Got back from trip to Japan/Korea. For the first time in my life, I booked an agent as I brought my family including parents and wanted to make it easy to get around. It was difficult to find any good sources and did not have time to do research. I booked Asian Highlights, a Chinese-based company, and on paper, they got me what I needed: they booked drivers to/from the airport, hotels, and travel between cities.
Problems: major lack of clarity. No organization. Unanswered questions. And finally, they booked the wrong hotel. A memorable example: we went to a kyoto kimono dress-up spot, and were walked essentially into a large closet with kimonos, left there, without any direction of what to do, where to go or that we had to wait fifteen minutes for anothr party to finish up. Drivers/guides didn't speak much English, mostly Chinese, Japanese. Guides were friendly, but didn't give any information beyond a few words at each spot. Was hoping to get some historical background, etc. but that wasn't included.
Train and plane tickets were booked for us, but I had to ask about how to get the tickets and how we were supposed get them. And key information such as knowing if I can check-in online for a flight went unanswered, and I had to figure out for myself that our flight to Korea did not allow online check in.
Finally, on the last night of our stay in Japan, the hotel didn't have our reservation. It was booked for the same hotel — in a different city. Fortunately the hotel had a room available that I paid for. I tried to call the agent who advertised "24/7" availability via whatsapp — and the number didn't work! When I emailed her, she emailed that I should have contacted her on Whatsapp, and also apologized that she hadn't been available to answer several questions during our trip. She did end up refunding the amount I paid for the hotel room. I ended up paying 5 figures for their services, and although we still ended up having a decent trip, I don't want to use them ever again.
by Chonanhalmoni