Deb Roberts' Tours reviews

Will not travel with her again - very poor customer service

I have been on several tours/classes with Sue Spargo that were organized/sponsored by Deb Roberts. The locations were excellent and some of the special events were very nice. The other travelers in the group are some of the nicest people I've ever traveled with. Deb Roberts, however, is no fun to work with. If she answers your email it is dismissive and rude and you wait weeks for this snippy response. While traveling she doesn't give out emergency contact information. One of our group fell and ended up with a nearly 2 inch gash near her eye. She went by taxi to an emergency room - no one went with her and she had no way of communicating with Roberts about her status. After ten hours in the ER she had steri strips on the wound and was released to find her own way back to the group. It seems that Roberts should have had everyone put her emergency contact info into their phones on the first day of the trip, "just in case". Two of the group had food allergies, Deb had asked on the intake forms. But never, in restaurants or catered events, did anyone have any preparation for these two special meals. At every meal the travelers had to wait and confer with a server about their special dietary needs, then wait for their meal to be adjusted by the staff because the staff were not alerted in advance. Roberts is evidently very good to her teachers but she has no respect for the travelers who pay for her tours. After several tours over five years, I will not travel with Roberts again - I'll go on my own if it is a place I want to visit or wait for another tour director. Roberts' behavior has not improved since my early contact with her five years ago and clearly was experienced by others on this most recent tour. Her disregard for her travelers was very disappointing and her communication skills were worse. Don't spend your money here, there are other tour directors that do a much better job.

Bali trip: Poor customer service, little interaction with guests

I went on the Bali tour, and once you get to Indonesia, the tour runs like a well-oiled machine because of the Balinese guide. But I would not travel with World of Quilts again and I wouldn't recommend their trips to others. Perhaps Deb Roberts used to give better customer service, but most of the participants I went with were dissatisfied with her lack of communication and attitude--she wouldn't return phone calls and sent confusing and vague emails during the planning stage. She made us feel like we were bothering her with questions. On the trip, she and her assistant rarely talked with us, sat with us, or gave specific advice if asked about restaurants or spas. I've been on several group tours and I've never experienced disengagement like this in a leader. It was disconcerting since we were traveling so far from home.