Disappointed in Black Tomato

Disappointed in Black Tomato. Reasons why we will NEVER use Black Tomato again. 1- Black Tomato is based in London, although their website includes a New York address. Our primary agent was Tom and originally Josh, both of whom no longer work for Black Tomato. Although we were assured that booking with BT from the US would not impact the price of the trip – they will only accept payment in British pound – hence the price of our trip was greatly impacted by the fluctuation of the British pound due to the Briexit. Given the total price of our trip- we ended up spending nearly $2k more than originally quoted and planned due to the exchange rates which are set by the credit card banks and usually higher than the quotes on the internet. If Black Tomato wants to work with customers in the United States they will have to figure out a way to bill in USD. The price of our trip (paid to the Tanzanian venues and guides) did not change – only the money we had to pay Black Tomato. If you are in the US, do not book with Black Tomato! 2- we were booked in a “tented camp” while the same venue had a “magnificent lodge” option with spectacular rooms, a pool, gym, & spa. The Tented camps were wonderful -for tented camps – but way more rustic than we had expected – and not well suited to our family’s preference. Black Tomato did not ever discuss the two disparate options and in fact, although they booked the Tented camp, they included a picture and detailed description of the room for the Lodge in our itinerary. They also included a free massage for each member of our family – however- this is an amenity only offered to Lodge guests and was not available to guests of the tented camp. It seemed evident to us, based on our discussions with Tom and the photo and description in our itinerary that they had intended to book us in the lodge – but somehow booked the incorrect venue. In fact, We had no idea that there were two disparate venues as both a google search and TripAdvisor only refer to the Lodge. We only learned we were in a tented camp upon arrival, and were understandably greatly disappointed from being in the luxury lodge that we had expected. We emailed Black Tomato immediately, but both our agents were travelling. Eventually Oliver responded that they would look into it but that the original booking was “correct”. Thankfully the hotel manager was able to move us to the lodge rooms on our last night but we feel Black Tomato gravely missed the mark on this leg of our trip as it caused tremendous stress and disappointment for me and my family. 3- Black Tomato worked with Nomad Tanzania for all onsite arrangements. Nomad essentially did everything in terms of the local transfers, guides, etc. When we return to Tanzania, we recommend directly booking with Nomad – they are on the ground in Tanzania – and everyone from Nomad who we met and worked with were highly professional and experienced. Nomad made all the arrangements regarding transportation and it did not seem as if Black Tomato even had a role in the trip. 4- Most distressing relates to an issue of safety. When it comes to safety, we felt Black Tomato was our best bet for guidance. We were wrong!!! On the last day of the trip we received an email from the US embassy regarding rumors of an imminent terror threat in Dar Es Salaam. We emailed our Black Tomato representatives – Tessa & Oliver – for advice and guidance regarding our travel – but – They NEVER Responded! We’ve safely landed back in the US, but still have not heard back from BT. We felt that once our trip was fully paid the level of service and oversight was non existent . For a company that boasts high luxury travel – Black Tomato offered not a single welcome amenity on arrival or at any venue, and did not really seem to make the effort to understand our family and provide what we were looking for throughout our travels in Tanzania. Very disappointed in Black Tomato!