Aradale Ghost Tours, Ararat Lunatic Asylum — Attraction in Ararat

--Long, but important review.--

Aradale Ghost tours needs to look long and hard about the way it treats its paying customers. We booked a Ghost Tour and received confirmation for a 2 hour tour commencing at 9:30pm (Not forgetting the all important 15 minutes early clause). We were looking forward to the tour and on Saturday began our 3 hour journey to Ararat. 30 minutes out of Ararat we stopped for fuel and discovered a voicemail that had been left for us, on this very same afternoon (~5:30pm - We were already on route by then), requesting if we were willing to change our booking to an earlier time (which we would not make), or to a later time (extremely inconvenient as it means a 3+ hour drive back, starting at 1:30am).

Given the late notice from the operator and our position we continued onwards to our destination. We arrived at the Asylum at a (GPS recorded) 9:06pm. Well before the 9:15 agreed upon time. We waited around, 9:15pm came and went, and no one was to be seen. I called up the number to ask if we were in the right location, and was greeted by a tremendously entertaining Booking Manager named David.

Booking Manager David informed us that our confirmed booking was canceled, and instantly went on the attack on us. He indicated that he had left numerous voicemails on the afternoon of our booking (which I have no evidence of), and accused us of arriving late (which I have evidence to the contrary of). Bizarrely, David also seemed surprised that paying customers may get a little annoyed when presented with the situation of driving 3+ hours to a previously confirmed booking and then being told it's the customers fault for not listening to voicemails mere hours before said booking. That David, what a character!

[Interestingly, on the booking site it indicates "No refunds. Change of date permitted with a minimum of 24 hours notice." But I guess that notice only applies to the paid up customer, whereas the tour operator can change the dates and times whenever it pleases! No refunds of course...]

So we were left with the option of driving 3+ hours back to Melbourne with no guarantee of a refund, or taking the 11:30pm-1:30am tour, and then driving 3+ hours back to Melbourne. We begrudging took the latter option, and while the tour was interesting, and the tour guide very good, we were unable to fully enjoy the experience and immerse ourselves in the location due to the sour taste which was left in our mouths by the situation. We ended up not getting back home until after 5am when all was said and done.

We have also sent an email to the Tour Manager, outlining the above concerns, and am still awaiting a reply over a week later.

It is clear to me that Aradale Ghost tours only cares about the bottom line, and nothing what-so-ever about the experience of it's paying customers. Looking at many other reviews left here, it seems that many feel the...

We had a Aradale tour booked for 730pm on a Saturday. We were on the wrong side of the asylum and rang at 725pm and spoke to a female. We told her we were on the wrong side, and she gave us directions, as Google maps send people to the wrong side. We advised her we were going to be late, but she told us the guide will call us if we didn't arrive on time.

We got to the correct side of the asylum at 731pm and the other guests said the door had just closed, I checked it and it was locked. We didn't think anything of it, as the guide hadn't rung us, so we assumed it always all okay.

At 740pm we spoke to other guests who said they were there for the 8:00pm tour, not the 730pm tour we were there for. We rang straight away and the female on the phone said once the tour starts, the guide can't be contacted or turned back.

We were offered a spot on the 1000pm, but this was too late as we had to have a babysitter.

We spoke to the next guide when the door opened at 745pm (Miss Michelle), who told us the guide should have rung us. We explained we hadn't been and that the tour started. She apologised to us ,and said her tour was full but there was space on the 1000pm tour. We explained we couldn't attend the 1000pm tour. Miss Michelle was very polite and understanding, and tried her best to accommodate us. She said we could wait to see if there were any no shows.

Whilst waiting we overheard Miss Michelle calling people who were running late, the confirm if they were still attending. This is what we were told would happen for us, when we spoke to the female at 725pm. We heard Miss Michelle tell the guests, if the door is closed when they arrive, to knock on the door (something we would have done if we were told).

Miss Michelle told us the last of her tour was on the way, so we left about 803pm, whilst the tour was still waiting for the last of their guests. This is what we thought would happen for us when we were running 1 minute late.

I emailed through advising of our situation, and was told that the guides don't always call, and that the only call they received from us was at 740pm. I sent back a screenshot of the call log listing calls made at 725pm and 740pm, but got no response.

I acknowledged it is out fault we went to the wrong side and we were 1 minute late. But we were told on the phone and by Miss Michelle, we should have got a call from the guide. This never happened. We witnessed Miss Michelle doing that exact thing, calling guests.

We didn't want a refund, just wanted to be able to reschedule for a later date, but was told no. As a local, this is something we wanted to take visitors on when they stay with us. But this experience is making us...

I've attached the email to Eerie tours that they didn't have the courtesy of responding to. They have lied on their website in relation to what the tour is. It is not a ghost tour, it is simply a historical tour of the site. I waited a week for a response before posting this. I wish they were honest in what the tour was as I wouldn't have booked it. Don't be scammed by them.

And before they say I left the group or did something I wasn't supposed to, I didn't. I saw that being a common trend amongst their responses to other attendees that had similar complaints in an attempt to discredit them. It is purely a case of false advertising. Everyone should report this to the ACCC.

Hi,

Last night my partner and I attended the extended ghost tour at Aradale Lunatic Asylum and I'm emailing to say we were rather disappointed.

The tour was labelled as a "ghost" tour but there was little to no mention of resident ghosts, nor were we given the opportunity to explore areas at all.

We had previously attended your Quarantine station tour which was really good. That tour was a good balance of history of the site coupled with information about resident ghosts and we were given the opportunity to explore the different areas utilising our tools such as spiritboxes etc.

This tour on the other hand was purely a history lesson. We did a 6hr round trip of driving on top of the experience and in all honesty didn't receive what we had paid for. I understand the site is much larger but the second our guide had finished talking about the area in question we were made to move on. No opportunities were given to simply explore the different areas. There was no mention of resident ghosts. The only thing that seemed remotely related to ghosts was the building opposite the fire building where we walked down the corridors with the cameras set up. But even that felt a bit gimmicky to try and justify the "ghost" aspect of the tour.

Don't get me wrong, the history of the site was interesting. But a better balance needed to be made in order to justify the label that you have of it being a "ghost" tour. Had it been labelled what it actually was, "a historical tour" I would have been reluctant to...