It was my first time booking a yoga retreat with bookyogaretreats.com (Tripaneer). My sister and I chose a retreat in southern Turkey and paid our deposit back in February. We left for Turkey in early October (of this month). After much planning, saving and anticipation, we finally headed to Turkey from Western Canada, travelled for 24 hours, stayed overnight in an airport hotel to help us overcome jet lag, then the next day took a domestic flight from Istanbul to Bodrum. And then our dream of having a relaxing and restorative yoga retreat came to an abrupt end. The "organizer" and her partner picked us up at the airport for an extra $50USD expense to us, and then rather than taking us to what we thought was a retreat centre, we were in utter shock when they took us to their home. They had turned their living/dining room area into a yoga space. We were then shown to our sparsely decorated shared bedroom which consisted of 2 single beds that were about as comfortable as sleeping on cardboard. Their back yard faced a busy highway below and there wasn't even a comfortable chair to sit on outside or any cozy spots indoors where we could have some privacy unless we retreated to our "dorm room" with the 2 uncomfortable beds. We were in utter shock. Days before leaving Canada for Turkey, we were told by the organizer that actually, we were going to be the only participants attending. Although I thought it was very odd at the time and wondered how they could proceed with the retreat anyways with only my sister and I attending, our bags were packed, flights booked, time off work already planned, we headed to Turkey. The landing page for this so-called retreat had shown the organizer outdoors in a green space with a building in the background teaching yoga to 8 people in downward facing dog position. The reality couldn't have been further from the truth. My sister, aged 61 and I (aged 58) tried to hide our shock and disappointment and after having a pathetic "welcome dinner," we retreated to our room and neither of us could sleep a wink all night on those uncomfortable beds. We were in tears, disappointed, shocked and knew that we could not stay. We spent the whole night trying to find a hotel room or AirBNB in the area and touch typing a long email to Bookyogaretreats.com explaining the situation and asking for our deposit back. We left in the morning and continued communicating with Bookyogaretreats.com over the next few days documenting everything that we had experienced. Initially bookyogaretreats.com sounded very empathetic and responsive. We trusted that based on all the information that we had provided and our fact-based responses to the organizer's counter-comments that they would proceed with integrity and give us our deposit back, given the $1,000s of dollars we had already shelled out for our trip and our dream for a restorative yoga retreat basically disappearing. To our complete and utter shock, they responded by saying that the $438 deposit we had paid was still unrefundable. I am writing my story so that all followers on bookyogaretreats.com understand that this company really does not vet any yoga retreat organizer that lists on their website. I made the biggest mistake thinking that retreat organizers need to go through a process with bookyogaretreats.com to list their retreats and that bookyogaretreats.com provides some protection to consumers. But I have since discovered that that is not the case at all. Anyone can list a retreat they slap together on this website. Bookyogaretreats.com just wants to take their cut. I trusted this company and I've been so let down and bled financially. My warning to all of you is to do your due diligence when signing up for a retreat from bookyogaretreats.com. Contact the organizer and ask numerous questions and find out exactly what the space looks like. Viewing the company's Instagram account that shows stunning pictures of people at yoga retreats surrounded by natural beauty and in beautiful yoga spaces just filled me with heartbreak all over again. That was what my sister and I had longed for: a restful, peaceful and restorative yoga retreat, not an vastly overpriced stay in someone's home doing 2 yoga classes per day with no retreat space to relax in. All it felt like what that we were just cash registers for them, 2 North Americans that could be duped into forking over lots of cash while they underdelivered a retreat for us. It all made sense after that fateful evening when we'd arrived at their home, why they waited until the last minute to tell us that we were going to be the only participants and why they kept postponing sending me the retreat address (for my luggage tag) until the last minute when I was so busy preparing for my trip that I never thought to put the address in Google maps. Bookyogaretreats.com would not accept any responsibility here and even after sending so much factual information about what we found, the discrepancy between the retreat listing and the reality, they sided with the organizer leaving the consumer assuming all risk. This is unethical and shocking behaviour from a company that promotes yoga. Yoga is not just about postures but about consciousness, ethics and right behaviour. Be forewarned here and do your due diligence before paying any deposit to this company, as they don't have your back.

Do Not; I repeat, DO NOT Book your yoga trip through BookYogaRetreats. In fact, don't book, don't pencil, don't paper, don't nada involving your money through that site. It is a scam designed to rip off the trip planner! However, before diving into the dragon-sized bull$#*! I experienced booking through that site, here are some safer suggestions for booking a yoga trip.

1. Check out the reviews for your location/s of choice (If you find yourself scrolling through BookYoga Retreats, use their site to gather information on available offers ONLY. Again ( DO NOT BOOK ON BookYogaRetreats). Instead, call or email your location of choice directly. If possible, get written documentation of their refund and other policies. Then book directly with your location of choice. Again (DO NOT BOOK ON BookYogaRetreats)

2. If you would like to use a third-party booking site. Try reputable sites such as Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline, etc. They may not offer a yoga package; however, you can book a flight, stay, and car package at your Yoga Hotel location of choice. You'll also get accessible customer service and options to easily make changes and/or get your money back if necessary.

Here is the list of reasons why I highly recommend that you DO NOT BOOK your yoga trip on BookYogaRetreats

1. If you need to make changes to your booked trip, you'll most likely end up losing money. It is difficult to make any changes. If you book with them, pray nothing goes wrong.
"I payed the down payment of about $395 for my initial location of choice. Due to COVID Restrictions, the airlines I booked with had complications routing out a sensible flight plan from my location, I had to cancel my flight. BookYogaRetreats stated that all of the down payment I made, would be transferred to another location of choice. Therefore I booked another location. Now, this is where the $#*!ery begins! Only $195 of my original payment was added to the new booking. I received a notation stating that the remaining $200 was on hold. It can be used for another trip which must be booked within a years period."

2. You'll deal with late emails of multiple agents making promises and statements that are not kept.
"After alerting bookyogaretreats several times about the hold. I received an email from multiple agents stating that the $200 will be allocated towards my current trip. That never happened. The remaining trip balance needed to be booked directly with the chosen location. The location did not receive the pending $200. Hence, I had to pay the full balance.
At this point, my $200 is floating in space with the stars because, I did not receive any follow-up regarding the situation.

3. Asking for your money back is like asking a crack head to share his crack. (NOT GONNA HAPPEN) You will not see a cent. In fact, you'll have better luck with the crackhead.
" Once again, I contacted bookyogaretreats asking for a refund for the $200. What I received was blown-out gas (empty words, no action. It just stinks). The agent stated that all would be resolved before my arrival date. That did not happen. I didn't receive a response till the last day of my trip. The response was a notation stating that the $200 had been allocated toward my account as a year valid voucher. Pretty much, after the runaround, I was back to where I started. At that point, I was done. I've concluded that they do this to force customers into continued usage of their services. They can keep the money. The experience booking with their site was strenuous and stressful. I will NEVER book with them again.
Conclusively DO NOT BOOK WITH BookYoga retreats. They don't meet their promises. They will not refund, even when they are wrong (so pray nothing goes wrong). Expect reused responses from multiple agents. Expect late responses or non at all. Expect to be SCAMMED if you use their company.
On their site it states:
"Book with confidence - we offer flexible booking conditions during COVID-19"
That's a damn lie! It should state instead,
"Book to get scammed- we are flexible in snatching your money during COVID-19"

I'd like to share our story and experience with BookYogaRetreats aka Tripaneer in hopes of protecting others and exposing the integrity and lack of compassion from a "yoga" company. Please note, this story was told to two separate customer service representatives to only be told, too bad. We'll give you a credit that you can use till end of 2021. Oh by the way, we will also be keeping the service fee.

My husband and I booked a Yoga Teacher Training in Bali as part of our honeymoon. To deepen our connection with ourselves and each other. We paid our deposit of $2,727 Euros (US$3,006.51) for the two of us for a 22 Day training. As the date slowly approached we were reassured the training will still happen despite the corona virus pandemic. We decided we should still try our best to make it to Bali.

We were in Palawan islands of Philippines for two weeks before arriving into Bali. 1 week into our trip we were told that we had less than 48 hours to evacuate the Palawan islands or risk being in a total lock down. We booked several flights to have them canceled, as they were also shutting down the few airports on the island without notice. Miraculously we managed to book the last flight out of the island. A 4 hour shuttle van ride, and 40+ hours of travel to several airports, we made it to Bali.

Two days before the Yoga teacher training was to start, the organizer decided she needed to cancel this training. The organizer offered a full refund, we just needed to contact BookYogaRetreats. I explained our situation to them, it did not matter. They only offered $2700 euros in credit minus the $27 euros in service fee. It is atrocious how this company is operating and treating their customers during this time. Not only is the $2,727 Euros (US$3,006.51) to pay for the training, but this is supposed to cover our housing and food. That is not a small amount to not refund a couple that is on their honeymoon and will need this money to live on and somehow get home. We are now having to pay for additional housing and food. The United States is unfortunately also not generous in repatriating their own citizens home. We will be paying a pricey plane ticket(s) to get home. We will also be going home to no jobs.

I will also mention our yoga training organizer had also already paid the amount to BookYogaRetreats to refund us. This is straight up fraud and against their own terms and conditions. This company is holding onto everyones money. Offering a credit that needs to be used by 2021 is useless to everyone that you've taken money from if we cannot afford to travel in the next year and need this money to survive.

While I understand this is a rough time for everyone, I am appalled by the way BookYogaRetreats aka Traipaneer has been treating their customers from all the recent reviews during this pandemic.

How companies treat their customers during a pandemic truly reveals their integrity, compassion and what they stand for in the world.

HIS IS A COPY OF THE LETTER I SENT THE INTERNET COMPANY 'BOOKYOGARETREATS' REGARDING A RETREAT THAT I RECENTLY WENT TO IN CANCUN MEXICO ORGANIZED BY MIREYA SCHOO (Maye) AND BOOKED THROUGH BOOKYOGARETREATS.

Thank you for your response.
Barbara and I have stayed in contact, we had not met before The Retreat. She is from Florida, USA. I am from Vancouver Canada.
My daughter encouraged me to book this retreat because I have recently begun doing yoga and I have always loved snorkeling.
I am a 58 year old woman who has found myself very sad lately and I thought that a retreat might be very helpful to unravel my feelings and put me on a more content path.
Like all women my age, I have had alot of sadness and joy, and as our Western world is so busy and as a single mother of 4, I never took the time to process most of it. This retreat was to be the start of my taking care of myself instead of others.
I arrived 2 days early as Maye said I could have 2 days extra stay and the best last minute airfare was then. This really was a last minute trip. I booked it the night before I left. I was very nervous and excited, I haven't been on a retreat before.
Maye and her brother came to the airport for me and took me to the house. I declined dinner as I was tired from traveling and I went to bed early.
In the morning I felt uncomfortable as I was the only guest there so I decided to go to Isla mujeres, a small island I had been to before.
Her brother drove me to the ferry. I spent 2 nights there and when I returned her brother picked me up. (I didn't pay him and I didn't know the rate and he doesn't speak English, I thought that it would be figured out before I left. The next day I received an email from Maye stating that he was to be paid directly).
When I returned to the retreat I met Barbara for the first time and we became fast friends. We swam and laughed and Maye brought tequila to the pool and we all 3 drank.
I am not a big drinker so when later that day I was told that it was yoga time, I declined and spent time alone in my room.
That evening we sat together talking and it became apparent that Maye was determined to top any life experience that Barbara or I spoke about. She was not leading or facilitating, she was participating and crowding us out. It was odd to me but I was very determined to allow myself to be vulnerable. That was my goal and I didn't want to spend all this money, missing work and traveling this distance without attaining it.
When I spoke about my son who had died suddenly, Maye interrupted to talk about a miscarriage she had had. I was shocked and hurt by her disrespect and not even allowing me to finish my painful story. Barbara took my hand and I thought that it would still be a healing retreat.
The next morning I woke from a very restless night to a headache. I finally took a Advil headache tablet and was sitting on the floor staring out the window and crying about a thousand different things, (as I said, I was very sad when I arrived) when Maye came in and said, what's wrong? What are you doing? As sometimes happens, I was crying too much to talk. And I just shook my head. I can't remember what she said, but it wasn't kind.
Then she left and returned a minute later to tell me that I was ruining everything and how disrespectful I was to her family and that she would contact your company to get my money back for me.
I was shocked. I wasn't thinking of leaving. I was beginning to process and was hopeful for the healing in the rest of the week. I was never disrespectful to anyone. I was reclusive and hurt and crying. I was at a retreat, I thought that I could safely do that.
She left the room and I numbly began packing. I called my daughter and through tears, told her what had happened. She was concerned for my safety, in a foreign country with someone being mean and irrational to me. I told her that I would leave but I honestly didn't know what to do.
The house is not near any main streets so taxi is not possible.
I went to Barbara as she seemed so kind the night before and told her that I was leaving. She wanted me to stay. We talked for a why and even went for a swim in the rain. Maye was no where to be seem.
I was feel better and stronger and decided that I could take a bus to Tulum (a beach town that I had heard of two hours away).
When I saw Maye's brother I asked him for a ride to the bus station. He didn't seem to understand me and he went upstairs and returned with Maye. Barbara and I were outside and she joined us. I cannot tell you all that was said because my head was spinning and I was afraid. I am not a weak woman but I was so emotional, the reason I was at a retreat. Maye blamed me for disrespectful behavior.
I took some strength from Barbara's presence and told Maye that the next time someone is crying so much that they can't speak, bring them a cup of tea, or just be quite beside them. Don't get angry at them.
She asked Barbara to leave so her and I could speak alone.
When Barbara left, Maye leaned close to me and said things like... I have lawyers, I am not alone. I won't let you do this. You are after money... I can't tell you what else. But it didn't make sense to be and as soon as she began I called for Barbara but she couldn't hear me. I went inside to see Barbara and Maye blocked my way and told me to get out if her house. I was crying again/still. I felt like I was in a nightmare. I picked up my bag and walked to the gate. I tried to call my daughter but our connection was lost. Then I texted Barbara and told her that I had been told to leave.
Barbara came out and Maye was telling her that I had already contacted you to put in a complaint. I hadn't. But she was showing her something on her phone that she said I had done. I hadn't done anything but cry and try figure out what to do.
By this time I was a mess. I could not think straight and could no longer see myself taking a bus in a country where I barely spoke the language. I was lost.
Barbara was telling me to get a hotel in Cancun for the night. There are hundreds of hotels, I was in my phone unable to make a decision. I didn't even know where I was. I had blindly trusted these people to bring me to this place.
Maye went inside. Barbara went inside. I was standing by the van with her non English speaking brother. Crying. Scared. And so confused. How could this be happening? And I knew that once I was away from the house I would not have WiFi to book anything!
Then an idea struck and I asked him to take me to Starbucks. I brought it up on my phone so he could see what I meant and the address. Starbucks coffee always has free WiFi. I could regroup there safely.
He said he didn't understand and he took my phone inside. Returning with Maye who looked at me and in a very disciplinary harsh voice asked if I wanted to try this again.
I had surpassed my limit. I took my phone from her hand, shook my head as I began crying again. I got into her brother's van with absolutely no idea where he would take me.
He drove in silence. I finally stopped crying. I was depleted.
I saw the Starbucks store and pointed at it. He pulled around the corner and stopped in a car lot. I took 100 pesos from my wallet and have it to him. I asked if that was enough. He didn't reply. But as I went to get out he said something that I didn't understand. I tried to understand but couldn't and the little stress of that started me crying again. I had my backpack, I was standing, crying, in a foreign country, in a car lot with people wander around looking to buy a car, and he drove off.
I backtracked and found Starbucks and used the WiFi to let my family know that I was safe and I found a nearby hotel for the night and the bus station in the morning.
This is a survivor story. It was awful. I arrived with the belief that health and healing were what I was paying for. For some guidance by a trained teacher. What I received was a very bad scary expensive crazy night mare. For a strong, healthy person, this would have been taxing. For me, in my vulnerable state, it was debilitating.
I do not know what can be done. Your company does not train these people. You do help to advertise for them and her advertisment is very false
I have spent a lot of money to go to Mexico, I was not going for any reason but this retreat. My flights, time off work. Buss, taxis and hotels that I have paid for as well as the money that I paid her through your company... Ugh! I am not a rich woman. I needed and still need a retreat. Help. Support. Yoga. Compassion.
I see that this could go on for a long time
I will stop writing now.
Please keep me advised and let me know if you need more information or clarification.
I do not know what can be done. Your company does not train these people. You do help to advertise for them and her advertisement is very false.
Nameste

IF YOU HAVE READ THIS FAR, THANK YOU. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN WHAT YOU BOOK ONLINE WHEN YOU ARE VULNERABLE (as i was). I HAVE BEEN INFORMED BY THIS COMPANY THAT MIREYA WILL NOT REFUND ME AND I SEE ON THE BOOKYOGARETREATS WEBSITE THAT THEY ARE STILL RUNNING HER RETREAT ADDS.
BUYER BEWARE.
I NEEDED TO PURGE MYSELF OF THIS EVENT AND WRITING IT, FOR ALL TO SEE HELPS.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING TO THE END.

I have to EDIT this review to explain more effectively what had happened with my yoga retreat booking as I have been asked by the company who FALSELY ADVERTISED my booking (tripaneer) bookyogaretreats.com to take this review down. I can't quite understand why they think I would take this review down as they know I am a yoga holiday retreat vlogger and blogger so my reviews are popular with adventurous travellers worldwide.

So to begin, back in October 2016 I got into planning a 3 month yoga retreat trip to Thailand. I was looking for reasonably priced retreats to review and experience on my travels in Asia. I happened across a website named bookyagaretreats.com and booked a retreat named The Samahita Retreat in Samui. It was for a four day stay with the yoga classes, meditation and accommodation all included advertised at the price of 6,640 thb. I requested the booking as was asked to pay half of the retreat price at 3,320 of which I paid straight away.

This was not the only retreat I booked that day; I actually booked 6 others for my trip which starts on the 15th December 2016.

I had received the booking confirmation from, bookyagaretreats.com (tripaneer) along with the finalised payment to be paid within 14 days. I then receive another series of emails after the confirmation saying that that they were very sorry but they had the pricing wrong and that in fact at the Xmas period when the retreat gets busier the pricing goes up. So in October when I booked the pricing was correct but for December the prices go up. The website never corrected the pricing. I naturally thought if I was sold a retreat at these prices then I would be entitled to the retreat at the pricing that was advertised. But this was not to be.

I had asked if there was anything they could do as I would not have booked this retreat at the price they were asking as I was travelling to reasonably priced resorts. At Xmas time this resort charges per day what they were originally charging in October for the four days. They offered my money back, which I didnt really want; I really wanted my retreat as now it is late in the day to book another. They declined and encouraged me to take my FULL payment back which I accepted in the end and have now received. I thought it was all over only to receive another mail informing me of THE FACTS of which I am already completely aware of and as slight underhand message asking me to take this review down. If I dont take this review down they will answer it and publish our communications! Reveiws are here for a reason and I do not understand the threat (it reads as a threat), I am more than happy for bookyogaretreats.com (tripaneer) Samahitaretreats.com WHO ALL HAD A HAND IN THIS, to respond. So that the consumer may understand exactly how companies can MISLEAD AND FALSELY ADVERTISE TRIPS ABROAD so that you get caught up paying a deposit for a trip that ends up being 4 times the cost of what was advertised, and mostly as they kindly informed me, you are NOT entitled to a refund even if this is the case.

This case is in the hands of Trade and Standards and Watchdog.