Able Tours & Company

This is the WORST company I have ever done business with. First of all I am an American so I was treated with the utmost disrespect. Let me tell you a little story. My boss holds real estate in China and needed to process a few Power of Attorney’s and an Apostle. I did all my due diligence with the Notary and Dept. of State and submitted to the Embassy for their stamp. Side note (Can i just say how RUDE the embassy employee’s are and they rejected by paper work). i remember from the past that Shirley use to help me when i lived in Nevada, wasn’t always pleasant but she did get my work through the Embassy. HOWEVER when the Apostle was rejected i went for help at Able. I was sent to CARRIE… probably the worse human on the planet. Whispering about me in Chinese to her co-​workers, making me feel completely incompetent. HELLO we have a language barrier and all i was asking for is a little help. Carrie ended up composing what we needed AND THEN CHARGED ME OVER $ 3000 FOR 33 DOCUMENTS. Ok, i was fine with that because there are a few millions of dollars at stake so my boss paid the fee and after about 50 emails and rude phone convo’s from Carrie she then sent the docs to China.
THEN…yesterday i had to do this all over again, but to only process 6 POA’s. Simple, right? As i got to the Embassy THEY HAD CLOSED EARLY ON THE 2ND OF JULY… I was really upset coming from Orange County and the court date is on July 16^th in China, this doc has to get processed ASAP. I then at my mercy went to go see Carrie and I can’t believe how they/​she treated me, like I was non existent. She knew who i was especially coming back with my 3 and 4 year old. She flashed a sign as i waited for her to KEEP QUIET… really flashed a sign. She asked to look at the POA while she was processing a Visa with another couple. As they was thumbing thru she argued the language on the document. I told her the law firm in China sent this to my boss and all he had to do was notarize and process with all dept’s. She then said «I WILL NOT WASTE MY TIME GOING TO THE EMBASSY UNTIL YOU FIX IT». I again explained that the law firm needed this specific wording and it will be fine. First of all, a waste of her time??? I AM PAYING YOU A TON OF MONEY TO DO THIS, HOW IS THIS WASTING YOUR TIME. She told me to go sit and wait like a dog in the corner. My kids were giggling and all the sudden i hear a page thru the intercom… KEEP IT DOWN I AM WORKING. Some other women in her office who had eye contact me decide to humiliate me and my children. I got up and said that’s it, you are ALL CROOKS AND I AM FOR SURE PURSING THIS FURTHER WITH THE BBB… note to non Asian people… DON’T GO THERE… they will hike your price and you are their hostage. they will speak at their other people in Chinese about you and giggle… HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PEOPLE… Carrie should be ashamed of herself how she spoke to me and I was a returning customer who paid a lot of money to them.

This review is long overdue! I have been an extremely satisfied customer of Able Tours for over 6 years now and have used them for various services. My first interaction was about 6 years ago when we had Chinese dignitaries come for a visit and tour, and Carrie at Able Tours coordinated everything! Shirley is amazing. Shirley and David are my go to contacts for China Visa’s, which I have them process a few every year. We have also used their authentication service, which was a life saver. Their fees are very reasonable for the services they offer. They are wonderful to work with. Very satisfied!

This horrible company not only charge a high price for Chinese document authentication and etc. but also if they have your document in their possession they will hijack you not to return your document unless you pay them. The staffs are rude and unprofessional who hung up on you all the time. The manager says Able Tour is «rich» so they do not care about existing or potential customers. Please do your good search for other companies that charge much less but providing excellent services.

Able tours is the best! I’ve been there 3 different times each for a visa to China! They’re quick and easy! You pay an additional $ 40 or so dollars than the consulate, but they are open later and so helpful. I’m never there more than 10 minutes. Go see Shirley! She’s literally the best. She’ll fill out most the paperwork for you (pretty much all of it) and you’ll get your visa that same week! Totally worth it :)

Need a Chinese Visa but don’t have the time to do it yourself? Rather just pay?
That’s what this company is for. Appropriately priced and fast.

This place is inside the Chinese consulate in LA. I have only purchased ticket to China from them once. When my mother passed away in China, I needed to go back for emergency. The lady works there were so kind and helpful. She help me to get all the paper works I needed to go to China. I will always remember that day when they helped me. I strongly recommend this place for your travel needs to China.

I have been working with Able Tours for several years for a number of different trips, often involving a number of people with complex schedules. Although there was one person I worked with who we had some problems with, since I have always asked for one specific employee and had great experiences. She has gone above and beyond in working with our group. I am particularly pleased that the various people I have directed to Able Tours have also had wonderful experiences. Able Tours has also saved us a significant amount of money on the trips, too, and assisted with obtaining the visas.

My white husband and I found this interesting tour agency back in 2007. It was time for us to make our first trip together to China. I’d lived there before as an English teacher and had gotten many visas before.
But getting a visa to China at the LA consulate is a nightmare. It was crazy with long longs that four years ago followed the Chinese line system… mad rush in all directions to be first to a counter. There is minimal guidance as what to do when you get in there. And now I recently know there is security — with x-​ray machines — to even get into the Consulate’s visa section.
So my husband and I find a slightly smug sense of satisfaction calmly walking past the long line of stressed, frustrated people waiting to get into the Consulate… and head into Able Tours.
They have expanded a little in 4 years. And it was busier in there last Friday afternoon.
It’s a bit chaotic, but in a less frantic manner than the Consulate. And it’s a bit humorous (especially if you can understand some Cantonese and Mandarin and can listen in on the conversations going on among the staff).
An auntie took care of us, but visa apps weren’t her thing. It took a few checks with a co-​worker to make sure we had the right application filled in. I told her it was the one we’d downloaded from their website. (I didn’t give away my Chinese language skills, though. We patiently waited as she carefully got it checked and then got our receipt for us.
They charge 4% for using a credit card, so you may want to have plenty of cash on you.
My only complaint would be little surprises. Nothing on the website says there’s a new rule about having to get a 1-​yr multiple entry visa. We had checked the box for 6-​mo multi entry. Oh no, now its only for 1 yr. At least they didn’t cost more.
In 2009, we went through Able Tours to authenticate documents to be used in China. I’d done this before (through the Consulate one brave trip to LA years ago) on my own. The lady at Able Tours said the stamps were wrong and was glad to charge us more to completely re-​do the process for us! I felt like we got screwed a little there, but I wanted to get it done… and it was a pain to get everything done that I’d already done!!!
So far, going though Able Tours is still worth the extra $$ to get our applications processed very quickly and then have our passports mailed to us so we don’t have to drive another 7 – 8 hrs to pick them up.

A fortuitous discovery.
I went to China the past year a few times and have plans to go this year as well. And, being a waiguoren (foreigner) I am required to have a visa to travel there. Not one they stamp at the airport, like in Europe or other countries, an official, pay the money, leave your passport, wait a week, come back pick it up kind of visa.
So I went to the Chinese Consulate at this same address and arrived to see a mob of people waiting in line. I got my # and stood there and realized this would take a while. Somehow I saw a sign saying Visas down the hall as I was getting in line and after 10 minutes I decided to investigate. I left my hard earned spot and went.
The garden of Eden — calm, empty, a few clerks typing away at their computers. No hordes of harassed, hot and hungry humanity. An oasis of peace. For a service fee on top of the actual visa cost, price varying on how long you wanted your visa to last, I was told to leave my documents and come back in two days to pick them up. What? Really? From one week at the consulate and hours in line to a few minutes and few days here? They even take your picture, if you don’t have it. One stop shop. Oh, and of course, they are also a travel agency, with all sorts of vacation deals to China and Asia.
Sign me up!
And so I did and indeed, two days later I returned to receive my spanking new visa. And off I went to China.
I’ll be back