. I wouldn't pay more than $30! I don't want to write a novel here but I just want to end this with saying I am unsatisfied with Memphis tours yet I don't have any other company to compare it to. They pride themselves on the fact that they are the best in Egypt...but they need to try to be the best in the world. We did complain and were treated to lunch, a boat ride, and dinner and I was given a memphis tours souvenir watch. We greatly appreciated this gesture by the company and hope that our bad experience will force them to improve their services for the rest of their guests. P.S. MAKE them include the flight from Cairo-Aswan, Luxor-Cairo...do NOT take the sleeper trains!!!