Surfway Surf school has deprived more than 10 Russian tourists of New Year's tours

Russian tourists have lost New Year's tours to Indonesia, Morocco and the Philippines due to the fault of the Surfway surf school organizer. This is reported by former employees of the company and victims on social networks.

At least 14 victims are currently known. They contacted the surf school, which promised them trips to Indonesia, Morocco and the Philippines over the holiday weekend. According to information on Surfway's social networks, the cost of such tours was from 204 thousand rubles per person. It was assumed that on December 26, tourists should already go on vacation.

However, on December 27, the owner of the surf school, Denis Drogaykin, wrote in a general chat that the vacation would not take place due to an "internal split in the team." At the same time, some customers were caught by unpleasant news already on the plane, or already at the place of arrival. Drogaykin promised to refund the funds to the clients, but did not specify the details, but managed to threaten them if they contacted the police.

Margarita, a former Surfway employee, also confirmed the company's problems. According to her, collective appeals have already been submitted to Rospotrebnadzor and the police. Pre-trial claims have also been filed within the framework of the legislation of the Russian Federation. The girl said that the reason for the incident lies not in the "split in the team," but in the fact that the employees did not receive funds from the head of the company. Accordingly, they could not pay for services.

One of the victims, Maria, said that on the day of the tourists' departure to the Philippines, Drogaykin asked to take with him an additional €800, which was allegedly necessary to pay for on-site services. After that, a message about the cancellation of the tour appeared in the general chat. Currently, tourists are self-sufficient, planning leisure activities, paying for training and housing on their own.

"We have seven people who have fallen off. Those who flew paid the remaining 50% for housing in full, regardless of the fact that the membership had changed. Then we pay for all the lessons ourselves. Videographers, on-site photographers, transfers, a New Year's Eve party, which was also included in the price, some excursions, and so on. It all falls back on us," Maria said on her Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist in Russia and banned).

At the same time, she noted that she has been a client of the surf school for the last three years, and there were no problems before.

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On May 16, Emil Ziyadinov, head of tours at the Tutu travel service, told Izvestia about ways to identify unscrupulous tour operators. He advised to study the latest reviews about the tour operator and the living conditions. The expert also noted that the tour operator must be registered as a legal entity or sole proprietor and be included in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators.

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