A Story That Still Hurts
At GlobalAssist, we work every day to make travel in Africa easier and safer for our clients. We handle complex logistics, communicate across cultures and time zones, and do our best to ensure smooth experiences. But sometimes, despite our best efforts — and even when we pay out of our own pocket to help someone — things still go wrong.
The Supplier We Thought We Could Trust
We had worked several times with a car rental supplier in Antananarivo, Madagascar, named Monsieur Randrianatenaina Sandatra Jean Marc. He provided all the required documents: ID, contracts, photos of his cars. Everything seemed legitimate. The first bookings went smoothly. He even gained our trust over time.
Eventually, he had three bookings pending and requested prepayments. We usually only send prepayments when clients agree to waive refund rights, because suppliers in Madagascar often do not refund, even when they should.
When Trust Turns into Betrayal
Then, something happened that had never happened before: the supplier failed to deliver the car on time. He blamed the driver. But when we investigated, we discovered his address was fake — he had moved and disappeared. The police confirmed he had left the apartment without paying rent.
Through our clients' photos, we realized the person handing over the cars was not the same as the ID. It looked like false identity. We later found other complaints about him online. It became clear: we had been tricked by a professional scammer.
We Took the Hit — For the Client
Meanwhile, one of our clients was stranded in Tana without a car. He had planned a two-week road trip. We didn’t think twice: we searched for a replacement vehicle and found one — despite high season and extremely short notice.
We paid the second rental with our own money. Around €1,500. That’s a large sum for us — the equivalent of several monthly salaries for our booking managers. Technically, we didn’t have to do this. We’re not legally liable. We are a booking service, not a car rental agency.
But we wanted to help. We believed it was the right thing to do.
We Forgot to Mention It
Unfortunately, we didn’t communicate this act of goodwill to the client. It wasn’t intentional. We just acted fast to help, and in the process, we forgot to explain what we had done. Our booking manager didn’t mention the €1,500 we covered. Perhaps it would have changed the client’s perception.
The Second Car — More Problems
A few days later, the second car broke down. The supplier asked the client to wait for a mechanic. But the client had hotel reservations and chose to leave the car behind and rent a new one himself.
He then asked us for a refund for half the trip. We contacted the second supplier, who refused. He argued that the client had been told to check the water and oil regularly and claimed the breakdown was due to negligence.
The Reviews That Broke Our Hearts
After all this, the client (a couple) left us two 1-star reviews on Google — one from each person. This dropped our Google rating from 4.8 to 4.7. We had worked so hard to get to 4.9, with more than 90% of our clients giving us 5 stars.
You can read the reviews by Celine Enuma and Leon Spek on our Google Maps profile.
So What Went Wrong?
- We trusted a supplier who seemed legitimate — but he used false documents and scammed us.
- We paid €1,500 from our own pocket to ensure the client could continue his trip — and didn’t even tell him.
- The second car broke down — and the supplier blamed the client for not maintaining it properly.
- The client blamed us — and gave us two 1-star reviews, saying he would start a viral campaign to destroy our reputation.
- Some of our staff speak limited English — and the way the news was communicated may have sounded too direct or impolite.
The Reality of Doing Business in Africa
This story shows how difficult it can be to operate in countries like Madagascar. We’re caught between unreliable suppliers and demanding expectations from international clients. We try to bring Swiss-quality service into a system where many things are out of our control.
Suppliers disappear. Cars are old. Fraud is real. And yet we push forward, doing our best every single day to bridge the gap and make travel safer and more convenient.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished?
This situation hurt us deeply. Not just financially — with around €1,500 in extra expenses, time lost, and an ongoing police investigation — but emotionally, too. Our small team worked so hard to help, and all we got in return was blame and public shaming.
Sometimes we wonder what else we could have done. But honestly, we don't know. We believe we acted fairly and generously. We did more than what was required of us.
To Our Clients — And Ourselves
If you're a future client reading this: we want you to know the real story behind the review. We’re transparent. We care. We act.
If you're the client who wrote the review: we wish you had known what we did behind the scenes. Maybe it would have changed how you feel. Maybe not. But we still hope your trip brought you some joy, and that one day, you’ll see we tried.
Moving Forward
At GlobalAssist, our mission remains the same — to help people. To support local suppliers. To bring service and security to travelers in places where these things aren’t always guaranteed.
We won’t let this story stop us. But we needed to share it — to clear the air, to process the sadness, and to remind ourselves: even when life in Africa is hard, and even when the system fails us, we will keep going.
