'Stroll Buddy' Feedback Please

[suefrankw]

Hello

considering using this service in Vancouver BC pre-cruise...feedback from anyone who has used them?  I know it is a free service but want to be appropriate and have proper expectations.

How long should I expect a stroll to be? DO I tip the person hosting the stroll?

thanks so much for your feedback.

[Glaciers]

We’ve done a couple of these, one in Amsterdam and another in New York City but they were operated by different companies.  Both were very good.  We tipped at the end of the tour in Amsterdam although tips weren’t accepted in New York so we bought the tour guide lunch.  Stroll Buddy has a good FAQ page. 

https://strollbuddy.com/faqs/

 

[martincath]

As a Vancouver Buddy, I can assure you that Stroll Buddy is officially No Tips and independent of any local links to Business Associations, Restos or other 'kickbacks for pointing tourists at X' service - the latter is the crux of why they split from the Greeter program (which, to simplify to the max, started trying various methods of monetization). Of course, an individual Buddy might bend the rules and accept cash - personally if someone literally shoves money at me and won't take it back, which has happened, I donate it to a local charity afterward.

 

The 'normal' way to show your appreciation though is asking the Buddy to join you for a coffee or beer after a tour, so if you're worried about being seen as a skinflint budget for $5-10 worth of beverages - if you don't actually 'click' with the Buddy in-person, then hanging out longer is just going to be super awkward for everyone so don't feel about about just making your goodbyes without tipping at all, or slip us a $5 prepaid card for Timmies, Starbucks etc. if you simply feel too guilty to not give something!

 

If you do click, and don't have further commitments, sharing a drink or meal is delightful - if pushed to recommend a spot I pick somewhere that's cheap-but-good just in case folks insist on paying (personally I always assume I'm picking up my own food tab). In terms of Stuff rather than experiences, the most appreciated items are small personal things, e.g. if your home town is famous for a thing, bring a fridge magnet/apron/badge with that famous location, or if it's portable and legal to bring over the border then a niche food item is always nice to receive (one Austrian couple actually mailed me a Linzertorte from home when they returned!)

 

A genuine offer to reciprocate the tour should a Buddy/Greeter end up in your home town is also very much appreciated, especially in places without a formal program yet - I took up an ex-guidee on their offer to show me around Portland as a local on our first trip there, and we loved it so much we bought a condo there...

 

As to the logistics of the tour day - anyone who has used the Greeter network before Covid, Stroll Buddy is going to be the same. Length of tour, distance covered, sights seen vary by Buddy - speaking for myself, I'm pretty generalist so I customise every single tour to the interests and physical abilities of the Strollers. I know other folks who are incredibly niche - one lady I trained with back in Toronto only guides folks around local fire stations, but she knows EVERYTHING!!!!

 

When I contact the potential Stroller, how much input they want to give and any physical or time restrictions are the main considerations: if it's a first-timer who has to be somewhere at X o'clock and doesn't have any very specific interests, I can put together a handful of neighbourhoods convenient for their hotel, or where they need to be after our time together; with some folks who like specific things and are willing to bounce emails back & forth, I'll plan a really detailed route with transit (e.g. one lady was a huge fan of the show Lucifer, wanted to pick up a custom ring she'd ordered from the show's jewellry-maker, so we hit up a bunch of walkable downtown filming locations then rode the bus out to the shop and hit up some more interesting street art in that part of town).

 

The shortest tour I've ever given was maybe 2 hours, the longest actual tour ran rather than hanging out in the pub afterwards was maybe 5 hours, and I'd ballpark the average as 3-4 hours - but I'm a waffler, so we only covered ~3 miles on foot. I know other buddies prefer to stick to a limited number of places they know well, so their walks are more consistently timed and more likely < 3 hours - we're all individuals with no Strollbuddy-required sites, so we vary wildly I'm afraid.

 

Best advice - sign up, see who's available on your dates, and speak to them - the more input you give, the more ideal-to-you the tour will be!

[suefrankw]

thanks so much. the info is very helpful!