Viator — Local services in New York

I am the type of customer and business person who writes when I receive really great service and write when I receive really bad service. Both travel transportation sections of Viator and Vegas VIP provided the most unprofessional, unorganized, untrustworthy and now I find out pretty over priced service. DO NOT BOOK…. DO NOT TRUST Viator or Vegas VIP. Unprofessional Takes no responsibility Dishonest Unreliable Overpriced First they tried to say I did not purchase what I know I did. Eventually, Vegas VIP slipped and admitted they cancelled my reservation because they were over booked and had Vehicles that were not in service. They actually told Viator they cancelled a confirmed reservation because “they couldn’t do it”. But they initially tried to make it seem like it was something I caused. Smh. Viator, in my opinion was even worse because they were the facilitators and the ones who had the agreement with me to provide transportation and with Vegas VIP to facilitate all services including if Viator had to cancel. Vegas VIP should have not lied and let Viator handle it. I was on the phone with Viator for 3 hours and spoke to a rep named Genevieve and a floor supervisor named Jem (after being told I could speak to a supervisor for almost 2 hours). The supervisor final got on the phone and continued to tell me what they can’t do and offering option like 40% more than what my original price. I had to find a number to call Viator and then I had to find another number to call Vegas VIP. Vegas VIP’s Operations Manager, Tiffany, said something a little different from what Viator told me that she and Vegas VIP’s Rep Dan said they said…. Vegas VIP said it was Viator’s responsibility to find me something else because that is who I had an agreement. Viator said Vegas VIP was the one who cancelled so they could do anything but find me something else much more expensive. Smh! But both were bad, really bad. Nevertheless, God is good because we ended up with a much better company… much better… Bell Limousine …. Shout out to Bell! Yay!!! And it was almost 45% Less!!! Wow, God is great! In the end… do not trust Viator or Vegas VIP… DO NOT give them...

BUYER BEWARE. READ THE FINE PRINT. This company is an aggregator for tours organized and conducted by other tour companies. You may not even realize you are dealing with Viator when you search through other meta-aggregators, like Tripadvisor. If you book through Viator (which may be via Tripadvisor or other search site), you may end up with a NO REFUNDS OR CHANGES ticket. But if you make your reservation through the actual tour organizer directly, you often will have an option for refundable tickets. Is the aggregation convenience of Viator / Tripadvisor worth losing your ticket value if you have to change your plans?

I recommend travelers use tools like TripAdvisor and Viator to find an activity, then call that activity's tour company directly to purchase a refundable ticket.

In our case, I started at the actual tour company's site and saw that the Niagara Falls Canada Day + Night Small Group Tour w/ Falls Dinner was 100% refundable within 24 hours prior to the trip. I didn't book for a couple of days and made the mistake of forgetting where I had found the trip info. I searched and ended up at TripAdvisor, which presented the same trip but through Viator's booking service. I failed to notice Viator had replaced the tour company's 100% refund policy with a zero refund policy. I called the tour operator, SeeSight Tours, directly, and they said if I had booked directly with them I could get a full refund.

Viator, this is a misleading practice. Why would you unilaterally choose not to honor the tour operator's cancelation policy for this activity? Even a 95% refund (allowing an exorbitant 5% for your automated involvement) would be nearly understandable. Yes, your ad (in TripAdvisor) did state a zero refund policy. If my first experience had been there, I probably would have noticed this, but since I had already printed out SeeSight's info for the tour, which states a free cancelation policy, I went directly to the dates and times to book.

TRAVELER, DON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE. BOOK DIRECTLY WITH TOUR OPERATORS AND READ...

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!!! If I could give 0 stars, I would!! This company scammed me out of $533 during my trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago. I know NOTHING about Hawaii. Didn’t even realize how many islands there were. Viator had a tour advertised from 2 islands over from where I was staying. I was SUPER excited about this tour so I booked it! The week before, the company called me about accommodations for our booking date, asked me where I was staying and DID NOT tell me their tour was 2 islands away!! The name of my hotel has the name of the city I was staying in, in it!! The night before the tour, I go to find the “central pickup location” and realize it’s not even on the same island. By this time I can’t call the company directly (I also didn’t realize I had booked anything through Viator website in the first place) so I waited until 2:30am (they were picking us up at 3:00am) when the dispatch opened. The woman advised me I had booked through Viator. What a mistake. I was given the run around. Back and forth between company and Viator. Came to the point that I suggested I’d be happy with just half of my money back because, frankly, it was partly my mistake just as much as it was theirs for advertising this tour under the island I was searching. After about 2-3 hours on the phone with this one woman, I was “offered” a $25 VOUCHER to be used on their website. I told her this was UNACCEPTABLE. I was put on hold yet again to be told there was nothing she could do except “elevate the situation”. She told me I’d get a response within 5-7 days with their decision. The next day I got a refund denial with a $25 voucher. THIS COMPANY IF A FRAUD!!! DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!! BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE COMPANY RUNNING...