Problem booking Viator tour fro Sirena

[oskidunker]

I had booked a Rioja wine tour fro 8 hours from San Sebastian. Today when the operator did not show up, I called and was informed the tour was from Bilbao, about 2 hours away. I have a screen shot  showing from San Sebastian. The eticket shows no location .the operator offered half refund. I called Viator, and you guessed it, got the Philippines. The rep started the normal talking in circles and taking up huge amounts of time with no resolution so far.

 

 

a few days ago a Viator tour in Bordeaux was 30 min late after changing my start time fromnoon to 2:30 so we missed some places. 
 

i would avoid this company and look elsewhere.. i will never book with them again. What good experiences you may have had in the past may not be an indication of what you will get in the future. Fyi.

[GeezerCouple]

22 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

I had booked a Rioja wine tour fro 8 hours from San Sebastian. Today when the operator did not show up, I called and was informed the tour was from Bilbao, about 2 hours away. I have a screen shot  showing from San Sebastian. The eticket shows no location .the operator offered half refund. I called Viator, and you guessed it, got the Philippines. The rep started the normal talking in circles and taking up huge amounts of time with no resolution so far.

 

 

a few days ago a Viator tour in Bordeaux was 30 min late after changing my start time fromnoon to 2:30 so we missed some places. 
 

i would avoid this company and look elsewhere.. i will never book with them again. What good experiences you may have had in the past may not be an indication of what you will get in the future. Fyi.

 

That's really unfortunate.

But keep in mind that Viator is a third party booking service for tours.  They aren't the actual tour operators.

 

We almost always book our own excursions (for cruise or land trips), and we find the actual tour operator and work directly with them.  Usually we are dealing with the specific person who will be meeting us.  (This also allows us to customize things so we spend the time doing/seeing what *we* want to do and see, including adding other choices, etc.)

 

Did you make your reservation with a charge card?  If so, then showing them your screen shot of where the pick-up was advertised to be, etc., should help you get a refund.

 

Good luck!

 

GC

[pete_coach]

Gosh, that is sad to hear. I am a huge Viator user and supporter. We have used them many many times all over the world.

They are not perfect and we have had a few issues with tours booked through Viator and have never had any issues getting refunds.

You can request to speak with managers and they are usually in the US. Viator is a Tripadvisor company.

[LHT28]

a good reason  to book with the local tour operators

[sunlover12]

Sorry to hear of your experience. We have a tour booked with Viator when we disembark the Sirena in Barcelona in early November.  As mentioned, Viator is a third-party booking agent. Our tour is with a local company,  Explore Catalunya. They've gotten good reviews.  The meeting point is specifically at their office in Barcelona. Maybe the problem you've been having is with the local company and not with Viator. Just guessing on that.  We have used Viator in the past although not recently. It was good. 

 

I'll post back here after our tour to let you know how it goes.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

[Robjame]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

a good reason  to book with the local tour operators

Could you please expand on that?

i always book with Viator because I felt I had the resources of a company supporting me, especially during these times when small, local operators could disappear. What is the support if the local operator simply does not show up like the OP’s experience reported above and offers an unsatisfactory solution?

[pinotlover]

11 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Could you please expand on that?

i always book with Viator because I felt I had the resources of a company supporting me, especially during these times when small, local operators could disappear. What is the support if the local operator simply does not show up like the OP’s experience reported above and offers an unsatisfactory solution?

Typically you can get your credit card company to cancel the charges.

 

In many cases Viator is a 4th or 5th Party contractor far removed from the actual tour group. Sometimes everything works out perfectly fine, other times it doesn’t.

 

Much like Oceania’s shorex , Viator is a convenience company. They don’t actually provide any excursions, they just act as a middle man for the convenience of bookings. Most often a bit of research will get you much closer to the actual guides.

 

Let me tell you about the Viator tour we booked several years ago in OZ. Our tour guide didn’t show up at the appointed time. I asked multiple guides coming by the hotel about our guide. They all responded that he had died about three years prior. Went back in the hotel to get and study a city map and started to leave about thirty minutes later. The guide shows up. He confirmed our assigned guide had been dead for several years and his paperwork showed he was on time for the pickup. He said Viator had been told for years the guy was dead, but they continued to give out his name and old phone number to clients. 
 

Some days you’re lucky, others you’re not.

[GeezerCouple]

16 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Could you please expand on that?

i always book with Viator because I felt I had the resources of a company supporting me, especially during these times when small, local operators could disappear. What is the support if the local operator simply does not show up like the OP’s experience reported above and offers an unsatisfactory solution?

 

We always book directly with the tour guide or company.  We use a major credit card almost all of the time.  Now, that would help us get our money back, but we'd still have a problem at the port when/if we realized no one was there.

 

However, we have always had extensive email exchanges with the guide, including things like just what to see/where to go, perhaps how much time to spend. We may want to spend more time at X than average or less time at Y, etc., and we may customize the tour. 

While we communicate with the guide, we'll often ask if what we are asking about brings to mind anything else that might interest us, or we'll even start by saying we want to emphasize this type of artwork or plants/scenery, etc.  They've occasionally come up with excellent new ideas for us.

 

We usually do private excursions, but a few times, we've offered space to others on our Roll Call when it's a cruise.  We either point them to the "regular website" description, or we explain what we have arranged.  If the others can pay the guide directly, that always makes things easier.

 

Thus far, we've not been stood up!

If a guide seems flakey or such in the early email, we just move along to someone else.

We've been told a few times that the guide really enjoys including others who are genuinely interested.  (I suppose they could be fishing for a nicer tip...? If they deserve it, they'll get it, and then we are all happy! 🙂  )

 

GC

[LHT28]

37 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Could you please expand on that?

i always book with Viator because I felt I had the resources of a company supporting me, especially during these times when small, local operators could disappear. What is the support if the local operator simply does not show up like the OP’s experience reported above and offers an unsatisfactory solution?

when I have booked with a local guide   I have paid on the day of the tour  not in advance

I have exchanged many emails by the time we  leave for the cruise  so have a good sense  of if they will show up or not

 

Only once  did I pay ahead of the trip  & we did not make port 

Then the guide decided to change his refund policy  to 50% of the cost  which was over $600  that I lost  (I had a group)

I did manage to claim that on my insurance

 I am sure Viator is fine in some cases but have seen too many people that did not get their tour nor their refund

 YMMV

[Robjame]

Thanks for the responses. So the solution for many is the same whether you use a consolidator or deal directly with the tour operators - - - dispute the credit card charge. 
I do like Lynn’s method of only paying on the day of the excursion. Do a lot of tour operators in places like the Caribbean accept these arrangements?
I like the idea of dealing directly with the operator in that he gets more money from my payment.

I was taking a sense of security from the fact that I was dealing with an American Company (Viator) as opposed to dealing with someone on a Caribbean island.

 

I will go back to my booked tours and see if they will allow me to pay on day of the excursion. (Viator is 24 hrs before)

 

 

[LHT28]

20 minutes ago, Robjame said:

I do like Lynn’s method of only paying on the day of the excursion. Do a lot of tour operators in places like the Caribbean accept these arrangements?

 

I have  found that  in the Caribbean & Mexico  they will take cash after the tour

Europe  is different with some guides   you have to ask up front what their policy in

 

 The one Guide I did ask their refund policy  ahead of time  said if the ship does not dock then 100% refund  ..fine until it happened  then said no he booked the day for our tour   so he was out  of getting any other money so now 50%  refund  this was for Wales

I see his point  but if he had been honest upfront  I may have just done a ships tour 😉

 

[sunlover12]

17 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Thanks for the responses. So the solution for many is the same whether you use a consolidator or deal directly with the tour operators - - - dispute the credit card charge. 
I do like Lynn’s method of only paying on the day of the excursion. Do a lot of tour operators in places like the Caribbean accept these arrangements?
I like the idea of dealing directly with the operator in that he gets more money from my payment.

I was taking a sense of security from the fact that I was dealing with an American Company (Viator) as opposed to dealing with someone on a Caribbean island.

 

I will go back to my booked tours and see if they will allow me to pay on day of the excursion. (Viator is 24 hrs before)

 

 

I have a Lisbon tour booked directly with a reputable local operator. Their policy is a minimum 50% deposit by credit card upon booking with the remainder payable in cash on the day of the tour. Their policy states a full refund if your flight or cruise is cancelled or delayed.  Although it would be nice for the customer to pay the full amount on the day of the tour, that would be a risk the operator would be taking as he may not have your credit card information for a no-show.  I understand why they don't want to do that.  It also means we don't have to risk carrying a fairly large amount of cash.

JMO

[Ride-The-Waves]

21 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Gosh, that is sad to hear. I am a huge Viator user and supporter. We have used them many many times all over the world.

They are not perfect and we have had a few issues with tours booked through Viator and have never had any issues getting refunds.

You can request to speak with managers and they are usually in the US. Viator is a Tripadvisor company.

Careful.  You can get banned on CC talking about Viator since they are part of the CC/Trip Advisor/Viator consortium.  I have also lost money booking with Viator and only use them as a last resort.

[Ride-The-Waves]

16 hours ago, sunlover12 said:

I have a Lisbon tour booked directly with a reputable local operator. Their policy is a minimum 50% deposit by credit card upon booking with the remainder payable in cash on the day of the tour. Their policy states a full refund if your flight or cruise is cancelled or delayed.  Although it would be nice for the customer to pay the full amount on the day of the tour, that would be a risk the operator would be taking as he may not have your credit card information for a no-show.  I understand why they don't want to do that.  It also means we don't have to risk carrying a fairly large amount of cash.

JMO

Many European tour operators tale credit cards.  Recent experience with a golf cart tour of Rome - we stopped near the end of the tour to meet with the tour owner and he used a portable cc reader.  Cash is mostly not required anymore in many European cities.

[sunlover12]

21 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Many European tour operators tale credit cards.  Recent experience with a golf cart tour of Rome - we stopped near the end of the tour to meet with the tour owner and he used a portable cc reader.  Cash is mostly not required anymore in many European cities.

I understand, however the particular tour operator we've booked does not take credit cards on the day of the tour.  They are a well-known reputable company operating in Portugal and Spain.  I just went back and reread their email and they emphasized cash.  Cash was underlined in the message.

Certainly credit cards are the norm now however some companies are still requiring cash, even in Europe.

JMO

[Ride-The-Waves]

Not only Europe.  We dined in a restaurant last week in the Tampa area that takes only cash.

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Not only Europe.  We dined in a restaurant last week in the Tampa area that takes only cash.

Anyone who has ever been in business, and particularly in this uncertain economic climate knows the appeal of cash - and it is well beyond the saving of the credit card fee.

[oskidunker]

We are just-off the Sirena 18 day cruise with a week in uk before. We never needed cash except on a ferry boat if we wanted a coke.

 

that being said,  I use  cash a lot in the SF Bay area to avoid the ever present includedvtips you have to remove when using a credit card. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

23 hours ago, oskidunker said:

We are just-off the Sirena 18 day cruise with a week in uk before. We never needed cash except on a ferry boat if we wanted a coke.

 

that being said,  I use  cash a lot in the SF Bay area to avoid the ever present includedvtips you have to remove when using a credit card. 

Well Done, especially at fast food and similar establishments.  I detest the customer gouging many of these establishments foster on patrons these days.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Ride-The-Waves