Viator
Reviews and Complaints

We booked a PREPAID tour to Robben Island (Cape Town, South Africa) through Viator (BR58932574 for 10/3/16), believing it was a credible company due to its affiliation with Trip Advisor. A guide was purportedly scheduled to pick us up at the hotel and begin the tour. No one showed up; when we called Viator or its local "office" no one knew anything about it; we took at cab to the main ticketing office for the Robben Island tour--no one was there and the official ticketing office could not help us. We had traveled from Seattle, WA to go to Robben Island--we tried to get tickets from the main office--SOLD OUT for the week. I finally reached someone at Viator--after a 15 minute run around--and was simply told that the Viator tour had been "cancelled." Viator had my telephone number and my email address. This was incredibly disappointing and egregious. WORST TOUR COMPANY EVER--STAY AWAY.

Viator VIP: Early Access to Alcatraz and Exclusive Cable Car Sightseeing Tour
Janet Samson & Gisela Apeldoorn
Supplier product code: 1000010
Supplier Option Code 495
Supplier Conformation No: 1008630
Booking Reference: BR-[protected]
Supplier: Hornblower Classic Cable Cars
Tour on 3rd August 2017
Complaint reguarding substandard tour.
Main Concerns:
Not told about breakfast so the guests didn't get to eat the promised food Taken on an unscheduled tour of China Town and Union Square
Arrived at the Ferry Terminal with less than five minutes before ferry departed.
Lined up for our tickets to get on board the ferry.
Given tickets but were told when we got to the dock that we had missed the first ferry to Alcatraz.
We were then informed that if there was enough space on the 9:10 we would board but there was a possibility we would be on the 3rd ferry.
We did get on the second ferry but only because we pleaded with the ferry company personal to allow us priority boarding on the second ferry.
Reduced time on Alcatraz, only had time for one audio tour
Told we had to be on the 10:55 ferry or we would miss the cable car tour.
Back to Alcatraz dock at 10:40 as instructed
Unscheduled stop for lunch (30 minutes)
Extended stop at Palace of Fine Art Theatre
Unscheduled stop at Spy Shop
Arrived back to Taylor St early at 13:45.
We were very upset and disappointed we weren't VIP's and feft we weren't given the tour we paid for.
I spoke to Tara along with some of the other quests.
She apologised and phoned David Fischer Manager who has pre approved a refund.
We were also told it was the tour guide's first VIP tour.
At no point did we blame him for the poor service.
The Hornblower company should have better quality control of the tour guide's duties and scripts.
We also don't lay blame with Viator but we're informed by Tara we had to go through Viator to commence the complaint process.

Other issues:
Poor sound system, very difficult to hear tour guide Charles
Trash spilt out of the bin on board the bus and blew over guest as we crossed on the return trip from the Golden Gate Bridge

We are expecting a full refund as we didn't have the advertised tour and felt like Very Unimportant People

Thanking for considering our request.

Look forward to hearing from you

Many thanks

Janet Samson & Gisela Apeldoorn

Email: janet.[protected]@hotmail.com
Email: [protected]@gmail.com

We paid for a 3.5 hour tour that was to include both Old Town and the United Nations and the World Health Organization areas to be taken on July 27 in Geneva for four adults. When we arrived at 10:00 at the point of departure as instructed in the voucher, we were met by our guide. The first thing he told us was that we were not scheduled. Secondly, after showing him the vouchers, he agreed to take us on a tour. However, he told us that the tour could only include the Old Town or the UN/WHO. Since it was clear that we were not going to get both as Viator sold to us as their tour advertised, we agreed to go on the Old Town Tour. This tour lasted approximately 2 hours. Clearly, this is not what was agreed upon when we bought these tickets. For that reason I would like a full refund of our cost.

1
I had a booking for a trip in Punta Cana. I tried unsuccessfully to contact the local rep. My hotel finally contacted an office for me and they said that they did not collect from my location and would therefore cancel my booking' their decision not mine.
2
A disappointment lack of time to organise another trip.
3
Filed email to Viator some 4 weeks ago had automatic response re contacting me up to 5 days
4
No contact 5 weeks later Visa Statement shows no credit.

Thi is unacceptable and when you yourself use words like scam etc I am starting to see what you are.

Staff

I booked a shuttle service in Paris for transport to the airport. i got a booking reference from viator showing Monday July 10, 2017 and number of travelers. no where on the voucher was the time or my address. I even called Parishuttle on the 08/07/2017 to confirm the booking and he also confirmed transport will be there at 5:15. on the day of the 10 July 2017 no transport came to fetch us and i tried to get hold of that office for an hour and only got through at 6. he then told me the transport was for 5 pm and not 5 am and then refused to help and left me stranded trying to look for transport for 14 people. If i had seen the times was not correct at booking i would have changed it but i did not get that info. i would like a refund as i paid full for this transport and then had to arrange and pay again. Very traumatic experience and i will be reluctant to use Viator again for booking. Disgruntled client

Good Morning,

Re:- BR-[protected] and BR-[protected]

I am writing to express my displeasure at the above two excursions I booked with you on a recent trip to Hurghada with my son and elderly parents and to request a refund.

1. BR-[protected] - Sightseeing trip to Hurghada City.

This trip was intended to be a trip to learn abut Egyptian culture for my parents who are history buffs, and for son who is studying Arabic, to enjoy the experience of the souks, haggling with the local Egyptian people, however I feel the excursion was mis sold and that what was offered on your website was a misrepresentation of what actually took place in the resort.

Your website promised amongst other things, the following:-

A visit to the scenic port area
Delicious lunch
Haggling for souvenirs in colourful souks
Entertaining commentry
Stretch your legs round port area and take in views and admire sweeping panoramic views over resort
Dive into best souks. Freetime to visit stalls selling rugs and trinkets, and receive tips from your guide on haggling over prices.

The reality of this trip bore no resemblance to what actually took place.

Firstly the Egyptian guide was far from entertaining and other than a brief conversation at the beginning of the trip which was difficult to understand where he justrepeatedly talked about the difference between Hurghada old and new town, there was no explanation of any of the Egyptian culture or history at all. After a 5 minute visit to the local mosque where the guide showed us how he prayed and showed us a copy of the Kuran, we then walked to the ‘port’ area to a local fish market. To have described this area in your guide as a scenic port is as blatant misrepresentation of the facts. We were taken into the fish market where the floor was pooled with fish water and fish guts and swarming with flies. The stench was unbearable and the place was filthy; so much so we couldn’t bear to walk into the middle of the stalls. When we left the market, the guide walked us to a ‘marina’ area which security would not allow us to have access to but in any event was far from scenic. Contrary to your description, there were no ‘sweeping panoramic views’, just a run down residential area and a few boats that we were unable to see because of the refusal to grant us access. The guide should have researched this aspect fully in advance and should have known that we would not be allowed access to the ‘marina’.

After we left the port we were taken to a local church. Your description suggested that this church would be something worthy of a sight seeing tour. I would respectfully suggest that whoever wrote your description might wish to see it and reconsider whether it was anything special and worthy of a visit. Firstly the security checks at the entrance which the guide cheerfully explained were there as a consequence of the a suicide bomber having blown himself up there last year, did little to steady the nerves of my elderly mother who was already anxious about such things in any event. When I asked to use the toilet at the side of the church I was treated to the experience of using a cubicle where people had defecated on the floor and there was no toilet paper or running water to wash my hands. I am not naive - I know this was Egypt, however, your descriptions of your tours need to reflect the fact that this would be a visit to down town Hurghada which is derelict in places, run down, dirty and really very intimidating.

Once we had left the church we were taken to a souk; the aspect myself and my son had been looking forward to the most. I was horrified to discover that in actual fact, this was no more than a fly ridden fruit and meat market where rather than the promise of being ‘shown who to haggle over carpets and trinkets’, our guide expressly told us that we could not buy anything ourselves and that if we wished to purchase any fruit or veg he would have to buy for us because he was Egyptian! When I questioned about the opportunity to purchase gifts our guide informed me that we would be going next to a shopping gallery where we would be able to do just that so at the stage I did not challenge further.

By this stage we had been walking for some time through horrifically congested streets in 38 degree heat and my elderly mother was beginning to feel quite ill. Of course again, I accept this is Egypt so the heat should be expected, however again your guide should explain that there is quite an amount of walking on uneven streets which would actually be unsuitable for someday like my mother who walks with a stick.

After the horrific visit to the ‘souk’, our guide rather strangely took us to a perfume/oil shop where we were subjected to a 30 minute lecture off the shop owner about the value of each of his perfumes whilst he made us take notes on each, whilst trying to convince us that they smelled the same as the branded products we use at home. Out of politeness, my parents purchased two bottles of oil, only to then be subjected to pressured sales from the owner (where the guide then joined in), to try and persuade my mother to purchase an extra two bottles. She refused. I can only imagine the guide was on commission.

Following the unwanted visit to the perfume shop we were then taken to a shopping ‘gallery’. I was utterly disgusted. Rather than the colourful souks and opportunities to haggle, we were subjected to a tacky souvenir shop containing fake hand bags and jars of Egyptian sand, and also no opportunity to haggle as the shop stated clearly the prices were fixed. We left full of disappointment feeling that the entire trip had been one of the most awful experiences of our lives. I think Viator should consider removing this ‘sightseeing’ trip from the excursions that you offer and in the meantime i request full refund.

2, BR-[protected] - 5 hour quad bike safari

This trip was something my son and I were looking forward to doing together. Your trip offered amongst other things the following:-

Chat to friendly locals over tea
Enjoy a camel ride across the sands
Watch a beautiful desert sunset from a dune

Firstly the trip did not start well. The guide arrived 40 minutes late to collect us. I was horrified to discover that we were to be collected in a rickety old and unsafe vehicle. The back of vehicle was full of a large group of young Egyptian males which as a female on my own, I found really intimidating. There was no room in the rear of the vehicle so myself and my son were forced to share one seat in the front of the vehicle with the driver with no seat belts, and a cracked windscreen. I just felt so unsafe.

On arrival at the quad bike station we were told we needed to wear a scarf because of the dust. We had to been informed in advance of this so had to purchase some from the guide. After the briefing we were taken to our quad bikes. Helmets were not offered until I asked for them. The group of Egyptian males did not wear the helmets and were not made to by the guide either.

When we were taken to our bikes, the guide informed me that myself and my son should ride at the front behind him as the ‘Egyptians would drive like crazy people’. He was not wrong. Despite the fact the guide had initially said that we should drive in a line behind each other, the Egyptian males in our group spent the entire journey driving recklessly, overtaking one another and taking selfies on their phones whilst standing up on their quad bikes and driving erratically. This went completely unchecked by the guide other than him occasionally waving his had at them. I found it terrifying.

When we arrived at the bedoin ‘village’ (a couple of concrete sheds in the desert), we most certainly not offered the opportunity to chat to friendly locals over tea. I saw one woman making bread who did not speak but happily accepted money from tourists. I know the people are poor and I dont mind giving money but this most certainly not the friendly and almost charming experience that your description suggested. The camel ride was an absolute joke! We were allowed to mount a camel each and were then led no more than 20 feet by a bedouin local who then led us back in the same direction before making us dismount! When my son tried to take a photograph of me on my camel, the owner stood in front of him blocking out his view and demanded money. To say that this experience was disappointing is an under statement.I had been very much looking forward to a camel ride and this experience which lasted the best part of 60 seconds was just laughable!

After the camel ride we were taken for food. whilst the food was acceptable, it was served with flat, warm coca cola in dirty tin cups. Had I not been so thirsty I wouldn’t have drunk it. At least I would have the opportunity to watch a beautiful sunset from the the top of dune - or so I thought. Not so. Immediately we were returned to our bikes where we had to endure the return hair-raising quad bike journey where again the Egyptian males in our group continue to behave completely recklessly, unchecked by the guide, and leaving both myself and my son anxious and scared. By the time we arrived back at the quad bike centre my legs were shaking with fear. Of note, the sun was only just starting to set by this point so at no time did we have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful desert sunset from the dune which again had been promised and was something i had been so looking forward to experiencing and photographing. I returned to my hotel feeling let down, disappointed, and very anxious. Again there were aspects of this trip that were described inaccurately and I feel I have been mis led. I request a full refund.

I should say I have used Viator previously - notably last year in rome and found it a fabulous experience. Perhaps this is just the guides and excursions you choose to put your name to in Hurghada?

Please can you acknowledge receipt of this e mail

Regards

Traci McNally

Dear Sir/Madam,

I'd like to informed that I had booked items Skip the line for Eiffel, Louvre Museum and Cruise excursions on the above attached and the online system had charged my credit card, the booking status was rejected but it was charged from my credit card it's about US$120.85 for Skip the line for Eiffel, Louvre Museum and Cruise - see attached below receipts.

Please refund that amount to me, I'm so disappointed about the online services.

Awaiting your response on the above asap.

Thanks,
Nina

Dear Sir/Madam,

I'd like to informed that I had booked 2 items excursions on the above attached and the online system had charged my credit card, but I didn't receive any confirmation for both product and booking status "rejected" and "paid & confirmed" but I didn't receive any confirmation via email.

Please refund that amount asap, I'm so disappointed about the online services.

Awaiting your response on the above asap.

Thanks,
Nina

Hello, I book the "Best of Vojvodina: Novi Sad, Petrovaradin, Sremski Karlovci and Krusedol Trip from Belgrade" tour for July 8. My partner was celebrating her 40th birthday. The tour guide was good but we were unable to visit Petrovaradin as, unbeknown to us, an annual festival was taking place. It was the part of the tour we were most looking forward to. I suggest you should have known about this festival (Exit) and how it impedes your tours and told us at the time of booking. I paid more than €180 euros for the tour and suggest at least some of this should be refunded as the tour was not how you advertised it.

We booked a day trip to the Red Sea from Cairo; what on offer was "Enjoying day use of the 4-star, beachfront Tida Swiss Inn Hotel. Snacks throughout the day, lunch.

We got collected by Emo Tours 1 hour 40min later we arrived at a resort called Dolphin resorts. They informed us that they are busy preparing a room whilst we wait. I then asked what happened with the hotel we were suppose to stay at and they told me that it was fully booked.
The beach had no amenities. 30 min of waiting we got taken to a room; that was so dirty; you couldn't sit anywhere. Toilets Filthy, bed sheets filth and resort that was used was not even finished with construction. We then requested to be taken back as this is not what we paid for.
They insisted that we do not leave a negative comments but was very fed up.
please see pictures but this was the worse trip ever

- Date of incident: 3 July 2017
- Client number: BR-[protected]
- Enquiry about my 2-day tour booked via Viator, replied at least with 3 different people and "confirmed" my booking is NOT a 2-day tour. This took me 2 days emailing back and forth and freak me out. So I checked and emailed to Bunyip Tour directly, they immediately could give me the accurate information and warm service provided. Then I emailed back and complained Viator, this made me more angry as they kept replied me with "official" information without giving me any help but what I feel is "they don't care!". What kind of service this agency is provided and how could this be in "Hospitality industry"? I would like them give address this and this is very serious problem no matter the inaccuracy or the poor service! I will never use this agency ever!

We are from Malaysia and travelling for the 1st time to New Hampshire.

Our original tour was booked for 1st June 2017 but was advised that it was cancelled due to lack of participants. Instead we were offered a replacement same tour on 28th May 2017 which we gladly accepted without knowing that it was only 3 of us for this tour & Tye's Top Tour & Travel had actually combined another tour (Mt Washington) with ours to make up the required participants.
May I voice out here that this tour should not have been taken place at all if there was lack of participants and dissapointments could have been avoided for both parties.
Not only the Cannon Mountain tram was closed on that day (28th May), we were made to travel to & fro Mt Washington and to wait for about 2 hours for other clients to finish their tour at Mt Washington and in between the waiting time, we were not offerred other replacement tours eg. The flume.

At the end of the day Tye's Top Tour & Travel tried to cheat us by only offerring a refund of doubled the tram ticket which was usd15x2=usd30 per person when we paid a wholly sum of usd128 per person for this tour.
We rejected his offer and without any agreement, Tye's Top Tour just closed the case by giving us a refund cheque for 50%.

We have wrote in complaints to you right after that but your several replies were just merely apology emails. After that when we talked about refunds, the reply emails just stopped there. My son even tried to get in touch with Viator facebook but also failed. Is this the kind of services you provide to your clients?

Not only that we have wasted our entire day, we also felt cheated. We felt that we should not have been offerred this tour at all and felt that we deserve a 100% refund. For now whenever I see advertisements from Viator, it gave me the irks and I will quickly scroll away to avoid thoughts of this bad experiences.

We have requested Viator to help with the refund but looks like you know best only to sell your tours and not at all helpful with dissappointed customers like us.

Sally
Malaysia

I bought ticket on line and it was written that 'No Que' price ticket available and was little more expansive. I bought the ticket and went to Petronas at the decided time ( which was changed after booking to an hour later as we were told that the desired timing between 7-8 pm is not available )

But what came as shock was that at entrance i was told to stand in general Q and the operators told me that 'No one goes without Q' I quickly complained that i bought ticket in which it was mentioned that no Q. I was told that its your fault that u believed in internet and its not there site.

very bad advertisement at Viator

I paid for 6 people to take this tour in Juneau (Juneau Tours and whale watch) Telephone no is [protected] on May 31st, 2017.
We were promised the following tour as per the photo attachments I have provided from the Viator site. Booking Reference BR-[protected]
Our tour amounted to a bus ride from cruise dock around the block and then we were driven to the Glacier and given 1 hour for this visit. This was not enough time to see both the museum exhibits plus walk to waterfall and glacier site. Our fast walk/jog took us 25 mins there and 25 back. We had not time to see exhibits or anything else. We were not provided with a lunch as promised on Viator's website either. We could have easily caught a bus ourselves and stayed as long as we wanted on our own.
Other people bought the Glacier tour right on the bus for $15-$20 each cheaper and some were given whale watching along with their ticket price. We were the only 6 people from viator and the tour company asked us not to complain as their company would lose money!
I am sorry for their loss but I paid $441.54 Canadian for a half hour bus ride for 6 people which is absolutely ridiculous. I could have rented a car for way cheaper and gone ourselves. The Viator website was misleading and untrue as there was no lunch provided and no compensation was offered by the tour company for this oversite! I feel we at least deserve a refund equivalent to what other non viator tour companions were paying of $20Us each.
Margaret Joyce

In Napoli just for this tour June 21, 2017. Showed up at pick up place at 0830 Bar Picnic Molo Beverello. I am 30 minutes before tour scheduled time. No bus, no tour guide present, I asked no one knew these people. I waited till 9am nothing at 9:15 I managed to get a cabbie to use his cell of a fee. I called and I got "I will call back in 5 minutes" This happened three times> On the final call which I made a supervisor answered and already had "that" attitude, and she claimed she personally was there and called my name. Highly doubtful, traffic coming in was a mess, no bus that I saw, never heard my named called, never saw a sign, nothing to indicate Napoli City Vision Tour. I suspect her story will be different.

Missed tour, bad day came to Napoli just for this, lost money to get here and for nothing. I suggest Viator find a different Tour Co. or review the pickup practices at Molo Beverello by Napoli City Vision.

I am asking for a refund and Viator should check into this company's client pickup here at the pier. I in my heart of hearts believe they never came here because of the heavy traffic and it was inly one customer, basically blew me off.

We booked this tour through Viator. No one in Beijing answered the local phone number which our hotel tried repeatedly to confirm the booking. The driver arrived an hour late and rushed to take us for the gourmet duck dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant he was shouting with the attendant and without explaining anything ushered us back to the car and raced to find another restaurant. We assume there was a problem with the reservation either that the booking had failed or we were too late for it. His English was not good enough to explain. We were left in another restaurant with only half an hour to rush dinner and did not have much time to eat what was there so we had to leave most. The driver hardly spoke any English so it was not clear what food or drinks we were getting and it was very stressful before he came back to say what time we needed to finish. He raced to the theatre, pointed at the ticket office for our tickets, dropped us off and rushed off 5 minutes before the show starting time. We could not find our tickets anywhere. The ticket office had nothing for us. They tried the local contact number a few times who again did not answer. The show was about to start so we had to buy our own tickets and the only ones available were more expensive. When we went through the door into the theatre we saw a man holding a sign with our name and the tickets. This was not where the driver had said the tickets would be whose English was only good enough to point at the ticket office and say "logo". There wasn't time to search the site as we were so late and we would have had to have gone through the entrance to get the tickets which we didn't think we could do without tickets. We tried to get a refund for the extra tickets but they said it was sold out so we couldn't. We were unable to enjoy much of the duck dinner. It cost us more than the tour we booked for the extra tickets. And the whole evening was stressful and difficult to enjoy. I can't find anywhere on Viator website or app to contact for a refund.

Due to extenuating circumstances, I needed to cancel my tour to Grand Canyon as I was not able to fly to Las Vegas for the dates.

When I tried to do the cancellation through the site under my bookings, I could find it, so I call the customer center. My booking reference was BR-[protected] and it was a tour scheduled by June 16th. After two calls, I heard back from them that they cannot contact the supplier of the tour, but they will come back to me. No email or follow-up call received, I call back again and after 30 minutes trying to find my reservation, they mentioned that it was within the last 7 days before the actual tour date and that they can only refund half of the price (original retail price USD $512.99). Still have not received any confirmation email on the follow-up and I have raised the complain to "the specific department" (that is what they mentioned). I asked for a tracking code number for my case, and they were not able to provide it.

Really really poor customer experience, never again I will use this company which is proud of stating they are a Trip Advisor company.

Hello my name is Matthias Kriebel and I am director of the company i cachr Málaga - Sightseeing Treasure Hunt Tours. We uploaded our product to Viator one! year ago! After the first month we contacted our account manager for Spain, Paola Flamarique. She told us that because of the high demand it can take up to 4 months to get reviewed. Now, one year and several mails and phone calls later we are still not reviewed.

We wrote to the Supplier Service Centre of Viator which told us to reach out for our account manager. Since a couple of months Paola Flamarique is not responding even to one mail.

Please can you provide me with more information what to do in such a case, as it can not be possible to wait more than one year to get listed on Viator. If anyone has a contact to reach out for that issue we would really appreciate it. We hope to get listed in Viator as soon as possible as we already got around 70 recommendations on TripAdvisor but we are still the only supplier in our destiny which is not yet listed on Viator.

Contact details of our account manager:
Paola Flamarique

Account Manager, Spain| viator.com

7 Soho Square, London W1D 3QB

+[protected]

I was always pleased with viator tour (Greece, Harry Potter tour etc) but this has lead to much disappointment. For a start, I wonder if we've only hired a private van (or Uber) as there was hardly any commentaries during the whole tour. We were left completely clueless the entire journey and it's a shame that we only get to find out more about the point on interest through Wikipedia. Also, naming a village/city in French and pointing out a golf course can hardly be called a 'tour guide'. And to our extreme dissatisfaction, the tour has not live up to its itinerary as published on the website. We were supposed to take a guided walking tour in St Remy as published in the website (which to be honest is the reason why we selected this package in the 1st place) but ended up spending 3 mins in the van stationary, staring at the entrance gate of Van Gough site and not stepping our foot on the beautiful street of St Remy. Overall, I felt cheated by Viator for the misleading advertisement considering the premium price that we've paid. This is a total disappointment! Given the experience we had, it had completely changed our perception and we are now having second thoughts about using Viator in the future.

To whom it may concern, I booked the oak alley plantation tour in New Orleans for may 31st 2017. Due to terrible weather we cancelled our trip. I was unsuccessful in reaching anyone from the company. I sent 3 emails. Of which I just received one explaining anything cancelled 3-6 days of tour would not be refunded. I called right at 6 days. That has got to be the worst customer service ever. I have still yet to receive whole or partial. Nor was I given the chance to rebook for a later time. Viator #BR-[protected]