18 Jun 2022
Viator’s local tour partner changed the tour time on us. They sent me a ‘confirmation’ on WhatsApp that I received the day before stating the changed time and no date. My attention was drawn to confirming that they meant for the following night and I didn’t notice, nor was any attention called in their message to this being a new/changed tour time.
My teen and I showed up at the original tour time, the last tour had already departed at the revised (earlier) time. Viator says no refund because I was notified by their local partner of the time change (technically true) even though the message was billed as a confirmation, not a change.
This feels like a bait and switch. Viator appears to use slick marketing to direct tourists to local tour providers with questionable or unreliable business practices. I will not be using them again.
I paid a lot for these tickets to book only a few days ahead because- teenager. So losing nearly $200 and being deprived of our opportunity to see the Sistine Chapel leaves me feeling lousy about Viator. Next time I will only use Rick Steves-recommended tour providers .