04 Oct 2022
• A one star rating because of a series of unfortunate events. We were to meet our tour guide near the train station in Venice as per our Viator instructions. We were 30 minutes early and used Google Maps to locate the meeting place. After walking the entire area, inside and out we were still unable to connect with our guide. We tried to contact our guide through Viator but were still unable to connect. Finally after waiting 45 minutes beyond our start time we left and headed towards St. Marks square on our own.
The most disappointing part of this tour was that by the time we reached St. Marks Square, we were unable to visit St. Mark’s Basilica in the time available even though we had prepaid for tickets.
In an attempt to resolve this issue with our tour operators we contacted Viator for a refund but we were denied. Our tour guide indicated to Viator the she was at the meeting point and waited for 40 minutes before leaving. So not only did we lose out on our tour of Venice we also lost the money for tickets to St Mark’s Basilica which went unused.
Lessons learned:
Do not rely on coordinates to meet your guide. (It’s better to meet at a specific monument.)
Always contact the tour company in advance for an exact location where you will meet.
Always have your tour guides phone number so that you can make contact, if needed, before your tour starts.
Do not rely on a refund just because you cannot make contact with your tour guide.