DC Trails Inc. — Local services in Lorton

Great tour... for those of us that do not have mobility/ambulation limits. Update- for full disclosure: I want to make it clear that I am NOT blaming DC Trails for the fact that we did not have wheelchair for my dad. We made arrangements at all other locations that required more walking than he is able to participate in without assistance. We signed up for a bus tour with the understanding that his mobility would be a non issue- as most of the tour would be taking place on a bus.

I'm upset by how the conversation is being handled- I do not want other people to go through the same experience. My family took part in the Twilight Tour on 1/26/20. I want to start off by saying that Dre was an excellent guide, and we enjoyed him immensely! This review is not that of the tour itself (would give 5 stars for the tour and Dre), but of DC Trails as a company.

The reason for my review is to express my disappointment with the description of the tour and the amount of walking that would be required.

My dad, who has mobility issues and walks with a cane due to several surgeries, was unable to partake in over half of the tour due to the amount of walking that was required of him. He returned to the bus and remained there from the FDR portion of the tour until the end. He was unable to see the MLK memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial, and take part in the accompanying history provided by Dre.

The description of the tour stated that we would visit all of these sites and that the time would range from 15-45 minutes, but it did not include any information about the distances that would be covered on foot. Had we known, we would have arranged to bring him in a wheelchair so that he could take part in the tour that he paid for.

I contacted DC trails directly and, provided the above information and asked for a refund for his portion of the tour, since was not able to participate, and an update to the website to include the estimated walking distances for those with limited mobility.

Their response was: "Unfortunately we cannot control where the US. Park Police allow the tour buses to drop and pick-up passengers. Please note that all buses pick-up and drop off at the same locations and unfortunately we would not be able to assist you with a refund."

No mention of updating their website, or acknowledgment regarding the lack of information provided - just blame on the DC Park Police.

It's disheartening that the Nation's Capitol was made inaccessible by the simple lack of an accurate description of the tour and that DC Trails was unwilling to take any responsibility for their lack of transparency.

After I originally posted this review, the conversation with DC trails continued as follows: "We are not required to post how long it takes to walk from the bus to a memorial. All stops have different timing. Quite frankly I don’t know of any companies that post that type of information on their websites. Also, all of our buses are ADA compliant and that information is posted on our website as required by DDOT . We are not responsible for guest leaving behind their needed wheelchairs to get around in."

To which I replied: Again, I understand what you are saying.

But to be clear, I did not ask how long it would take to walk, I was purely discussing distance- and had we known the distance we'd be covering on foot, we most definitely would have rented a wheelchair, just as we did at all of the other locations that required more walking than he is able to without assistance.

The fact that your buses are ADA compliant means nothing to me- that is the law. What I am discussing is DC Trails apparent lack of courtesy for those who are not able bodied and your unprofessional, finger pointing response- which based on your level of defensiveness tells me that I am not the first, nor will I be last person to comment on this issue. Bottom line is, I'm unhappy but you have my money. So I guess you win. My reviews have been posted and this...

We were pleasantly surprised by Teresa our tour guide. She was knowledgeable, nice, respectful, and funny. We got back on the bus, we rode on the top of the bus. It was a different tour guide this time an older gentleman. All of a sudden over the loudspeaker we here "if you all will be quiet I can finish my tour until then I'll wait."  I made a phone call to the company. Then a tree branch smacked one of the passengers in the face hard enough to break a pair of prescription glasses. When this was mentioned to the tour guide asking him for help the tour guide stated "that's not my problem deal with it when you get back to the platform with the supervisor."  I called the bus line again. A young female employee then said I have to take a picture of your injury. When the young man removed his hand for her picture she said "I don't see nothing on your face."  I made a phone call to the DC Trails office. The bus that picked us up from our last stop at 5:30 announced at about 6:30 that "they weren't sure if we were going to make it back for the evening tour not but hopefully they would wait for us not their problem." The night tour was supposed to go from 7 to 10:30. However on our bus the bus tour guide mike, started off as being really good he was funny, nice, and seemef knowledgeable. He then became overly verbose, adding his own opinion into historical facts, discuss his thoughts and his religion. When we got back on the bus driver was talking on her cell phone and texting on her cell phone while she was driving a bus full of tourists. We did not return to the plaza until 1130pm the metro stops running at midnight. Each tour guide that we had had  a different interpretation of historical fact for each building and site that we stopped at. The next day on a bus and there was a conversation going on. A different tour guide said " would you let me give my tour." Over the loud speaker. I once again made a phone call to DC trails to just tell them that it's not only one of their tour guides That is rude and disrespectful it is also others. My phone call was not meant with the same dumbfoundedness is the day before period this time it was the supervisor on the phone who told me that the tourists on the bus needed to be quiet so that order guide could give his tour. Now everybody who was redirected for speaking while the tour guide was speaking was speaking English and were Caucasian, the tour guide was African American. As soon as I hung up the phone with a supervisor a group of Chinese tourists got on the bus this group of tourists were speaking very loudly in Chinese the entire time on the bus. Not a single word was said to them by the bus driver the tour guide or anybody. The next stop some Hispanic tourist got on the bus they were speaking loudly and in Spanish nobody said a word to them. I called DC trails to let them know that this is the type of environment that's going on there buses and then I feel that it was racist the supervisor assured me that his driver nor his tour guide were racist in any way and I asked him to that explain to me why nobody other than Caucasians speaking English have been redirected in any way for speaking while on the bus. We got on the bus and this time we had driver Tyrone and tour guide Henry. These two were the best employees of DC trails that I met or dealt with in the two days. Tyrone was pleasant, polite, respectful, and concerned for his passengers.  He drove carefully and followed the rules of the road and seemed to know where he was going. Henry was pleasant, polite, respectful, and very knowledgeable. Henry was funny but not to a point of being annoying. He made sure that everyone knew where they were going what they could do at that stop. He also informs you where you could catch the next bus and approximately what time it would be there. Tyrone and Henry and Teresa were the only staff that DC trails that were polite, respectful, knowledgable, and concerned for...

The wait time for pickup between drop sites is unbelievably LONG. We spent a total of close to 3 hours waiting for pickup between only two drop sites - about 50 mins at Fords Theater and almost 2 hrs at the Lincoln Memorial. All the while, their competitor, Big Bus, had passed by 5 times, roughly every 25 mins or so. Ridiculous. I had to call, and their answering service provided us an alternate number to dial. Finally got someone on the line, after waiting almost an hour for the bus. The dispatcher informed me that the bus would be arriving in approximately 55 minutes, after already waiting for almost an hour. I asked how many buses are running and was told several which I later learned meant 2. Only 2. Big Bus must have been running at least 5. I told the dispatcher that I couldn't wait another hour for a bus, that it was now getting later, pushing 530 on a Monday and, of course, it started raining. I said screw the tour - we had stops remaining which we never had the opportunity to see due to the excessive wait times - just get me to the nearest Metro from the Lincoln Memorial, which happened to be at Arlington, by any means. I was told that a shuttle could take me to the Metro at Arlington. So happened that the shuttle bus driver, Jorge, was super cool, and felt terribly that we had been waiting so long for the standard bus. The DC Trails shuttle only ferries guests back and forth from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery, so our waiting and waiting and waiting had nothing to do with the shuttle service. Anyway, about 6 more customers joined us, all of whom had had ENOUGH as well, and wanted back to the Metro at L'Enfant Plaza, where DC Trails operates their terminal. So it was agreed that we'd all catch the Metro at L'Enfant Plaza since Jorge was heading in that direction. He was wonderful and probably the best thing DC Trails has going for it. As for myself and my two kids, it was beyond disappointing. My 11-year old daughter was only really interested in seeing the Lincoln Memorial and the National Archives. Unfortunately, the National Archives was number 20 on the tour. We got held up at number 16, the Lincoln Memorial so long, that the National Archives was about to close for the day when the shuttle I requested arrived. So, we never got there. Stops 17-21 were a bust. The thing that really got me going was that when we approached the DC Trails terminal at L'Enfant Plaza, we passed the number 1 bus and noticed that the number 2 bus was parked, sitting idle, apparently done for the day. Unreal. They should change the name from DC Trails Hop-On, Hop-Off to DC Trails Hop-Off, Stay-Off.

By the way, the DC Trails tour guides are excellent. Extremely knowledgeable, and with a witty sense of humor. Too bad for them that the logistical aspect of the business model is a nightmare at worst, unreliable at best.

Do yourself a favor and use the Big Bus if you're looking for a guided tour that saves you time.

On a positive note, as Jorge was driving us back to the terminal, we encountered President Trump's motorcade which was cool as hell and lightened the mood for the...