Grand Canyon Tour Company — Local services in Paradise

BAD BOSS, TERRIBLE EMPLOYEES, ATROCIOUS SERVICES

I took the Grand Canyon Tour August 12, 2018. If there's a zero star or a 1/2 star, that would be what I have this company. Here are my reasons:

The bus was supposed to pick us up at 6:10 am. No shuttle bus showed up till 7:10 am.

I entered the shuttle bus and asked the bus driver (Keith) where are we heading and will we still be doing the Hoover Dams with all the delays. He told us that he is going around the hotels to pick people up and we will be transferring to another bus. Confused, I asked, "another bus?" This bus driver then condescendingly said, "yes, did you hear what I just said? Everyone here heard me....?" I basically told him that the way he talks to me as if I don't understand English and he kind of shrug me off. I understand that everyone has had a bad morning, especially for the people who are working in the service industry. However, it is no way to stereotype me as a non-english speaking tourists and be condescending to me.

We then got to the Grand Canyon Company to switch bus. Some people was so upset with the customer service that they want to complain to the head manager. They asked me to come along since I was treated rudely. Apparently the manager is the "owner" and her name is Karen A. Rancilio and she was very defensive about this whole entire ordeal. She even said that she had never experienced these kinds of complains and told us to not get into politics with the condescending bus driver. Anyways, she obviously does not know how to appease customers and she should train the people working under her a class on "excellent customer service" if she's running a service company and want to retain customers from coming back.

Bus driver #2, BILLY, driving bus with plate no. Cp93155. I came to check in and ask him that I need to get back to the manager room since a bunch of us is in there. He then started to yell at me to get into the bus and grab a seat. I told him that I just wanted to go back to talk with the owner and that a bunch of people he's waiting on is also in there. He then proceeds to tell me NOT to tell him how to do his job. I do not know what the heck happened but the guy just got all upset and defensive and attacked me. Angrilly, I did flip on him as I walked away. When the group of people making the complains made their way back to the bus for check in, Jessica and Jasmine went to talk to Billy about what had happened. As they discussed about me, Billy told the girls that I was causing troubles and the girls defended me. Next thing you know, things got heated between the driver and the girls, and the girls walked into the bus yelling "I am staying on this bus, you can call the police if you want to kick me out." Billy came into the bus and yelled "you guys are a bunch of dramas. I don't want dramas in my bus. Get out! And the Asian one (me) too." The six of us got kicked out. Standing at the bus with Billy and Karen (the owner), Karen was siding with Billy and the arguments continue. At this time, I was already tired and I just want to do the tour for my cousins. We just got onto the other bus and that was the end of it. However, I learned that after we got off the bus, Billy told the tourists in his bus that "all the trouble makers are now off the bus" and started to bad mouthing us. Billy, a bully who is threatening and unprofessional.

Honestly, I paid over $200 not to get treated badly while on vacation. Your company should be lucky I bring you business. You're a service company, you should have yourself and your employees properly train on treating your customers: on how to treat upset and anxious customers and how to handle a bad situation when there's an emergency event, such as the effect of the storm. Don't make excuses and attack your customers due to your lack of preparation. Anyone who is reading this. I advise you, with my utmost conviction, to not do business with this company unless you want to be treated badly when you tried to explain to the company you're not getting the service...

Shuttle Driver Willy was nice. Once we loaded bus #1 the new driver seemed less then impressed to be "on the clock". He did his speech about the day and how he would give us a special viewpoint if we listened and were on time the whole day. He then lead into a speech about how to tip him $15-$20/ person. We stopped on the way at a McDonald's restaurant for a break where a 2nd bus was and were given appx 25.mins to use washroom and get back on bus. Our lunch stop was at the roadeo buffet and sports bar. (Pass on eating here there is 3 places within a 5min walk).

Once we boarded bus again we where told we were earning our special views and doing well. Along the trip the driver would point out a few things along the way. He even apparently had made a call to.have the Hoover dam lights turned on for us. Once we got in the park at 1st viewing location before we could get off we were given a 10min speech on different things some including "don't use washroom don't be selfish and make others wait on you. If you want to truly earn the extra viewing space I have opened up for you don't be late or the whole group can lose this".

The trip was advertised stopping for a quick bite on the return trip which we learned no we are on a bus which is trying a new way in which we would have to buy dinner out of pocket and the roadeo buffet with limited options. Our group opted out and where centered out 3 times. For not wanting to eat at the roadeo. We opted to walk 5mins to KFC and buy diner there after eating there buffet lunch which was less then impressive. The driver seemed to be upset about our choices.

Some things that made the trip unpleasant

1- The driver needs to understand that he had a bus load of adults and doesn't need to talk down to us 2- Changing the meal plan should have been told before we were loading various buses and MANY people on the bus didn't seem impressed with the change. 3-Some people didn't get dropped off at there hotels and were asked numerous times if they wanted to be dropped off elsewhere. Our hotel which was beside 2nd drop off was passed by and ended up being 2nd last we got off at another location and walked to save the time. 4-We were told the on board washroom was for emergency uses only. Good thing as there was NO water No soap available to wash your hands.

The views were amazing however. Our experience could have been much better with a positive attitude from all involved.

Each to there own however showing political support should be left at home and not shown all over as many may have taken this as a uncomfortable situation. (Wearing a hat starting making America...

We booked the west rim tour for 4/28/2021 through the Grand Canyon Tour Company. The booking and payment was a bit confusing as the tour is actually through "Sweet Tours". It turned out to be all legitimate though as I learned later that the 2 companies have partnered. I also thought it was weird that much of the communication after booking was via text messaging, but again, it all turned out legit. The tour itself was great, driver promptly picked us up at the Mirage at the exact time they said 06:25, to the minute. We stopped at a couple more hotels to pick up other passengers then we were off. The driver then made an unannounced stop at the famous Las Vegas sign to get pictures with Elvis who just happened to be there at 7AM ( for a tip of course ) . It was definitely staged and I thought it was tacky. The drive itself was interesting, especially if you are not used to driving through nothingness and desert. Saw some nice rock formations and landscapes, cool run down towns, random buildings in the desert and even a couple scraggly looking antelope. You will drive over the Hoover Dam bypass bridge on the way but will be unable to actually see the dam. The driver stops for a 15 minute break at a store in Dolan Springs. The driver keeps the ride interesting with a history lesson about Las Vegas, facts about the area and a lot of dry but funny humor. We arrived at some Hualapai Indian "checkpoint", where we actually had to get off the bus for a Covid temperature check, which I thought was weird. We got back on the bus and were dropped off at another place which was like the hub. From there you take 5 minute shuttles to the two viewing locations. The viewing locations were great and definitely give you awesome and satisfying views of the canyon. You have in total about 2.5-3 hours to check out the canyon, plenty of time. Any longer and I would have been bored. Once your done you take a shuttle back to the main hub where the bus awaits you. On the ride back, if you sit on the right hand side of the bus, you will get to actually see the Hoover Dam. We hit some traffic on the way back and got back to our hotel around 5:15 On another note about this company. The owner, unbeknownst to me, had tried to ship me a "tour welcome package" prior to my arrival. It had been returned undeliverable and on the day before the tour they contacted me at Mirage and the owner "Annie" hand delivered the package to me. Now that is unbelievable service. I was...