14 Jul 2023
We loved walking the ruins of Pompeii. The actual park was pretty incredible to see. We purchased skip the line, audio guide tour tickets for our family of four through this Trip Advisor tour. We were charged almost $200 total, which we paid in full when purchasing here in advance on Trip Advisor. When we arrived in Pompeii, we realized you don’t need skip the line tickets (there were no lines due to many easy, quick entries) and that our two children would have been free. We could’ve purchased the tickets right at Pompeii the day of, for a total of 38 euros for our family of four. The pick up location for this tour was not at the park entrance, it was in the city center. I had to walk 20 minutes to go pick them up and when I arrived at the address stated on the Trip Advisor booking confirmation, they sent me to not one- but TWO other locations to collect the tickets and audio guides. When I picked up the audio guides that were already paid for and included in the Trip Advisor tour I booked, the girl demanded I give her a credit card (for deposit) and an ID as collateral for the audio guides. This was not written on their tour description on Trip Advisor and they violated policy by requiring this at the time of pick up. She ordered me to sit down at the location and not leave to go on the tour that I already paid for in full via Trip Advisor, until I give her what she wanted. The rest of my family (including two young kids) was waiting in the heat, being prevented by her to begin the tour while she demanded to turn over CC and Passport to hold until returning the audio guides. Obviously, I refused to do that as it’s unsafe and against Trip Advisor policy. I left to go begin the tour I already paid for and she had someone hunt us down inside Pompeii and corner us to demand collateral while using the audio guides we already paid for. It was scary and disturbing. We returned the audio guides (I have written confirmation), and our tour was ruined by them. I highly suggest you don’t book this way and just purchase your tickets when you get to Pompeii. You will save money and have a safe and better experience than me and my family did. This was a complete scam by the tour company and felt dangerous. They don’t follow the rules of Trip Advisor.