Viator
reviews and complaints

Viator, went on there website to book transport from jfk airport to manhatten withsupershuttle who didnt fulfil there contract and pick me upafter waiting over 2 hoursfinding a e mail address for viato was bad enoughplenty of telephone numbers which are handy for us citizens but when you are overseas the cost is very high, cmplained but no response to refunding the price

Hi

Booking Ref BR-[protected]
SAT 10TH NOV 2018

We would like to make a formal complaint about our trip to Cano Cristales where we were supposed to have an english speaking guide but did not get one at all.

Saturday
Email said pick up at 6am but actually txt said 4.30am, the taxi man couldn't speak any english so couldn't tell us where to go once we got out of the taxi. We didn't have time for breakfast but we subsequently got on the latest flight so could have easily got the pick up at 6am and been in time

Got picked up at 430am and dropped at the airport, walked into departures and 3 ladies said Cano Cristales? We said yes and the rest of the info relayed for the rest of the journey was in Spanish so we had no idea what was going on.
About 100 people turned up all information was relayed in Spanish.
3 ladies started to call names and give passes out after a hour and a bit 545am I looked at there lists and we were not on it ?
After phone calls they let us board the plane and we managed to get to LaMacarena where again there was no one waiting for us we managed to find someone to help and call Impulse Travel then after 25 minutes we were told to wait across the road from the airport where our cases were. A guide had gone off on his motor bike to try find a English speaking guide
A man came back apperently no luck 20 minutes later
Someone walked us to a hotel where everyone else had a hotel room to go to apart from us
We waited 40 minutes in that time I was texting and calling Impulse Travel
Finally we got a room
Impulse Travel left me a voice message saying about an Elizabeth, we never did meet an Elizabeth
Finally then had 2 Translators turn up, it seemed as they had been asked to do this as a favour. They had their own jobs to do in Cano Cristales for the tourism board there, they were not experienced guides at all.

Sunday
2 Translators were late making us the last group to leave we were all waiting for them

Monday
Got told our flight was 2pm then 3pm then 315pm still waiting at the airport at 1540 and no plane 1605 still sitting waiting had no information as to what is going on
1615 no change
1625 names r called to walk to plane our seats sent even together
Plane landed at 1745 @ Bogotá
No driver waiting with a card for us like Impulse Travel said
I call Impulse Travel 3 times but no answer
I called the driver and we couldn't understand each other we had to find someone who could speak Spanish to find out where he was at 1809
Dropped at hotel at 1836

We did not get the three day experience we were hoping for after spending £1307.54. This sum was extra to the usual as we paid for an english speaking tour guide.

We booked this day trip with Viator. The Tour operator : Gary Line Eastern Europe Travel / Tour operator product code GL_5977_51

We booked this trip through VIATOR and the information we had at the time of booking was a comfortable air-conditioned coach travel as the journey takes 7 to 8 hours there and back. We were looking forward to enjoy the long journey by feasting our eyes on the views along the way from high position on a comfortable seat in coach.
We arrived at the appointed pick point and waited 30 minutes before somebody turned up to tell us that we would be travelling in a small seven seater Van instead of the luxury coach we were expecting. The front seats were occupied by the driver and "tour guide". In the event only four people, including us two, turned up while we were there: all four expressed deep dissatisfaction with the uncomfortable means of transport we were offered and refused to travel in such unsuitable means of transport instead of the coach we were promised at the time of booking.
Our concerns were dismissed flatly by the tour operator personnel we spoke to at the time as well by those contacted by phone and email subsequently, which shows utter lack of customer care.
So, there was no trip for us and our first day in Prague was completely spoiled. We were utterly disappointed and felt that our money has been wasted.
We have had several trips in the past booked through Viator and we have had no complaints. However, on this occasion we feel very strongly about the disappointment we have had to endure and the waste of our time and money and request a full refund .
Kind Regards
Falih & Stephanie Khassaf
[protected]@yahoo.co.uk
35 Harbour Drive
Liverpool
L198AB
United Kingdom

Hi,

I am emailing to complain about 2 tours that myself and 2 friends booked through yourselves and attended in September.

Booking reference [protected].

Firstly, the wine tasting. Our driver arrived 45 mins before our time given by the telephone advisor. As a result we were not ready and had to drive ourselves there. This meant we missed the first winery and one of our party was unable to drink. Most inconvenient on a wine tour!

Secondly the dinner cruise. We felt very misled. Not only was the dinner served before the cruise it was also inedible!

Please can you arrange for a full refund to be paid to myself?

Many Thanks,

Rachael

Tunde is a nice man, but this tour was really him just driving me to a couple of monuments with little/no history presentation. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing; drop offs and no direction on what to look for, this was a disappointment. I cut the "drive around" off at 12:30p because it was so bad. For $300 I think I should have received more history dialogue and hospitality. I've used Aviator in Barcelona last month and had a much better experience- that's why I booked this tour. Please credit me back at least 1/2 so I can feel better about using you again and/or recommend to friends.

Booking Reference BR-[protected] - this morning we went on this tour. There were only 4 people with the guide. We were quite disappointed and I am writing to give feedback. The guide never addressed the group and only spoke to the person nearest her. If we didn't hurry to hear what she was saying, we lost out. To make matters worse, her English was inadequate. We had to pay for the Jewish Museum which was not stated in your description. It stated that food and gratuities were not included. On all other tours booked with your company admissions were included. Not sure why we had to pay extra here. We did not learn about the Jewish neighborhoods as we had hoped. The guide did not seem well informed on aspects of Jewish life in Athens. She walked EXTREMELY slowly so the tour dragged on and on. We would have left since we were dying of boredom, but the synagogue was last in the list and we wanted to see it. It seems that this tour has been enjoyed by other, so I'm sure that it was the guide and not the itinerary that was to blame. We could have done the Jewish Museum and synagogues on our own. This was a waste of time and money. Your selection of tours has been much better than this in the past. We hope you appreciate that we are taking time from our trip to give you feedback since it is so important to us.

Itinerary number [protected]
Booking reference [protected]

We just wanted to bring to your attention an unhappy and unacceptable occurrence when visiting your beautiful city. We had booked and paid for 2 of us to go on the above tour on Tuesday 25 September starting from Plaza Espana at 6pm. We turned up for this tour on 25th to be told by the guide that it was only running in Spanish and would we be happy to come back on 26th, at the same time and same place, when we could have the tour in English. The tour guide took our telephone number to pass on to her colleague Pablo to ring us should there be any issues.

As we had not received any details saying there were any issues we duly came back on 26th at the same time and place. Pablo was not in the Plaza so we asked another female guide who was just about the start the same tour at the same time, again in Spanish. Her first words were 'your tour has been cancelled'. We were understandably angry because it was a tour that we had been very much looking forward to it being a period of history of particular interest and one that we had studied, we had effectively wasted 2 days and evenings of our short trip and we had paid for it together with 2 return bus journeys. We told her that we did not like having our time wasted, that we had paid for it and wanted compensation. She said that she was not connected with that company (Pancho Tours) and it was nothing to do with her. As we were leaving she accused us of being racist.

Although this comment did not upset us as much as missing the tour we thought that Tourist Information in Cadiz would not wish a guide in their city calling any tourists racist. Should you wish to follow this up then she was running the tour on 26 September, from Plaza Espana, at 6pm. She was wearing a red tee-shirt and was carrying a faded red umbrella with white writing on it.

The tour had been advertised in both Spanish and English which led us to believe that it would take place in both languages on the same tour. The mobile ticket we received clearly stated it was for an English tour. After the event we visited Pancho Tours' website which still advertised this tour in English although it would seem it was not available.

Apart from this occurrence we have had an amazing trip and have really enjoyed your city and have been made extremely welcome by everyone we have met in Cadiz (including tourist information) and are looking forward to coming back to look at everything we did not have time to see.

We expect, at the very least, a refund of the ticket price and 2 return bus journeys totalling 4.40euros refunded in english pounds.

Hi,
I travel to Iceland and this is the first time I book trip using TripAdvisor page. I book a trip to Northern Lights Mysterious Tours from Gray Line Iceland.
I paid and my booking number is BR-[protected] . I wrongly click on the cancel order and as soon as possible I call the local office tour and they request Viator to reopen back my voucher and I not able to call your customer line. I get help from my family in New York to call and they just inform cannot re open back and need to re book and pay again. It's so disappointed since I'm really want my booking and due to this I need to pay extra .
It was a bad experience I have. I hope you understand that the mistake not done on purposely and I do make the corrections as fast as possible too. I really hope I can get my refund . I re book again this tour and pay again extra.
Kindly reply my email : [protected]@hotmail.com

Thank you
Ally

We booked the tour that was to include:

Explore local food stops and sample some treats - Sample Milk tarts, koek sisters, samoosas and other tasty treats - get welcomed into a bo kaap house for a cooking class at one of the oldest standing houses - Sample treats and discuss some south african history with your cape malay chef -Explore the trendy artisan food store streets of Bree street and kloof street -You will get the chance to meet and hear the stories told by local inhabitants of this vibrantly colorful sector of the city. Besides learning a little about Bo-Kaap's history, Then making your way towards the atmospheric and busy Greenmarket square, the first market of South Africa, where cultures blend and meet. Leaving this place with maybe one or two souvenirs in your bag, you will then walk through the stunning and idyllic Company Gardens and learn a bit about its rich history. You will then be led to one of the world's best coffee shops,

We arrived at the designated location at before the appointed time, approx 15 minutes. Our itinerary number is [protected], Booking Reference BR -[protected] Tour Date Sept 17, 2018.

No one was there to meet us. 30 minutes after the confirmed start time we received an email to meet at a different location. We arrived there 45 minutes after the start time, and we're met by the woman that was to do the cooking class. She said we were early not late, the rest of the people were showing up in 1 hour time.

The cooking class did happen, starting 90 minutes after the start we had been told. The tour portion was completely omitted as described in the above.

The cooking class was great.

We know from other guests they paid 550R per person for the cooking class. We paid over 2000R. Clearly we expect a refund for the portion of the tour that we did not receive.

Please indicate when we can expect payment in the amount of 3000R.

Regards,
Gary and Rosanna Strong

Read more about Food tasting walking tour & Cape Malay cooking class in Bo Kaap 2018 - Cape Town at: https://www.viator.com/tours/Cape-Town/Food-tasting-walking-tour-and-Cape-Malay-cooking-class-in-Bo-Kaap/d318-44634P4?pub=vcps

I specifically told the Viator rep that my son is in a wheelchair and we need a bus with a lift. She said that was no problem. We got there that morning in Keystone to board the bus and there wasn't a lift. The bus driver told me that none of their buses have lifts and they do not "install" lifts for the customers. This ruined our vacation and I want a refund.

My name is Rebecca VanLiere and I don't have the confirmation number because the bus driver had taken my "ticket" from me when I first approached him.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank You, Rebecca

Booked a Prague boat cruise last night and the information stated a departure location. Went to the departure location and were told to go to cechuv most (a different dock where the main office was- 15 mins walk away) .

When we arrived at the main office we were told that this was the wrong location and that we would have to go back to that location we came from.

Viator need to be much clearer about the location and company that they are using as the information on the ticket is insufficient and useless.

We are coming home from Prague today and therefore had to cancel our ticket and repurchase from the company at the dock we were sent to, which means we have had to pay twice because of viators insufficent information.

When I came round to cancel, I had an email to say I would receive no refund as you have to cancel prior to 24 houses before the date of the activity, however as I booked it last night, this is impossible.

I think the whole process has been awful and I want my full refund back.

Ref: Cruise (BR-666982882)

I've purchased tickets to the show and in term and conditions was stated that there is a possibility to make alterations to the booking if you contact the seller 14 days prior the show. However when I have called to change the date, they have told me that it is not possible and I have to buy new tickets if I can't go on other date. And said that the tickets are selling very fast so hurry up. So I was very unhappy that they wouldn't change the date even though there was an obvious demand for that show!

Full details on all the deficiencies my husband & i encountered on a trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary are in a 3 page letter sent (on mon. aug 13, 2018 @ 2::12pm to viator.com, volando tours & trip advisor. to summarize: the itinerary did not match the voucher transfers & train times; the names of some of the hotels were wrong w/ their address; no directions to/from the train station to the hotels were provided w/ no transfer included in the pkg & incomplete wrong directions to the meeting points for the tours. requesting refund for the following viator/ volando advertised but not procured:
1. never got to go on pisa tour/florence w/ tuscan hills due to almost an hr delayed train from naples to florence, italy (~$73 p/p). 2. overcharge of 4 euros p/p for the pompeii entrance fee advertised on the itinerary as $11 euros 3. transfer from civavecchia port to rome, italy (advertised as included
Since would not be able to use the rome airport transfer to hotel- arrived in rome, italy 7/4/18 -8 days prior to start of land tour. ended up paying a driver for transfer from the civavecchia port to rome for myself.($88.89 us)
4. a separate viator booking of the
Colosseum, roman forum &
Palentine hill where the guide
Lost part of the group (including us) in the thousands of people outside the colosseum on 7/4/18. the main entrance colosseum ticket office failed to honor our viator internet receipt [3731 -colosseum [protected] en1400. $125.78 us ]for entrance/ requested we pay in full again.

Defrauding and deceptive practices! Two weeks ago, we booked a tour on Savannah Movie Tours out of Savannah Georgia. Through no fault of our own, we were contacted by Gary of Savannah Food Movie Tours that our tour is cancelled by lack of customer quota, and stated that Viator will be refunding our money! Asked us if we wanted to rebook and if we did we would have to pay again, while our original "refund" is being "processed". My husband and I have never heard such a thing, and decided to not rebook, but wait for our refund to show back up on our statement card. It has not happened! we have been told 10 stories by Viator, ...it would take 3-5 business days to return refund, ...then it was 7 days..then 10 days... and so on! We are looking into legal action. the amount may be small, but for a retired couple, ...it is the principle.

We as 4 couples booked for the tour from internet for the 23rd of August 2018 with Booking Ref of BR-[protected] and BR-[protected].

When we arrived to the port we were surprised as the boat that was to take us was nothing like the picture in the advert. Both pictures are added below.

This is deceiving the customers.

As, from the picture of the boat one expects a certain quality. Whereas the boat we were taken with, was not only too crowded (hard to find a seat) but the quality of the service was very poor.

We certainly are not going to book thru Viator again, unless we get an attention to our problem and receive at least 50% compensation.

Hoping to get a reply soon,

Regards

Jozef Nassi

Dear Sir/Madam

I booked the Berchtesgaden and Eagles Nest tour through Viator for Friday, 10 August (Booking Reference BR-[protected]). I don't know whether anyone else attending this tour will go to the trouble of writing to you but there were a lot of dissatisfied people on this tour.

Firstly, when I arrived at the meeting place outside the Karstadt Department Store, the guide, Arnoud, was annoyed with two customers in front of me who had electronic vouchers even though Viator indicated that either a paper or electronic voucher would be acceptable.

He was extremely unprofessional and on the bus he spent most of the time talking to the driver WHILST SMOKING AN E-CIGARETTE AND PUFFING SMOKE ALL OVER THE PASSENGERS. Surely smoking is not permitted on a tour bus. I would not have booked this tour had I known I would be exposed to smoking as I am extremely allergic to smoke and have ended up with a very sore throat as a result.

When we arrived at the venue, he was vague about what there was to see there and told everyone we could not see the bunkers as they were closed for renovation. However, this was not true and, as a guide, he should have known there was a bunker under the Hotel Zum Turken which was open for viewing. I only found this out after being told by another customer who had gone for a walk and discovered it was open.

We all paid €20.00 which we knew was required for the tour. He did not tell us there was a fee to visit the Dokumentation Museum. He made us aware that the red buses take you up to the Eagles Nest and told us to be back at the meeting area at precisely 1.44 pm. I was led to believe we needed to see everything before meeting him at 1.44. I, therefore, purchased a return ticket for the red bus which was €16.60, visited the Eagles Nest quickly and returned to the allotted meeting place at 1.44 whereupon Arnoud proceeded to blow e-cigarette smoke in our faces again after gathering everybody together in a group. This is not only a health hazard but it is extremely rude.

I paid €16.60 for the bus ticket only to discover at 1.44 pm when we met that he had purchased the tickets and was taking us up on the red bus. He refused to attempt to get my money back so now the company has been paid twice for the ticket and I am unnecessarily out of pocket. I chose to walk to the Bunker at the Hotel Zum Turken rather than take the bus for a second time.

I think at the very least I should be compensated for the bus ticket (ticket attached). I have done Viator tours in the past which I enjoyed but I certainly will not be posting any favourable reviews of this tour or its guide.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lynne Anderson

Hello,
I booked pizza cruise with heineken experience for my trip to Amsterdam, the Netherlands but, due to an emergency I had to leave my trip in the middle and return back to my home country. I booked this tour for 3 people including me and cancelled it before 40 hours of the scheduled time. If you check the tour cancellation policy, it states that 100% refund if you cancel it before 24 hours so I did accordingly and tried to intimate viator by calling on their customer care numbers(s) which were not reachable then and still they are not and I did so because I did not any any intimation via e-mail regarding the cancellation as I was afraid of not having any proof that cancellation was made before 24 hours, so ultimately they should refund my money which they are denying.

Remboursement non effectué suite à une annulation de la part de VIATOR
booking référence BR-[protected]
tour operator : paris city vision
product code GL_5894_175
confirmation [protected]
au nom de Giuseppe Grillo le dimanche 15 julliet 2018
2 adultes
voici le message de viator:
Hi Giuseppe,

Thanks for including Viator in your upcoming travel plans. Unfortunately, our local tour operator ParisCityVision has just let us know that they had to cancel the Eiffel Tower Dinner, Seine River Cruise ... on the date you had booked. A full refund of EUR 674.00 has been issued to the credit card originally used in the booking.

Please note, it may take 3-7 business days for the refund to appear on your statement depending on your bank.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Please see below for a link to some similar activities that you might like to do instead:
https://www.viator.com/Paris-tours/Dinner-Packages/d479-g11-c90

Again, we're sorry about this change of plans and we hope you still have a wonderful trip!

Regards,
Evangeline
Viator Customer Service

Le remboursement doit se faire sur le compte
BE57 [protected]
au nom de Carl Rurlle

Nous espérons avoir rapidement le remboursement ou nous contacterons un avocat aux Etats Unis.
Merci de votre réponse rapide.

Carl Ruelle

Hello! I took many tours with Viator around the world during the last 10 years. For my surprise, for the first time this tour on Moscow on Jun 10th, the tour guide never showed up and the telephone for emergecies did not work. I was looking for the complain option in Viator's web page and I did not find it. I hope to have an answear about this, because Viator charged me this.

My wife and I booked a great wall tour on July 18 in Beijing. When I clicked the "Book Tour" I found out it did a duplicate booking. We were shown as having 2 identical tours for the same 2 people. I immediately cancelled 1 of the duplicate tours, but, was still charged. This is an absolute rip off. This apparently happens more than once with Viator Tours.