ViatorReviews 212

Wanned to reschedule a tour but canceled it by mistake. Contacted the tour provider and they fully supported the refunding for new reschedule but they asked me to contact Viator, cause this was the service that could revert the situation. Contacting viator they immediately respond saying they would contact the tour provider and wait for their response so i thought it was handled. Next morning received an email by viator saying "we regret to inform but the refund is not possible". Contacted the tour provided to see what happened and they explain that they were totally ok with refunding, as they don't make any money if the bookings are canceled. Apart from using patronizing words ( "we regret", "unfortunately", "we apologize", when they mean nothing in this context) viator in the email made it seam it was denied from the tour provider when it wasn't. Investigating a little further I could find out that they charge in average 27% more on trips. I guess resuming the episode here … lack of flexibility for mistakes and lack of clarity on where is the money going (cause I don't think it makes any sense to leave all money to viator when the tours get cancelled …the tour provider is the one investing time planning so they should keep it if refunding is not possible). Advise to customers: try to book directly to the agency, you get better prices, more flexibility for mistakes and you know the money goes to the right place! Advice to Viator: More flexibility and transparency

Viator canceled my shuttle reservation between Rome airport and the. Port of Rome 3 days before I travel.

Each of the 20 reps said they sent the confirmation to the tour company. When I called the tour company 20 times, they never received any word of any booking from Viator with our booking referenced. Two days before our trip, Viator cancelled our 2 tours. Note, I called EVERY SINGLE DAY since booking the tours to try and confirm the two bookings, the 20 reps said each time it was done, no problem etc. Don't waste your time or your money or your effort with Viator.

Beware. I made a reservation for 7 people for $1400 for an all day wine tasting tour of the Douro River. I told them I was coming a few days before. They emailed the night before and said they could change our pickup time from 9:30 to 10:15 because we had a 45 min drive. I missed their emai at 8am of the tour asking for confirmation but wrote back at 9:00 am saying we were on our way. They wrote back at 9:23 saying it was too late. I called and they said it was my fault and that the guide had taken out another group. They refused to refund the $1400. Do not use them.

The tour company Viator should have informed customers the tour will only take you to Discover Center, not including the glacier ahead of time. There is very limited cell phone signal.
Our family of three booked the "Columbia Icefield Tour including the Glacier Skywalk from Calgary" from Viator.com. When we arrived at the pickup location Delta Downtown Hotel, tour guide Mark informed us that the tour includes Discovery Center but not the Glacier. However, he offered no help on how to purchase additional ticket to the Glacier. When we were searching for the ticket to the Glacier on the road, he told us the cell phone signal would go out in few minutes. My family were in a hurry to buy online but were unable to complete transaction before signal went out. When we arrived at the center, he asked us to buy Skywalk ticket only (the ticket was sold in either a combo of Glacier and Skywalk or Skywalk only) because we must return by 3 pm. We were not happy but we listened to him. When we returned to parking lot at 3 pm, we found Mark was looking for a missing guest. The group were not able to leave the parking lot until 5 pm. So, we would have made it back to the group even if we had bought the 3 pm combo ticket. In a hindsight, Mark did not handle it well because he told us that he could skip other attractions such as Bow Lake and Peyto Lake, and directly go to Discovery Center as needed. He explained that the tour could get to the lakes as it returned on the same route. But he did not do so. If the group arrived in the center early, we would have enough time to complete both attractions. Mark offered no assistant in helping us to purchase the tickets either online or at the center is a shame of him. Also he waited until we were already on the road to inform us about cell phone signal being out was his fault because he knew buying ticket requires cell phone service. The company Viator should have emphasized the tour takes guests to Discovery Center ONLY not the Glacier attraction because the title of "Glacier Skywalk" is misleading.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were running a few minutes late in getting to the rendezvous point for the Barcelona Wine and Tapas experience. We tried at least a half-dozen times to call the number given for tour-specific enquiries, to at best have them wait for us or at worst let us know where they were headed so that we could meet them at the next destination in the tour. No answer! We arrived at the meeting point shortly after the rest of the group had gone to the first stopover on the tour, and we had no idea where that stopover was so couldn't join them. Despite a very reasonable request for a refund, such refund has been emphatically refused. So that was €160 down the drain...

Zoom Tours was great, Viator WAS NOT.

They made false promises and set expectations that we would be picked up outside our house... only to tell us one hour before that we needed to make it across town to be picked up at a different location.

I have two elderly parents that cannot walk that quickly so they expect you to pay out of pocket beyond the $1000 spent for the tour to get TO THEM. They say, "Because the tour day is busy and they don't have time to pick people up..." Well that wasn't the case when we picked a couple up at the airport, a good 40 minutes out of the way. Taking up precious time that my family and I could have used site seeing together while they were in town.

Then they messaged me to let me know that I would be dropped off at home in the evening at MIDNIGHT when we arrived back. They also did not follow through with this promise and simply never messaged me back.

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY. They are untrustworthy and they need to be held accountable.

Crammed like sardines!
Love the tours, the drivers / guides are knowledgeable, friendly only one negative, they pack the small tours and if you happen to seat in the back it's very uncomfortable when four people are crammed together, you would expect small tours at least comfort, not so if you unluckily happen to be seated in the back. So we will finish these last set of tours but never again. Remember you are stuck uncomfortable for 10 or 11 hours!

I was running 15 min late due to an IBS issue. They said no refund, no delay, no rebook. I scheduled my entire week around tours with them. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I now am stuck with no itinerary for my annual vacation.

Absolutely terrible experience. Avoid at all costs.
My friend and I purchased an itinerary, which ended up entirely different from the tour we got. We ended up going to the same location twice in two days, which ruined our last days in Israel. We were the only two on the tour of nine who had this issue. Viator did not bother to notify us of any changes to our itinerary. Had we been notified of the actual itinerary, we never would have purchased it. We went out of our way the day before our tour to visit a location that the tour group then went ahead and visited. We wasted time on our once-in-a-lifetime trip thanks to Viator. When we realized we were seemingly on a different tour from what we purchased, we brought the issue to the attention of our tour guide, who couldn't do anything to help and referred us to Viator. Viator insultingly offered a 10% discount after much back and forth and more wasted time. Ultimately, they refused to make us whole and acknowledge their error. What kind of business doesn't offer a full refund when you get something other than what you pay for? Their customer service was unfriendly, unhelpful, and inept. I will never take a tour with Viator again and caution you against it, too. You not only cannot trust their itineraries, but also you cannot trust their integrity in the aftermath of a mistake that they themselves commit. Our trip was marred by this incompetent company, and that's something we can never get back.

The park we attended stated they would provided a refund, which they would work with Viator to provide it. Which Viator does not want to provided, we've contacted the park directly but they keep stating since we book with viator and paid viator they can't provided a refund. Even though the park stated they would and would work with viator. We tested positive for covid at the excursión. Which they asked us to leave but they would work with vítor for the refund. But due to Viators cancellation policy. They can't refund us our money, due to not giving them notice within 24 hrs. Which they should have some exceptions for covid. Viator is not willing to work with us. And are keeping $1000 USD. Stay away from them they do not help their customers. Book directly with the company. Trust me, viator has been contacted multiple times regarding this issue. But will not refund us the money due to their cancellation policy.

I booked 4 tours through them and was supposed to get 10% off of 2 and I only got it on one. They do not care if you are disabled and won't accommodate you. I paid an extra $60 for a pickup and return and only used the pickup as the tour company dropped everyone at their hotel and they won't refund the $30 that I did not use. Their prices are higher than booking directly with the tour companies. Please stay away from thus company as they only care about taking your money and they provide no customer service.

Viator does not have your back

I purchased 3 tickets through Viator 6 months ago for a helicopter trip provided by Blue Hawaiian. I was later informed I would need to pay an additional fee of $170 because of my weight. I requested the fee be waived, which blue hawaiian agreed to. On the day of the flight they demanded the fee anyways. I refused and they would not refund me. Viator claims they are there for the consumer, but they sided with Blue Hawaiian in the dispute, I do not believe they took my case seriously. As blue hawaiian broke our agreement the day of the flight. Don't trust Viator to do the right thing.

On Sunday evening, my girlfriend and I booked a three hour tour of Stockholm on Viator — according to Ramirez, this wasn't nearly enough time to explore the city. The following day, I was happy to find a brief, but pleasant message explaining the main attractions we would see, and if any requests were curiously lingering within our minds as to potential exploration spots; of course, as tourists, we did not.

Long story short, the first 45 minutes give or take, were decent, but somewhat awkward as dead silence and requests on where to go next would constantly plague us. A dull, shameful, and lifeless excuse for a guide who I'd avoid like a crazy mother-in-law — it'd have been a heck of lot more exciting if this was our guide!

P. S
Ramirez is supposedly a 15 year resident of Sweden who couldn't even answer the most basic of questions like:

"What's the significance of all the lights on peoples/businesses windows?"

Terrible. We had used Viator many times in the past and had been pleased because all had gone well. However, we booked a tour in Cancun and I did not receive an email from the local tour operator regarding g pick up time. The Viator tickets said 0900 and the tour bus showed up at 0800. The company said they sent the email, I never received it, and so we missed the tour. Viator refused to refund, their reps were rude and said no further consideration would be given. After using this company for all my tours, I will never use them again.

Viator does not care about the customers that they serve. We missed an entire day experience because of the tour operator that they recommended. When we tried to talk to customer service, they refused to give us a refund. They suggested rescheduling the tour which is ridiculous since we were leaving the country and the tour obviously fell through the first time. Do not use Viator unless you just want to throw money away giving it to people who do not care about their customers.

I've used Viator before several times and never had an issue. However, the issue I had this time and the treatment I received from Jennifer, one of the supervisors from customer service was enough that I won't ever use their services again. According to my original booking they were suppose to charge my card on a specific date, there was no indication that my card would be charged earlier. The booking even said "Your card will be charged in 8 days (on 02/07/2020)". They charged my card the day before without prior notification so I was unable to transfer money to my account in time and they cancelled my booking. When I called to ask if they could reinstate it they said I'd have to do the booking again but this time it was at a higher price. The excuse they were giving me was that the tour vendor raised the prices. However, when I called the vendor it was the same price as before! When I spoke to Jennifer, I asked her for an email or some contact information to a higher supervisor or corporate and she lied to me and said she didn't know any! How absurd! She said she couldn't do anything for me, and if I wanted to book solely with the vendor I should do that. She did not even try to assist me! It wasn't like I was asking for a cheaper price than what I was originally quoted, I just wanted to pay what they originally quoted me when I first booked the tour. It was their mistake they charged me ahead of time and cancelled my booking so why was I being penalized for it. Absolutely horrible customer service and behavior by Jennifer, a supervisor of the customer service department. I will never use Viator again, and I suggest others to book your tours elsewhere as well so that you don't have to deal with the trauma and heartache of spending 2 hours on a chat and a phone call trying to sort out an error on their part, and in the end be treated like you're not a valued customer. This tour was going to be the highlight of our trip and now it is absolutely ruined by Viator and Jennifer, a supervisor of the customer service department.

My wife called to book a parasailing trip for our kids in Miami over the Xmas break. The Viator rep on the phone was pushy and would not let go. She convinced my wife to book the trip 'at a bargain price' and confirmed that the bottom line including everything would be $200. When we got there they charged us another $66 for taxes and fees that were not mentioned earlier. We wasted half an hour on the phone with Viator, asked to file a complaint but did not get a satisfactory response. Things like this turn a relaxing vacation into aggravation and frustration. Very bad experience; cheating and misleading is not the way to conduct good business.