Labayk Hajj, Ottawa, ON

Apparently, the only thing that Labayk Hajj does well is collecting your payment. Interestingly, the reply to the previous review shows that Labayk Hajj refuses to take responsibility and instead blames the Saudi Arabian business partner. It seems like the customer pays Labayk Hajj for a Hajj package, but Labayk Hajj does not guarantee that the customer gets accommodation in Mina and Arafah. So when things go wrong, Labayk Hajj walks away and tells you to deal with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Saudi Arabian company who do not speak English and you are stranded. The way I see it, Labayk Hajj is therefore USELESS.

Labayk Hajj is not recommended at all. We booked with Labayk Hajj for the 2023 hajj in a group of 85 people. We paid a large amount of money for the trip. It was problematic from the start. There was almost NO guidance and there was much neglect and disorganization. Hajj is challenging by nature, but Labayk Hajj caused unnecessary extra problems. They did not have staff to help or guide. Labayk Hajj appears to be a one-man company. It started on the first day. One group needed to do the umrah. The person who took the pilgrims for the umrah before the hajj was a volunteer on his own (not part of Labayk Hajj) and he left before the umrah was completed, leaving one of the people doing the umrah to guide the others. Before leaving for Mina and Arafah, the owner of Labayk Hajj did not confirm tent reservations . He had NO tents reserved for the 85 individuals in his group. Upon arrival in Mina, all 85 of us pilgrims had to wait for over two hours on the bus because we had no tents to stay in for the next 3 days. The pilgrims did not know why they were waiting on the bus. We were very fortunate that one pilgrim negotiated with the cooking and cleaning staff to give up their sleeping tents for us. During all this time, the owner of Labayk Hajj was absent. It appears he knew there was a problem and decided to abandon us. On the day of Arafah (the most important day of the hajj), in 47 celsius heat, again there was NO tent available for the male pilgrims, and the owner of Labayk Hajj had not confirmed the tent booking before the pilgrims departed Mina for Arafah. Twice we were told to go to other groups' tents but we were kicked out by the other organizers. We had to spend the whole Arafah day under the sun. Again, the owner of Labayk Hajj was nowhere to be found. At approximately 2 p.m. he showed up for about 15 minutes. All of us were upset and angry, and his answer was "This is not my problem. I am only a service provider" and got into his car and left us. Some people were already ill and needed to be hospitalized in Saudi Arabia as a result. Also, there was no guidance for the women at the end of the day of Arafah for which bus to take to Muzdalifah. Only thanks to Allah did women bump into each other and go together to Muzdalifah. Women should not be left alone like that. Labayk Hajj failed to confirm hajj bookings, failed to provide adequate guidance, and forced the responsibility of logistics (which was wrong) onto the pilgrims which took away their focus on ibadah (worship). May Allah (SWT) give the pilgrims who paid Labayk Hajj their right and accept their hajj.